NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams says the city has been 'dysfunctional' for 'so many years,' and pledges pro-business climate

• NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams pledged a reset with the business community.
• In a Monday speech, he expressed his commitment to reversing the city's economic fortunes.
• The city's unemployment rate currently sits at 10.5%, higher than the national average of 5.4%.

Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, said on Monday that he would have a pro-business administration if elected to office, emphasizing the need to focus on quality-of-life issues such as gun violence and housing affordability that have driven many residents out of the city.

While speaking at a conference for SALT, the global leadership and networking forum focused on finance and technology, Adams told attendees that he sought a fresh approach in seeking to drive the city's economy.

"New York will no longer be anti-business," he said during the Manhattan event. "This is going to be a place where we welcome business and not turn into the dysfunctional city that we have been for so many years."

In making his comments, Adams, who won the June Democratic primary by defeating former New York City Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in the final round of the ranked-choice voting system, is promising a reset with the business community.

Adams, a former captain in the New York Police Department and the current Brooklyn Borough President, has emphasized the need to combat violent crime, especially as the city continues to navigate the pandemic and the economic devastation left behind during last year's massive decline in tourism and monthslong business closures.

"All across our country, gangs and guns are destroying the foundations of not only public safety, but business," he said. "No one is coming to New York if a three-year-old is shot in Times Square."

In the speech, Adams said that he hoped to improve public safety and build innovation in the city, while forging a relationship with business leaders as the city continues to face many challenging economic issues.

In July 2021, New York City's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 10.5%, a 0.1% decline from the previous month and an 8% decline from July 2020, according to the New York State Department of Labor. However, the city's joblessness rate is still nearly double the national unemployment rate of 5.4%.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has led the city since 2014, responded to Adams' remarks, emphasizing his business bona fides and commitment to the city's economic recovery.

"I'm very confident that what we've done in New York City is supported businesses while also supporting working people - and striking that balance, in particularly during the Covid era, bending over backwards to help the business community come back strong," he said.

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and former White House communications director for the Trump administration, lauded Adams as a "warrior for the city" and the "right person at the right time at the right place for New York City."

Adams said that US cities often employ a "whac-a-mole" system in addressing longstanding problems, something he lamented during his address.

"We are dysfunctional as a city in New York and dysfunctional as a country," he said.

The Democratic nominee expressed his desire to make the city the "the center of cybersecurity" and build on investments in green jobs.

In the November general election, Adams will face Republican Curtis Sliwa.