Mayor Eric Adams Rallies on His ‘Historic’ Milestones at Rockaway Town Hall

By Kami-Leigh Agard

Despite Mayor Eric Adams’ prospects for a second term continuing to sour in the polls—last Wednesday, March 19, droves of locals lined up to enter P.S./M.S. 42 in Arverne for a mayoral town hall where they could not just voice, but get their concerns answered by Hizzoner himself. From the peninsula’s overall infrastructure, encroaching real estate development, healthcare, the City of Yes, education and more—Adams and his cohort of deputy mayors, agency commissioners and administrators were all on board to address community concerns. However, the mayor got a prime opportunity to campaign on why he’s right not just right for Rockaway, but all of NYC.

Adams turned on the charm by sharing his first love for Rockaway began with a “shorty.”

“There’s a real history for me here in Rockaway. I had a ‘shorty’ that lived out here, and I used to come out taking that long A-Train ride in the cold. Love is blind. I did not have a car, and one or two times I did not have a token. So, yes, I did jump off the turnstile,” he laughed, reminding the audience, “The statute of limitations is over.”

Hizzoner then launched into a campaign speech, boasting how “NYC has thrived,” since his first day in office on January 1, 2022.

Amongst his self-proclaimed records, Adams shared:

“On January 1, 2022, when I became mayor, what did I inherit?  Employment was down. Also, remember COVID? Everyone was pushing back on NYC keeping schools open, while the safest place for a child was in school, so, we ignored that noise. Unemployment in black and brown communities was four times the rate of the white community; foster care children were aging out, slipping through the cracks.

“NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority) did not have high speed broadband for students. At NYCHA developments, we were handing out masks. People were asking me, ‘Why are you giving masks to those people?’ I was knocking on doors in the midst of COVID. I discovered when the doors opened, there were children who did not have access to high-speed broadband. Mothers couldn’t do telemedicine. As for jobs, the city was hurting. Crime was going through the roof. No one wanted to be on the subway system. We were not building affordable housing at the rate that we deserve. You looked across the city and wondered, ‘Where are we going?’

On the crime front—Adams, a former ranked NYPD captain, state senator and Brooklyn borough president—announced that within his current three-year tenure as NYC’s 110th mayor—the Big Apple is on its way. He shared some stats: “Eighty thousand illegal vehicles removed off our streets, including moped dirt bikes. NYC has thrived. Over four million people take the subway every day. You know how many felonies we have on our subway? Six on average a day, out of 4.6 million New Yorkers. Plus, we have over a thousand cops placed on the subway, including overnight.”

The Brooklyn brogue-tongued mayor also shined light about how under his tenure, NYC has solidified its status as a shining urban city on the hill for all urban cities dotting the U.S.

“We removed 8,000 people that were living on our subway system and gave them access to care. When I got elected, I went into the streets by myself and visited people inside these encampments and cardboard boxes. I saw human waste. I saw drug paraphernalia, the schizophrenic, bipolar ill. I went back to the team, and I said, ‘We are not going to allow people to live on our streets.’”

Regarding migrants/asylum seekers, Adams reported that 230,000 migrants have entered NYC at a rate of 4,000 a week.

“We were required by law to house, clothe and educate 40,000 migrant children. And we did it in a dignified way. Not one family or child slept on the streets of the city of New York. Over 190,000 are now out of our care, moved on to the next step of their journey.

As another guffaw came from the packed room at P.S./M.S. 42, Adams stood by his pledge that he’s the best mayor for NYC.

However, Adenike Cumberland, a member of The Heart of Rockaway (THOR) Civic, expressed how Rockaway’s heart continues to be not just neglected, but broken.

She shared, “As a summer haven, we feel forgotten when it isn’t beach season. Our infrastructure is crumbling and there is a complete lack of attention and maintenance. Our 3-1-1 complaints are, more often than not, closed without resolution. The sidewalks are crumbling, particularly under Rockaway Freeway by Beach 72nd Street, where our students use it as a safe walkway. And around the numerous city-owned properties on the peninsula, the lack of attention by the buildings and the zoning department allows numerous commercial businesses to illegally operate in residential neighborhoods. Plus, with more development, comes more 5-G towers. Lastly, our children, particularly in our pre-K special education programs, are not receiving their mandated speech and occupational services because of a quote-unquote lack of providers.”

Adams asked, “Did these issues start in the last three years?” Cumberland responded, “No.”

Adams conjectured, “So, this has been systemic problem. So, we need to put together a solid working group with your council person and map out a plan to identify each one of those items that you laid out. And when you say that businesses are opening without the proper permit, we need to be specific so we can bring in the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Department of Buildings (DOB) and our other teams to address them.”

Another attendee expressed his concerns about the closing of the Neponsit Adult Day Health Center. He asked, “Can the city partner with NYC Health + Hospitals (HHS) for some type of subsidy or tax credit? HHS indicated the main reason for closing the center is because of financial debt.”

Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals, said it all boils down to numbers. “The adult daycare center represents a different kind of challenge for HHS. At one time, there were almost 150 of these programs, but now it’s down to about 20 across the five boroughs. And the reason is that the program only fits a small number of people who need healthcare and socialization. That’s why we’ve been a tremendous supporter of Rockaway, needing much more healthcare options.”

Community Board 14 District Manager Felicia Johnson interjected, “The issue is that only four or five insurances are accepted at these adult care centers. So, this goes back to the state. The challenge is the medical model versus the social model. When they’re trying to send clients to social models, it defeats the purpose of going to a medical model. We are a peninsula with over 5,000 nursing home and adult home beds. I was a director of social work skilled nursing 35 years before I became CB 14 district manager. No one ever came to any of the facilities I worked in to market the program. The issue is the insurances.”