New York City Elects Former NYPD Captain As Next Mayor, Vows Police Reform Will Happen

New York, NY – New York City elected Brooklyn Borough President and former New York Police Department (NYPD) Captain Eric Adams as mayor of the Big Apple on Tuesday.

Adams had handily defeated Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, with 67 percent of the vote, when the race was called at about 9 p.m. on Nov. 2, the New York Post reported.

Sliwa carried just 28 percent of the vote with 92 percent of precincts reporting.

He conceded the race at about 9:45 p.m. and Adams took to the stage at his own victory party, the New York Post reported.

“The people of our city have spoken, and tonight, New York has chosen — one of you, one of your own. I am you,” Adams told the crowd after he had taken a knee on the stage with his hands folded in prayer. “After years of praying and hoping and struggling and working, we are headed to City Hall.

“This campaign was for those who have been betrayed by their government,” he continued. “There is a covenant between government and the people of our city: You pay your taxes, we deliver your tax dollars through goods and services. We have failed to provide those goods and services — Jan. 1, that stops. That stops!”

Adams campaigned with stories of growing up in the city unsure about whether “they would come home to an eviction notice on the front door or food on the table,” CBS News reported.

“For a young man from South Jamaica, Queens who grew up with all of the challenges that every New Yorker faces, tonight is not just a victory over adversity, it is a vindication of faith,” the newly-elected mayor told his supporters. “It is a proof that people of this city will love you if you love them.”

Adams has told the story many times of how he decided he would become a police officer and eventually mayor after he was mistreated by NYPD officers, CBS News reported.

“My mother cleaned houses, I washed dishes, I was beaten by police as I sat in their precinct’s holding cell — certain that my future was already decided,” he said. “Now, I will be the person in charge of that precinct and every other precinct in the city of New York because I’m going to be the mayor of the city of New York.”

The former NYPD captain campaigned on making major reforms to the city’s police department based on his own experience as a black youth in the city and later as an officer.

During a mayoral forum in May, he pledged to hire a woman to run the police department if he was elected mayor, WPIX reported.

“I have three people I have communicated with,” Adams said at the time.

“What I’m looking for is a person that has a story to tell,” he continued. “I don’t want a person that does not understand what it means to have the power to take liberty from individuals and that’s what has happened far too often.”

Then the candidate explained his thought processes, the New York Post reported.

“When I sat down and communicated with these potential commissioners, I wanted their stories, I wanted their narratives — who are you as a person,” he said. “We’re so busy looking for people who are academically smart, I’m looking for people who are emotionally intelligent and that’s what I’m going to be looking for as commissioner.”

A source told the New York Post that NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes was at the top of Adams’ list.

Chief Holmes is NYPD’s first female chief of patrol, the New York Post reported.

Adams reiterated his promise to make a woman police commissioner on July 6.

NYPD currently has five female deputy commissioners and six female chiefs, WNBC reported.