How’s Mayor Adams doing? Don’t ask, say many New Yorkers.

Four days before Christmas, New York Mayor Eric Adams gathered his top aides on the steps of the City Hall rotunda for an end-of-year message.

As his walk-in music blared from the speakers, Mr. Adams gave a thumbs up to his staff as he stood between two video screens. One showed the year 2023; the other displayed the message: ‘We have run out of orders. Crime is down.”

The news conference resembled a campaign event, full of applause and cheerleader-like encouragement for the mayor halfway through his first term. And by maintaining a laser-like focus on trumpeting two key statistical achievements, Mr. Adams seemed intent on countering the growing perception that he is not up to the task.

The mayor has the lowest approval rating since Quinnipiac University began gauging the popularity of New York City mayors in 1996. New Yorkers disapprove of almost every aspect of Mr. Adams’s handling of his job and do not believe he is trustworthy, the poll shows.

He has made unpopular cuts to schools and libraries to close looming budget shortfalls, and recently returned from a trip to Washington with news that the city should expect no help from the influx of migrants. He was accused in a legal claim filed last month of committing sexual assault in 1993, a charge he has vehemently denied.

In addition, the home of the mayor’s chief fundraiser was raided by the FBI and Mr. Adams’ phones and tablet were seized as part of a federal investigation into his campaign’s fundraising.

And when he tries to give voice to his side of the story, his choice of words often gets in the way.

When asked recently To describe the past year in one word, the mayor responded: “Um, New York. This is a place where you wake up every day and experience everything from a plane crashing into our Trade Center to someone celebrating the opening of a new business.”

At the City Hall press conference on jobs and crime, he made another point when asked what he would say to New Yorkers angry about the painful budget cuts he has implemented.

“I wake up in the morning,” Mr. Adams said, “and sometimes I look at myself and give myself the finger.”

Hours after he made those comments, a video of his remarks emerged posted on social media according to the Republican National Committee’s rapid response report.

Some of the mayor’s policies have received widespread praise: his plan to place waste in large containers instead of bags on the street and to expand curbside composting; the city’s commitment to regain most of the jobs lost during the pandemic; efforts to stabilize public housing, address climate change, expand youth programs and boost the life sciences industry; and a proposal to build 100,000 homes.

But critics call what they say are troubling trends: an increase in police oversight; a slow trickle of new affordable housing with major projects many years after opening; the inability to provide sufficient preschool seating for children with disabilities; a delay in providing basic services to the most vulnerable New Yorkers and a pattern of obstructing major bus and bike lane projects in response to opposition from political allies.

“Aside from the issues weighing heavily on New York City voters, it appears there is a lack of confidence in Mayor Adams,” said Mary Snow, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Mr. Adams has even alienated key allies like Henry Garrido, the leader of District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal employee union. The union does suing the Adams administration over the budget cuts.

Mr. Garrido praised the mayor for unwinding 90 percent of outstanding union contracts, but said it was a “mixed bag” because cuts eliminate revenue-generating jobs such as environmental inspectors and hurt struggling New Yorkers.

“Thirty thousand people waiting for food stamps is outrageous,” Mr. Garrido said.

It’s far too early to estimate where the federal investigation into the mayor’s fundraising will lead; Mr. Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But even if the mayor emerges unscathed, his bid for a second term in 2025 could be undermined by pocketbook issues, especially for middle- and working-class New Yorkers.

“His cuts will be as politically damaging as any investigation,” said Monica Klein, a strategist who often advises progressive Democrats.

The United Federation of Teachers has done that filed a complaint against the Adams administration to block cuts to education funding. And parents in particular are angry about the painful cuts to schools, kindergartens and libraries. Robert Desir, an attorney who lives in Ditmas Park in Brooklyn, said he worries his 2-year-old daughter won’t get a free 3-K spot, which former Mayor Bill de Blasio promised would now be universal. If his family has to pay for kindergarten instead, they might consider leaving town.

“The city is becoming more and more expensive and it’s hard for people to thrive and plan for the future,” said Mr. Desir, who has joined a group called New Yorkers United for Child Care. A petition is circulating to stop the cuts.

Mr. Adams has blamed the cuts on the cost of caring for asylum seekers, and said he, like many New Yorkers, is “angry” that the federal government is not doing more.

At the same time, Adams’ cuts are coming under increasing scrutiny, with budget experts suggesting his government has overestimated the cost of the migrant crisis.

a city ​​inspector’s reportBrad Lander found that the cost of the migrant crisis will be $465 million lower than budgeted this year and $1.61 billion less in fiscal 2025. Mr. Lander urged “stronger management” to address the city’s “budget challenges,” such as real-time data to track the cost of migrant spending to determine whether the cuts will yield results. the expected savings.

It is also unclear whether Mr Adams can take all the credit for improvements in employment and crime. According to police, overall crime has decreased slightly compared to last year statisticsbut crime is also declining nationally.

And while there has been job growth in New York City, it has slowed this year. The city still has not regained all of the nearly 1 million jobs it lost at the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to the state Department of Labor. New York City ends the year with an official unemployment rate of 5.3 percent, slightly higher than a year ago.

Bertha Lewis, a longtime organizer and president of the Black Institute, said she was disappointed not to see one “big idea” from the mayor, such as Mr. de Blasio’s universal preschool. And she questioned his management skills.

“He needs to get a handle on the management of the city,” Ms. Lewis said. “You have to manage how the machine actually works. That is what being mayor is all about.”

As Mr. Adams’ position has deteriorated, so has his relationship with the City Council, which has already overridden a mayoral veto on housing vouchers and just passed bills banning solitary confinement in the city’s jails and reporting of police checks, despite the mayor’s objections. .

The mayor’s office is making “damaging and hysterical cuts designed to cause outrage,” said Lincoln Restler, a council member who heads the Progressive Caucus and has questioned Mr. Adams’ management for more than a year.

“This is not a mayor who had much influence on the city council last year, and the combination of investigations, declining voting numbers and very damaging budget cuts are not strengthening his hand,” Mr Restler added.

The mayor has often criticized the news media for not focusing on his administration’s successes and for paying too much attention to issues caught by the “criminal police,” even as he insisted he spoke “the way New Yorkers talk.” . He has also suggested that he was treated differently because of his race.

“Over the past month there have been negative headlines about me that are so sensational as to be unbelievable,” Mr. Adams said during a call-in radio show on WBLS. “There’s a reason for that: they’re not based on facts, they’re based on hearsay; and yes, in many cases even lies.”

After a difficult Year 2, the mayor can turn things around by focusing on the important steps his administration is taking on rezoning and economic development, said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University and an Adams ally.

Mr. Adams must stop arguing with the media and President Biden, he said, and stop allowing his rhetoric to overshadow his agenda.

“The mayor should be bringing good news to New Yorkers,” he said, “not bad news.”

Patrick McGeehan And Dana Rubinstein reporting contributed.