Mayor Adams lays out ambitious agenda to make New York city best place to raise a family in fourth state of the city address

NEWYORK: New York city Mayor Eric Adams 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 his 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.”

Keeping New York the safest big city in America to raise a family, 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.

He said that New York city is already a great place to raise a family, but as every parent knows, it’s not always easy.

“Working families sacrifice every day for their children, and our city must be there to help them meet their needs, especially when it comes to child care; that is why we extended thousands of new offers for early childhood education and lowered the cost of subsidized child care,” he said.

Mayor Adams said that to keep New Yorkers safe, we put thousands of new officers onto our streets and took nearly 20,000 illegal guns off them; supported law enforcement with new training and benefits; and unveiled a $485 million action plan to prevent gun violence.

“These efforts have paid off. Over the past three years, we have driven murders and shootings down by double digits; padlocked more than 1,300 illegal smoke shops; and seized over 80,000 ghost cars and illegal vehicles like mopeds and ATVs,” he said.

On subways, serious mental illness, shelters, 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.

Mayor Adams also set a new goal that no child should ever be born into New York City’s shelter system.

To make this goal a reality, the Adams administration will launch a pilot program to connect soon-to-be parents applying for shelter with services that help them find permanent housing and prevent homelessness before their child is born, moving new families into stable homes more quickly and preventing lifelong cycles of poverty and housing instability before they begin.

Mayor Adams today 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.

On helping more families find homes in the five boroughs by turning New York into a “City of Yes for Families”, Mayor Adams announced that his administration will unveil additional neighborhood plans throughout 2025 and — as part of City of Yes for Families — launched “The Manhattan Plan,” an initiative to review zoning across the whole of Manhattan, unlock potential housing sites for development from Inwood to the Financial District, and add 100,000 new homes to the borough, bringing Manhattan to a total of 1 million homes over the next decade. The Manhattan Plan will include the Adams administration’s Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan, public sites, and more.

Mayor Adams announced that the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) has begun collaboration with DSS to enhance housing support and resources available to veterans. DVS and DSS will work together to streamline the use of data systems and improve the overall experience for veterans across the city. This partnership will help veterans and their families receive seamless assistance and create a stronger safety net for those who have served the nation.

By implementing new rules within city government that encourage more family-sized units and multi-generational homes, working with the City Council to create new tools that build more family-friendly neighborhoods and foster homeownership, creating more housing across New York City, and more, Mayor Adams’ City of Yes for Families initiative will help more families find and afford a home in the five boroughs.

On putting money back into families’ pockets, Mayor Adams announced that the city will partner with a leading private-sector firm to enroll public servants in the federal government’s public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program and help wipe out nearly $360 million in student loan debt for 100,000 city employees and their families.

As part of the initiative, public servants will be able to extend invitations to family members who independently qualify for PSLF to use the service as well and help get their student loan debt forgiven too.

Regarding a first-rate education for New York city’s students, Mayor Adams has committed to making sure every single student gets the first-rate education they deserve.

Mayor Adams announced that Memorial Sloan Kettering will join FutureReadyNYC as an anchor partner and offer hundreds of New York City Public Schools students work-based experience in health care every year.

Creating good-paying jobs for parents and young people, Mayor Adams announced that New York City will invest more resources into the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), adding up to five additional organizations in order to ensure that the CIG network reflects the rich diversity of the city’s creative sector.

To keep New York city parks cleaner, Mayor Adams announced that New York city will add a second cleaning shift to 100 new hot spots across 64 parks throughout the city, ensuring they are cleaned each afternoon between Thursday and Monday. As part of the second shift, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation staff will also keep restrooms open, on average, for another two hours each day, five days a week.