Eric Adams’s Legacy

On Sunday, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that he was dropping his reelection bid. With voters evidently frustrated by his erratic record, his polling numbers languished in the single digits. His tenure has been rocky: he was indicted last year on charges of taking gifts from Turkish Airlines, he failed to present a coherent strategy for the NYPD, and felony crime remained elevated on his watch.

Even so, Adams wasn’t a terrible mayor, Nicole Gelinas writes. Murders and shootings have come down significantly, and he finally appointed an effective leader in Jessica Tisch, the current police commissioner. And he is authentic and likeable, “guided by a core set of admirable values and beliefs,” she maintains. But Adams’s limitations ultimately proved too much to overcome. “In his video exiting the race,” Gelinas observes, the outgoing mayor “showed himself to be what he’s always been: unapologetically weird.”

Read her take.

In 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that professionally developed tests, like those used for hiring in police and fire departments, could be considered illegal discrimination, even where there is no intent to discriminate. In 1991, Congress codified this interpretation in the Civil Rights Act, authorizing courts to apply what is known as the disparate-impact framework.

“The disparate-impact legal doctrine has existed for more than half a century, yet police and fire departments continue to use written and physical tests—despite the legal risks—because these tests offer an objective way to ensure that employees have the skills that the job demands,” Robert VerBruggen writes. “Today, the executive branch may be taking a dim view of disparate-impact cases, but achieving a lasting solution will require changes to the legal status quo—meaning action by Congress or the courts.”

Read more about how the Trump administration is approaching the issue.

Since 2015, New York State has kept the number of charter schools capped at 460. Some elected officials are reluctant to lift the cap because, they claim, the schools take resources away from the city’s public district schools.

“The problem with this view is that the pie of public school dollars isn’t fixed—it keeps growing,” Danyela Egorov explains. “Some public schools do struggle with reduced budgets due to enrollment loss. But the DOE could address these challenges by reallocating its vast budget more effectively.”

Read her take.

Each year, more than 12,000 U.K. residents are arrested for speech-related offenses—nearly four times the number in 2016. Recent cases have involved a national flag some found offensive, derogatory remarks about migrants, prayer near abortion clinics, and “transphobic” posts on X.

Free-speech defenders shouldn’t give up on the U.K., though, writes Paul du Quenoy, and “should maintain the transatlantic dialogue until a reformist government comes to power.” Read more about the situation in Britain here.

What does Eric Adams’s exit from the 2025 mayoral race mean for New York City’s political future? Rob Henderson, Nicole Gelinas, John Ketcham, and Rafael Mangual assess how the sitting mayor’s withdrawal reshapes the race for City Hall and analyze the strategies of remaining contenders Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa. They discuss the key issues shaping voter priorities, from crime and public safety to housing affordability. They also explore the controversy surrounding the Democratic Socialists of America’s support for convicted cop killer Assata Shakur, who died on Thursday.

“I think the hard push for casino gambling and state-sponsored lotteries are nothing more than an admission by politicians that there’s no way they can ever fund their big government adventures without coming up with ways to fleece their less intelligent and poorer constituents.”

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