'Honeymoon Period' Over For Mayor's Approval, New Poll Finds

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Eric Adams' honeymoon with New Yorkers doesn't seem to have lasted very long, according to a new poll.

A Siena College poll released Tuesday has found that only 29 percent of New Yorkers think the mayor is doing a good or excellent job leading the city, while 64 percent said he's doing fair or poorly, according to the results.

The results don't bode well this early in the mayor's tenure, according to poll experts.

“You would normally say that a newly elected chief executive has a honeymoon period,” Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy said. “Well, if he had it, it certainly seems to be over.”

The poll, conducted for NY1, found that New Yorkers were most critical of how Adams has handled homelessness and crime. Only 18 percent rated the mayor as good or excellent on addressing homelessness, while only 21 percent gave him a good or excellent rating on tackling crime, according to the results.

Crime has been top of mind for both Adams and New Yorkers throughout his tenure. The Siena poll found that 76 percent of city dwellers surveyed are concerned they'll be the victim of a violent crime.

Despite the mayor's efforts to tamp down a crime surge in his first six months in office — including on the city's subways — overall crime is still up compared to last year. A major focus of Adams' administration, gun violence, has seen a slight drop in the last month, but is still well above pre-pandemic levels, data shows.

The mayor scored highest when it comes to tourism, where 43 percent of New Yorkers said he's doing a good or excellent job.

Around half of New Yorkers — 53 percent — also approved of the mayor's "style" of leadership, according to the poll.

For his part, Adams' office was quick to criticize NY1 for framing the results as negative for the mayor, arguing that those who rated the mayor as "fair" should count toward his approval, not disapproval.

"Sorry, this is NYC, where 'fair' is a compliment!" wrote press secretary Fabien Levy. "

A good/excellent and fair/poor category breakdown is often used in public opinion polls, other reporters pointed out.

The Siena poll is not the first sign that Adams' approval is slipping.

A Quinnipiac poll in May found that only 43 percent of New Yorkers approved of Adams' general performance as mayor, with 37 percent disapproving and 20 percent not offering an opinion. The rating was a slight dip from February, when 46 percent of New Yorkers approved and only 27 percent disapproved, researchers noted.

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