‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them,” William Shakespeare wrote. We are about to learn whether Eric Adams fits into any of those categories.

New Yorkers should pray that he does. 

The city’s next mayor certainly will not lack for the opportunity to distinguish himself. Adams follows the worst chief executive New York has had in modern times and anywhere he looks, the situation is dire and needs attention.

Crime, disorder, homelessness, joblessness, education, transportation — they are all reaching crisis proportions. While incumbent Bill de Blasio didn’t single-handedly create the mess, he was always a willing and eager accomplice. 

Fancying himself a great progressive, his tenure was a setback to progress on nearly every front. Corrupt, lazy and incompetent, his departure will be reason alone to celebrate come Jan. 1.

To get a sense of what Adams will face, and what might have been, it’s helpful to contrast the Gotham of today with the city de Blasio inherited eight years ago. The difference is one of night and day.

Michael Bloomberg, whose three terms ended in 2013, built on the successes of Rudy Giuliani and their combined 20 years in City Hall created a Golden Age of peace and prosperity.

As crime reached historic lows, New York became a magnet for jobs, entrepreneurs, tourists and dreamers from all over the world. The perennial questions about whether New York was govern­able had been answered with a resounding yes and the city shined like never before.

De Blasio, a youthful radical who admired Cuba and the Soviet ­Union, never seemed to have much love for New York, and proved it with destructive policy and personnel choices that managed to undo much of his predecessors’ progress. The pandemic provided another reason for tens of thousands to decamp and never return.

Yet the beauty of New York is that past is not necessarily prologue. Even a short history of successful mayors offers plenty of reasons to hope that Adams can fix what’s broken. 

My list includes Ed Koch as well as Giuliani and Bloomberg, with all three passing the same litmus test: they began their tenures while the city was in the dumps and dramatically changed its direction to make things far better before they left. 

Koch took office in 1978, when the fiscal crisis had wrecked services and pushed the city to the brink of bankruptcy. By force of personality, commonsense policies and a deep affection for New York, Koch gave the city back its confidence and delivered a renewal. 

Giuliani was first elected in 1993, which was the height of the crime epidemic. Over the previous 25 years, the number of murders had climbed from about 600 a year to more than 2,000.

Through 1997, the end of his first term, murders fell by more than half, to 767, the lowest number in 30 years. That miracle was delivered by a revolution in policing, making Giuliani’s first four years probably the greatest and most important in 100 years.

Four years later came 9/11 and Bloomberg was elected in its hellish aftermath. Ground Zero still smoldered and the city looked and felt as if it might never recover from the fear and devastation.

It did, of course, yet de Blasio made it a point to reverse nearly every Bloomberg policy, including the most successful ones. The ­humiliation of Bloomberg at de Bla­sio’s inauguration set the tone for an administration that turned back the clock in all the worst ways. 

Fortunately, Adams seems to grasp all this. He spent the last two decades in Albany as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president, political jobs that gave him an up-close view of what works and what doesn’t in executive positions.

But his most relevant experience for the biggest challenge he faces came as a police officer and captain. Although he was best known for his advocacy against brutality, Adams campaigned on a promise to tame the violent-crime wave that has stunned the five boroughs. 

Indeed, among a large Democratic primary field that ranged from left to far, far left, Adams stood out for his focus on public safety.

He repeatedly said “the prerequisite to prosperity is safety” and underscored his commitment by showing up at several major crime scenes, including a shooting in Times Square, even as de Blasio was absent. Adams’ promise to restore an undercover police unit focused on getting illegal guns off the streets was an especially bold move because most of his Democratic rivals opposed the idea. 

Adams, who will be the city’s second black mayor, is also breaking with the pack by vowing to end de Blasio’s anti-business approach, a focus he no doubt sharpened in private conversations with Bloomberg. And he distinguished himself by pushing for more Gifted & Talented programs in public schools and supporting charter schools. 

Summing up his triumph on primary night, he said he was becoming “the new face of the Democratic Party” and pledged to show America how to run a city. 

It’s hard to imagine a more refreshing approach after eight years of a mayor who fashioned his tenure around far-left nostrums. In de Blasio’s world, results don’t matter nearly as much as ­intent and ideology. 

Adams realizes that’s the main reason why de Blasio failed, just as he realizes that success means paying attention to the details of daily life in New York. 

“Everybody is trying to figure me out because I refuse to fit into this neat little package,” he told Juan Williams in August. “People are saying, ‘We don’t know who he is.’ Listen, I know New Yorkers. New Yorkers want to be safe. They want their children educated; they want [jobs] . . . They could care less if you call them left or right.”

Bingo. Koch, Giuliani and Bloomberg all approached the job from a similar point of view. If ­Adams can match their success and usher in another renewal of shared progress, he will have achieved greatness in the ways that matter to millions of people. 

Godspeed to him as he begins his journey.

Epic fail to the chief: prez putz!

Jeff Durstewitz is seeing double, writing: “In surveying the wreckage of the Biden presidency, one parallel instantly suggests itself: Joe Biden is de Blasio, with the same combination of arrogance and supreme stupidity, but on the national level.

“I suggest it’s time to start calling him what he is: President Putz.”

Vox Pop-uli on Team Biden

Susan Cienfuegos isn’t happy that a court is trying to decide whether Strawberry Pop Tarts have enough strawberries. She writes: 

“I would rather the court scrap that case and decide how many nuts are in the White House. 

“Prioritizing is essential!”

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