When Eric Adams ran for mayor, he ran on a campaign that had the fight against crime as one of its more important pillars. Instead, crime in New York has only become worse. According to a poll carried out by Quinnipiac University, the citizens have begun losing belief in the mayor. The numbers in the poll have shown that rates of disapproval have grown against the mayor. Participants in the poll have shown concern about the homeless population and the affordable housing crisis. 12% of the pollsters are worried about issues of homelessness, while 15% are concerned about affordable housing.
The main worry of people in the city is crime. 49% of respondents were worried about crime in the city. The majority of the people do not feel as though Adams has handled the matter of crime well. 54% of pollsters disapprove of the handling of crime while 37% of people that responded to the poll say they approve. This shows a big increase in disapproval compared to the poll that was carried out in February. Adams’ handling of crime had a disapproval rate of only 35% then, meaning it has increased by 20%. That should be a worrying statistic for the mayor.
Mayor Adams is seeing lower rates of approval across the board. The poll found that he currently has an approval rating of 43%, which is a reduction from the 46% approval rating he had in February. His disapproval rating has increased as well going up from 27% to 37%. High disapproval rates for Adams were evident in the Bronx and Staten Island, which have high rates of 61% and 71% respectively. In terms of race, the mayor is looking at disapproval rates that are mostly in the Hispanic and White demographics. 59% of Hispanics disapprove, while 55% of the White population feel the same. Adams saw an almost even split in the black community with 46% approving while 45% disapproved.
The New York City subway system has been a major challenge for the mayor as well as citizens. It has become one of the most unsafe areas of the city. A majority of citizens support the deployment of more police officers on the subway to ensure the public’s safety. The same sentiment is shared regarding the installation of metal detectors, an idea that Adams has previously spoken positively about. Fabien Levy, the mayor’s spokesman, said that crime could not be reduced overnight. “New Yorkers are rightly worried about crime, which is why public safety has been Mayor Adams’ top priority since day one,” Levy said. “We are seeing movement and the crime numbers from yesterday reflect that with homicides, shootings, rapes, and hate crimes all down,” Levy said. “Mayor Adams is laser-focused on reversing the failures of the previous administration while fighting back against failed reforms to the state’s justice system and irresponsible laws that flood our city with out-of-state guns.”
The NYPD statistics for April showed a drop in gun violence while major crimes remained high. Gun crimes dropped by 30%, showing an effect of some of the solutions put in place by the mayor but they were still higher than pre-pandemic numbers. Major crimes such as burglaries, robberies, and felony assaults occurred more frequently, increasing by 34.2% overall. Murder statistics reduced by 38% year on year. The mayor has made a notable effort to fight crime but it seems the citizens of New York desire viable and effective solutions. The Quinnipiac Poll involved 1,249 voters and was carried out from April 28 until May 2.
