Eric Adams has landmarked fewer buildings than his predecessors. During a push for new development, will the next mayor change course?

While Mayor Eric Adams is no longer in the race to lead New York City, he continued to attack Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani this month on an aspect of city policy that Adams hasn’t overtly emphasized himself, until recently – landmarks designation.

During his one-term mayoralty, Adams has granted fewer landmarks designations than his predecessors. While recent predecessors Bloomberg and de Blasio granted an average of around 26 and 16 landmarks designations per year, respectively, Adams’ administration has averaged around 10. There are only so many landmarks to designate, of course. However, in a rare instance on Oct. 8, Adams called on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate two of the city’s Christopher Columbus statues as public landmarks, protecting them a