Mayor Eric Adams pushes passage of Compassionate Interventions Act. Here's what it would do.
As one of his platforms in the New York City mayor's race, Eric Adams is seeking to harness the power of incumbency to offer a plan that gets addicts off the streets and into treatment -- even if it is against their will.
It's part of his desire to stop what he calls "the culture of anything goes."
Adams explains Compassionate Interventions Act proposal
Adams cut the ribbon to open a new Queens campaign headquarters on Thursday, but it was what he is doing as mayor that he hoped would help garner support in his attempt to keep his job.
"Public drug use is still a problem on our streets, across our city," Adams said. "This cannot be allowed to continue. We must help those struggling to finally get treatment, whether they recognize the need for it or not."
The mayor is calling on the state Legislature to pass something he is calling the "Compassionate Interventions Act," which would allow New York City to involuntarily transport addicts to hospitals for treatment.
"We must change the system to keep all New Yorkers safe," Adams said.
The Legal Aid Society immediately attacked the plan, saying, "The mayor's attempt to frame this as a 'quality of life' measure is revealing, treating people in crisis as a nuisance to be swept out of public view rather than as human beings deserving care and dignity."
- Read more: Former Gov. David Paterson endorses Eric Adams for reelection. He previously supported Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo attacks Mamdani on affordability proposals
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo played up his fiscal expertise and lamented a new jobs report that saw fewer than 1,000 private sector jobs added during the first half of this year. Then he slammed Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who wants to tax the rich to pay for his affordability proposals.
"This anti-business rhetoric, this anti-capitalist rhetoric is very destructive and dangerous, especially at this point in time, because they have options. They don't have to be here," Cuomo said.
- Read more: Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo battle over President Trump's potential involvement in NYC mayor's race
Mamdani was asked if he would be anti-capitalist if he is elected.
"My policy would be to ensure that government lives up to its responsibility of ensuring dignity for each and every New Yorker, not simply determining which one is worthy of it," Mamdani said.
