Eric Adams’ inauguration did not go as planned.

The mayor took office just as the omicron wave was cresting, ensuring the city’s COVID response would dominate the early days of his administration. And spread of the variant forced him to scrap a planned speech at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater on Jan. 1; he opted instead for a swearing-in in Times Square and then a City Hall address free of spectators.

But even on day one, his attitude toward COVID was one of defiance: “COVID won’t control us,” he said at a news briefing. “We’re not going to live in fear.”

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Adams took office just as the omicron wave was cresting, forcing him to scrap inauguration plans

  • As cases dropped, Adams eliminated vaccination mandate for indoor dining and entertainment, as well as mask mandate for K-12 students

  • In March, Adams stirred controversy by creating an vaccination exemption for athletes and performers, while leaving mandate in place for others

As cases plummeted in mid-January, Adams pushed hard to reopen the city. He re-introduced regular in-person news briefings for the first time since the pandemic hit, and pushed businesses to bring workers back to the office.

“We can’t keep kicking the can down the road,” he said on February 16. “It’s time.”

Adams began lifting COVID restrictions, first by eliminating the vaccination mandate for indoor dining, fitness and entertainment, as well as the mask mandate for students in grades K-12.

He left in place the mandate for all New York City-based private and public sector workers. That led to some 1,500 municipal employees losing their jobs, and notably, kept unvaccinated Nets star Kyrie Irving off the court at Barclays Center. That changed on March 24, when Adams created an exemption for New York City-based athletes and performers, just as visiting performers had been exempt.

“This is about putting New York City-based performers on a level playing field,” he said at the time.

That sparked outrage from the city’s municipal unions. Some parents, meanwhile, protested the ongoing mask mandate for toddlers under age five. Adams announced plans to lift that restriction, too, but reversed course when the new BA.2 subvariant began driving up cases yet again.

“Case are definitely rising, and it’s gotten our attention,” said Ashwin Vasan, the city’s health commissioner, on April 1.

“We’re going to pivot and shift as COVID has pivoted and shifted,” Adams added last week. “There’s a new variant, the numbers are increasing. We’re going to move at the right pace. And that’s the role I must do.”

Those increased numbers would soon include Adams himself, who tested positive on his 100th day in office.