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Mayor Eric Adams may be hoping for a better 2025.
"Listen man, life is hard,” the mayor said Tuesday. “Do you sit and wallow and despair and whine about, look at the cards that were dealt with me, or do you play the hand that you have? Look at the numbers. I moved the city forward."
It was a defense of his administration on the final day of 2024 — a year in which the mayor was indicted and top members of his administration had their homes raided. One ended up in handcuffs.
Adams’ final question-and-answer session with reporters of the year came 11 days after the latest scandal — the NYPD’s chief of department, Jeffrey Maddrey, resigned following sexual misconduct allegations that he traded overtime for a subordinate for sex.
Maddrey, through his attorney, said the relationship was consensual. Adams defended Maddrey’s record.
"His policing practices, what he has done as a police officer, the knowns, I have been extremely, extremely proud of the knowns,” Adams said. “Those are the things that people knew him for and what he has done. You can’t predict unknowns. Like I said, these are troubling allegations."
It was another departure from the administration thanks to scandal or a corruption probe — a list that continues to grow as the mayor heads into his re-election year facing multiple challengers, with critics questioning whether the mayor selected the right people.
"People have said this over and over again, you hire your friends, you hire your friends, you hire your friends,” Adams lamented. “I want you to do an analysis of previous administration and see who people brought in. They brought in their college buddies. They brought in their law firm buddies. They brought in people they play golf with. You look for experts within your span. And you look for experts that you don’t know. It’s a combination."
In the end, though, the mayor acknowledged on Tuesday the buck stops at his desk.
"I am a commanding chief of the troops,” he said. “So if my troops do something wrong, I have to reflect on what I need to do and do better."
