In an abrupt change, Mayor Eric Adams canceled his previously-scheduled New York City events on Monday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C.
On Monday morning, City Hall released an updated schedule for the mayor that showed he would no longer attend MLK Jr. Day celebrations at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Convent Avenue Baptist Church. The change of plans came after an invite from Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, according to mayoral spokesperson Kayla Mamelak, who said the invite arrived after midnight.
Mamelak said she did not know if the mayor would attend any special events following the inauguration, which is being held indoors this year due to frigid temperatures. The mayor traveled with only his NYPD detail, Mamelak said, but she did not know the time of departure.
Fabien Levy, Adams’ deputy mayor for communications, announced the mayor’s change of plans on X.
“As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger, and more affordable in New York City,” Levy wrote.
The trip comes at a politically fraught moment for Adams, who recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. Adams had previously left open the possibility that he would attend the inauguration.
With Adams’ federal corruption trial and mayoral primary looming this spring, and ongoing speculation about the mayor seeking a presidential pardon, the schedule change prompted criticism from Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the mayor’s staunchest allies.
“To say you’re not going to raise your eyebrows would be being dishonest,” Sharpton said on MSNBC on Monday. “I think this is going to cause a lot of us to say, ‘What is this all about?’”
The inauguration trip also provided easy fodder for Adams’ critics and rivals.
“Imagine if Mayor Adams applied the same focus to making our city safer and bringing down our cost of living as he does to getting himself a pardon,” wrote New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running for mayor.
Similarly, Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, another candidate seeking to unseat Adams, said, “New Yorkers deserve a Mayor who puts our city’s wellbeing above his own exoneration.”
Adams is being accused of accepting flight and travel upgrades from Turkish officials in exchange for fast tracking the opening of the Turkish consulate building in Manhattan. The mayor has pleaded not guilty. He has argued he is being politically targeted for his criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis.
Trump has previously said he would consider pardoning the mayor, though the mayor said the subject did not come up at their Florida meeting.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
