Editor's note: Thomas O. Falk is a London-based political analyst and commentator. He holds a Master of Arts in international relations from the University of Birmingham and specializes in U.S. affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

New York City may still have the reputation as the city that never sleeps, but it faces tremendous challenges after a year of various and continuing crises. The economy is shattered, violent crimes are at their highest level in at least a decade.

Although the mayoral election has not yet been officially decided - the new, complicated procedure, in which voters can enter a sequence of up to five candidates, could delay the official result for weeks - but Eric Adams, who leads the Democratic Primary at 31.7 percent, is almost guaranteed to become New York's next mayor.

After all, Republicans in New York traditionally have little chance of winning the election. The winner of the Democratic primary elections hence decides the next mayor of the metropolis.

Incumbent Bill de Blasio, whom many New Yorkers have been critical of for a long time, after having actively contributed to the city's detrimental status quo, is not allowed to run again after having served two terms.

In addition to the complex question of how and in what form the city can resurrect after the pandemic, the cracked sense of security of many New Yorkers had become the dominant election campaign topic. It is not just about the disrupted relationship between the police and civil society, but the massive increase in armed violence in recent months.

The choice of Adams is hence no accident. Unusually for Democrats, he campaigned for a strengthening of the police force, which saw millions in cuts last year after the Defund the Police movement.

The number of shootings in May was 73 percent compared to May 2020. Other crimes have also skyrocketed since the pandemic began. And the violence is no longer only present in rough neighborhoods. A few weeks ago, a toddler was shot in Times Square, the city's tourist hotspot. 

These are conditions that the New York authorities could not have imagined a year and a half ago. The crime rate had reached a historic low at the time - but then came the pandemic, the lockdown, Defund the Police, thousands of restaurants and shops closed forever. In New York's problem areas, including Brooklyn, a constantly tense situation turned into an escalating one.

According to polls, the crime wave was the main concern for voters. Adams is considered a staunch advocate of strict law-and-order policies. Among other things, he wants to reintroduce the controversial stop and frisk approach and hire more police.

Significantly, Adams did particularly well in the black working-class neighborhoods of the Bronx and in large parts of Brooklyn - where outbreaks of violence and police issues dominate everyday life.

In addition to crime, there are also the after-effects of the pandemic: Not only was it more deadly for blacks and Hispanics, but it also dramatically exacerbated New York's social inequality. In a survey by the New York State Health Foundation, a private foundation, 20 percent of blacks surveyed and 29 percent of Hispanics said they didn't always have enough to eat, compared to only five percent of whites.

Even more. The unemployment rate in New York was 7.8 percent in May, compared to 5.5 percent the U.S. faced nationally. Even this number glosses over the situation. In the Bronx, where COVID-19 was one of the worst, the unemployment rate in May 2020 was 24.6 percent.

A reversal of the New York downward spiral should not be expected, even if New York recently lifted all corona restrictions due to a successful vaccination campaign. In addition to the increasing number of crimes, there is a lack of income, mainly from tourism, which is still largely paralyzed. This also puts pressure on the budget, which already faces an estimated $5 billion deficit in 2023.

The situation is so dire that even New York Democrats are increasingly losing faith in politics, as the low voter turnout suggests – particularly compared to other primary results in earlier years.

The election of Adams is a New Yorker cry for help. The Big Apple is suffering, and although the city is not asleep just yet, it faces challenges which, given how divided not just the city but America has become, might be hard to overcome, even for Adams. 

Moreover, it is an alarm signal for the rest of the U.S. After all, New York has been the country's figurehead, its international representation. If America's crisis can even take a bite out of the Big Apple, the issues the country faces might be even more significant than anticipated.

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