61-year-old Democrat Eric Adams, as planned, crushed Republican rival Curtis Sliwa, 67, according to preliminary results from the city's election office, becoming New York's second African-American mayor.
Eric Adams won 67% of the votes cast against around 27% for Curtis Sliwa, in a city classified on the left but where the economic and social inequalities between different communities are extremely marked.
"Tonight, I realized my dream and, with all my heart, I will remove the barriers that prevent you from achieving yours", launched the new city councilor, all smiles, white shirt and thumbs up in front of his supporters gathered in a Brooklyn hotel.
Read alsoUnited States: Democrat Eric Adams handily wins New York City Hall
This victory is in fact a consecration for Eric Adams, raised by disadvantaged parents from Brooklyn and Queens where he experienced delinquency and violent police arrests before becoming a police captain and creating a union to fight against racism. . He then entered politics, elected local Democrat of the State and the City of New York, stepping stone towards the town hall. The successor to the unpopular Bill de Blasio will manage the largest municipal budget in the United States: $ 98.7 billion for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Eric Adams will also have control over the largest police force in the country (NYPD, 36,000 employees), whose reforms he will have to pursue, but without alienating his former powerful and unionized body of origin.
Because in its history, the New York police force has often been accused of turning a blind eye to violent, racist and corrupt agents.
And she was again the target of complaints in 2020 for the crackdown on anti-racist protests by the Black Lives Matter movement, after the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
In a city that has paid a heavy price for the pandemic (35,000 dead), Eric Adams will have to manage the return to normal of schools, offices and businesses.
Also fight against glaring social inequalities, poor housing, poor infrastructure, climate risks.
Finally close Rikers Island, a terrible overcrowded, ultra-violent and unsanitary prison.
Eric Adams is very proud to have gone vegan in 2016 to treat his diabetes and has written a cookbook to convince African Americans to do the same.
