Adams rips de Blasio administration: ‘Left the house in total disarray’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) accused the previous mayor, Bill de Blasio (D), and his administration of leaving the city in “total disarray.” 

During a news conference on Wednesday, Adams lashed out at the recent criticism from former top aides in the de Blasio administration about the way Adams is running the city, noting Adams’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, education and ongoing issues at the Rikers Island correctional facility, according to The New York Times. 

“I am so tired of the previous administration and their antics,” Adams said at the news conference, noting the ongoing issues plaguing the city after de Blasio’s eight-year tenure as mayor ended. 

Adams, who is in his second year in the position, succeeded de Blasio as New York mayor after being sworn in on New Year’s Day 2022. 

“But we have the previous administration that just left the house! They just left! They left the house in total disarray!” Adams said, according to the New York Post. “And then they come and say, ‘Look at the mess … that you created, Eric.’ No! It’s the mess we inherited.”

“They had eight years to do their job — eight years to fix Rikers, eight years to deal with crime, eight years to deal with education, eight years to deal with early childhood education for children with disabilities, eight years to fix NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority],” Adams added, the Times reported. “They had all that time to do their job.”

In response to Adams’s remarks, de Blasio shared that he has spoken with the current mayor about the difficulties of running the city, advising the public to hope that Adams can succeed as mayor “and should help in any way we can.” 

“I sympathize with his frustration with certain critics but want to emphasize this: no one speaks for me but me,” de Blasio wrote in a Twitter thread. “Finally, for all the members of my team who served this city with tremendous devotion, especially during the pandemic, I want to thank you. You made this city better.”

In a statement to the Times, Bill Neidhardt, who served as de Blasio’s press secretary during the former mayor’s second term in office and was referred to by Adams as the “worst comms guy in the history of communication,” told the newspaper that it is fair to criticize Adams’s record on issues. 

“Every New Yorker has a right to speak out when Mayor Adams slashes school budgets, raises rents and echoes right-wing talking points,” Neidhardt told the Times. “Instead of whining and attacking his constituents, the mayor should tackle the crises working people face every day in our city. Grow up.”