Like many of his predecessors, Mayor Eric Adams regularly faces scrutiny over how he commutes to City Hall.
Adams frequently claims to spend all night on the subway investigating. He made this point this year as he addressed concerns about public transport safety, ordering bag checks and more police at stations.
But on Tuesday, he said his packed schedule makes riding the subway to work every day more difficult than having a police officer chauffeur him.
“We have to be realistic, not just idealistic,” Adams said in response to a question from a Gothamist reporter during a press conference.
The mayor claims he rides the subway regularly, adding, “I’m not just out during the day, I’m out at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m.. And not many mayors do that.” said.
Last week, Adams took an early morning subway tour with the NYPD.He also We rode all night on WABC-TV During February.
But recent comments about his commuting habits have reignited a topic that has been a political third rail for local mayors since the subways opened in the early 20th century.
“You want to be a New Yorker as much as the voters,” says George Arzt, a political consultant and former press secretary to Mayor Ed Koch. “For that, I have to take the subway.”
Arzt said using the subway is mostly good politics for the mayor. Koch’s former publicist said he occasionally liked to ride the subway, often standing in the middle of the subway car while his bodyguard looked on.
“People want physical contact,” Arzt says. “They want to see the mayor go out with them.”
Adams does not forget the importance of appealing to populism. He is a former traffic police officer and describes himself as a citizen of the city. first working class mayor.
He was compared to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was widely criticized for claiming he was driven from Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side to a gym in Park Slope multiple times during his eight years in office. They are also often seen on the subway.
But Mr. Adams has less of a presence in the system than former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who publicly announced his daily commute to work. Mr. Bloomberg planned to be chauffeured to a subway express station on the Upper East Side before taking a morning ride downtown.
During the 2021 presidential campaign, Adams gave transit advocates hope that they had found a cheerleader for their cause. He vowed to build 150 miles of bus lanes in four years, and bus passengers gave him a jacket that read “Mayor of New York City Buses.” He also told reporters he would ride Citi Bike ahead of the November 2021 general election, becoming the city’s first bicycle mayor.
But transportation advocates have begun to sour toward Adams in recent years, as his administration has canceled or delayed plans for many bus and bike lanes in the city.
Danny Harris, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said Adams doesn’t have to get out of his car every day, but riding the subway or bike more often “keeps the heartbeat of New York alive.” “It will be helpful not only to understand,” he said. Even though it’s a city, we need to see accessibility challenges in real time. ”
“If we focus on ‘getting things done,’ we have a vibrant public transit system that moves people far faster than moving people through traffic with sirens blaring,” one of Adams’ mantras says. I added while referring to it.