NYC Mayor: Candidate, How Eric Adams Mixed Money and Political Ambition

[brooklynite]

New York Times

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, had begun making the rounds for a nascent mayoral campaign when he arrived at a small gathering in spring 2018.

The real estate developer David Schwartz had invited associates to meet Mr. Adams — and cut him a check — at his company’s Manhattan offices. Mr. Adams delivered a short stump speech, talking about his conversion to a plant-based diet and how as mayor he would ensure that schoolchildren no longer ate pizza that resembled cardboard, according to people who were there. He raised $20,000 that day, records show.

Mr. Schwartz’s company, Slate Property Group, had recently sought city permission to erect a tower in Downtown Brooklyn nearly twice as tall as zoning allowed. Six months after the fund-raiser, Mr. Adams endorsed Slate’s zoning change, despite objections from the local community board.

Mr. Adams, 60, a former police officer who is among the leading candidates in the June Democratic primary for mayor, has termed money the “enemy of politics” and called for complete public financing of campaigns. Yet his dealings with Mr. Schwartz offer but one example of how, across his 15 years in elected office, he has used government power to benefit donors and advance his political ambitions.

NYC currently has two bad choices (Yang and Adam’s) in the top slots.

[jimfields33]

1. I don't think yang is a bad choice

In fact, he has great ideas and being Asian American during a year which saw unprecedented racism might help stop that.

[brooklynite]

2. He's completely unqualified to run a City of 8 million people.

And he couldn't be bothered to vote for Mayor in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017, I can't be bothered to vote for him.