(Bloomberg) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams is enjoying high favorability ratings in his first couple of weeks in office, according to a new Siena poll released Tuesday.

Overall, 63% of city residents have a positive impression of the former police captain, compared to a fifth who have a negative opinion, in the first statewide poll measuring the new mayor’s popularity. 

The poll was taken between Jan. 9-13, less than two weeks into Adams’s tenure. In that short period, he’s confronted a string of challenges, including the Covid-19 omicron surge, a rocky return back to school, and the city’s deadliest fire in three decades, which killed 17 people in the Bronx. He’s also embarked on a whirlwind tour of the city and urged New Yorkers to embrace their “swagger,” a catchphrase parodied over the weekend on “Saturday Night Live.”

Statewide, Adams’ favorability is lower, at 41-19, with some 40% of New Yorkers saying they don’t know enough about the new mayor to have an opinion. Adams is most popular among Black residents, who approve of him 62-19, compared to 47-27 among Latinos and 34-18 among White New Yorkers.

Hochul Ahead

The Siena poll also showed Governor Kathy Hochul increasing her name recognition among the state electorate as she prepares for a competitive Democratic primary in June and a November general election.

The poll found that 46% of voters would elect Hochul over her likely opponents in the Democratic primary if the contest were held tomorrow. Just 6% would select Representative Tom Suozzi, the Long Island Congressman planning to run against her. Roughly 11% would choose New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and 12% would vote for former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

“Five months is a long time in politics but given her bully pulpit, campaign war chest and enormous early lead, Williams, Suozzi and de Blasio, if he enters the race, have a lot of catching up to do and a very steep path in front of them,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

The survey comes nearly five months after Hochul took office following former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in August. Cuomo stepped down amid allegations he sexually harassed multiple women, including some state employees. He denies any wrongdoing. 

In August, relatively few voters knew Hochul. The most recent Siena poll, in which she earned her highest ever favorability rating (45%) and her highest ever unfavorability rating (29%), shows voters are learning more about her. 

Only 25% of voters said they knew too little about the governor to have an opinion of her in the January poll, compared with 69% in April of 2021. The poll sampled 806 registered voters in New York state and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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