New York City voters elected Eric Adams as their new mayor on Tuesday over his eccentric Republican rival Curtis Sliwa in a historic race that will make Adams the second black man to run the nation's largest city.

The former police captain, 61, a Democrat, became the 110th mayor in a city that leans heavily Democratic. He had 70 percent of the vote with 34 percent of votes tallied, according to The Associated Press. Nearly 170,000 New Yorkers cast their ballots during nine days of early voting due to COVID-19.

Adams, the current Brooklyn borough president, will take over City Hall in January 2022 from progressive outgoing Mayor Bill De Blasio, who served two four-year terms.

Earlier in the day, Adams, wearing a dark blue suit, cast his ballot in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He clutched a framed picture of his late mother, Dorothy, who died in March. After leaving the polls, he paused, looked emotional and wiped away tears.

Addressing New Yorkers, he said: "This is for all of you. I only have three words: I am you. We won already. Someone asked me how many votes you need to feel you have a victory. They just don't get it, we won already.

"I'm not supposed to be standing here, and because I'm standing here, every day New York is going to realize that they deserve the right to stand in the city also. This is for the little guy."

Sliwa, his Republican rival, a radio-show host and founder of the Guardian Angels, a crime-fighting group, arrived at polls on Tuesday morning in his signature red jacket and beret with his arm in a sling, carrying one of his rescue cats, Gizmo.

But he was not allowed to wear his embellished jacket or bring his cat inside. It then took him almost two hours to vote for himself. When he did cast his ballot, it jammed the vote counting machine. He had campaigned on ending coronavirus vaccine mandates, helping the homeless and public safety.

Adams' historic win follows in the footsteps of the city's first African-American mayor, the late David N. Dinkins who died in 2020 at 93. The marine, lawyer and politician was the 106th mayor for one term from 1990 to 1993.

Adams won the mayoral race by vowing to be tough on crime, tackle illegal guns and back police reform — issues that appealed to a cross-section of voters.

He also backed de Blasio's stance that public employees must get a COVID-19 vaccine, and anyone visiting a restaurant or entertainment venue must show proof of vaccination.

The new mayor is said to have been planning his ascent to City Hall since the 1990s.

He first reached out to Bill Lynch, a top adviser to Dinkins who told him exactly what he needed to do over the next few decades to become the city's second black mayor.

Lynch advised him to get a bachelor's degree, scale the ranks of the police department and get political experience.

Adams graduated with a degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York in 1998. He became an NYPD captain, was elected to the state Senate in 2007, spent seven years in Albany and then became Brooklyn borough president.

Born in the tough New York neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn, Adams was raised in South Jamaica, Queens, by his single mother, Dorothy, who was a house cleaner and a cook.

On Tuesday morning, he remembered his mom and urged New Yorkers to go to the polls. "The city has abandoned people like my mom, so I'm hoping people exercise their right to voice that we don't want to be abandoned anymore," Adams said.

As a youth, Adams lived with the constant threat of becoming homeless. He would take a bag of clothes to school just in case his family was evicted. He struggled academically because he had undiagnosed dyslexia for several years.

At 15, Adams underwent a pivotal moment in his life when he and his older brother were arrested for trespassing and allegedly beaten up by police while in custody.