New York City Mayor Eric Adams Skips Town Ahead Of Winter Blast

Daniel ChaitinDecember 24, 2022

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams skipped town as the Big Apple braced for severe wintry weather, according to his office, leaving the Democrat open to criticism.

City officials told reporters Adams took a couple of days off, noting he left town Thursday and would return Saturday. They would not divulge where the mayor had gone but stressed Adams was in contact with city officials.

“The mayor is still in touch with everybody on the ground,” Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Adams, told Gothamist. “He is coordinating all the city’s responses.”

Adams disappeared as a “once in a generation” winter storm swept across much of the country, producing dangerous conditions that have knocked out power for more than a million customers, foiled holiday travel plans, and killed more than a dozen people. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) declared a state of emergency for the Empire State on Thursday as the approaching winter storm threatened all sorts of hazards, including plummeting temperatures, slick roads, strong winds, and power outages.

Adams, a retired police captain who took office on January 1, caught flak for leaving while the city of about 8.8 million people braced for the winter blast.

“You’d think a mayor who spends so much time at clubs wouldn’t need to go gallivanting on vacation as New Yorkers freeze and die,” said Bill Neidhardt, a press secretary under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, per the New York Daily News. “Adams needs to make a New Year’s resolution to take this job seriously.”

A group called New York Communities for Change tweeted out a “Missing Mayor” poster.

Have you seen this man?
Retweet to help us find our city’s Mayor!#WheresEric #MissingMayor https://t.co/MlEIc4VOGM pic.twitter.com/ys6CvWpRqo

— New York Communities for Change (@nychange) December 24, 2022

First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo offered a defense of her boss, saying, “Let me just say this to you — he might as well be here, because we’ve been speaking constantly throughout the day,” according to the New York Daily News.

Adams isn’t the only politician in recent memory to go MIA during a major winter weather event.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) faced criticism after he traveled for a family trip to Cancun, Mexico, while many of his constituents in Texas suffered from widespread power blackouts during a winter storm in early 2021. He quickly returned to Texas and conceded the trip “was obviously a mistake. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it.”