N.Y.C. Council Leader Caught Between Members and Mayor on Crime Issue

Adrienne Adams will play a leading role as New York City leaders confront a spike in violence that has gained national attention.

In a city accustomed to wave-making entrances from its elected leaders, Adrienne Adams, New York City’s new speaker of the City Council, has spent the first six weeks in a relatively splash-free zone.

She has not danced in a cameo appearance on a television news weather report, or posted a social media video of herself singing along to Lady Gaga, as her predecessor, Corey Johnson, had done in his first weeks on the job.

Ms. Adams’s rollout has been far more sedate, partly by design and mostly by circumstance, with a spate of high-profile crimes affecting the tenor of the city, as well as her schedule.