Just Hours After Being Sworn in, NYC’s New Mayor Dials 911 to Report Violence

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams began his first day in office Saturday, calling 911 to report a brawl in a Brooklyn train station.

Hours after being sworn in shortly after midnight, Adams was standing on a platform of the J train subway station when he noticed three men arguing among themselves, according to the New York Post. Adams was en route to City Hall in Manhattan and appeared to be traveling without a security detail, accompanied only by journalists, the Post reported.

Within what Adams said was “only a matter of time,” the three men’s argument turned into a fistfight. The escalation prompted the freshly minted mayor to dial 911, reporting “an assault in progress of three males,” according to the newspaper. Adam had to clarify that it was an “assault in progress” not a “past assault,” after the emergency service operator misunderstood him.

Police officers arrived in two squad cars five minutes after the phone call, the Post reported. But by then, the men who were in the scuffle left. Eventually, the cops left as well, without probing into what had occurred. The officers should have “made inquiries,” Adams said, according to the Post.

The mayor is a retired police captain who had served in the New York City Transit Police and the New York City Police Department for over 20 years.

“Once a transit cop always a transit cop,” Adams said during Saturday’s incident, according to the Post.

Adams on Saturday became the 110th mayor of New York City, replacing former Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The progressive ex-cop defeated his Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa by garnering 67.4 percent of all votes in the November mayoral election, according to election results shared by Politico. Adams won a majority of the votes in all boroughs of the city except Staten Island, where Sliwa won 66.5 percent of the votes and Adams 28.8 percent in that borough.

HAPPENING NOW: @NYCMayor Eric Adams delivers his first address to New Yorkers from City Hall. https://t.co/XWeuAaauKJ

— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) January 1, 2022

Promising to be the “people’s candidate,” Adams has stressed that the safety of the city is one of his top priorities after taking office, according to the mayor’s campaign website.

By the end of 2021, New York City witnessed almost 500 homicides, a number that has never been reached in the last 10 years, according to the Post. The high murder count is part of a trend where the number of fatal incidents has been growing since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the outlet reported.

The 2021 homicide count represents a 52 percent leap from numbers before the pandemic, the New York Daily News reported. There was also a rise in rapes, robberies, assaults and car theft in 2021, police noted, according to the newspaper.

“Overall index crime in New York City increased by 21.3% in November 2021, compared with November 2020 (10,186 v. 8,396). Burglary saw a 5.7% decrease for November 2021 (1,266 v. 1,342), Robbery increased by 24.1% (1,418 v. 1,143) and Felony Assault increased by 11.2 % (1,868 v. 1,680),” the New York City Police reported in December 2021. “Through November 2021, overall index crime year-to-date increased by 3.4% compared to 2020.”

Adams vowed to employ “targeted initiatives” to help fight city crime, according to a copy of his safety plan published on his campaign website. The plan entails zeroing in on violent crimes, especially those involving firearms.