Editor’s note: The rats don’t run the city, the cops do

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, since he was elected, has proclaimed he’s been “getting stuff done.” Last week, the administration’s big news was a crackdown on “ghost cars,” which brought some attention away from the various ongoing federal investigations of the mayor’s inner circle and the New York City Police Department. However, the mayor’s main priority during his tenure so far seems to be his efforts to help the NYPD. A biggie was a new contract with the city’s largest police union in April, all in the hopes of reversing years of poor morale and an exodus of officers. There was also former Police Commissioner Edward Caban’s last-minute rollback of disciplinary measures for police misconduct. Let’s also not forget department upgrades, like surveillance robots and plans for a new Public Safety Academy in Queens.

New Yorkers wanted a mayor who was tough on crime when Adams was elected, and the end result? They now have a cop mayor. It seems more and more like the NYPD is running the city these days, with Adams at the top and controversial public safety senior adviser Tim Pearson and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks, both former police, at his side. “It doesn't surprise me that Mayor Adams seems to assume his buddies from the NYPD are ready to audit multibillion-dollar procurements, manage the city's real estate portfolio, supervise migrant shelters and so on,” said political commentator Errol Louis. “There's a common delusion among many cops that they have some secret, superior knowledge of how to solve nearly every urban problem.” It’s only a matter of time before they move City Hall into One Police Plaza.