Mayor Adams slammed for ‘photo op’ after spending cold night in NYC emergency migrant shelter

In an “off-the-books” surprise visit, New York City Mayor Eric Adams did his best to silence criticism he’s received over the accommodations at Brooklyn’s new emergency migrant shelter by staying there overnight on what was the Big Apple’s coldest day of the year.

He did his best, but the reaction to Adams’ video from his stay, posted to Twitter on Saturday, has been brutal, with some users accusing Hizzoner of ignoring the needs of homeless New Yorkers and using the migrants for a shameless photo op.

In the video, Adams is seen late on Friday night playing video games with one of the hundreds of migrant men who are currently calling the converted Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook home.

“We are going to stay tonight with our brothers here and just let them know that we are all in this together,” Adams says to the camera. “This is how you get through things.”

Braving single-digit temperatures to join the mayor’s slumber party were Assemblyman Edward Gibbs, D-Manhattan, and homeless advocate Shams DaBaron.

According to the New York Post, “The mayor arrived around 11 p.m. Friday, slept on a cot alongside the migrants, ate breakfast with them and left around 9 a.m.”

A prepared statement was released by Adam’s press office hours later.

“I would never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do myself, so last night, on the coldest night of the year, Assemblymember Gibbs, Shams, and I wanted to show the asylum seekers staying at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal the warmth of New York City,” Adams is quoted as saying. “What we saw is what we have seen since the beginning of this crisis: individuals who are grateful to the greatest city in the world for providing them the opportunity to work towards the American Dream.”

Many of the migrants welcomed Adams’ visit, according to The Post, telling the mayor that they were cold.

Despite the outlet’s City Hall sources saying the temperatures in the facility never dipped below 62 degrees — the city’s mandatory minimum overnight indoor temperature — Mayor Adams and his team vowed to crank up the heat and passed out extra blankets to those in need.

“He was there feeling how cold it is, and he slept in the room with us,” Venezuelan migrant Mario Peña, 26, told The Post. “It was good that he shared with us. He slept in the middle of all of us on a cot. We tried to speak to him with our bad English.”

Fellow Venezuelan Camilo Londono, 41, agreed.

“It was great,” he said. “I’m thankful for everything that [Adams] has given us: a place to live, food, clothes, healthcare. There are doctors here giving the chickenpox vaccine to those who want it. I just got mine 10 minutes ago. I’m thankful for everything he’s done – it’s all good.”

But according to Twitter users, it’s far from “all good.”

“And you’re exploiting them for a photo op,” replied one user to Adams’ tweet.

“What about our NYC ppl who are freezing and starving?” asked another user.

“This man loves being in front of a camera,” stated a third, adding, “smh.”

“So basically Adams took up space for someone who needed it and made sure to get his photo op?” a fourth user noted. “Got it.”

Republished with permission from American Wire News Service

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