FIRST READ

Eric Adams’ indoor inauguration ceremony was canceled due to the surging coronavirus. The new mayor opted to be sworn in after the ball dropped in Times Square instead, holding up a portrait of his late mother, Dorothy.

ADAMS’ FIRST WEEK

Eric Adams officially became the 110th mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, just minutes after the New Year’s ball drop in Times Square. And he wasted no time getting right to work. On his first day, Adams took the subway to his office – and reported a crime in progress to police along the way. Though long retired from the beat, his officer instincts don’t seem to have gone away. Adams’ first challenge emerged quickly as he grappled with the decision on whether to keep public schools open amid surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, particularly among children. He said the city would not return to remote learning and defended his position as teachers protested for remote options and lawmakers urged him to at least temporarily go virtual.

THE MEN OF RIKERS

The crisis at Rikers Island, a jail complex that has been in decay and disarray for years, seemed to come to a head in 2021. The complex has seen a rising population, deteriorating conditions and a short supply of personnel. In 2021, 15 people died while incarcerated on – or shortly after leaving – Rikers. New York magazine commemorated their lives in its most recent issue.

“When a mayor has swagger, the city has swagger.”

– New York City Mayor Eric Adams, talking about his leadership on his third day in office

“So, sayonara, sucker!”

– CNN co-host Andy Cohen, in an apparently drunken rant directed at former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shortly after the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square, via the Daily News Adams then appeared alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul to announce new efforts to address both crime and homelessness in the city’s subways, an early indication that the animosity that colored the previous governor and mayor’s relationship will have no place in the Adams administration. And in a further new development representing a shift from his predecessor, Adams greeted the city’s first major snowfall with a 6:45 a.m. press conference at a Department of Sanitation facility. No more late morning starts for the City Hall press corps it seems.

HOCHUL’S FIRST STATE OF THE STATE

Hochul became the first woman to deliver a State of the State address in New York as she laid out her agenda for the year. Giving her speech in the Assembly chamber – a return to tradition and a change from her predecessor – Hochul highlighted a number of new initiatives, including a five-year, $25 billion dollar housing plan to build or preserve 100,000 affordable housing units, as well as 10,000 supportive housing units, a variety of proposals to address gun violence and a pledge to bring back cocktails to go. Overall, her policies and tone garnered praise from Democratic lawmakers, although some criticized her for not going far enough on progressive

issues. Next comes her executive budget proposal, where her plans will take more concrete shape.

CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST CUOMO

In the latest instance of prosecutors seeking no criminal charges against the former governor, Albany District Attorney David Soares said he is dropping the groping case against Andrew Cuomo. The Albany case made it further than any other county investigation, with an actual complaint filed and judicial proceedings beginning. The groping allegation made by state staffer Brittany Commisso was the most egregious of the the sexual harrassment accounts, and the most likely to have resulted in criminal charges. But from the beginning, prosecution was viewed as unlikely since misdemeanors like the one Cuomo faced rarely went to court because they are hard to prove before a jury. With Soares’ decision, Cuomo now is unlikely to face any criminal liability for his alleged sexual harassment, but still could end up in civil court.

ONE STEP CLOSER TO GERRYMANDERING

The inaugural state Independent Redistricting Commission concluded its work without really concluding its work. Tasked with sending a set of bipartisan maps to lawmakers to approve, the commission once again found itself divided along party lines, with the five Democratic commissioners proposing and voting for one set, and the five Republicans another. Their contentious final meeting contained accusations about who was responsible for the devolution of negotiations, although commissioners still managed to find considerable common ground when it came to congressional district lines. Lawmakers must now vote on both sets of maps, but it’s more likely now that Democrats in the state Legislature will simply scrap the proposals and draw their own lines.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, bottom right, appeared in court virtually Friday to hear charges against him dropped.

Bail reform is in the eye of the beholder

The state has released the first full year of data on bail reform, and it has both opponents and supporters claiming the numbers prove their points. Supporters have pointed to the low percentage of those released pretrial under bail reform – under 4% – who have been rearrested for violent felonies as evidence reform is working. Opponents meanwhile decry the high raw number – over 3,400 – as proof that lawmakers must make changes to the current bail system. The stark disparity was on display on Jan. 4, when dueling virtual press conferences scheduled for the same time took very different approaches to criminal justice issues. On one side, Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democratic candidate for governor, decried recent spikes in violent crime like murder. “We’ve got a really serious problem in our state,” Suozzi said. “I don’t think it’s been talked about enough.” He didn’t attribute recent crime increases to any one particular factor, but he made sure to prominently highlight what he considered the negative effects of bail reform. At the same time, criminal justice reform advocates – joined by new Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – held their own press conference to promote parole reform. Specifically, they touted legislation that would enable incarcerated people over 55 who have served at least 15 years to become eligible for parole and another bill that would make it easier for anyone eligible to get paroled. The dueling press conferences offered very different pictures of New York – one where too many people are dangerously released and one where the state is not releasing enough people who should have that opportunity. “I think typically, it’s not really about facts,” state Sen. Julia Salazar of Brooklyn told City & State. “It’s about competing narratives about public safety.” She said that the bail data is far from complete, in part because there are no analyses to compare it to past years before bail reform, but contended that the available information doesn’t suggest bail reform poses a significant public safety threat. The debate over the relative success of bail reform played out in opinion pages and Twitter as well. The New York Post published an editorial criticizing Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie over bail reform, pointing to the anecdotal evidence of its failure on Dec. 29. Heastie shot back at the paper on Twitter, calling the editorial “overly biased (and) one-sided.” – Rebecca C. Lewis, with reporting by Zach Williams

THE WEEK AHEAD

MONDAY 1/10

State lawmakers head back to work for three days of legislating.

FRIDAY 1/14

Members of the state Senate hold a 10 a.m. virtual hearing on how well tax incentives spur economic development.

SATURDAY 1/15

The statewide eviction moratorium ends, plus an executive order allowing state lawmakers to meet remotely expires.

INSIDE DOPE

It is up to legislative leaders whether or not their chambers will meet remotely moving forward.