“Every New Yorker has the right to speak out as Mayor Adams cuts school budgets, raises rents and echoes right-wing talking points,” Neidhardt said. “Instead of whining and attacking his constituents, the mayor should address the crises workers face every day in our city. To grow up.”
Mr. Adams received widespread criticism in his freshman year, including allegations of cronyism in his hiring practices and budget cuts to schools and libraries. He faced a fresh wave of outrage on Tuesday when he said there was “no more room in the hostel” for migrants arriving in waves from the country’s southern border.
Mr. Adams’ scathing commentary on the de Blasio administration comes even though the two are political allies who have risen to power in the same Brooklyn power circles. Mr. de Blasio quietly supported Mr. Adams in the competitive Democratic mayoral primary in 2021 and worked behind the scenes to help elect him.
However, substantial differences emerged. Mr. Adams has decided not to expand Mr. de Blasio’s popular preschool program to 3-year-olds; raises questions about closure of Rikers Island prison complex on Mr. de Blasio; he revived a controversial anti-gun police unit that was disbanded under Mr. de Blasio.
Mr. de Blasio did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
As mayor, Mr. Adams has repeatedly criticized the de Blasio administration for leaving him major problems in governing the city, including curtailing garbage collection and increasing crime rates. Last summer, Mr. Adams told the New York Post that after reviewing the city’s operations he was “shocked” to learn how “ugly this place is.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Adams continued to claim he’s inherited a mess.
“They had eight years to do their job: eight years to fix the 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,” he told reporters. “They’ve had all this time to do their job.”
“And they did it?” a reporter asked.
“No,” laughed the mayor.
Stu Loeser, press secretary for former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said he understood why Mr. Adams was frustrated with criticism from de Blasio officials, noting that Mr. Bloomberg had a policy of not criticizing Mr. de Blasio and had encouraged his co-workers. resist even doing that, even if they weren’t always listening.
