Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday re-emerged after spending three days out of the public eye due to an unspecified illness with a defiant speech in which he shot down a rumor that he would soon resign and railed against his perceived critics.
In remarks delivered at an annual interfaith breakfast in Midtown, Hizzoner went on a multi-minute screed aimed at dispelling a rumor circulated by a former city lawmaker that he will resign from office on Friday as part of a deal with federal prosecutors in his corruption case.
“Who started the stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday?” Adams told the crowd of faith leaders during his speech at the New York Public Library’s Central Branch. “Are you out of your mind?”
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, also vehemently denied the rumor — spread on X by former City Council Member Sal Albanese — on Wednesday. On the same day, the New York Times and several other outlets reported that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is in talks with Manhattan federal prosecutors about dropping Adams’ five-count indictment, possibly in exchange for Adams going along with Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Thursday’s address marked Adams’ first public appearance since Sunday. Over the past three days, he has been holed up in Gracie Mansion as he battled an illness that his team has declined to reveal any information about, citing his right to privacy.
While Adams said he has gone through a “scary week,” he did not provide any further details on his illness.
‘Rumors have prevailed over facts’
During his speech, Adams took aim at the media, alleging news organizations only cover his administration’s scandals and not its purported accomplishments. He claimed that the press has covered the rumor that he was resigning, while ignoring his office’s announcement about historic job growth in the city on the same day.
The mayor contended, without evidence, that the media does not want to report on his administration because it is led by “ordinary working-class people.” Even though NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch comes from an ultra-wealthy family whose name is plastered on buildings across the city and many of his top deputies have degrees from Ivy League schools.
“Rumors have prevailed over the facts of what this administration did,” he said. “No one wants to cover what we have done because it’s you. That is why they [don’t] want to cover [it]; they want to keep the symbol that we ordinary working-class people can’t run a city of this level of complexity.”
Adams also pushed back on criticism that he is capitulating to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The mayor has repeatedly said that while he wants to expel immigrants who “commit” violent offenses, he will uphold the city’s sanctuary laws, designed to protect those who are not convicted of a crime. Earlier this week, Adams directed the NYPD to work with US Immigration and Customers Enforcement to conduct raids in the Bronx that resulted in the arrest of several migrants, one of whom law enforcement said is connected to a Venezuelan gang.
On Thursday, Adams bristled at the idea that he is anti-immigrant, as some critics have charged, pointing to his administration’s efforts to shelter a large portion of the over 200,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since 2022.
Addressing Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, who has led the city’s migrant crisis response, Adams said, “What you did for nearly 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers in this city, to hear people say we are anti-immigrant, are you out of your mind?”
“While those who were criticizing us were at home in their pajamas, we were out in the streets doing the work for the people of this city,” he added.
Adams blasted a protester in the room holding a sign reading: “Mr. Mayor, show mercy to our immigrant friends.”
“Walking around with your silly signs,” he said. “Stop doing the signs and give the sign that you believe in God and join the work that people are doing in this city.”
However, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, one of the mayor’s most ardent critics, charged that Adams is more focused on securing legal help from Trump than protecting the city’s immigrant population.
“There are a lot of awesome people who work for the city who are doing the best they can to protect New Yorkers; the mayor isn’t one of them,” he told reporters at City Hall on Thursday afternoon. “His rhetoric and his refusal to speak out is very concerning, and he seems to be more interested in what can benefit him as opposed to what can benefit the people of the city.”
