In just his first few hours after being sworn in as New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams had to confront the city’s ongoing crime problem head-on as he phoned police about an assault in progress.
A video circulating on social media Saturday showed Adams calling 911 as he witnessed three men fighting on a Brooklyn street while on his way to City Hall.
The video shows one of the men punching another man on the ground. Later, one of the suspects lifts a victim up and continues to hit him.
‘Yes, I’m at Broadway, and Kosciuszko and I have an assault in progress,’ Adams told officers on the phone as reporters followed the newly sworn-in mayor around town on his first day in office.
‘No – assault in progress, not past assault,’ the mayor soon clarifies. ‘They are fighting each other on the street right now, three males.’
By the time police patrol cars arrived at the scene, the fight had ended, and two of the men had left already. Officers spoke to the remaining man from their vehicle. Speaking to reporters, Adams said he would have investigated more had he been the officer at the scene.
61-year-old Adams was sworn in as the new mayor of New York City shortly after the ball dropped in Times Square at midnight on New Year’s amid a 10-year-high murder rate.
As of Thursday, New York City had a record of 481 murders fueled by an increase in gun crime, according to data obtained by the Daily Mail.
