Dear Mr. Mayor-Elect Adams,
Congratulations on winning one of the most challenging jobs in the world. I honestly hope that you will be the mayor our city desperately needs right now. In my 30 years as a New Yorker, I’ve personally witnessed our mayors’ power in shaping the city – the good, bad, and the ugly.
Good news for you, the bar for mayoral success in our city is very low, and you have only one way to go. Bad news, you have a lot of work ahead. Meaningful work. And you have to start now.
To be a successful mayor of our city, you gotta have a big set of balls. This is not a job for the faint of heart or for someone that lacks conviction. You don’t have time to pander to special interests – to the left nor the right. The people of this city need you – all the people. We are all tired of the bullshit – rich, poor, black, white, men, women, and everyone in between. We need a city that works and a mayor that cares – and policies that make fucking sense.
Hint: Act like a wealthy billionaire who marches to the beat of his drum. Be socially liberal but fiscally responsible and let science and facts guide your decisions – not special interests. I’m hoping you do what’s best for our city and deliver on your campaign promises.
I’m sure you read Padkos (and I appreciate the support), so here are three things that I believe almost all New Yorkers would like to see you do as mayor...
- Fill our retail stores: The heartbeat of our city starts on the street. Right now, our streets are a mess. One-third of our storefronts sit empty after being decimated by a three-headed monster – Amazon. COVID, and taxes. It would help if we incentivized landlords to lease their stores and retailers to try. If our retail stores fill up, people will shop, pay sales tax, and the sidewalks won’t be a magnet for graffiti and crime. If you take care of this, a lot of good things will follow. We need to move on this – now.
- Homeless: I don’t know anyone who ever wanted to be homeless. Our streets are filled with over 50,000 human beings that do not have homes. Many are hungry, angry, hostile, and suffer from mental illness. They need our help, and we need a plan. Even more upsetting is that 15,000 of these people are children. We need to fund the organizations that are equipped to help. A place like the Union Settlement Association in East Harlem is just one example of an organization that can help us find a way to help our fellow New Yorkers – but they can’t do it alone. We need to move on this – now.
- Reduce crime: As a long-time member of the police community, I know you care about the safety of our city. Crime makes or breaks a city. It begins and ends with that issue. And we need everyone to feel safe – not just the visitors or the folks on the UES. Everyone. The success of your administration will ride or die on this issue. But we need to move on this – now.
I do not envy the task ahead. I don’t even know where you begin. In my 30 years here, I have never felt the need for more urgent action than right now. The lives of 8 million people are in your hands. We are all here to help and do our part. But we have real challenges ahead, and they will define this city for future generations of New Yorkers – the ones born in Queens, who will never leave this city, and the ones born in Johannesburg, who give all they have to come. But we need to move on this – and now.
Let’s do this.
-Shaun