Outgoing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who held his last press conferences on Thursday, had to organise the final event indoors, as numerous protesters gathered outside City Hall, blasting the politician for his poor performance.
Reports suggested that the protesters were yelling at him, while some could be seen holding anti-de Blasio signs, including a banner saying: "Buh-bye sh*t head. Thanks for f***ing up our city".
The mayor is handing the city over to Eric Adams amid a deep crisis: New York now has the worst murder rate in ten years (500 murders in 2021), which de Blasio blames on lockdowns. Overall crimes rates also soured in the last year, rising 6.13 percent over 2020 through 26 December.
The critics of the outgoing mayor link the spike in crime to his bail reform, which resulted in "the lowest rate of incarceration of any major [US] city" and to his decision to cut the NYPD budget by $1 billion last year.