NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, apologized on Friday for using a racial slur to describe white police officers in 2019.
"I definitely apologize. Inappropriate, inappropriate comments, should not have been used," Adams said during a press conference on Friday.
He continued, "Someone asked me a question using that comment and playing on that word. I responded in that comment, but clearly, these comments should not have been used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me. That was inappropriate."
Adams made the comments during a private event in Harlem in December 2019 ahead of his mayoral campaign launch. Adams served in the NYPD for 22 years and retired in 2006 after rising to the rank of captain.
In a video that was first obtained by The New York Daily News, the then-Brooklyn Borough President said, "Every day in the Police Department, I kicked those crackers’ ass."
"Man, I was unbelievable in the Police Department with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement," he added, citing a police advocacy group he co-founded in the late 90s. "[I] became a sergeant, a lieutenant, and a captain. You know the story — some people, all of a sudden, trying to reinvent me. But the reality is what I was then is who I am now."
The 61-year-old Democrat discusses his anticipated mayoral campaign in the video, as well as the pressures he faces as a Black man seeking to lead and his popularity.
"The people who say, ‘Where’s our real Black leaders?’ They’re going to say, ‘Who’s Eric? Why does Eric think he should be mayor?’ Well, Negro, you run. You run, go raise the $7 million," Adams said. "Let me tell you something, man. They are lining up — ‘Eric can’t be mayor.’ In the corners of the city, they are lining up. They know me. They know what I’m about and they know what I’m going to do as the mayor of the City of New York. Listen, we’re not going to play this game."
Pat Lynch, president of the NYPD's largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, had noted Adams' continued presence as the city and department grappled with police shootings, including the fatal shootings of Officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, and asked members not to judge him based on his comments.
"Whenever a controversial video of a police officer surfaces online, we ask for fairness instead of a rush to outrage. We will apply the same standard here," he said.
He added, "We have spoken with Mayor Adams about this video. We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and we’ve worked together for decades before that. A few seconds of video will not define our relationship. We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets."
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