NYC Mayor Eric Adams drew a comparison between a white woman and a plantation owner during a public event where she voiced her concerns about rising rents in the city. The incident occurred at a community conversation event held at Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics in Washington Heights.
In a video capturing the exchange, Adams addresses the woman after she interrupts him, accusing him of raising the rent. He asserts his position as the mayor and requests to be treated with the respect he deserves. He then admonishes her by saying, “Don’t stand in front like you treated someone that’s on the plantation that you own.”
The woman, identified as a longtime public housing advocate named Dubnau, has previously voiced her grievances with other NYC mayors. In a 2015 townhall, she openly criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio for implementing affordable housing initiatives that she believed led to gentrification and the closure of stores along Broadway.
When questioned about Adams’ strong reaction to Dubnau’s comments, Fabien Levy, Adam’s press secretary, responded, “The mayor’s comments are the mayor’s comments. We stand by the mayor’s comments.”
Adams’ administration faced criticism recently when the Rent Guidelines Board approved rent increases of up to 6 percent for the city’s one million rent-stabilized apartments. Despite Adams clarifying that he does not have control over the Rent Guidelines Board, the woman continued expressing her dissatisfaction.
Adams calmly addressed the woman, requesting that she refrain from pointing and being disrespectful. He emphasized that he had answered her question and urged her to move on to the next table. His response garnered some applause from the audience.
The incident sparked varied reactions among New Yorkers on social media. Some praised the mayor for his handling of the situation, highlighting that attitudes like that should not be tolerated towards a prominent Black man in New York City. However, others felt that Adams could have responded differently, suggesting that he find an alternative way to engage with the citizen without making it about himself. They emphasized that as a public servant, Adams is meant to work for the citizens of NYC.
{Matzav.com}
He is really overreacting. A politician needs to have thicker skin than that.
“Despite Adams clarifying that he does not have control over the Rent Guidelines Board”
NYC Mayor appoints all nine members of the board. Own up to that Mayor, and don’t try to fool people by making believe you have nothing to do with it.
Adams has turned out to be a dangerous race baiter, just like Eric Holder and Merrick Garland. His harping on white supremacy is very troubling. He’s the Mayor of NYC for heaven’s sake. He’s still petrified of Whitey?!
That woman was a rude, interrupting yenta and Mayor Adams had handled it just right with his stern rebuke to her, demanding that she show respect. Had he stopped there, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, he then chose to basically accuse her of being a racist who thought she could treat him as though he was her slave, an unjustified, baseless attack, made particularly disgusting by the fact that she was an elderly woman who’d actually fled the Nazis, ym”s.
Let’s see if Adams has the guts and the decency to apologize for his last sentence.
Adams is a selfish lowlife grubby narcissistic person.