New York City Mayor Eric Adams, at a press conference on Tuesday, attributed the swirl of negativity surrounding his campaign to unnamed “political opportunists” who he says have been intent on derailing him since he took office.
Over the weekend, some reporters received phone calls from an unidentified source claiming an indictment was near for Adams in the federal investigation into his campaign’s ties to Turkey.
Right now, federal investigators are working to determine whether or not the mayor accepted illegal donations from the Turkish government. Even still, the mayor told reporters he would accept donations for his re-election campaign from people with Turkish ties, so long as the contributions are legal.
Adams, a Brownsville native, clarified that his "political opportunists" comment was not referring to federal investigators who were simply “doing their job.”
“There are people who wake up every day and say, ‘How can I get this pilot to crash?’” Adams said. “These guys aren’t on the plane! I don’t know how many times I can say this. People should be praying for me to land the plane. And I’m focused.”
The public seems to be losing faith in Adams’ ability to land the plane, however. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed that only 28% of New Yorkers approve of Adams, the lowest for a New York City mayor since the university began administering the poll in 1996. And only 22% of those asked approve of his handling of the migrant crisis, which he has cited as the driving force for widely unpopular budget cuts.
Some members of City Council, however, have pushed back on the notion that the migrant crisis is to blame for the city’s financial distress.
"Asylum seekers are not to blame,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said during a hearing this week.
In recent months, Adams has repeatedly called on the federal government to provide financial assistance to manage the crisis, and last week, he made his 10th trip to Washington D.C., to meet with federal lawmakers to discuss the situation.
The trip was “not fruitful,” Adams said, but he added he will continue to state his case to Congressional leaders.
“When the mayor goes to Washington, he’s advocating for New Yorkers, and that’s his job,” said Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ top advisor. “He has to go to Washington. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, and a closed mouth does not get fed. If he sits back and doesn’t say anything to Washington, D.C., then Washington D.C., will get comfortable and they’ll think, ‘OK, New York has it under control.’
“We do have it under control, but it is still their obligation for them to put together the decompression strategy. It is still their obligation to fund this national crisis, so he has to be the voice and he would be derelict in his responsibility as the mayor of the city of New York if he doesn’t go to Washington.”
During the press conference, Adams championed his relationships with international leaders across the city, as well as his frequent world travels, including multiple trips to Turkey and India.
Adams speculated that the public’s interest in his travel schedule comes from a dubious place.
“There’s almost this thing of, 'Who’s this Black guy who involves global travel? Why are you all over the globe, Eric?'” Adams said.
Adams has spoken often of his fondness for the late Indian social leader Mahatma Gandhi. On Tuesday, a man credentialed for the press conference, presumably a reporter, posed not a question but a statement for Adams.
“You are our Gandhi,” the man said.
Adams chuckled and looked down at the table. “Yes," he said.
