NEW YORK — Is New York Mayor Eric Adams’ political honeymoon over?
Adams’ approval rating has dropped on nearly all issues — including public safety, which he has made the top priority of his nascent administration, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The Quinnipiac University poll, which quizzed 1,249 registered voters in New York City, found that 43% of New Yorkers approve of Adams’ overall job as mayor — down from the 46% he clinched when the same survey was conducted in February.
One of the poll’s most revealing statistics is on crime, with 54% of New Yorkers now disapproving of Adams’ handling of the issue, compared with 37% who approve of it. In the February survey, 49% of New Yorkers approved of Adams’ crimefighting agenda, while 35% disapproved.
In response to the latest poll, Adams spokesman Fabien Levy said New Yorkers “are rightly worried about crime.”
”But reducing crime in the city won’t happen overnight,” he said.
Levy also laid some blame on reform-minded legislators in Albany and former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
”Mayor Adams is laser-focused on reversing the failures of the previous administration while fighting back against failed reforms to the state’s justice system and irresponsible laws that flood our city with out of state guns,” Levy said.
The mayor is seeing his support fade on other issues beyond crime, including pandemic response — with 53% approving and 37% disapproving, compared with a 61% to 28% split in February, according to the new poll.
The lowest mark Adams got in the survey was on his handling of homelessness, with 56% of New Yorkers disapproving of it, and 31% approving. Since the February survey, Adams’ administration has launched a crackdown on street homeless encampments panned by critics as cruel and counterproductive.
Though the rates of murders, shootings, hate crimes and rapes saw some modest drops this week, crime statistics overall remain high. That’s in spite of the fact that Adams has rolled out a number of crimefighting initiatives, including the reintroduction of a modified version of the NYPD’s controversial plainclothes units.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted between April 28 and this past Monday.
Mary Snow, a Quinnipiac polling analyst who helped conduct the survey, said the horrific subway shooting that took place in Brooklyn on April 12 likely contributed to some of the poll’s plummeting metrics.
“In the wake of April’s mass shooting on the subway along with an increase in major crimes, confidence slips in the mayor being able to reduce gun violence,” Snow said.
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