NYC Mayor Adams in the red with constituents amid migration surge, FBI probe: poll

The good news for Adams is that he does not appear to be alone among New York Democrats in attracting public scrutiny.

By Ben Whedon

Published: November 21, 2023 10:01pm

New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has seen his popularity nosedive amid an ongoing investigation into his alleged illicit cooperation with the Turkish government and his continued struggles to deal with the influx of illegal arrivals to the city.

A recent Marist College survey showed Adams with a 37% approval rating among New Yorkers. His disapproval rating stood at 54%, including 33% who strongly disapproved of him, marking a considerable reversal from a prior survey in March 2022, shortly after he took office. At that time, Adams enjoyed 61% approval and 24% disapproval.

The FBI seized Adams' phones earlier this month as part of the probe into whether his 2021 campaign worked with Ankara to secure illegal foreign financial contributions. The mayor has, thus far, not been personally accused of any wrongdoing. Seventy-two percent of poll respondents, however, thought his campaign did something wrong.

He has further faced pushback for his handling of the migration surge. More than 110,000 migrants have arrived in the Big Apple over the past year, forcing Adams to secure housing for each due to the city's right-to-shelter mandate. While he has moved to suspend the mandate, his attempts to bus migrants out of town and to house them in unused buildings have met with judicial reproach. Last week, Adams announced sweeping budget cuts to the city's service and police, citing the influx as a contributing factor.

The good news for Adams is that he does not appear to be alone among New York Democrats in attracting public scrutiny. The survey showed he was far from the only Democrat in the Empire State with declining poll numbers. Gov. Kathy Hochul, for her part, earned a 41% approval rating and a 42% disapproval rating. Her approval rating in 2021 was 49%.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, meanwhile, earned a 40%/55% approval/disapproval score, compared to the 37%/49% she earned in August 2021. A further 59% of New Yorkers said quality of life in the state had gotten worse over the past year, while 11% said it had improved, and 30% reported no change.

Conducted Nov. 13-15, the survey questioned 1,780 New York State Adults, including 659 New York City adults.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.