Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Eric Adams, the first mayor in modern New York City history to run for re-election while under federal indictment, used his final State of the City speech before the June primary to make his best case for a second term.It was, by any measure, a tricky task to pull off.Appearing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Thursday, the mayor highlighted his accomplishments and focused on a theme of making it easier for families to live in the city.“How can we make sure that the greatest city in the world is also the greatest place to raise a family?” the mayor said, outlining plans to focus on affordability and housing.The annual address is typically a mixture of political stagecraft and rhetoric that puts a sheen on the mayor’s record and lays out a vision for the future.But for Mr. Adams, accomplishing those goals will be difficult. He is scheduled to go on trial in April on federal corruption charges; his approval rating has fallen to record lows; nine top city officials have resigned amid a swirl of investigations; violence on the subway and scandal at the Police Department have undermined his agenda.He mentioned little of that on Thursday, choosing to focus on forward-looking programs that might appeal to voters: plans to build 100,000 homes in Manhattan over the next decade and to pledge $650 million toward addressing street homelessness. An advance copy of his prepared remarks included the word “families” 99 times. The only time Mr. Adams seemed to allude to his troubles was toward the end of his speech, when he referred to what had been a “challenging” and “difficult” year.“There was some who said ‘step down,’ I said no, I’m going to step up,” he said. “I’m going to step up.”Earlier in the week, Mr. Adams acknowledged his myriad challenges at a news conference at City Hall, dodging questions about the state-run transit system by referring to a Jay-Z song.“I got 99 problems, brother, and I’m not looking to take on new ones,” he said on Tuesday.Mr. Adams, the city’s second Black mayor, often highlights his biography as the son of a house cleaner who grew up poor in Queens. He did so again on Thursday, placing a photo of his mother, Dorothy Mae Adams-Streeter, who died in 2021 shortly before he was elected, on an easel next to him onstage.The choice of the Apollo Theater in Harlem, a venue that opened in 1934 as a mecca for Black culture, could appeal to the mayor’s base of Black voters who may be more likely to keep supporting him.The mayor has focused on two themes to get his mayoralty back on track: public safety and affordability. But his critics immediately raised questions about his focus on families after Mr. Adams made budget cuts to free preschool and libraries and failed to follow through on his pledge to build dedicated lanes to speed up bus traffic.A video that aired before his speech featured allies who have stuck by his side, including Rich Maroko, the president of the powerful Hotel & Gaming Trades Council, whose members cheered in the crowd, along with a group from the union 32BJ SEIU, which includes doormen and other building workers.The mayor says that his record shows success: Shootings fell 7 percent last year compared with 2023, to 903; police officers have taken nearly 20,000 guns off the streets since January 2022; the city set a record of having more than 4.7 million jobs and moved forward on 26 affordable housing projects on public sites last year.The truth about the city’s challenges is more complicated. While murders were down last year, they were still higher than before the pandemic. Felony assaults have risen. Rents have soared. Poverty has risen in recent years; roughly one in eight public school students was homeless during the last school year.The mayor’s $650 million plan to address homelessness included adding 900 Safe Haven beds, temporary housing that is accompanied by mental health and substance abuse services. He set a new goal for no child to be born into the city’s shelter system.As part of a “City of Yes for Families” plan, modeled after his “City of Yes” housing plan that was approved last year, Mr. Adams also announced plans to build 800 units of mixed-income housing at the Bloomingdale Library in Manhattan.Mr. Adams has increasingly focused on the city’s affordability crisis — a key issue in the crowded Democratic primary. The mayor announced a plan last month to eliminate New York City income taxes for more than 400,000 of the lowest wage earners. Households who qualify would save an average of $350.He previewed some of his talking points at the news conference on Tuesday, boasting about declining crime numbers, pledging to remove mentally ill people from the streets and referring all questions about his indictment to his criminal lawyer, who Mr. Adams noted also represented Jay-Z and the billionaire Elon Musk.When Mr. Adams was asked about prosecutors saying in court documents that they had uncovered additional criminal conduct by him, the mayor referenced another renowned artist. He joked that “even Ray Charles can see what’s going on” — a reference to Charles’s blindness and to his often-stated belief that prosecutors were out to get him.At least eight challengers are running for mayor, and former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is considering entering the race. Mr. Adams said at the news conference on Tuesday that he had a better record than Mr. Cuomo.“Anyone that tells you they batted .400 while they were in office is just — they’re just lying,” he said, noting that he had some Aaron Judge moments, referring to the star Yankees player who won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2024 but also stumbled in the World Series.Mr. Adams’s rosy characterization of the city frustrated some Democrats, including Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn who is running for mayor. He said that the mayor “must be living in a different New York” and that he “can keep calling mediocrity success — but no one is buying it.”“Stop telling us the city is safer than ever when New Yorkers are nervous to get on the subway,” he said. “Stop claiming our city is more livable when no one can find an apartment.”Mr. Adams, a former police captain and a Democrat who once was a Republican, has surprised some in his party by embracing President-elect Donald J. Trump, a Republican. Mr. Trump has said that he and Mr. Adams were both “persecuted” by prosecutors and that he would consider pardoning Mr. Adams.The mayor made no mention on Thursday of Mr. Trump or how the city might prepare for his administration.Jumaane Williams, the city’s left-leaning public advocate, said in a statement that he was disappointed by many of the mayor’s decisions.“This administration has a long way to go toward earning New Yorkers’ trust, and that work will take more than one speech,” he said. “Trust will be essential as all of us in city government must collaborate to prevent the worst harm of the coming Trump years.”Zohran Mamdani, a state lawmaker from Queens who is running for mayor, said it was difficult to hear the mayor talk about the hardships families face when he supported rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments.“He is making these choices harder,” he said. “Freeze the rent.”
