Mayor Eric Adams stealthily met with union leaders — and was spotted ducking out of Gracie Mansion late Monday — despite his staff insisting that he’s too sick to maintain his usual jam-packed public schedule this week, The Post has learned.
Hizzoner’s SUV and security detail were spotted by The Post leaving the mayoral mansion at roughly 9:15 p.m. — and appeared to have been gone for several hours.
The vehicles hadn’t returned when a Post reporter left around midnight, but were spotted at roughly 6 a.m.
City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak contended to The Post that nothing was “weird” about the mayor’s late-night gallivanting, which unfolded after officials said Adams “hasn’t been feeling his best” and would clear his schedule as he undergoes medical tests.
But the trek and meetings with union leaders added another layer of intrigue to Adams’ purported illness and uncharacteristic absence from the public stage, especially as the mayoral primary looms and rumors abound that he’ll soon face new criminal charges.
The Post learned that Adams’ meetings with union leaders at Gracie Mansion — first reported by Politico — included a face-to-face with Rich Maroko, who leads the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.
Adams told Maroko he’s running for re-election, to which Maroko responded, “If you’re in, we’re with you,” a spokesperson for the union said.
One political source believed Adams was gauging support ahead of a likely bruising primary with his criminal case and potential pardon from President Trump looming.
Another Democratic source couldn’t contain their disbelief at Adams’ seeming lack of transparency and subterfuge about his illness.
“Why in God’s name would you do that meeting if you were sick?” the source said. “You have to be lining something up. And if you are really sick, where are you going?”
Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger