After weeks on the fence about whether or not to attend, Mayor Adams mentioned late Tuesday that he’ll be at Zohran Mamdani’s Thursday inauguration.
“We communicated this afternoon, and he made it clear that he would like for me to attend, and I would like to be there to show the smooth, peaceful transition of power. We both know how important that is,” Adams mentioned in an unannounced look on WABC77 radio.
Although the outgoing mayor has lengthy claimed he doesn’t focus on non-public conversations, Adams mentioned he instructed his successor that he doesn’t “want to do anything to disrupt this important moment in history.’”
“And [Mamdani] said, ‘No, Eric … It would be good to see you there’,” Adams added.
Mamdani’s inauguration is slated to happen Thursday afternoon on the steps of Metropolis Corridor earlier than 1000’s of supporters, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders anticipated to manage the oath of workplace.
It’s commonplace for outgoing mayors to attend the inauguration of their successors, even after bitter campaigns. Memorably, outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat on the dais on the Metropolis Corridor steps throughout incoming Mayor Invoice de Blasio’s 2014 inauguration, throughout which a number of audio system laced into Bloomberg.
Nonetheless, for weeks, Adams has declined to say whether or not he would attend Mamdani’s swearing-in.
On Monday, Adams blamed Mamdani’s personal supporters for his indecision, saying he doesn’t wish to give them a purpose to “disrupt” the ceremony by protesting him.
“It’s unfortunate that there’s a body of some of his supporters, some of them, who rather protest everything,” Adams mentioned.
Adams’ attendance on the ceremony could possibly be awkward. After dumping his bid for reelection in September amid continued fallout from his federal corruption indictment, Adams endorsed Mamdani’s chief rival within the mayoral race, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and railed harshly towards Mamdani, calling him the “king of gentrifiers.”
Since then, Adams has taken numerous steps to stymie Mamdani’s agenda, together with by appointing new members to the Lease Tips Board in an effort to dam his successor’s push to freeze rents for the town’s stabilized tenants.
On Wednesday, in his remaining hours in workplace, Adams can also be anticipated to veto roughly 20 Metropolis Council payments, lots of which have earned the help of Mamdani, in line with sources conversant in the matter. The Council can override the outgoing mayor’s vetoes when the chamber reconvenes early subsequent yr.
