Speech Outlines Multi-Year Initiatives to Tackle Street Homelessness, Keep Young People Safe, Build More Housing and Family-Friendly Neighborhoods Through New “City of Yes for Families” Plan
Our Bureau
New York, NY
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday outlined a bold vision to make New York City the best place to raise a family in his fourth State of the City address, delivered at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, Manhattan. After driving crime down, passing historic housing legislation, and helping New Yorkers save billions of dollars through tax relief, child care, free internet, and more in 2024, Mayor Adams used today’s address to unveil new initiatives that will create a safer, more affordable city for working-class people, especially those raising a family, all across the five boroughs.
“In the past year alone, our administration passed historic housing legislation, shattered the record for the most jobs in city history, drove major crimes down, and did so much more to build a family-friendly city. As a result of all these efforts, the state of our city is strong,” said Mayor Adams. “But there is no denying that many New Yorkers — especially our families — are still anxious about the future. We have to make sure that the greatest city in the world is also the greatest place to raise a family. From keeping young people safe to tackling street homelessness, from building more family-friendly neighborhoods to saving New Yorkers millions of dollars, the initiatives we laid out today will make New York City the safest place to raise a family, the most affordable place to raise a family, and the best place to raise a family. My mother never stopped fighting to provide her family with a better life, and that is why I will never stop fighting to do the same for you.”
Under Mayor Adams’ leadership, America’s safest big city has gotten even safer. Overall crime continued to fall in 2024, including a 7.3 percent drop in shootings, a 3.6 percent drop in homicides, and a 5.4 percent drop in transit crime. Since coming into office, the Adams administration has seized nearly 20,000 illegal guns and over 80,000 ghost cars and illegal motorized vehicles, like ATVs and mopeds.
Additionally, the Adams administration has made smart, upstream investments to prevent crime in the first place, launching a $485 million blueprint to keep communities safe from gun violence that invests in mentorship, mental health, and job training for young at-risk New Yorkers. In 2025, the Adams administration will build on that work and pursue new investments that engage young people.
Moreover, Mayor Adams announced that New York City will invest $163 million over five fiscal years to expand five of its most successful programs — Fair Futures, College Choice, Career Choice, GirlsJustUs, and Assertive Community Engagement & Success — that engage at-risk youth and other young people; reach a total of 8,000 participants; and help connect more New York City youth with counseling, careers, college opportunities, and more.
Mayor Adams announced that New York City will invest $650 million to bolster that work and expand support for New Yorkers living on subways, wrestling with serious mental illness, and at risk of entering city shelters.
To help move more New Yorkers off subways, as well as city streets, and into shelters, the Adams administration will add 900 new Safe Haven beds that offer a more flexible, personalized option for New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness and have proven a highly-effective tool for moving New Yorkers from homelessness into permanent housing.
These new investments — which will take place over several fiscal years — will help New York City tackle street homelessness by supporting New Yorkers living on subways, helping connect individuals with serious mental illness to care, and keeping families out of city shelters.
Additionally, Mayor Adams reiterated his calls for Albany to pass the Supportive Interventions Act in an effort to give those experiencing severe mental illness the care they deserve and provide assistance to those who can no longer care for themselves, potentially posing a danger to themselves or others.
