In the final weeks of his mayoralty, Eric Adams did not spend too much time focusing on New York City, instead traveling to Albania, Israel, Uzbekistan, the country of Georgia, and the city of New Orleans. But as his four years in office wrapped up this week, he came home for a whirlwind finale of Adams-isms and last-ditch efforts to shape the city in his vision.
Adams kept it light for some of his farewell, like with the video his team posted of him reading a mug of his greatest hits — “Arrested, rejected, and now I’m elected,” etc. But Adams was staying focused with no distractions and grinding for once as he vetoed 19 bills passed by City Council, including a street-vendor reform package allowing 21,000 new licenses and an act blocking federal immigration agents from having offices in buildings controlled by the New York City Department of Correction. On the final day of the year, he went even bigger, announcing a commission to review the city’s charter to determine how to make the city’s government “more responsive and transparent” — mostly by determining if open primaries are right for New York. Much of City Council was not pleased by the late executive actions, with a representative for Speaker Adrienne Adams saying that it was “no surprise that his abuses of power continued into the last day and final hours.”
On television, too, Adams had his detractors. Not long after he appeared at the Times Square ball-drop celebration praising “blockchain technology” on TV, CNN co-host Andy Cohen ripped into the outgoing mayor. “You got your pardons,” he said. “Go off into the sunset. We’ll fiddle with what we have, with what you’ve left us with.” He encouraged Adams to “go dance away” given that he “partied your way through four years.”
The next day, Adams gave it back to Cohen, accusing the producer who likes to imbibe on the New Year’s broadcast of having a problem:
So what is next for Eric Adams, the private citizen? First off, he can expect that the incoming City Council will override his 11th-hour vetoes, adding to the day-one blow from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who revoked all of Adams’s executive orders that came after his September 2024 indictment.
From there, Adams has given us a few hints. In November, he told reporters he was looking forward to luxury and not having to see them anymore. “I don’t have to deal with you guys, man,” he said. “I can fly private now, I can go on a cruise. I can hang out in St. Barts.” Whether or not he commits to his plan stated in 2021 to retire in Golan Heights, he has vowed to keep up his personal fight against antisemitism — through an unexpected medium. “I also want to use cryptocurrency to go after violence, educate our children, and really deal with antisemitism that we’re seeing globally,” Adams said on December 29.
As for more immediate plans, Adams seems focused on having a good time. On his final day in office, New York Daily News reporter Josie Stratman was asking him a series of questions about his future employment. To each question, Adams just replied, “Cigar and a single-malt Scotch.”
