# Adrienne Adams (politician)

Adrienne Eadie Adams (born December 9, 1960) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the New York City Council since 2022. A Democrat, Adams represents the 28th district. She is the first woman elected to the district, and the first African-American elected as Council Speaker.
Adams was first elected to the City Council in 2017, to complete the term of her expelled predecessor, Ruben Wills. Her district includes the Queens borough neighborhoods of Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park.

## Early life and education

Adrienne Eadie was raised by "two proud union workers" in Hollis, Queens: a truck driver for UPS and a cook for Rikers Island. She attended St. Pascal Baylon Elementary School, Bayside High School (Queens), and briefly York College (CUNY) before receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology from Spelman College.

## Career
### Pre-Council

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

Adams won her 2017 City Council primary with 39% of the vote (3,499 votes). Her opponent, Richard David, got 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. During her first term, she was elected by her colleagues in the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to serve as co-chair of the caucus, and 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.
In January 2022, the New York City Council elected Adrienne Adams as Speaker. She is the second individual from the borough of Queens to hold this position, following Peter Vallone Sr. Additionally, she is the third woman and the first Black person to serve as Speaker. Her election was a political defeat for newly elected mayor Eric Adams, a fellow centrist Democrat and high-school classmate but no relation, who had privately been trying to win support for rival Speaker candidate Francisco Moya.
Speaker Adams has declined to take up legislation opposing conversion of the health insurance of most New York City municipal retirees to Medicare Advantage, in place of traditional Medicare with Medigap supplemental coverage. This budget-cutting conversion, first proposed by Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Municipal Labor Committee in 2021, has divided New York politicians, retirees, and their former unions. Court challenges were still ongoing as of January 2025.
In December 2024, Speaker Adams and 30 other Council members approved a modified version of Mayor Adams's zoning reform proposal known as "City of Yes for Housing Opportunity". The mayor subsequently signed the bill, which authorized the construction and conversion of approximately 80,000 additional housing units in New York City over the next 15 years. Nevertheless, Speaker Adams and Mayor Adams have increasingly diverged on issues facing the city, especially regarding budget priorities, criminal justice policies, and commissioner appointments. In February 2025, after four deputy mayors resigned in the wake of criminal corruption charges against Mayor Adams, the speaker joined many other New York officials calling for his resignation or removal.
New York City Council members are limited to two consecutive four-year terms, so Adams is ineligible for re-election when her second term concludes at the end of 2025. For her successor in the 28th district, she has endorsed her chief of staff, Tyrell Hankerson.

### Post-Council

In March 2025, term-limited Speaker Adams became the ninth Democratic candidate to challenge Mayor Adams in the 2025 NYC mayoral election. She declared her candidacy at the urging of many New York elected officials, most notably Attorney General Letitia James and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

## 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).