This Year, Let’s Respond to How New Yorkers Feel
This year, as legislators return to Albany, the talk of the town is “public safety” and “affordability.” In 2025, New York state leaders are coalescing around the opportunity to deliver real solutions for what’s been keeping working-class New Yorkers –– and Americans –– up at night.
What have our constituents been calling for? It’s simple, really: a feeling of safety and security. No matter how much our crime numbers continue to drop –– and they have, with a nearly 3 percent reduction in overall crime and 5 percent reduction on the subways in 2024 –– New Yorkers must feel safe walking down our streets and riding on public transportation. And no matter how well our economy has rebounded –– and it has, with more jobs and small businesses than ever before in our city’s history and double-digit drops in Black and Latino unemployment –– New Yorkers need to feel a sense of financial security amid a housing and affordability crisis.
Here’s how we can deliver common sense changes that New Yorkers will see and feel:
First, we must address the severe mental health issues that are facing us on our streets and subways. For three years, our administration has publicly called for and urged the state to take action that will make it easier for us to deliver help to those suffering from severe mental illness — even in cases when they do not recognize that they need assistance. This is the compassionate and right thing to do, not just for our safety but for our brothers and sisters who are languishing on the streets and in our subways unable to help themselves. We have been championing legislation known as the Supportive Interventions Act, which will make clear in the law that someone who exhibits mental illness and cannot meet their basic needs, qualifies for involuntary treatment. It will also help ensure people stay in a hospital until they are truly ready for discharge and ensure they get the life-saving supports they deserve. We are encouraged that Governor Hochul has already expressed strong support for this approach and look forward to taking lasting action on this issue.
Next, we need to make simple, common sense changes to the criminal justice system, which will speed up cases and help prevent repeat offenders from doing further harm to the community. For example, changes made to state discovery laws in 2019 affected how prosecutors share evidence with defendants. Those changes unintentionally made it much harder for prosecutors, who are required by law to provide the discovery information, to do their job. The massive volume of required discovery – much of which is not relevant to the current charge – must be turned over to defendants, which burdens the system, causing serious offenses to be dismissed due to technicalities and minor mistakes in production of materials. We are asking for real change through discovery reform to preserve the best parts of the 2019 reforms, while reducing undue burdens on our prosecutors, so we can speed up criminal cases, achieve swift and fair justice, and keep recidivists from endangering New Yorkers or their property.
Finally, we need legislative support for our proposal to ‘Axe the Tax for the Working Class‘ proposal. This plan would eliminate the New York City Personal Income Tax for families living at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line, and cut it for those right above the line, and put a total of $63 million back into the pockets of over half a million working-class people across the state. At a moment when our state faces a historic affordability crisis, this kind of bold action would make a meaningful difference for hundreds of thousands of working-class people.
These proposals aren’t so idealistic that they’re not realistic. They’re pragmatic solutions that can move the needle for New Yorkers. Over the last three years, we’ve shown that we can deliver meaningful legislative wins.
Last year, we won major victories on every single one of our legislative priorities. We worked closely with Governor Hochul to pass historic legislation that protects tenants and gives our city new tools to build the affordable housing New Yorkers need and deserve; we won the continuation of mayoral accountability of schools — for a second time; we gained the legal authority to close down illegal cannabis shops, which has resulted in over 1,300 shops closed in less than nine months; we secured $2.4 billion for migrant support; and we passed legislation on red-light cameras and e-bikes that continues to keep our streets safe. To date, one of our major victories in Albany has been our successful advocacy for an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which helped put over $345 million back in the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and their families last tax year.
New Yorkers want to see changes that make them feel safe and secure. For too long, too many have been unwilling to take action on commonsense reforms that would allow us to address severe mental health needs and keep repeat offenders off our streets. As the legislative session begins, we are hoping to, once again, work with our partners in the state as we fight to make New York a safer, more affordable city, and the best place to live and raise a family.
Eric Adams is the mayor of New York City
