1. Eric Adams served in the New York State Senate from 2006 to 2013, representing the 20th district in Brooklyn.
116 Facts About Eric Adams
1. 2.
In 2013, Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President, the first black American to hold the position, and re-elected in 2017.
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In 2021, Eric Adams received the Democratic Party's nomination for mayor of New York City after narrowly winning a crowded primary which used instant-runoff voting.
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Eric Adams has implemented, alongside increased police presence, a zero-tolerance policy on homeless people sleeping in subway cars.
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Eric Adams was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
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Eric Adams alleged that the charges were retaliation for opposing the Biden administration's handling of the migrant crisis.
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Eric Adams was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on September 1,1960.
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Eric Adams's father, Leroy Adams, was a butcher who struggled with alcoholism.
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Eric Adams was raised in a rat-infested tenement in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
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Eric Adams's family was so poor that he often brought a bag of clothes to school with him in case of a sudden eviction from his home.
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At age 14, Eric Adams joined a gang, the 7-Crowns, and became known as "a tough little guy".
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Eric Adams ran errands, including purchasing groceries, for a dancer and part-time prostitute named Micki after she became injured.
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Eric Adams was sent to a juvenile detention center for a few days before being sentenced to probation.
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Eric Adams had post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident and has said that the violent encounter motivated him to enter law enforcement.
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Eric Adams was particularly intrigued by black police officers and by the "swagger" and "respect" that comes with being in law enforcement.
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Eric Adams graduated from Bayside High School in Queens in January 1979, but struggled to maintain good grades.
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Eric Adams began attending college while working as a mechanic and a mailroom clerk at the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, receiving an associate degree from the New York City College of Technology, a bachelor's degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and an MPA from Marist College in 2006.
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Eric Adams served as an officer in the New York City Transit Police and the New York City Police Department for 22 years.
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Eric Adams has described his wanting to serve as a reaction to the abuse he suffered by NYPD in his youth and separately stated that he was encouraged to join to lead reform from within.
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Eric Adams attended the New York City Police Academy and graduated second in his class in 1984.
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Eric Adams started in the New York City Transit Police and continued with the NYPD when the transit police and the NYPD merged.
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Eric Adams worked in the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village, the 94th Precinct in Greenpoint, and the 88th Precinct covering Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
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Eric Adams worked with the Nation of Islam in the 1990s because of their work in patrolling crime-ridden housing projects.
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Eric Adams met with their leader Louis Farrakhan and appeared on stage with him at an event.
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In 2006, Eric Adams was put under surveillance and investigated by the NYPD for appearing on television in his official capacity as a police officer and critiquing Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD opened an investigation into this and charged Eric Adams with disseminating misinformation, divulging official police business, and speaking as a representative of the department without permission.
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Eric Adams retired from the police force with the rank of captain shortly after being found guilty for speaking in an official capacity.
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In 1994, Eric Adams ran for Congress against incumbent Major Owens in the Democratic primary for New York's 11th congressional district, condemning Owens for denouncing Louis Farrakhan, but failed to receive enough valid signatures to make the ballot.
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Eric Adams claimed his petition signatures had been stolen by someone on behalf of Owens, but police found no corroborating evidence.
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Eric Adams registered as a Republican in 1997 before switching back to the Democratic Party in 2001, according to the Board of Elections.
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Eric Adams has said his switch to the Republican Party was a protest move against what he saw as failed Democratic leadership.
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Eric Adams was elected and served four terms until 2013, when he was elected Brooklyn Borough President.
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Eric Adams represented the 20th Senate District, which includes parts of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Sunset Park.
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Eric Adams placed billboards around parts of Brooklyn bemoaning pants sagging.
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Eric Adams published an instructional video to teach parents how to search their child's room for contraband.
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That same year, Eric Adams was one of 24 state senators to vote in favor of marriage equality in New York State.
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Eric Adams spoke in support of the freedom to marry during the debate before the vote.
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In 2010, Eric Adams became Chair of the Senate Racing and Wagering Committee and was praised for his engagement.
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Eric Adams would spend hours traveling and visiting racetracks to study the issue further.
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Eric Adams came under investigation for his handling of choosing an operator to run the gambling operation at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
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The matter was referred to the United States Department of Justice, but they took no action and Eric Adams admitted no wrongdoing, calling the report a "political hit piece".
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Eric Adams was a vocal opponent of the NYPD's "stop and frisk" policy, which predominantly affected young black and Latino men, and which, in 2000, the US Commission on Civil Rights said constituted racial profiling.
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Eric Adams championed a bill to stop the NYPD from gathering data about individuals who had been stopped but not charged.
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In 2012, Eric Adams served as co-chair of New York's State Legislators Against Illegal Guns.
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On November 5,2013, Eric Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President with 90.8 percent of the vote, more than any other candidate for borough president in New York City that year.
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Eric Adams introduced a bill in the New York City Council that would require all municipal buildings providing services to the public to have lactation rooms.
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Eric Adams urged the City Council to pass a resolution called "Ban the Baloney", aiming for schools across the city to stop serving processed meats.
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In 2021, Eric Adams authorized a grant from the borough to SUNY Downstate College of Medicine to establish a plant-based supplemental curriculum.
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That same month, after a correctional officer endured a beating from six inmates at the George Motchan Detention Center on Rikers Island, Eric Adams stood outside the Brooklyn Detention Center to express his support to reinstate solitary confinement in prisons.
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In 2014, Eric Adams established the One Brooklyn Fund, a nonprofit organization for community programs, grant writing, and extolling local businesses.
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Eric Adams's office was investigated twice by the city Department of Investigation over One Brooklyn's fundraising.
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In 2016, the DOI found that Eric Adams' office had mistakenly licensed the use of Brooklyn Borough Hall for a Mayor's Office event.
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Eric Adams had long been mulling a run for New York mayor, and on November 17,2020, he announced his candidacy for Mayor of New York City in the 2021 election.
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Eric Adams was a top fundraiser among Democrats in the race, second only to Raymond McGuire regarding the amount raised.
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Eric Adams ran as a moderate Democrat, and his campaign focused on crime and public safety.
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Eric Adams has argued against the "defund the police" movement and in favor of police reform.
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On November 20,2020, shortly after formally announcing his run for mayor of New York City, Eric Adams attended an indoor fundraiser with 18 people in an Upper West Side restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing criticism.
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Eric Adams held an already scheduled fundraiser the following day in Queens, when a 25-person limit on mass gatherings was in place.
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Eric Adams's campaign said that there were eight people at the event and that they were required to wear masks and practice social distancing.
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Eric Adams faced Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election and was heavily favored to prevail.
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Eric Adams received support in the primary from New York elected officials including US Representatives Thomas Suozzi, Adriano Espaillat and Sean Patrick Maloney, as well as fellow Borough Presidents Ruben Diaz Jr.
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Eric Adams received endorsements from labor union locals, including the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, District Council 37, and Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ.
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Various local media outlets endorsed Eric Adams, including El Especialito, The Irish Echo, The Jewish Press, New York Post, Our Time Press, and the Queens Chronicle.
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Eric Adams was ranked as the second choice in the Democratic primary by the New York Daily News behind Kathryn Garcia.
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Some Black Lives Matter activists denounced the effort, but Eric Adams labeled the behavior "grandstanding".
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On November 4,2021, Eric Adams tweeted that he planned to take his first three paychecks as Mayor in bitcoin and that New York City would be "the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries".
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On December 2,2021, Eric Adams took a trip to Ghana where he visited the Elmina Castle.
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On October 15,2024, Eric Adams appointed Chauncey Parker as the new Deputy Mayor for Public Safety.
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Eric Adams took office shortly after the New Year's Eve Ball Drop at midnight in Times Square, holding a picture of his recently deceased mother, Dorothy, while being sworn in.
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Eric Adams became the city's second mayor of African American descent to hold the position after David Dinkins left office in 1993.
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Bernard started working the job on December 30,2021, two days before Eric Adams was inaugurated as Mayor.
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Amid the crime spree, President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland visited New York City and vowed to work with Eric Adams to crack down on homemade firearms, which lack traceable serial numbers and can be acquired without background checks.
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In March 2022, Eric Adams ended the city's vaccine mandate for indoor settings and the city's mask mandate in public schools.
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That same month, Eric Adams announced that he would keep the city's vaccine mandate for private-sector employees but create an exemption for athletes and performers.
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Eric Adams worked virtually to issue a response to the attack and criticized the national "overproliferation" of guns as being responsible for gun violence.
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In June 2022, Eric Adams unveiled his administration's "comprehensive blueprint" for affordable housing.
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In late February 2023, at the annual interfaith breakfast, Eric Adams said he disagreed with the notion of separation of church and state.
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Eric Adams elicited backlash after proposing "dormitory style accommodations" and declaring that apartments did not require windows.
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In 2023, the Eric Adams administration spent $50,000 to relocate 114 migrant households who entered New York City from the Mexico-United States southern border to countries like China and other states within the United States.
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In 2023, Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a bill to increase penalties for zoning violations in New York.
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In July 2023, during the New York City migrant housing crisis, Eric Adams argued that New York City was running out of room and resources to provide for the influx of roughly 100,000 migrants from the southern border.
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In September 2023, Eric Adams warned reporters that the migrant crisis could "destroy" New York City.
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On June 23,2023, Eric Adams vetoed legislation that would have increased eligibility for housing vouchers to homeless families and individuals under the CityFHEPS program; Eric Adams implemented part of the legislation via executive order, eliminating a 90-day waiting requirement for people currently in shelters.
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Eric Adams denied the accusation, claiming he did not know who the accuser was and if they had ever met; he did not recall it.
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In December 2023, the United Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit against Eric Adams to prevent a $550 million cut to education funding.
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At a news conference, Eric Adams suggested that the city could hire migrants as lifeguards because they are "excellent swimmers".
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Eric Adams has promoted a series of changes to New York City's zoning laws called the "City of Yes".
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On May 21,2024, Eric Adams created a Charter Revision Commission to propose changes to the New York City Charter.
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On October 26,2024, Eric Adams spoke out in defense of former President Donald Trump and criticized Vice President Harris, claiming that he did not think that Trump was a fascist.
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On September 25,2024, Eric Adams was indicted in a sealed case.
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Dozens of politicians called on Eric Adams to resign, including congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx.
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The allegations for which Eric Adams was indicted date back to 2014, when he was still Brooklyn Borough President.
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Eric Adams is accused of receiving luxury travel and other benefits from Turkish individuals, namely a government official and several businessmen.
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Allegedly, in order to cover up his misconduct, Eric Adams created and instructed others to make false paper trails indicating he actually paid for these trips in full.
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On February 10,2025, the Department of Justice under President Trump instructed federal prosecutors to drop charges against Eric Adams, citing concerns that the case had been affected by publicity and was interfering with his ability to govern.
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The memo was issued months before the city's Democratic primary, where Eric Adams is seeking reelection.
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The charges were to be dropped "as soon as is practicable" pending a further review of Eric Adams' case following the general election in November 2025.
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Eric Adams then joined Homan in a joint interview conducted by Dr Phil McGraw, among one or more other joint interviews.
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Ho declined to dismiss without prejudice as requested by the Justice Department, as Ho wrote that doing so risked Eric Adams becoming seemingly "more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents", as it would appear that Eric Adams' "freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities" of the Trump administration.
100.
Eric Adams announced he would run for reelection, even in the midst of the federal indictment.
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Eric Adams is the first incumbent mayor to run without the nomination of either major party since John Lindsay in 1969, losing the Republican nomination but winning on the Liberal Party line.
102.
Eric Adams has a son, Jordan Coleman, with former girlfriend Chrisena Coleman.
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Eric Adams's son is a graduate of American University, and is a filmmaker and television actor.
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Eric Adams is currently in a relationship with Tracey Collins, the Senior Youth Development Director for the New York City Department of Education.
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In September 2023, along with New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban, Eric Adams became a Prince Hall Freemason as well as a 32nd Degree Member of the Scottish Rite.
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In 2016, Eric Adams switched to a plant-based diet after his diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
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Eric Adams made lifestyle changes rather than pursuing conventional treatments for diabetes.
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Eric Adams switched to a whole food plant-based diet, removing animal products, processed sugar, salt, oil, and processed starches.
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Eric Adams began exercising regularly, using an exercise bike and treadmill in his office.
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Eric Adams has said that he wants to encourage others to switch to a healthier diet, and that some of the public health spending for diabetes should go toward lifestyle changes rather than treating disease.
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In February 2022, after several accounts surfaced of Eric Adams eating fish in public, questions emerged about whether Eric Adams was truly a vegan.
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In October 2020, Eric Adams published the plant-based advocacy cookbook, Healthy at Last: A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses, which chronicles his health journey.
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Eric Adams was a contributor to the 2021 anthology Brotha Vegan: Black Men Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society.
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However, in the 2023 Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, Eric Adams claimed never to have used the medication.
115.
Eric Adams endorsed not taking medication that a doctor recommends in favor of the pure plant-based diet.
116.
The complaint alleges that when the woman refused, Eric Adams forced her to touch his penis and ejaculated on her leg.