With just 28 days left in office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is defending a series of late-term executive actions, saying he intends to carry out his responsibilities until the moment he leaves City Hall.

“The mayor is not about abandoning your obligation or responsibility just because there’s someone incoming. I have a job to finish,” Adams said.

One of Adams’ final moves was signing an executive order prohibiting the city from discriminating against Israel or Israeli citizens, and barring city pension funds from boycotting, sanctioning, or divesting from Israeli interests. The decision comes as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a long-standing critic of Israeli policy, prepares to take office.

A second executive order instructs the NYPD to regulate protest activity outside houses of worship.
“Now, if the incoming administration wants to reverse them, that is on their watch,” Adams said. “But on my watch, houses of worship are sacred locations.”

Adams also recently added funding to hire 5,000 additional police officers, a move Mamdani has openly opposed, arguing the city already has enough officers. Adams’ decision effectively positions Mamdani to cut the NYPD budget shortly after taking office.

“The mayor is free to issue as many executive orders as he’d like with the less than 30 days he has in office,” Mamdani said. “And then we will be taking a look at every single one once we actually enter into City Hall.”

The latest actions come amid tensions following comments allegedly made by Loews Corporation CEO Benjamin Tisch, brother of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who reportedly called Mamdani “an enemy of the Jewish people” at a private event. Mamdani said Commissioner Tisch later addressed the remarks with his team.