“We have lived through two years of continuous crisis and that insults our very nature as New Yorkers. The crisis tells us that it is in charge. That it is in control. The crisis wants to tell us we can be happy, when we can be sad, when we can work and how we can enjoy our city. The crisis wants to tell us how to live,” Adams, a Democrat, said during remarks at City Hall.
“But there is one thing everyone knows about New Yorkers: We don’t like anyone telling us what to do,” he added. “This will be our New Year’s resolution: We will not be controlled by crisis.”
Adams went on to say that getting vaccinated against Covid-19 “is not letting the crisis control you” and that doing things like going to Broadway shows and returning to offices “are declarations of confidence that our city is our own.”
He took his oath of office holding up a framed photograph of his mother, Dorothy, and resting his hand on a family Bible.
“I, Eric Adams, do solemnly swear, that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of New York, and the charter of the city of New York, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the mayor of the city of New York, to the best of my abilities, so help me God,” he repeated after Associate Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix.
The retired New York Police Department captain, who embraced a public safety message during his campaign, will be the second Black mayor in the city’s history, after the late David Dinkins.
He defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa in the November election.
During his speech on Saturday, Adams zeroed in on crime in New York, saying he plans to “put more resources into stopping violent crime while I work with (the police) commissioner (Keechant) Sewell to bring reform to our police department.”
This story has been updated with Adams’ remarks.
