Where’s Chris Redd when you need him?
Who’s Chris Redd? He’s the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member who used to portray Mayor Adams with an extra dose of “swag.”
“New York is back, baby,” Redd’s over-confident version of Adams told fake reporters in 2022.
“The city’s never had a mayor with so much swagger before. I mean, y’all see me outside — the peacoats, the scarfs, the shine on the bald head, yo. You can tell I have swagger. Keeps me healthy. See, the city’s been suffering from what I like to call a swag-less existence.”
Redd left the show in 2022, but if ever there was a time to parade his interpretation of Adams, this is it, in the days after the U.S. Department of Justice ordered that federal corruption charges against the mayor be dropped.
Redd as Adams would have a field day with this turn of events, making the most of the mayor’s victory lap, although Adams portraying himself in real life was good for a few laughs, especially the part when he said with a straight face that there was no quid pro quo between him and President Trump.
All we know is that the very next day after Trump’s justice department told federal prosecutors in Manhattan to leave that poor man alone, Adams was on television with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, like they were announcing a summer concert tour.
Adams said he will use his executive powers to allow federal immigration authorities back onto Rikers Island, an about face on the city’s sanctuary policies that prevent the jail complex from enforcing immigration law.
Adams has brushed off allegations that his shiny new immigration stance is related to the dropped charges.
“C’mon,” he said, during a joint appearance with Homan on “Fox & Friends. “This is silly.”
Adams is the only one who seems to think so.
The mayor is running for reelection in the spring, and several of his announced opponents have raised legitimate concerns over whether or not Adams has sold out the interests of New Yorkers to Trump in exchange for his freedom.
Some critics have called on him to resign. Others have called on Gov. Hochul to remove him if he doesn’t.
“Eric Adams is clearly compromised and can no longer be considered the legitimate leader of our city,” said state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris, a progressive who is one of the highest ranking city representatives in Albany. “He must step down or be removed.”
Let’s all take a deep breath here. Adams hasn’t been convicted of anything. There was no Mercedes in the driveway, no gold bars in the house (see: Menendez, Robert, former senator from New Jersey).
If Trump can run the country for the next four years with 34 felonies under his belt, then Adams should be expected to run the city for the next 10 months with none under his.
The charges against Adams can resurface. The Justice Department left the door slightly open. But the likelihood is that the former NYPD captain will not go to trial or to jail.
But the bottom line is this: If you don’t like the way Adams has done the job, if you don’t like his earring, his suits, his vegan meals, his late-night social lifestyle or the “end gun violence” jacket he wore to the Met Gala, then vote for someone else.
It’s as simple as that.
Translation: Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
But definitely don’t hate the swag.
