The decision last month by Eric Adams to postpone his inauguration, considered a pageant of political symbolism, communicated a harsh political reality: COVID-19 has shortened the honeymoon for the new mayor.

Nearly two years into the pandemic, New York City is once again in the grips of surging coronavirus cases, the threat of business and school closures and a debate over what kind of government response is needed to stem the crisis. He will face a public exhausted by the virus and craving what feels like an overdue return to normalcy. 

Basil Smikle, director of Hunter College’s public policy program, said the broader challenge for Adams is to quell anxiety and recalibrate people’s expectations about a virus that experts say could very well become endemic for years to come.

“He needs to level-set with New Yorkers with respect to what living with COVID is going to look like, both interpersonally and economically,” Smikle said. 

At the same time, he will also contend with a slate of new progressive elected officials, some of whom may be eager to test the new mayor. 

“Most of the city government is new,” said Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate who is running for governor. “I think folks are going to be settling in and feeling each other out. Everybody has different job functions to play.”

Here are four pressing issues that Adams will face as he steps into City Hall. 

Managing The Omicron Wave

Days before being sworn in, Adams unveiled his winter plan to fight the latest COVID-19 wave, which included keeping the vaccine mandate for the private sector installed by his predecessor Mayor Bill de Blasio, an aggressive policy that is expected to be challenged in court. 

Under the mandate, employees at private businesses were required to receive at least one shot of the vaccine by December 27th and a second shot within 45 days. Employers who fail to keep records showing compliance can face fines up to $1,000. 

Like de Blasio, Adams has said his strategy would focus on testing and vaccinations, and a concerted effort to avoid shutdowns. 

“It's going to take a lot for me to close down the city,” he has repeatedly told reporters.

Critics, however, have argued the city should be taking bolder action against the latest surge. 

Dr. Denis Nash, an epidemiology professor at CUNY said getting people vaccinated is an important short and long-term strategy. 

“But it is not the only strategy that we should be using,” he continued, “especially because we now have a variant that spreads by evading vaccination and past immunity.”

Nash said the city should consider more strategic testing for people engaging in essential activities like health care, schools and transportation. 

Brad Lander, the city’s newly sworn-in comptroller, has urged the city to increase testing at homeless shelters and among schoolchildren. He has also called for the reopening of hotel rooms—a measure that was met with community resistance during the early part of the pandemic—to reduce crowding at those facilities. 

“Unfortunately, we have been here before,” he said, in a statement last week. “We know that it is better to prevent outbreaks than respond to them, and we have the tools to do it.”

Resuming Schools After The Holidays

Just two days after Adams took office, New York City public school is expected to welcome students back after a disrupted week of learning leading up to the holiday break. A spike in cases resulted in widespread classroom closures, low attendance and demands by teachers and parents for the city to change its testing strategy and response to outbreaks. 

How Adams manages schools, which he has identified as one of major failings of the city, will be one of his most critical challenges as mayor. 

Under a plan unveiled earlier this week by de Blasio, New York City will double the amount of testing at public schools and distribute at-home test kits as part of a “test and stay” model used by other school districts. To manage interruptions due to outbreaks, students can remain in school as long as they test negative and are asymptomatic.

Adams said he will additionally distribute higher-quality masks and improve ventilation in schools.

Concerns about the adequacy of testing in schools have only intensified during the latest omicron surge. Prior to the latest ramp-up in testing, Michael Mulgrew, the head of the United Federation of Teachers union, called the city’s testing system “broken” and said unless testing was improved, the union might withdraw their support for in-person learning. 

In response to the city’s new testing plan, Lander has urged the city to test students, teachers and staff before they return to classrooms, as well as requiring families to opt out of testing as opposed to asking them to opt in. "Otherwise, we’ll still only be testing a very small percentage of students, and leaving far too much opportunity for infections to accelerate through our communities,” he said.

Another looming question is whether New York City will impose a vaccine mandate for students, something Adams has said he is willing to consider should the vaccine for younger children receive full federal authorization. The Food and Drug Administration has already granted full approval to the vaccine for those 16 and up. 

Adams said this week that he and his health officials will make a decision in the spring. The city currently requires children 12 and up participating in certain high-risk activities like football, basketball and band practice to be vaccinated. Children 5 and up must also show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and entertainment venues.

Other school districts, like Los Angeles, were forced to delay vaccine mandates after facing vocal opposition and the prospect of having to move large numbers of students back to online learning. 

Under de Blasio, the city has elected not to offer a remote-learning option, but Adams has said he would bring it back in the face of a vaccine mandate for school children. 

Williams said that regardless of the circumstances, the next mayor needs to better prepare schools to transition to remote learning in the event of a surge like omicron. 

“We shouldn't use it too quickly, but we do know it’s a possibility that we'll need it based on the past two years,” he said. 

Reducing Crime 

A former police officer, Adams has cited public safety as his main priority and his response to crime will likely be one of the most closely watched policies. Like other major cities, New York City has seen violent crime, which tends to grab headlines and incite fear, soar during the pandemic. As of the third week of December, the city’s police department recorded 464 murders, nearly 50% more than 2019. 

Adams has said he intends to address crime by increasing the number of police in subways and bringing back a plainclothes unit targeted on gangs and gun violence that was disbanded last year for being counterproductive. 

He has also promised to bolster morale within the NYPD, beginning by making a visit to all 77 police precincts in the city.  

In what was perhaps his most anticipated appointment, Adams has tapped Keechant Sewell, the former Nassau County chief of detectives, as the city’s first woman police commissioner. While her selection drew praise for being trailblazing, skeptics have wondered whether she has the experience to run a department of 35,000 uniformed officers.

Adams has yet to announce who will be his deputy mayor of public safety, a role for which he is said to be considering Philip Banks, a close ally and former chief of department under de Blasio who resigned amid a bribery scandal. 

The New York Times reported that concerns about Banks’ past has resulted in his appointment being stalled, although Adams said he was still in the running.

“I’m not going to demonize anyone,” he recently told reporters about Banks.

Confronting A More Left-Leaning City Council

Adams, a centrist Democrat, faces a political challenge of working with a newly elected City Council that will be the most diverse in the city’s history when it comes to people of color and women. It will also lean further left than the prior class of members. 

“You have a young dynamic, somewhat restive council that's eager to hit the ground running,” Smikle said. “You have a mayor who wants to do the same.” 

The first battle between the two broke out last week after Adams suggested he wants to bring back the city jails policy of punitive segregation, also known as solitary confinement, although there was disagreement over the meaning of the two terms. 

A majority of the City Council, consisting of 29 members, responded by writing an open letter demanding that Adams reverse his position. 

Adams lashed out at the council members, admonishing them for using an open letter rather than reaching out to him directly. 

“They have no desire in moving our city forward. Their desire is to be disruptive,” he said. 

The moment came shortly after Adams was dealt what many saw as his first political defeat, when Adrienne Adams emerged as the victor in the race for council speaker over Adams’s favored choice, Francisco Moya. Although the new council speaker spoke out against solitary confinement, she did not sign the letter. 

Although many considered the early clash between an incoming mayor and City Council members to be unusual, Mayor Adams is known for being blunt. The risks of that approach remain to be seen.  

The day after his public spat with council members, Adams and the new council speaker appeared in a photo together in front of their old high school. Both grew up in southeast Queens and attended Bayside High at the same time. 

“From his point of view, New Yorkers wanted a tough mayor for a tough time,” Smikle said. “And that manifests in a number of different ways, including how he will respond to his detractors.”