Native New Yorkers would avoid Times Square on a regular day, but Mayor Eric Adams chose the busiest day of the year for his swearing in: New Year’s Eve. Surrounded by his family, the media, and 15,000 other spectators, Adams became the 110th mayor of New York City.
It was about 12:06 a.m. when the swearing in began. Adams swore with his hand on the family Bible and was sworn in by the city clerk. After the final countdown and the crystal ball dropped down to 2o22, the band Journey appeared on a stage at West 46th Street and 7th Avenue to preface the mayor’s appearance. Despite the circumstances, the crowd was lively, filled with purple and yellow balloons and confetti. Mayor Bill de Blasio arrived just before midnight to do the countdown, as well as dance with the first lady, before being ushered off the stage to make room for Adams.
The mayor’s original inauguration was to be held at a normal hour of the day, over at the Kings Theatre in Flatbush. He and his comptroller elect and the public advocate would be making history by moving the swearing in to their home borough of Brooklyn instead of swearing in at City Hall. However it was quickly canceled due to the COVID-19 omicron variant. The highly contagious strain of the virus also scaled back the ball drop from 58,000 to 15,000.
See a bit of the swearing in below:
