Many New Yorkers just want their city to feel orderly, functional and fun again after two years of plague and social disruption. Their new mayor, Eric Adams, has promised to deliver. The question is, can the Democrat who pledged to bring back New York’s “swagger” gain momentum in the face of repeated setbacks? Adams’ optimism remained high even as he marked his 100th day as mayor Sunday by going into quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. A hands-on politician and nightlife enthusiast, Adams, 61, caught the virus after a whirlwind week typical of his persona and time in office: He had attended the Gridiron dinner in Washington, gone to a New York gala, posed with Robert de Niro at a film festival, attended the Yankees opener and a slew of events in the state Capitol. “I’m going to continue to try to be as visible as possible as we get through COVID and many of the other crises that we’re facing,” Adams said Monday, promising to resume his busy schedule after recovering from the virus. In his first 100 days in office, Adams has projected an aggressive confidence as he’s implemented policies aimed at combating an image of New York City as hobbled by the pandemic and beset by rising crime. He dropped many COVID-19 precautions and is reluctant to bring them back, even as virus cases have steadily risen. He’s ordered homeless encampments removed from public spaces, despite complaints from activists that the sweeps are inhumane. Over the objection of progressives, Adams, a former police captain, brought back an NYPD anti-gun unit disbanded by the previous mayor, saying that with better oversight it will shed its past reputation for using excessive force. Critics say Adams is embracing the worst tendencies of previous mayors known for their heavy-handed approaches to policing and social services. Adams says he doesn’t like chaos, as “Saturday Night Live” noted in his first days in office. Instead, he is seeking to harness the city’s tangly dynamism. “That is what I think our failure is in our city … We have thrown up our hands and said this city is not manageable. That is just not true,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, prior to testing positive for COVID-19. He said he starts every morning poring over a series of spreadsheets filled with data on his key initiatives. When inspecting his efforts to clear tents and makeshift shelters set up by homeless people, Adams scrolls through hundreds of color-coded rows listing individual encampments reported to the city — some that the mayor has phoned in himself. He checks to see if the entries are shaded blue by someone in his administration, indicating city workers have posted notices they’re about to clean the area. He checks to see that the blue entries are later turned yellow, coded as a “successful cleanup.” If too many days pass and the colors don’t change, he’ll make a call to find out why. At a news conference last month, he said the city cleared 239 encampments in its first 12 days. Although the city didn’t offer data about how many people were living at the encampments, only five accepted offers to move to a shelter. Adams said he thinks the number will grow, as it did […]

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