Adrienne Adams

Early life and education

Adrienne Eadie was born on December 9, 1960 at Elmhurst Hospital in Elmhurst, Queens. Both of her parents were union workers. She was raised in Hollis, Queens by a truck driver for UPS and a New York City corrections officer. She attended St. Pascal Baylon Elementary School, Bayside High School (Queens), and York College (CUNY). Adams received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Spelman College.

Career

Before holding elective office, Adams worked professionally in corporate executive training, human capital management, and child care training. From 2012 to 2017, she was a three-term chairperson of Queens Community Board 12. She was appointed to Governor Andrew Cuomo's Local Planning Committee (LPC) for the Jamaica Downtown Revitalization Initiative in 2014, and to the Queens Public Library Board of Trustees in 2015. She was co-chair of the Jamaica Now Leadership Council, established in 2015. In 2016, Adams ran unsuccessfully for New York State Senate against incumbent James Sanders Jr.

New York City Council

In 2017, Adams ran for New York City Council in District 28. She sought to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of her predecessor, Ruben Wills. She won the Democratic primary with 39% of the vote (3,499 votes). Her opponent, Richard David, received 32% of the vote (2,822 votes), and her other opponent, Hettie Powell, received 29% (2,589 votes). Adams went on to win the general election with 86% of the vote. Adams is the first woman to represent District 28 on the City Council. Her district included the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village and South Ozone Park in the borough of Queens. During her first term, she was elected by her colleagues as co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus. At various points she also served as chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, and Dispositions, and later chair of the Committee on Public Safety. Adams was re-elected in 2021.

In January 2022, the City Council elected Adams to serve as speaker. She is the first Black person to serve as speaker of the City Council. Her election was a political defeat for newly elected mayor Eric Adams, a centrist Democrat and high-school classmate of no relation who had privately been trying to win support for rival Speaker candidate Francisco Moya. Adams was unanimously re-elected as speaker in 2024.

The administration sought to force retirees into Medicare Advantage, stripping them of traditional Medicare with Medigap supplemental coverage that was promised to retirees for almost 60 years. The change was described by the administration as a "budget-cutting conversion" first proposed by Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Municipal Labor Committee in 2021 but has been found by multiple state courts to diminish healthcare and limit access to prescribed care as well as doctors and hospitals. This planned move pit active workers against retirees by their former unions. As revealed by Comptroller Brad Lander in an audit of the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) and Mayors misused the fund and sought to force retirees into Medicare Advantage to create a cash flow into the now insolvent fund. The MLC admits in the documents that they did this for money knowing it was not going to solve the problem. Court challenges were still ongoing as of January 2025.

Adams held a January 9, 2023 hearing with retirees which lasted over 10 hours. During the hearing, Marianne Pizzitola, testified that the stabilization fund had been misused and reminded the Council retirees that they are not in unions, and should not have been forced off the Federal Public Health Benefit of Medicare; one of the greatest civil rights achievements. The Independent Budget Office testified repeatedly that the move was not a savings to the City. In 2023, Council Member Charles Barron introduced a two sentence bill that required the City to provide a supplemental plan for retirees' Medicare like it had since 1967, and Speaker Adams refused to allow it to have a hearing. In 2024, Council Member Christopher Marte introduced 1096 that protected retirees' vested Medicare benefits and still ran into resistance, even though Medicare Advantage is the default plan in Project 2025.

2025 New York City mayoral campaign

In March 2025, term-limited Speaker Adams became the ninth Democratic candidate to challenge incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in the 2025 NYC mayoral election. She declared her candidacy at the urging of many New York elected officials, most notably New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Adams was a late entrant into the race, announcing her candidacy less than four months prior to the Democratic primary. She received endorsements from District Council 37, CWA Local 1180, and UNITE HERE Local 100. Adams finished in fourth place in the Democratic primary, receiving 4.1% of the vote.

2026 campaign for lieutenant governor of New York

On February 4, 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Adams as her nominee for lieutenant governor in the 2026 New York gubernatorial election. Both political moderates, Hochul and Adams form the first all-female major party gubernatorial ticket in New York State history.

Personal life

Adams is a longtime member of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York, the NAACP, and the National Action Network. She is also an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Her blended family includes her husband Joseph J. Adams, four adult children, and eleven grandchildren (as of July 2023).