Eric Adams wants to reverse many of de Blasio's decisions: what does he intend to change in the city

Bill de Blasio is less than three months away from the end of his term as mayor of New York. Therefore, questions are being raised about how the city will change under the new leadership. And although we cannot say for sure who will win the election, most experts lean towards the Democratic candidate. New York City has nearly seven times more registered Democrats than Republicans. Therefore, it is expected that Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams will come out the winner. Edition Gothamist figured out what he intends to change in New York after de Blasio.

A former NYPD officer, Adams has focused the campaign on his plan to increase the number of police officers to fight crime. In addition, many of his statements indicate that he intends to change many of the decisions and programs previously adopted by de Blasio.

Here are some of de Blasio's current rules that will likely be overturned by Adams if he becomes mayor.

Schools for the gifted are likely to remain, but perhaps in a different form

De Blasio's announcement that the city will abandon the urban program for gifted and talented children, has been assessed by education experts as a long-overdue shake-up. It can help reduce racial segregation in public schools — more than 75% of the 16 Gifted and Talented students are white or Asian, even though blacks and Hispanics make up roughly 000% of New York students. But the decision also sparked angry protests from parents and elected officials. They stated that the program offers advanced students a more challenging curriculum, and this cannot be denied.

Adams recently said that he plans to not only keep the gifted and talented student program, but expand it. “There will be a new mayor next year, and it’s this mayor who has to decide how he is going to deal with the gifted and talented program,” he said on October 15.

“I'm going to sit down at the negotiating table with stakeholders, parents, teachers, educators. And we're going to expand access to programs for gifted and talented children. We will make sure that we do not do what we did in the past. Too few places are available in certain areas of the city. This is unfair, ”he said.

Adams also wants to change the way children ages 4-7 are tested by deregistering.

“Rather than having parents understand the complexities of taking or enrolling in a test, it should be distributed to all students,” Adams said. He added that he wants more screening for learning disabilities such as dyslexia in public schools.

Will there be a test for admission to the gifted and talented program next year?

It's all about deadlines. The test is usually held in January, but there is currently no contract with the testing organizer. This contract was not renewed as de Blasio canceled the program.

Adams' headquarters are considering postponing or changing the test next year.

But there is another catch. The mayor's control over more than 1870 public schools in New York will expire at the end of June 2022. And this is another problem. Like his predecessors, Adams will have to apply to the state legislature for an extension of this deadline.

Vaccination of schoolchildren and municipal employees

Adams recently said he would consider introducing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for everyone. schoolchildren of the cityas soon as the vaccine receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. He pointed to the current list of mandatory school immunizations against such diseases like polio, measles and mumps.

“We already have a system that says that before you go to school, you will be vaccinated. This is to protect all students, ”Adams said.

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Adams later stressed that he would also rely on advice from the city's Department of Health and its team of health experts.

“We need to get science to determine the outcome of how to protect our children and our families,” he said.

Children from 5 to 11 will be vaccinated

According to de Blasio's decision, teachers in New York are required to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but not students. Currently, children between the ages of 12 and 17 can be vaccinated. It is expected that vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 will be approved by the end of October.

Elsewhere, including the entire state of California, COVID-19 vaccination mandates have been announced for schoolchildren. But de Blasio has repeatedly stated that the city should focus on the return of all students to school premises. In his opinion, those whose parents do not want them to be vaccinated should not be punished.

The city does not release data on how many public school students have been vaccinated. The mayor announced on October 18 that 76% of the city's children (12-17 years old) - or roughly 407 - received at least one dose.

Additionally, Adams said he is open to stricter vaccination requirements for city employees. They can currently opt for weekly testing over COVID-19 vaccination.

"New relationship" with NYPD

In his last few months, de Blasio has tried to prove that the city has gone through a crisis in the matter increase in crimethat began during the pandemic. But although the number of shootings in recent weeks indeed down from last year, violent crime continues in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan.

Adams made no secret of his intention to make drastic changes to the NYPD's deployment and culture.

He said he wants to increase the presence of police in the communities. He plans to bring back the units of plainclothes officers that de Blasio had disbanded, as well as increase the number of police officers on the metro.

In recent weeks, Adams, a former police captain, has spoken of a "reset" plan between the mayor's office and the police. On October 18, Adams promised that after being elected, he intends to visit all police stations in the city.

“We're going to start a new relationship,” he said. "I'm going to support my cops."

At the same time, he warned that he would speed up the removal from service of officers who offend citizens. These layoffs can now take years.

Area zoning changes

Since the early months of his campaign, Adams has stated that he is in favor of re-zoning in wealthy neighborhoods. According to the politician, this will help in creating more affordable housing.

In recent weeks, Adams has moved even more towards the idea of ​​rezoning wealthy neighborhoods.

He pointed to the sections of Manhattan south of 42nd Street and between Ninth Avenue and Park Avenue as they were "ripe for affordable housing." Soho and parts of Brooklyn will also be rezoned.

Under de Blasio, city officials argued that low-income neighborhoods were offering developers cost-effective opportunities to build more affordable homes. But some tenant and community rights advocates argued that relocating zones would only speed up the renovation process and provide affordable apartments where they are currently out of reach even for current residents of wealthy neighborhoods.