That's a message that resonated as well on Wall Street, which, unlike some of his opponents and Mr de Blasio, Mr Adams did not demonise. After some politicians attacked a plan by Amazon to expand in Queens, causing the company to back out, Mr Adams later warned the message was "New York is no longer open for business." As some firms and many workers decamped during the pandemic for businessfriendly states like Florida and Texas, Mr Adams said, "We are in the business of recruiting human beings. That is the job of a city, and we have been a terrible recruiter over these last few years." He plans a recruiting effort to attract workers and businesses from around the world.

Assuming he defeats Curtis Sliwa, the beret wearing, long-shot Republican candidate, Mr Adams will become the city's second African-American mayor. He will also have a notoriously hard job, made harder by the pandemic. Federal recovery funds have propped the city up, but Bloomberg News reports the city expects property tax revenue to drop $1.6bn, or about 5%, this coming fiscal year. That would be the biggest drop in three decades. The value of office buildings has fallen citywide by 16%. Tourists, a critical input to New York's economy, have yet to return in big numbers, and only 12% of office workers are back at their Manhattan desks.

Mr Adams has called for budget cuts of 3-5% at city agencies to rein in spending (New York City's budget is nearly $100bn). He plans to work informally with Mr de Blasio in order to hit the ground running. "He is ideologically flexible," says Robert Snyder, Manhattan borough historian, "and he's very pragmatic." After the rigidly progressive Mr de Blasio, New York could use both of these qualities.

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