The wild and strange moments of Eric Adams’ chaotic mayoralty so far

Eric Adams faced a series of federal criminal charges, including corruption and bribery, for the first time in modern history of a sitting mayor of New York City.

Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York on Thursday filed a massive five-count indictment against Adams, accusing him of soliciting and accepting “illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign and other items of value from foreign nationals.”

However, Adams is no stranger to controversy, having been the subject of numerous gaffes and meme-worthy moments since taking office two years ago.

The Rat Czar

During his tenure as mayor, Adams was embroiled in a bitter battle with millions of the city’s residents. “Anyone who knows me knows one thing: I hate rats,” he said at a press conference in October 2022.

Getting rid of rats has been something of an obsession for Adams, as the city’s first Urban Rat Summit took place earlier this month.

Last April, he appointed Kathleen Corradi, colloquially known as “The Rat Czarina,” as his right-hand man in the fight against rodents.

Corradi’s role was described as helping to “fight the real enemy – New York City’s relentless rat population.”

Trash can on wheels

Earlier this year, Adams proudly welcomed a “revolution” in waste disposal – a bin on wheels.

Social media users were quick to mock the mayor after he unveiled the rolling, black plastic trash can at a news conference, declaring the city was “taking the next step forward in our ‘trash revolution.'”

“It’s a kind of garbage can on wheels, American ingenuity knows no bounds,” wrote one user

This was Adams’ second trash-related faux pas of 2024, following the city’s introduction of side-loading garbage trucks in February. Although the machines were touted by officials as a “historic victory in the fight against trash,” they were considered old news even in much smaller cities in America.

Strange comments

Adams loves a sound bite and has declared on visits to other cities that “New York is the xxxx of America” ​​- be it Athens, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Mexico City or Islamabad.

Unfortunately, some of his quotes are remembered for less positive reasons. When asked in an interview last December to describe New York in one word, he answered “New York” and then delivered an unorthodox ode to his city.

“This is a place where every day when you wake up you can see everything from a plane crashing into our commercial center to a person celebrating the opening of a new store,” Adams told local news outlet PIX11.

He also told Vanity Fair in 2021 that his favorite concert was a Curtis Mayfield performance in Brooklyn, where part of a lighting rig fell on the soul singer, paralyzing him.

Robo cop

In 2022, Adams announced an exciting and futuristic new project: a robot cop.

However, the mayor said the machine would need to be guarded by a real NYPD officer at all times during a two-month test period in Times Square. During the press conference, Adams also attempted to make the “heart hands” sign with the armless robot.

The Knightscope K5 security robot, which weighed about 400 pounds and moved at a top speed of three miles per hour, was decommissioned in December 2023 and has been in storage since then.

Fish Gate

The mayor has portrayed himself as a vocal supporter of veganism, but with one small problem: he is constantly seen eating fish.

Adams embraced veganism about seven years ago after suffering from diabetes symptoms and has regularly touted the vegan diet as healthier for people and the planet. However, he was often seen eating fish, including at the upscale downtown Italian restaurant Osteria La Baia, where he was known to order “fish and salad.”

During his 2021 mayoral campaign, he invited members of the press to his Brooklyn apartment, where reporters found both salmon and dairy products in his refrigerator. Adam’s campaign later claimed that the items belonged to his son.

Responding to accusations that he lied about his veganism, Adams referred to his critics as “the food police.”

Driving on the sidewalk… in front of journalists

During the same 2021 campaign, Adams engaged in some questionable driving practices in full view of a group of journalists camped outside his residence.

According to a reporter who witnessed the bizarre (and illegal) incident, he saw the then-mayoral candidate “leave his apartment, get into the passenger side of the car, squeeze into the driver’s seat and then drive the car onto the sidewalk.” “.

“He drove blithely along the sidewalk until he cleared the traffic jam and then turned right onto Stuyvesant Avenue,” the reporter added.