In the midst of an overseas trip to Albania, Mayor Adams is skipping this year’s FDNY memorial day ceremony honoring fallen members of the department — marking the first time he has missed the solemn event since he took over the reins at City Hall in 2022.
Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York President Andrew Ansbro, whose union represents some 9,000 active FDNY members, told the Daily News that Adams’ decision to not attend Wednesday’s ceremony is “extremely disappointing” and “the first time in memory that a sitting mayor has missed this solemn event.”
“Our members risk their lives every day to protect this city. To see the mayor overseas while the FDNY gathers to remember our fallen is deeply hurtful,” Ansbro said Tuesday.
“We expect our city’s leadership to stand beside us — not just when it’s convenient, but when it truly matters.”
Wednesday morning’s ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights will honor eight firefighters and EMS workers who died in the past year, including FDNY Captain Thomas LaBarbiera, who passed away at 51 from 9/11-related cancer last September.
Adams, who abandoned his bid for reelection last week, had been expected to attend. The FDNY this past Thurdsday disseminated a bulletin to employees, a copy of which was obtained by The News, saying Adams was scheduled to lay a wreath at Wednesday’s event and deliver the keynote remarks.
But Adams spokesman Zachary Nosanchuk confirmed Tuesday the mayor will not be attending as he is in Albania through Thursday meeting with that country’s prime minister and other local leaders.
Nosanchuck said Kaz Daughtry, Adams’ deputy mayor for public safety, will attend Wednesday’s ceremony in his stead.
“With a more than two-decade career in law enforcement himself, Mayor Adams deeply values the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to keep New York safe,” Nosanchuk said, noting that the Adams administration recently spent $91 million on replacing FDNY ambulances.
Kayla Mamelak, Adams’ press secretary, disputed the notion that it is uncommon for New York City mayors to miss the annual FDNY ceremony. She did not specify which mayor had missed the event.
Adams attended and spoke at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 FDNY memorial ceremonies. At the FDNY’s memorial day service in October 2023, Adams, a retired NYPD captain, spoke about how the annual event is especially important for him.
“When you come to an acknowledgment to reflect on the year, to be here with the men and women who are your colleagues, and stating that ‘never forget’ is more than a bumper sticker or a slogan, it’s an actual presentation as you honor those that we have lost,” he said at that year’s ceremony.
For the mayor’s Albania trip, the city’s covering the cost of his flights and some related expenses, while the Albanian government is paying for his lodging and ground transportation to the tune of about $290 per day, Mamelak said. That payment structure has raised some eyebrows, given that Adams’ now-dismissed federal corruption indictment alleged he took bribes from Turkish government operatives.
Adams departed for Albania early Monday, a week after he dropped his bid for reelection amid low polling numbers in the wake of the Trump administration’s controversial dismissal of his indictment.
With Thomas Tracy
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