NYC Mayor Eric Adams Warns His Staff About Leaking to Media — in Leaked Staff Meeting
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned his administration about unauthorized communication with a “very aggressive press corps” in a meeting that was leaked to the very media he was issuing warnings about.
“We’re dealing with a very aggressive press corps where there’s an ‘I gotcha’ moment instead of ‘I got you and we need to be on top of that,” he said in a Thursday Zoom meeting, which was later leaked to Politico. The meeting included 50 city officials and laid out strict guidelines for speaking to the media. Politico noted that “every single communication from a city agency, down to notices about cherry blossoms in bloom” needs City Hall approval.
According to the report, Adams expressed frustration with certain press releases and official statements being sent out on things “we were still contemplating here.” Adams did not reveal what specific statements he was referring to, but the mayor has been publicly contradicted by city officials multiple times in recent weeks. Last month, the mayor suggested parents of 2-to-4-year-olds should decide whether they need to mask, while the city’s health commissioner said the mandate should stay in place.
“I’m a big believer in discipline. Discipline of message, and discipline of action,” Adams said during the meeting on media leaks. He warned that anyone caught “sabotaging this administration” will be fired. Adams, serving his first term as mayor, has been critical of coverage of him in the past. Last month, the Democrat suggested the media covering him was not diverse enough to give him fair coverage.
“I’m a black man that’s the mayor but my story is being interpreted by people that don’t look like me,” he said at a City Hall news conference.
Politico’s report notes that multiple “officials” who have worked for past mayors called Adams’ micromanaging approach to the media more intense than previous policies in place. The sources concluded that Adams’ policies go “beyond the level of message control demanded under previous administrations.”
“What is imperative to know is, you are assigned to an agency under a commissioner but you work for me, that’s very important to know,” Adams told officials last week during the Zoom call. “The commissioner leads an agency, but I lead the city. I’m the mayor of the city and all communications that come through this city government is coming through my message.”
