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From G&T To Vaccine Mandates, Here Are Some De Blasio Policies Eric Adams Will Likely Change As NYC Mayor
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Elizabeth Kim
Published Oct 18, 2021
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Elizabeth Kim / Gothamist
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Oct 18, 2021
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With Mayor Bill de Blasio facing less than three months left in office, questions are intensifying about what current administration policies the next leader of City Hall plans to undo. Early voting starts this Saturday, but in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly seven-to-one, Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams is overwhelmingly expected to emerge the victor. A former New York City police officer, Adams has focused his campaign on his plan to increase police officers to combat crime. But his recent public remarks, including those at a Monday roundtable with the city's community and ethnic press, have signaled that he intends to take a different approach on a wide range of policy matters.
Here are some hot-button de Blasio policies where New Yorkers might expect to see some sharp changes.
G&T Is Likely To Stay, But Possibly In A Different Form
De Blasio's announcement that the city would scrap the city's gifted and talented program was praised by education experts as a long-overdue shakeup that could help alleviate racial segregation in public schools—more than 75% of the 16,000 students in G&T programs are white or Asian even though Black and Latino students make up roughly 70% of the total enrollment. But the decision also drew angry protests from parents and elected officials who say the program offers advanced students a more challenging curriculum as well as an alternative to underperforming schools, mostly in low-income communities.
Adams recently told CNN that the decision was ultimately not up to the current mayor and said that he plans not only to keep the program but to expand it. “There’s a new mayor next year, that mayor must evaluate how he’s going to deal with the gifted and talented program,” he said last Friday.
He reiterated his comments at the roundtable on Monday, when the first question posed was about the fate of the gifted program.
"I'm going to sit down with stakeholders, parents, teachers, educators, and we're going to expand access to gifted and talented programs, and make sure that we don't do what we've done in the past: far too few seats are available in certain zip codes in the city. That is unfair," he said.
Adams also wants to change the way the test is administered, which is offered to children starting at age 4 through 7. Families, however, must opt-in to take the test. On Monday, he said, "Instead of parents having to navigate the complexities of taking the test or signing up for the test," it should be given to all students. Adams added that he wants public schools to implement more screening in general for learning disabilities like dyslexia.
"We need to be leaning into those students who have barriers to learning," Adams said.
So will there be a test next year? Timing will be tricky. The test is typically offered in January, but there is currently no contract in place with a testing provider and it is not clear if the current city education panel, which voted down renewing the contract, would be willing to reverse its decision.
Adams's campaign recently told the New York Times that he was looking at delaying or changing next year's test.
Another wrinkle is the fact that mayoral control of New York City's more than 1,870 public schools is set to lapse at the end of June 2022. Like his predecessors, Adams will have to ask the state legislature for an extension.
Vaccine Mandates For City School Children And Municipal Workers
In another departure from de Blasio, Adams has recently said he would consider imposing a vaccination mandate for all city school children once the vaccine receives full regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration. He has pointed to the current slate of required school immunizations against diseases such as polio, measles and mumps. “We already have a system in place that states before you start school, you receive your vaccination. It is to protect the child and the student population," he told WCBS 880 last week.
Adams later stressed that he would also rely on recommendations from the city's Department of Health and his team of health experts. "We must have real science determined the outcome of how do we make sure our babies and our families are protected," he said Monday.
Under de Blasio, New York City teachers are required to get vaccinated, but not students. Currently, children between the ages of 12 and 17 can get vaccinated, and a shot for those between 5 and 11 is expected to be approved as early as the end of October. Other places, including the entire state of California, have announced mandates for school children, but de Blasio has repeatedly said that the city should focus on getting all students to return and not penalize those whose parents do not want them vaccinated.
The city is not releasing data on how many public school students have been vaccinated, but the mayor on Monday said 76% of city children—or roughly 407,000—have received at least one dose.
Similarly, Adams has also said he is open to stricter mandates for city employees, who can currently opt for weekly testing instead of getting vaccinated.
A 'New Relationship' With The NYPD
In his last few months, de Blasio has tried to make the case that the city has turned the corner when it comes to climbing levels of crime that began during the pandemic. But while the number of shootings in recent weeks have indeed come down compared to last year, violent crime has persisted in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. Meanwhile, an increase in thefts in the subway system and stories of assaults have continued to give way to unnerving headlines.
As previously stated, Adams has made it no secret that he intends to make sweeping changes to the deployment and culture of the New York City Police Department. He has said he wants to increase police presence in communities, through both the return of a plainclothes unit of officers targeting violent crime and gangs and by having more police in the subways, something which de Blasio has already done.
Read More: Eric Adams Wants To Bring Back The NYPD’s Most Controversial Unit
But in recent weeks, the former police captain has spoken about a plan to "hit reset" between City Hall and police officers, a not-so-subtle reference to the fraught relationship between de Blasio and the NYPD.
On Monday, Adams pledged that upon getting elected he intends to visit every police precinct in the city. "We're going to start a new relationship," he said. "I'm going to have the backs of my police officers."
At the same time, he warned that he would expedite the removal of abusive officers like Daniel Pantaleo, who killed Eric Garner with an illegal chokehold in 2014 but whose firing took five years.
Rezonings For All?
Since the early months of his primary campaign, Adams has said he is in favor of rezonings in wealthier neighborhoods like SoHo, which is currently undergoing a bitterly contested battle. Along with the anticipated City Council approval of the Gowanus rezoning in Brooklyn, SoHo could represent the site of de Blasio's final affordable housing push.
In recent weeks, Adams has leaned further into the idea of doubling down on rezonings of affluent areas.
"We have to all chip in," he told reporters on Monday.
He has pointed out stretches in Manhattan south of 42nd Street, and between Ninth Avenue and Park Avenue, as being ripe for some affordable housing.
Under de Blasio, city officials have argued that low-income neighborhoods offered cost-effective opportunities for developers to build more affordable units. But some tenant and community advocates have argued that those rezonings have only hastened gentrification by providing affordable units that were largely out of reach to the area's current residents.
Adams has embraced the same view. "We're going into poor communities, upzoning those areas, and displacing long-term tenants," he said Monday.
Tagged
election 2021
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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