Speaker Adams flexes her housing agenda in State of the City address
- The potential mayoral candidate touted her role in securing $5 billion for City of Yes
- She took swipes at Mayor Adams and Trump; pledged to protect vulnerable NYers
Speaker Adrienne E. Adams on stage after delivering her State of the City address at Lincoln Center.
Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
New York City Council Speaker and potential mayoral candidate Adrienne E. Adams took a victory lap in her fourth and final State of the City address on Tuesday at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Adams has filed paperwork with New York City’s Campaign Finance Board to form a campaign committee but has not announced her candidacy. Her speech on Thursday was preceded by nearly an hour of music and dance performances and she took care to acknowledge lawmakers in attendance, making the event feel somewhat like a rally.
$5 billion for NYC housing
“Welcome to my finale,” Adams said, before launching into a recap of her legislative successes, including her role in getting Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a rezoning and housing development plan to create 120,000 new housing units, approved by the City Council.
Speaker Adams and the City Council created a complimentary housing plan, City for All, which leveraged Mayor Adams's political weakness to add investments in affordability and home ownership programs and strengthened tenant protections, among other objectives. Her plan helped secured $5 billion in funding for the housing package.
“Too many were disconnected from the conversation because the proposal did not speak to their needs. I was determined for the Council to fill that gap and be a bridge towards progress although there was every excuse to walk away,” she said.
Fixing the voucher system
Adams took another swipe at the executive branch when she announced a new proposal to improve access to CityFHEPS, NYC’s housing voucher program.
“The purpose of government is to work through our most pressing challenges. Why lead if your default is to insist that something is too hard?” she said. “Last year I called attention to the bureaucratic obstacles and how CityFHEPS is administered,” she said, adding that the Council is releasing a set of improvements to fix the program’s administrative delays and income discrimination, as well as other issues.
In June 2023, the City Council passed four local laws aimed at removing barriers to the voucher program to reduce the shelter population. Since then, the Council has been engaged in litigation against the administration to compel compliance.
Adams also condemned President Donald Trump several times, including for his “cruelty to immigrant families and LGBTQIA-plus communities.” She promised to protect vulnerable New Yorkers from his administration.
Speaker Adams also unveiled a proposal to expand community involvement in housing development.
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