Lame-duck New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate for private businesses three weeks before he is shown the door is a big 'eff you' to incoming Mayor Eric Adams, his spokesperson said.
'I think for the outgoing mayor to announce something like this knowing that the implementation and enforcement would entirely be the responsibility of the next mayor is a real big eff you,' a spokesperson for Adams told The New York Post.
The mandate concerns more than 184,000 businesses in New York City and is set to be put in place by December 27 — just four days before de Blasio's term comes to an end.
De Blasio has not provided any details on sanctions, if any, for private employers who violate the rule.
The dogged progressive Democrat has recently said that he is cooperating with business leaders to find a solution.
But, Kathryn Wylde, who is the head of the Partnership for NYC, a group of nearly 300 CEOs from the Big Apple's top corporate, investment and entrepreneurial firms, said there's been little-to-no discussions with city hall on the matter.
Adams, 61, currently the borough president of Brooklyn, has not expressed his commitment to the new mandate, refusing to comment on the matter on Monday.
At the time, another spokesman said that he'll 'evaluate' it when he takes office at the end of the month, while consulting with 'science, efficacy and the advice of health professionals.'
Mayor Bill de Blasio is implementing a new vaccinate mandate four days before leaving office, forcing private employees to get their booster shots or to face punitive sanctions
A sign on the street of a testing site offering city residents free COVID-19 PCR tests
But sources close to Adams' inner circle suggest the mandate could be easily dismissed.
'I think anything the outgoing mayor tries to implement at the 11th hour is really on the table. This won't be some long-standing policy that would need to be reserved,' the source said.
A city health official, who reserved skepticism over the new mandate taking effect in 19 days, agreed.
'He could just leave it as an honor system,' a source told the New York Post, implying the mandate wouldn't be as strictly enforced if city officials catch private employers who are in violation of the rule.
During an appearance on CNN's New Day, de Blasio responded broadly to questions regarding whether his successor, who is recently returned from a trip to Ghana, will follow through with the mandate.
'I've had great conversations with the mayor-elect. He and I have a great, close relationship. What he always says is he's going to listen to the health leadership,' de Blasio said. 'I think the mayor-elect has been consistent. He will follow the ideas and concerns of the health leaders.'
Mayor-elect Eric Adams, 60, will have to figure out how, or if, to enforce the controversial new mandate
On Monday, protestors demonstrated outside the New York City Department of Health offices after De Blasio announced that all private-sector employers must follow a new COVID vaccine mandates for their workers, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has spread to at least one-third of U.S. states
When pressed further on whether Adams would publicly back the latest regulation, the mayor said, 'I'm not going to talk about private conversations.'
Business executives who are also part of the mayor-elect's transition team blasted the new regulation.
Randy Peers, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce president, said De Blasio's new vaccine mandate 'means more pain for the city's economy'
'As many employers, especially small businesses, are still struggling with labor shortages, the mayor's private business mandates mean more pain for the city's economy,' said Randy Peers, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce president, who is a member of Adams' economic and workforce development committee.
'This new round of requirements creates even more confusion and problems,' said Andrew Rigie, head of the NY Hospitality Alliance serving on the transition team's economic committee along with Peers.
Some local small business owners have said that the mandate remains unclear to them.
'How do you tell someone they have to be vaccinated or they'll be fired?' the manager of Bicycle Habitat, located on Seventh Avenue,
