Eric Adams only barely squeaked through the primary, and even that was after literally four other forerunners either dropped out of the race or became embroiled in their own personal scandals.
As further evidence that the mayoral race was somewhat of a fluke, the same ballot also included many other citywide and local races, and more progressive candidates swept those races citywide, many of whom ran on platforms that explicitly promised to take on the NYPD.
Eric Adams didn't win because people wanted more NYPD power in city government; he won because he happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Compared to who - Garcia? Sure, but that's not surprising. The point is that the top four frontrunners were already eliminated, figuratively or literally, by the time the primary happened.
> and from speaking to many Bronxites, they absolutely wanted to see more cops on the streets and cops on the subways
It's easy to find anecdotes, but the facts show how people voted, and with the exception of the mayoral race, they consistently and overwhelming voted for candidates who promised to reign in the NYPD.
Nope, Adams's closest competitor in the Bronx was Wiley, but he still did about twice as well as she did in the first round. Adams was the first choice candidate for 45% of voters in the Bronx, the highest of any borough.
> It's easy to find anecdotes, but the facts show how people voted, and with the exception of the mayoral race, they consistently and overwhelming voted for candidates who promised to reign in the NYPD.
... which suggests to me that people are capable of voting for different candidates for different things, and that people have different expectations out of each. My district overwhelmingly sent AOC to Congress - and Adams to City Hall, beating out AOC endorsed Wiley 2:1.
> the facts show how people voted, and with the exception of the mayoral race, they consistently and overwhelming voted for candidates who promised to reign in the NYPD.
I don't see it quite the same way. People have different priorities and can pick and choose candidates accordingly. AOC's views on Congressional matters aligns with voters in my district, and they overwhelmingly supported her for Congress. Her views on the NYPD do not align with voters in my district, but they're not under her purview, so it doesn't matter. I can say that in my district when it comes to local matters, public safety is the number one priority, and that they look to the cops for support. At every public town hall meeting I've been to in my neighborhood, there have been demands for increased police presence, not less. I should also point out that a majority of the district is black/hispanic.