eric adams Archives - Queens Ledger

Pol Position: Mayor’s Messiah Complex Returns

glendaleregstg on June 21, 2023

Mayor Adams spent Sunday doubling down on his religious messaging and claiming that he woke up in the middle of the night 30 something years ago with God telling him that he would be Mayor starting January 1, 2022.

“The message was clear. God stated, you can not be silent. You must tell everyone you know,” Hizzoner continued before quipping that people thought he was “on medication” for telling people that he would be the Mayor.

Adams continued to say that he woke up in the same state a few months ago.

“God said talk about God. And I started to say don’t tell me about separation of church and state. Don’t tell me that when you took prayer out of school guns came in. Don’t tell me that I have to remove my feeling of god. And you saw what happened. All the front pages and national stories,” Adams said during his Fathers Day Remarks at Lenox Road Baptist Church. “I don’t care what anyone say – it’s time to pray.”

Hizzoner was roundly ridiculed in February for comments critiquing the separation of church and state. Adams partially retracted his statement, saying that government shouldn’t interfere with religion but declined to give an affirmative answer to the idea that church and state should be separated.

“No, what I believe is that you cannot separate your faith. Government should not interfere with religion and religion should not interfere with government. But I believe my faith pushes me forward on how I govern and the things that I do,” Adams said in a CNN interview after being asked point-blank whether or not he supports the separation of church and state.

Eric Adams continued to compare himself to the protagonist of Glory, a Civil War film where Denzel Washington’s character runs away from his fort to meet the love of his life before battle. When he came back his punishment was to be whipped, but since he already had a lot of scars, he told them: “What could you do to me? I’ve been beat already.”

Adams then turned the cinematic reference into an impassioned critique of the press.

“What do you think they can do to me? You try to beat me with your news articles? I got the scars already. You try to beat me with your commentary? I got the scars already. You can’t do anything to me! I know who’s voice I hear,” said Adams.

Earned Income Tax Credit: You earned it – and NYC will help you get

glendaleregstg on March 8, 2023

By Mayor Eric Adams

My mission as Mayor of New York City is to focus on the needs of working people of this city. One of the best ways we can do that is to get money back in your pocket – money you have earned, money you need to support your family.

Last year we went to Albany to get the Earned Income Tax Credit, better known as the EITC, expanded for the first time in 20 years. The EITC is a refundable tax credit provided to working New Yorkers and families. And I am proud to say that together with our state partners we got it done.

Promises made, promises kept.

The enhanced EITC put $350 million dollars in the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers. That means more money for the essentials: food, groceries, bills & rent. It is a lifeline for so many working people and families across New York City. This tax credit has helped 800,000 New Yorkers and this year we want to reach even more.

And last week we launched a $1.5 million television, print, subway, social media and radio marketing campaign on the enhanced EITC to spread the word to New Yorkers.

This tax season, we want to help more working people get the support they need through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

New Yorkers can visit nyc.gov/getcredit to see if they qualify for this cash back. If you do, you can apply for this credit while filing your taxes. It is that simple. New Yorkers can file their taxes for free at any one of our NYC Tax Prep locations across the five boroughs or online at getyourrefund.org/nyc

The EITC is a simple and straightforward way to make sure working New Yorkers get their fair share.

Under the enhanced EITC a single parent with one child with an income of $14,750 has seen their benefit increase from $187 to $933. And a married couple with two children and an income of $25,000 has seen their New York City benefit increase from $308 to $925 under the city payment.

I come from a working-class background. My mother worked a double shift as a cleaner to support my siblings and me. There are thousands of New Yorkers doing the same today in our city.

We know many New Yorkers are struggling right now. Rent is going up and inflation is driving up the cost of living. People are worried about whether they can keep a roof over their heads. And due to the pandemic, many have lost wages and childcare.

I know the hustle is real. And I want every hardworking New Yorker to know: We’re looking out for you.

The EITC is one of the most effective support programs in history, helping low-income families and workers get a boost as they climb the ladder of success.

Through the EITC we are putting more money in working peoples’ wallets and helping lift some of the burdens they face. Working New Yorkers deserve their fair share and credit, and we are giving it to them.

Mayor unveils ‘working people’s agenda’

Matthew Fischetti on February 1, 2023

Mayor announces new policies at Queens Theatre during State of the City

By Matthew Fischetti

mfischetti@queensledger.com

Mayor Eric Adams returned to his home borough of Queens last Thursday to give his second state of the city address, in which he unveiled his “working people’s agenda.”

The announcement, first kicked off by numerous cultural dance routines, was attended by over a hundred different elected officials, civic leaders and other major city players at Queens Theatre last Thursday.

The mayor broke his agenda into four major categories, in which he touted previous successes and laid out future policy proposals: jobs, quality of life, housing and care.

JOBS

Among the biggest announcements in his Jobs category was the news that New York City is pursuing a first-in-the-nation biotech startup at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The 50,000 square foot space will provide office space, events and programming, with an emphasis on recruiting women and people of color into the industry.

Adams also announced that the city will work with the City University of New York to support 30,000 nurses entering the workforce over the next five years. According to federal government estimates, there will be 275,000 more nurses needed by 2030.

Adams also plans to tackle employment rate disparities for disabled and Black New Yorkers.

The unemployment rate for Black New Yorkers is at least three times as high as for white New Yorkers. This era of inequality must end,” Mayor Adams said. “We are going to make sure that all New Yorkers finally have access to good jobs.”

A new “Center for Workplace Accessibility and Inclusion” will help connect 2,500 people with disabilities to jobs and improving workplace accessibility. The Mayor also wants to double the rate of contracts for minority and women-owned businesses, which would dole out $25billion over the next four years, per the Mayor’s announcement.

Adams also plans on launching a new apprenticeship program, which aims to get 30,000 New Yorkers apprenticeships across various industries by 2030.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Mayor Adams made several big announcements in terms of improving quality of life for New Yorkers. First of which was the announcement of a new “director of the public realm” which will be a city position focusing on public spaces.

By the end of 2023, Mayor Adams announced that the city will launch a citywide curbside composting program. A pilot of the program was rolled out earlier last year in Queens.

Adams also said that he will focus on getting ‘New York’s Most Wanted’, 1700 people identified by the city as committing a disproportionate amount of violent crime, off the streets.

Adams also indicated that he would throw support behind state level legislation to tackle dangerous drivers. Albany last year passed the 24/7 speed camera legislation, which Adams said led to a 25-percent decrease in speeding.

The new legislation is comprised of 6 bills that would would increase penalties for severe crashes and provision that allow vehicle registration to be suspended if five or more red light camera violations are committed within a 12-month span.

Hizzoner also announced that the entirety of Uber and Lyft drivers will have to have zero-emission vehicles by 2030 at no cost for drivers.

Housing

Mayor Eric Adams’s housing plan largely built off of his previously released plan to “Get Stuff Built”, which aims to build 500,000 new homes over the next decade.

Adams also announced that $22 million was allocated for tenant protection programs in order to investigate and enforce against bad landlords and help tenants from being pushed out of rent-regulated apartments.

“Building new housing is essential for our future, but we also need to address the housing crisis in the here and now. That means protecting tenants and helping New Yorkers stay in their homes,” Adams said.

Adams also announced that the city’s free tax preparation program was expanded to process an additional 26,000 returns and that his administration would pursue legislation allowing New Yorkers to retain benefits for up to six months after taking a new job.

CARE

Throughout his mayoralty, Adams has constantly dealt with the issue of homelessness in the city, announcing sweeps and safety teams to monitor the subway.

In his announcement, Adams unveiled a new plan to allow homeless New Yorkers to get a free health insurance program. The administration argues that the program will help connect homeless New Yorkers with more cost-efficient care.

The Mayor also announced a plan to open Clubhouses for New Yorkers with severe mental illness in order to provide “peer support and access to services.” The new ‘clubhouses’ are part of a broader mental health plan that the mayor said will be released within the next few weeks.

“This coming year is about expanding that vision of what can get done and what will get done. It means building a strong foundation that supports today’s realities and anticipates tomorrow’s needs,” Adams said. “City government must work to improve the public good, supporting an economy that works for all”

Subway crime down, officials say

Matthew Fischetti on February 1, 2023

By Matthew Fischetti

Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul hold a press conference in the Fulton Street Subway Station to announce significant progress in making the subway system safer on Friday, January 27, 2023. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Major subway crime has dropped by 16 percent since last October, city and state officials announced last week.

At a press conference in Manhattan, Governor Hochul and Adams announced that the crime rate has reached pre pandemic levels, which the electeds credited to the launch of their “Cops, Cameras and Care program.” The plan added 1,2000 cops to the subways over 300 subway stops across the city and added additional trainings for NYPD and MTA employees.

The Atlantic Terminal station and the Sutphin-Archer Station in Brooklyn and Queens will have MTA police at the station, “freeing up roughly 100 NYPD officers for deployments at other priority transit locations on trains and in stations,” per the announcement.

In 2019, the rate of crime was 1.5 crimes per million rider; In 2022, the rate was 2.3 crimes per million riders; and in 2023 the ridership adjusted rate is only 1.7 crimes per million riders, according to figures unveiled by officials on Friday.

“So, despite all these facts, I can’t tell New Yorkers they should feel safe. I’m not going to even do that,” Governor Hochul said. “But the data is showing that New Yorkers are telling us they feel safer, and that’s what I’m going to pay attention to.”

MTA honcho Janno Lieber said that through survey findings, the department found that around 60 percent of riders said they felt safe in November compared to previous results finding only around 40 percent of riders said the same in October.

100 cameras are currently planned to be installed across subway cars as part of the Governor and Mayor’s plans. The entire 6,500 car fleet is scheduled to have cameras installed by late 2024.

“We had a billion people that rode our system last year, but we have 3.9 million daily riders, an average of six crimes a day. It didn’t matter if those numbers were there. The reality was that people said they felt unsafe,” said Mayor Adams. “So we had to have a dual approach. We had to deal with how people felt and we had to deal with the actual six crimes, felony crimes we were having on average a day, and that was our dual approach.

Governor Hochul also announced that the state will create 25 more bed-units, to bring the total of inpatient beds to 50. The beds are a key part of critical time intervention, a model used by clinicians for decades that helps transition people during turbulent times. The model was first developed to provide care for individuals facing chronic homelessness.

High Line-esque linear park to come to Queens

Jessica Meditz on September 23, 2022

Opposition says QueensWay is not the way

By Jessica Meditz

jmeditz@queensledger.com

Eric Adams paid a visit to Forest Hills for the announcement.

After over a decade of advocacy, the QueensWay is slated to make its way into Queens.

The city plans to spend $35 million to begin phase one of construction for a linear park along 3.5 miles of abandoned railroad tracks that run through Central and Southern Queens, Mayor Eric Adams announced last Friday.

Adams and other elected officials gathered on Trotting Course Lane in Forest Hills, just where the Metropolitan Hub, a portion of the QueensWay will be situated, to make the announcement.

QueensWay will be built along the former Rockaway Beach Branch line, which has not been utilized in more than 60 years. Once completed, the project will connect the neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Glendale, Woodhaven and Ozone Park, and provide a 47-acre park and seven miles of greenway.

“Phase one will convert abandoned railroad tracks which have been used as a dumping ground into a five-acre linear park and provide a safe way for residents to walk, jog or to enjoy the open space. We’ve learned during COVID-19 how important it is to have good quality open space, and it can’t be just in one part of the city…This park is going to be the center of the lives in this community,” Adams said.

Along with benefitting physical and mental health, Adams cited air quality improvement, increased visibility for small businesses, creativity and better accessibility to public transportation as upsides to the park’s development.

He added that linear parks have proven to be successful, as seen by the Highline on the west side of Manhattan.

“We can have High Line and High Times in the outer boroughs as well, and that is why we’re bringing [QueensWay] to this amazing community here in Queens,” Adams said.

“Because of the density of our city, linear parks penetrate deep into neighborhoods, and don’t just focus on one particular area, allowing us to go further in open space. It allows eyesores like what’s behind us to go from an eyesore to an oasis.”

Councilwoman Lynn Schulman, who represents the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill in District 29, has been a key force in getting QueensWay off the ground — advocating for the project since her days at Community Board 6.

“I can’t believe that we’re here today…We are facing a once in a civilization public health challenge to save our planet from destruction within, and today’s investment by Mayor Adams in a linear park right here in Forest Hills, Queens is a huge step and meeting this challenge,” Schulman said.

“It was 10 years ago that two friends and constituents…brought me their dream of creating a linear park where our kids could play, seniors could exercise and get fresh air and bicyclists could have safe bike paths. There were many obstacles to overcome, but I was determined when I took office in January that I would bring this extraordinary vision to fruition,” she continued. “The QueensWay will now become a reality.”

Approximately 322,000 people live within a mile radius of the QueensWay.

The proposed project would connect residents to 10 bus lines and four subway stations.

In addition, there are 12 schools within a five-minute walk of the QueensWay and two Little League field complexes directly adjoining it.

A map of the proposed QueensWay.

Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar expressed her support for the plan, as she represents District 38’s neighborhoods of Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven.

“This is a great day for my district. It’s a great day for South Queens,” she said. “QueensWay will draw 1 million visitors every year. It will generate $2.2 million in new revenue…also, all the major thoroughfares in my district will be connected to QueensWay. That includes Rockaway Boulevard, 101st Avenue, Jamaica Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. This is extremely exciting for my district.”

The announcement was met with some criticism and slight heckling from advocates of the QueensLink, a proposed 3.5-mile long transit and park corridor in the same space, which would connect northern and southern Queens.

The plan calls for both transit and park space in the community, and puts forth the argument that building only the park would “block any future use of transit on the line and deprive Southern Queens residents of a faster commute and less traffic while reducing pollution and carbon emissions.”

“We can have both, but if they design the park first without knowing where the train’s going to be, they might have to tear up the park to put in the train later. It makes no sense,” Miriam Bensman, senior adviser at QueensLink, said.

“They’re talking about transit, but they’re not doing anything about it. So the key is, if you really do care about public transit, and it’s not just a campaign slogan, then you need to take it seriously and study the integration of a Transit Link, which would be a subway and a park,” Rick Horan, executive director of QueensLink, said.

“Our goal is to try to see if there’s enough value in this project to get it there. But the only way we can do that is to study it,” he continued. “So we’ve been promoting an Environmental Impact Statement for QueensLink, which includes rail entry.”

QueensLink penned a letter to both Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul last month in support of an EIS for the project.

Fifteen local elected officials signed off on the letter, including Rajkumar, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Assemblyman David Weprin — who were all present at Friday’s announcement.

Rajkumar told The Queens Ledger that she is still in support of the QueensLink, and that both plans are needed for residents of Queens.

“Together, these plans both create green space and meet our transit needs. Constructing the QueensWay while also reactivating the rail line to create the QueensLink is perfectly feasible,” she said.

“Rail service combined with greenway, known as ‘rails-with-trails,’ is incredibly common: there are 343 rails-with-trails in the United States alone, with a combined length of almost 1,000 miles,” she continued. “In fact, building the QueensLink along the QueensWay would be very similar to plans to add rail service to Atlanta’s BeltLine elevated park. I continue to support an Environmental Impact Statement on the QueensLink, which would fill our transit desert with a vital north-south Subway corridor.”

Southeast Queens receives street upgrades, affordable housing opportunities

Evan Triantafilidis on March 18, 2022

Evan Triantafilidis

evant@queensledger.com

Mayor Eric Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced the completion of two quality of life projects in Southeast Queens, directly benefiting neighborhoods they both grew up around.

A $49.3 million water infrastructure project has brought six miles of new sewers and water mains to Rochdale, and an affordable housing project has launched to create 16 new, rehabilitated homes for ownership.

Despite the downfall of hail and frozen rain, Speaker Adams rejoiced, knowing far too long about the conditions of her community.

“This is a sunny day for us,” Speaker Adams said.

“Whether you live in South Jamaica, South Ozone Park or South Richmond Hill, residents for generations have often felt forgotten, overlooked and marginalized when it comes to investments from the city that can address long standing issues. Despite the best efforts from so many of our representatives, Southeast Queens, like too many other corners of our city, endured systematic disinvestment and neglect. We felt resigned to this fate as outer boroughs left behind to deal with disparity and inequity on our own for decades,” she said.

The street improvements and flood-alleviating measures include over one mile of new storm sewers, with an additional 2,265 feet of existing storm sewers being replaced. A total of 55 new catch basins were installed and 53 old ones were replaced.

The installation of three new underground chambers and the replacement of an old one increases the holding capacity of the local sewers. During construction, 9,235 feet of sanitary sewers were replaced, and 595 feet of new sewers were installed. Over three miles of water mains were replaced to improve water infrastructure reliability.

Mayor Adams called it a “powerful moment” for the Southeast Queens community.

“New catch basins, new curbs, new sidewalks, better roads,” Mayor Adams listed. “This is a total transformation.”

The Mayor said that broken promises from previous administrations led to broken drains and further flood damage to communities in Southeast Queens.

“Whenever there is rainfall, even a drizzle, this community traditionally would just cross their fingers and hope that they would not see a flood or have their property destroyed,” he said.
“We’re improving the quality of life and making this community more resilient in our fight against climate change.”

The Mayor also kicked off “Habitat Net Zero”, an affordable home ownership project that will create 16 “Green Homes” from 13 dilapidated homes previously owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Along with Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County, and through the city’s Department of Housing Preservation (HPD), the homes will be equipped with rooftop solar panels and heat-pump technology for heating and cooling, with the aim to keep homes at or near net-zero energy use.

To ensure long-term affordability, the land will be transferred to the Interboro Community Land Trust (CLT). HPD will enter a 40-year regulatory agreement with Interboro CLT, and the CLT will enter into 99-year, renewable ground leases with each homeowner.

In addition to funding from HPD’s Open Door program, funding for the project will be financed by the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation and with Reso A funds provided by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Speaker Adams and former Councilmember I. Daneek Miller. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Nonprofit Finance Fund are providing construction financing, and an Article XI tax exemption will help keep ongoing housing costs affordable.

“This is going to be affordable for generations to come,” Mayor Adams said.