It was an eventful first day on the job for new New York City Mayor Eric Adams: The former police officer called 911 on an "assault in progress" while at a Brooklyn subway station.
Adams, who was sworn in at Times Square as the 110th mayor of New York City shortly after the ball drop early Saturday morning, took the metro from his Brooklyn home to City Hall in Lower Manhattan. But around 8 a.m. ET on Saturday, Adams, surrounded by reporters, noticed an altercation outside the Brooklyn station.
In a Twitter video posted by New York Post reporter Julia Marsh, Adams is seen on the phone with a 911 operator giving the address of his location, saying "I have an assault in progress, three males."
The New York Post reported there seemed to be confusion with the operator and Adams about the incident as he repeated it was an assault in progress and not a past assault. He did not identify himself until the end of the call, saying he was "Adams, Mayor Adams."
The outlet also reported two New York Police Department squad cars arrived on the scene five minutes later, but the men involved in the incident were getting into cars. The officers left without speaking to anyone involved.
USA TODAY has reached out to the department about the incident.
Adams won the election in November, defeating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to become the city's second Black mayor. Running on a message of public safety, the Brooklyn borough president and former state senator was a New York police officer for 22 years and was known as a vocal critic of discriminatory practices within policing.
While speaking to the 911 operator, Adams told nearby reporters, "Once a transit cop, always a transit cop."
Adams and his new police commissioner, Keechant Sewel, held an afternoon news conference outside a hospital after a police officer was shot Saturday while sleeping in his vehicle in a precinct parking lot between shifts. The officer is expected to fully recover.
Adams declared that New York is “not going to be a city of violence.”
“I am clear on my mission to aggressively go after those who are carrying violent weapons in our city,” he said.
Adams said he and his new police commissioner will show officers they have their backs but will hold them to a high standard and not allow abusive officers within the ranks.
Contributing: Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
