Mayor Adams is meeting with Albania’s prime minister during a trip to the Balkan country this week, marking his first overseas jaunt since he abandoned his bid for a second term in City Hall.
Adams left for Albania on Monday and will stay through Thursday, according to his spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak. New York City is home to a sizable population of Albanians.
He was supposed to meet with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama shortly after arriving Monday and also had plans to “visit local businesses and factories,” an advisory from the mayor’s office says. It wasn’t immediately clear who else he’s expected to meet with on the remaining days of his trip, though the advisory says Adams plans on sitting down with “government, business and tech leaders to promote economic activity and tourism to New York City.”
Adams opted to go on the trip after being invited by Rama, whose government is paying for the mayor’s lodging and ground transportation to the tune of about $290 per day, Mamelak said. City taxpayer dollars are being used to pay for the mayor’s flights and other expenses.
“It is a trip with a city purpose,” Mamelak said.
Mamelak said Adams is joined on the trip by a scheduling staffer and members of his NYPD security detail. Their expenses are being covered by the city, she said.
Adams’ trip, which was announced by his office shortly before midnight Sunday, comes just days after he did an interview with an Albanian television presenter in which he noted that his adult son, rapper Jordan Coleman, performed in the country’s version of “Idol” in 2022.
“I’ve accomplished so many things, but what I have not accomplished — and I’m jealous of my son — he went to Albania, he performed there, and you know here in New York, this is the Albania of America,” the mayor said in the interview with the TV presenter, Alketa Vejsiu.
Spokespeople for Rama, who’s also the chairman of Albania’s Socialist Party, didn’t immediately return requests for comment on the mayor’s visit. Rama has drawn international condemnation from free speech advocates for pushing through laws that rolled back press freedoms in Albania.
The mayor’s trip comes a week after he dropped his independent campaign for reelection.
Adams’ decision to exit the November race came after President Trump’s team and New York business leaders floated the idea of offering him a job in exchange for a commitment to suspend his reelection campaign to help clear the field against Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.
Adams has yet to say what his next move is professionally, but sources say talks about a position in the Trump administration have cooled off recently.
Adams has said since dropping out said that he’s deeply concerned about the direction Mamdani would take the city, citing the democratic socialist’s platform that includes vows to increase taxes on millionaires in order to fund programs like free public buses.
Adams has for years been known to enjoy traveling across the globe. His federal corruption indictment, which was dismissed by Trump’s administration as part of a controversial arrangement this spring, alleged Adams was given discounted flights and hotel stays as bribes from Turkish government officials in exchange for political favors.
