Eric Adams called Lori Lightfoot’s loss in Chicago “a warning sign for the country”.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams called Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s heavy electoral defeat a “warning sign” for the rest of the country as he championed his commitment to fighting crime at the Big Apple.

“I think it’s a warning sign for the country,” Adams said in an interview with CNN Sunday, when asked if his ultra-progressive Chicago counterpart last week’s paltry third place was a warning sign for New York.

“Eric Adams talked about public safety not only during the campaign, but during the first year,” Hizzoner told State of the Union host Dana Basch. “I showed up at the crime scene. I knew what New Yorkers were talking about and saw it all over the country. I think, anyway, it really states that this is what I was talking about. America. We must be safe.”

Adams, a Democrat like Lightfoot, has made public safety a hallmark of his 2021 mayoral campaign.

The former city police officer said Sunday that he considers public safety “a necessary condition for prosperity” for the Big Apple, Chicago and other major US cities.

“We’re focused on public safety because people want to be rescued,” Adams said, according to a transcript of the interview released by City Hall.

When Bash insisted that his focus on crime help support the Republican Party’s view that there is too much crime, which is hurting Democrats, Adams responded, “I’m talking, I’m listening to Americans and New Yorkers.”

“Polls were unequivocal: New Yorkers felt in danger, and the numbers show they were in danger,” Adams said. “Now if we want to ignore what the everyday public is saying, then it depends on [others]. I’m on the subway, I walk the streets. I talk to ordinary working class people and they are worried about safety.”

He said that while the number of shootings and murders in the city has declined recently, New York should focus on ending recidivism.

“We have a recidivism problem in New York, and too many people, about 2,000 people, are constantly catching, releasing, repeating crimes,” Adams said. “If we don’t get them off our streets, they will continue to prey on innocent people.”

Adams’ comments come days after the NYPD reported a 5.6% drop in serious crime last month from February 2022. The percentage decline in robberies, burglaries and grand larcenies, as well as shootings, was double digits.

February also saw 10 fewer homicides than the previous year.

Compared to last year, the number of cases of serious crimes and car theft slightly increased.