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Adrienne Adams (politician)
Adrienne Eadie Adams (born December 9, 1960) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the New York City Council. A Democrat, Adams represents the 28th district, and is the first woman elected to the district.[1] Adams was elected in 2017 to fill out the remainder of the term of her expelled predecessor, Ruben Wills.[2] Her district includes the Queens borough neighborhoods of Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park.[3] Early life and educationAdams was raised in Hollis, Queens. She attended St. Pascal Baylon Elementary School, Bayside High School (Queens), and received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Spelman College.[1] CareerShe was a three-term chairperson of Queens Community Board 12.[4] Previously, Adams has been an appointed member of the Queens Public Library Board of Trustees,[5] and appointed to Governor Andrew Cuomo's Local Planning Committee (LPC) for the Jamaica Downtown Revitalization Initiative.[6] She once served as co-chair of the Jamaica NOW Leadership Council.[6] Adams previously ran for New York State Senate against James Sanders Jr.[4] New York City CouncilAdams won her 2017 primary with 39.17% of the vote (3,499 votes). Her opponent, Richard David, got 31.59% of the vote (2,822 votes) and her other opponent Hettie Powell received 28.98% of the vote. (2,589 votes). Adams went on to win the general election with 85.97% of the vote.[2] During her first term she was elected by her colleagues in the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to serve as co-chair of the body, and at various points also served as chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, and Dispositions, and later chair of the Committee on Public Safety.[7] Adams was elected Speaker of the New York City Council in January 2022. She is the second politician from the borough of Queens to serve as Speaker (Peter Vallone Sr. was the first City Council Speaker of New York City). She is the third woman to serve as Speaker and the first Black person to serve as Speaker.[8] Her election was a defeat for newly elected mayor Eric Adams (no relation),[9] who had privately been trying to win support for rival Speaker candidate Francisco Moya.[10][11][12] Council Speaker Adams declined to take up legislation that would prevent New York City public service retirees from being forced into a Medicare Advantage plan.[13] The proposed change has been challenged by the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees[14] and unions such as the Professional Staff Congress, the CUNY professors union.[15] Until 2023, most municipal retirees have been enrolled in traditional Medicare. Council Speaker Adams however, has not helped the retirees protect their health benefits from being stripped from them in retirement and has blocked their proposed legislation from being introduced. In 2023, Councilman Charles Barron drafted a bill, Intro 1099 that was simply two sentences long requiring the City to offer a Medigap plan like retirees are currently in and stating nothing in this bill would interfere with a unions' collective bargaining - an excuse given not to help them. Retirees are no longer in unions once retired. Speaker Adams not only blocked the bill from being introduced the traditional way, she also intimidated other councilmembers from signing onto it, and prevented Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa from calling the bill to a hearing in the Civil Service and Labor Committee, letting it die in committee.[16] Retirees have had to continue to fight in court because the very council that legislated their Medicare benefits over the decades from Mayor John Lindsay to Councilwoman Mary Pinkett of District 28, and former Speaker Peter Vallone, this council has been more loyal to the unions that fund their campaigns than the vulnerable retirees who they should have been helping.[17] Speaker Adams's First Deputy Chief of Staff is Jeremy John, the former Political Action Director of the DC37 union, the union who led the push into Medicare Advantage with the United Federation of Teachers. In June 2024, the teachers union walked back its support for Medicare Advantage, DC37 has not.[18] In December 2024, Speaker Adams permitted Council members to vote on the Mayor's new zoning proposal called The City of Yes. Speaker Adams voted for the bill along with 30 other members. The bill proposes the construction and conversion of 80,000 legal and new housing units in New York City. It awaits the signature of Mayor Eric L. Adams.[19] Personal lifeAdams is a longtime member of the NAACP and the National Action Network.[20] She is also an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[1] Her family includes her husband Joseph, four adult children, and eleven grandchildren.[21] References
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