Eric Adams lays out a plan of action to make New York livable for working-class New Yorkers in his State of the City speech

Mayor Eric Adams laid out his vision for the Big Apple during his second State of the City address on Thursday, calling it a “workers’ agenda” for the future that focuses on quality of life issues.

Speaking at the Queens Theatre, not far from where he grew up in South Jamaica, Adams said his plan is “based on four pillars that support a strong and resilient society” and will address critical issues of crime, jobs, housing and education.

“And it starts now, with us,” he said. “We do everything for New Yorkers. And we are not doing this alone. Everyone in this room will work together.”

The mayor vowed to crack down on 1,700 repeat offenders whom he accused of committing “a disproportionate number of violent crimes in our city.”

“These are the most wanted in New York. We know who they are and we need to get them off our streets,” he said. “This year, we’re going to work with our partners in Albany to find reasonable, evidence-based solutions to this recidivism crisis.”

Adams, who called in vain for the repeal of the state’s controversial bail reform law, said everyone agreed that “no one should be in jail just because they can’t afford to post bail.”

“But we must also accept that we cannot allow a small number of violent individuals to continue terrorizing our neighborhoods over and over again,” he added.

The mayor also vowed to crack down on illegal marijuana shops, warning “those who think you’re going to break into our communities without a license, put our children at risk, put people out of work trying to do it right.” ”

“Let’s be clear, man, you must be smoking something because it’s not going to happen,” he said.

Adams, a former NYPD cop, publicly thanked Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell “for all her work keeping New Yorkers safe this year” and said she “saved lives and supported the department during a very difficult year.”

The audience then gave Sewall a standing ovation that seemed to bring her to tears.

Adams’ hour and 10-minute speech was capped off with loud music from the 1967 Motown classic “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and the 1979 disco anthem “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”.

Hizzoner, who has admitted he struggles with dyslexia, said he plans to expand screenings in city schools because children with learning disabilities “shouldn’t be part of the 30-40% of inmates on Rikers Island who are dyslexic.”

“They need to know that they just learn differently. And if we give them the tools they need, they will walk away from despair, they will walk away from insecurity – and rise up to be the mayor of New York City,” he said.

Adams, who has been repeatedly subpoenaed over a rat infestation in his Brooklyn apartment building, promised to hire a “new rat king.”

“And it won’t be Curtis Plum,” he added, digging up the Guardian Angels founder, who was recently caught trying to shelter feral cats near Adams’ property in Bedford Stuyvesant.

The mayor later returned to the parasite issue, discussing plans to make the city “cleaner, greener and healthier for everyone, including our wildlife and marine life.”

“Like the dolphins that recently visited us in the Bronx River, this is the future of our city,” he said. “More dolphins, fewer rats.”

Adams repeatedly admired Governor Katie Hochul, who was in attendance along with a host of other dignitaries, saying, “I may be the city’s pilot, but she’s the state’s pilot.”

“Thank you Governor for what you do every day,” he said.

The praise came as Hochul, who was elected to her first full term in November, struggles to maintain her position among fellow Democratic lawmakers, who have overwhelming majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

The Mayor noted that Assembly Speaker Carl Histie (D-Bronx) was not present due to illness, but was particularly dismissive of State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​(D-Yonkers), who missed her speech.

Specifically, Adams kept the city’s growing migration crisis, which caused him to declare a state of emergency in October, for the end of his speech, when he repeated his frequent call for help from President Biden and Hole.