What Did Eric Adams Build?

"Review Eric Adams's public statements this year, and you will learn from his comms team that he is the most pro-housing mayor in history. ''Mayor Adams' Administration Shatters Affordable Housing Records (Again)," read one release, claiming that the administration "has created, preserved, or planned approximately 426,800 homes through its efforts to date." Pretty good! Yet somehow, you look around the city and it's hard to see where those nearly half a million apartments are."

"Inarguably, he's leaving a few systems a lot better than he found them. If the Adams administration is going to be remembered for one thing (besides the mayor's highly spirited public persona), it's probably the big improvements to trash collection. Containerization is a huge conceptual shift in a city where real estate is tight and alleyways are few and the fleet of trucks is immense. Even the man who vanquished him, Zohran Mamdani, agrees that on this issue, Adams sits at the table of success."

Eric Adams's administration claims to have created, preserved, or planned approximately 426,800 homes, but many of those units are not visibly evident across the city. Comparisons are drawn to past mayoral eras like Robert Moses and Fiorello La Guardia to frame expectations about housing output. The administration achieved notable system improvements, especially in trash collection through a shift to containerization, which addresses constrained streets and a large truck fleet. Key leaders such as Kathryn Garcia and Jessica Tisch contributed to operational gains. Political opponents acknowledged sanitation success, and measurable indicators like the rat curve appear to be improving; scaffolding reform also advanced.

Read at Curbed