A week after Eric Adams took the reins, many Democrats representing New York City on Capitol Hill are praising the new mayor’s can-do attitude.

“Mayor Adams is off to a great start,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said.

“I think his heart is in the right place and he wants to do the right thing. We just have to help him do it,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney said.

From his new office in City Hall, Adams faces enormous challenges, from the omicron surge to a public housing system needing tens of billions of dollars in repairs.

What do NYC congressional leaders want to see from him?

Adams has centered his message in part around public safety, going so far as to defend stop-and-frisk policing as an effective tool when employed legally.

Rep. Jeffries, who has long advocated for policing reforms, downplayed questions of whether the new mayor can balance public safety with civil liberties.

“As a police officer, Eric Adams was a reformer in terms of speaking out against police violence, police brutality, and the police abuse of excessive force. And so I expect that that's in his DNA and that will continue,” he said.

Rep. Yvette Clarke says under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city made progress toward making policing more just. She hopes the NYPD can build more trust police and the community going forward, but will be watching.

Adams will “be judged on how we … take things to the next level of public safety in our city,” she said.

Another challenge facing the new mayor: the crisis at Rikers.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Carolyn Maloney has led a congressional effort to dig into the situation at the troubled jail complex.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, which Maloney chairs, said the congresswoman “believes strong leadership from the newly sworn-in Mayor and Commissioner of the Department of Correction will be critical to swiftly address the conditions at Rikers.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres, who has spearheaded a call for federal intervention at Rikers, expressed confidence that Adams will treat the violence at the jail with the seriousness required.

“I’m willing to take a wait-and-see attitude and give him the freedom and flexibility he needs to stabilize the situation at Rikers Island,” Torres said.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has already teamed with Adams in advocating for legislation taking aim at gun trafficking, was quick to laud the new mayor’s push to keep schools open, citing her own experiences as a mom.

“I love the fact that he’s going to work really hard to make that done as safely as possible," she said. "Because he knows that the safest place for a lot of kids is in school."

Of course, the jury is out as to whether Adams can stand up to the ambitions of his fellow Democrats. Many interviewed by NY1 said they are ready to work with him and support him.

“All of our fates are tied to his success, as well as tied to anything that he may fail in,” Clarke said.