Hizzoner Eric Adams addresses resignation rumors at annual interfaith breakfast
At this year’s Interfaith Breakfast, an energetic Mayor Eric Adams emerged from his hiatus. He addressed rampant rumors about resigning from office this week and spoke about immigration concerns.
The 2025 Annual Interfaith Breakfast was held at the New York Public Library (NYPL) Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Hundreds of faith leaders and a handful of politicians from all over the city came together to break bread, pray, sing, meditate, and worship in the name of unity.
“Yes, I’m the mayor. Yes, I was the first Black borough president. Yes, I was a state senator. Yes, I was a police captain. Folks, that’s my glory; that is not my story,” said Adams. “My story fortifies me. And yes, last week was a scary week for me. It was hard. I’m not going to lie to you. And you got to trust in God, there are moments — and I’m not giving a speech, I’m talking to you because you’ve been with me — there are moments where God has to be real.”
The looming topic of conversation was the mayor himself. The day before the event, the “New York Times” reported that senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, under President Donald Trump, were in talks with Manhattan prosecutors about possibly dropping the federal charges against Adams.
In September 2024, Adams became the first sitting New York City mayor to be indicted on federal criminal charges, prompting a deluge of calls for him to resign. He absolutely refused, posting a video statement maintaining his innocence. He later pleaded not guilty to a five-count felony charge, including bribery, conspiracy, campaign finance violations, seeking and accepting improper gifts, and donations from a foreign national. If convicted, Adams faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison.
Rumors were also flying high on social media this week, on Jan. 29, that Adams would resign in exchange for getting off scot-free. Posts speculated that Adams cut a deal with the DOJ in exchange for his resignation. Adams’s star lawyer Alex Spiro immediately denied rumors of a possible resignation as “completely false.” The mayor’s press office referred to his lawyer for comment on Wednesday.
“I was blown away with all that I’ve gone through with this journey in this life that I am so blessed to have — who started this stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday? Are you out of your mind?,” said Adams at the podium. “How do you print the rumor that I’m resigning on Friday, but don’t print the fact that we have more jobs in the city’s history on that same page?”
Adams’s arrival at the breakfast was his first real public appearance in about a week, due to an undisclosed illness, according to his office. He has never been shy about expressing his faith and often leans on the church and interfaith community, especially as his legal troubles escalated in the last year.
The last time he had been in the limelight was his attendance at Trump’s second inauguration and his lengthy interview at Gracie Mansion with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, none of which exactly painted the mayor as a loyal Democrat. He was slammed by many for “cozying up” to Trump and Republicans in a bid to get a presidential pardon, so the timing of his case possibly being dismissed was uncanny.
Nevertheless, he had a warm reception and the crowd gave thunderous rounds of applause as Adams told stories about his embattled mother, his and his administration’s efforts to help migrants during the influx, and his confirmation that he had no intention of resigning.
Gilford Monrose, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnership (OFCP), lead pastor at Mt. Zion Church of God Seventh Day in East Flatbush, and previously Adams’s faith director in the borough president’s office, said he hadn’t heard anything on the news about the DOJ and Adams’s case, and that “the lawyers deal with that.”
“Mostly today is a thank you for faith leaders who have done an amazing job in their local communities, and it’s a way for us to just be together in a room and pause for a minute to take a collective breath,” added Monrose. “So much is happening in our city, so much is happening in our country. People have anxiety. We’re hoping to be able to share a collective moment of prayer.”
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