(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ approval rating has dropped to just 37%, as Big Apple voters worry more about increasing crime, rising housing costs and the city’s growing homeless problem.
The Quinnipiac University poll of about 1,300 registered voters found slightly more than a third of voters gave the Democrat positive marks compared to 43% who disapproved of his job performance.
- By Christian Wade | The Center Square contributor
- February 9th, 2023
- Republished with Permission/The Roosevelt Island Daily News
That’s a reversal of a previous Quinnipiac poll, taken in May 2022, which found Adams’ approval rating was 43% approving, and 37% disapproving.
“A law-and-order mayor confronts a cold winter of discontent as crime far eclipses all other voters’ concerns,” Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said in a statement.
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Crime topped the concerns of voters who participated in the poll, with 57% saying they disapprove of his handling of crime.
Nearly 4 out of 10 voters, or 39% of those polled, say they feel less safe in New York City compared to a year ago.
Voters also gave Adams low-performance rankings for his handling of New York City’s housing crunch and the public schools.
Pollsters also asked those who participated in the survey for their view on how Adams has handled the influx of asylum-seekers, many of which are being bused and flown into the city from southern border states to protest the federal government’s handling of the immigration crisis.
More than 40,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last year, prompting Adams to set up several temporary “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief” centers, building one housed at a Brooklyn cruise terminal. The city is using more than 70 hotels to accommodate the new arrivals.
Seven out of 10 voters, or roughly 70%, said they believe the problem has reached a crisis level while a similar majority of voters, or 63%, don’t think New York City has the ability to accommodate the migrants. Still, 67% of those surveyed support Adams’ push to ease federal work requirements to allow migrants seeking sanctuary the ability to get jobs.
“While a majority of voters acknowledge the influx of migrants is reaching crisis proportions, New Yorkers largely accept assimilating them into the workforce,” Malloy said.
Asked about the poll at a press conference earlier this week, Adams dismissed the findings.
“Polls go up and down,” he told reporters at a briefing, according to published reports. “We’re just going to continue to do what we do, and that’s produce for New Yorkers.”
