NYC Mayor Adams blasts de Blasio staff, says they left "a mess" in the city

New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted predecessor Bill de Blasio’s staff for leaving the city in “total disarray.”

“They had eight years to do their job. Eight years to fix Rikers. Eight years to deal with crime. Eight years to deal with education. Eight years to do early childhood education for children with disabilities. Eight years to fix NYCHA,” Adams said during a news conference in Brooklyn.

“They had all the time to do their job. No! No! But they are now — once they’re gone — they’re experts on everything. And when you look through the last 12 months and you see how many times they have interfered, that’s not acceptable.”

While de Blasio himself had been “extremely helpful,” the former mayor’s aides have not helped at all, Adams said. Yet the aides of previous mayors, including Michael Bloomberg, David Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani, called to his office to offer their help, Adams added. 

“Those from the Koch administration call us: ‘How can we help?’ Bloomberg administration calls us: ‘How can we help?’ Dinkins administration calls: ‘How can we help?’ Giuliani’s administration calls us: ‘How can we help?’ Every other administration calls us: ‘How can we help?’” Adams continued. 

“But we have the previous administration that just left the house! They just left! They left the house in total disarray!” he said. “And then they come and say, ‘Look at the mess…that you created, Eric.’ No! It’s the mess we inherited.