Eric Adams sounded certain—his city was in crisis. It was September 6, 2023. The mayor of New York was standing in a public-school gym on the West Side of Manhattan, in his shirtsleeves, mic in one hand. “The city we knew, we’re about to lose,” he warned. More than 100,000 migrants had made their way to New York over the past year. Caring for them would be an all but impossible task. “This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City.”
And the mayor was getting a little tired...