The Mounting Challenges Facing New York City Mayor Eric Adams

NEW YORK—With the skyscrapers of Wall Street behind him, Eric Adams watched earlier this week as an electric passenger aircraft circled Manhattan’s downtown heliport. He shared his dream that the city would be a hub of the new technology and waxed about the prospect of futuristic new jobs.

Then reality came back: a question about whether anyone else on his team had their phones seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as happened to Adams this month. “We’re talking about helicopters!” the mayor spat back, ignoring the question as he spun around and turned his eyes to the sky.