Former police captain Eric Adams cruised to victory in the race for New York mayor as voters across the US picked new city leaders from candidates who were largely defined by their stances on police and crime.

Mr Adams, who will become the second Black mayor of the nation’s largest city, first triumphed this summer in a crowded Democratic primary after he struck a nuanced stance on law enforcement issues.

His message on crime and his experience as a police officer largely insulated him from attacks from his Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol.

Mr Adams described being beaten by police officers as a teenager when he was arrested for trespassing.

When he later became a cop, he was a vocal critic of the police department, advocated for Black officers and spoke out about injustices.

But he did not embrace calls from some progressives to defund the police by shifting money from law enforcement to social work and other programs aimed at addressing the root causes of crime.