Hizzoner is looking for Pentecost in unexpected places.
Mayor Eric Adams has visited the Queens cemetery of late Chabad-Lubavitch leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schnierson at least twice since he was indicted on public corruption charges in September, officials said. .
Most recently, this devout Pentecostal Christian rushed into the Montefiore Cemetery in Springfield Gardens. after midnight on tuesday One witness described it as a “low-key visit.”
The mayor was “deeply absorbed” and “concentrated in prayer” — he was only there for Schneerson, 92, who died in 1994 and is believed by some believers to be the Messiah. he claimed.
Witnesses told the Post that the visitors asked to take pictures with the mayor, but he declined, saying, “It's about the Rebbe.”
Officials said he also visited the day before Rosh Hashana and on October 1, six days after the indictment.
Mr Adams is known to have visited the site at least six times since June 2021. The mayor, who is facing a tough re-election battle, made “many more” late-night visits to Schneerson's gravesite that had not been reported, officials said.
The recent visit was not listed on the mayor's public schedule but was leaked only to niche Orthodox Jewish media.
“I think he's a political animal, and I think everything he does is calculated,” said Williams, who has considered Adams a “friend” for years and appears regularly on his conservative talk show. said WABC-AM radio host Sid Rosenberg.
“I think he's doing something that's useful both politically and economically. That's who he is,” he added.
“Is he hanging around Ravi's grave before his trial and second run for mayor? Coincidence? I don't think so.”
Republican Curtis Sliwa, who lost to Adams in the 2021 mayoral race and is up for re-election next year, called Adams a “political chameleon” trying to solicit sympathy from Jews.
“He needs a Hail Mary pass – whether it’s spiritual or not. [a pardon] From Donald Trump,” he added. “There is no doubt that he is doing everything he can to avoid going to prison.”
Councilman Kalman Jaeger (D-Brooklyn), an Orthodox Jew, said the visit was sincere and showed the mayor's spiritual side.
“I definitely don't think it's fake or political,” Yeager said. His district includes Borough Park and many other communities with large concentrations of Jews.
“I think he always had strong ties to the Rebbe neighborhood.” [in Crown Heights] “And Hasidim,” Yeager added, going back decades when Adams was a state senator. “It's not so strange to me that he goes there for strength, inspiration, prayer, etc. People go for different reasons.”
Adams famously claimed that 30 years ago God sent them a message that they would become mayor on January 1, 2022, the day he took office.
Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic political consultant, agreed with Yeager and said he believed Adams was seeking help from a higher power.
“He's in trouble. He's a religious person and he's going to pray,” Scheinkopf said. “And it doesn’t hurt that Jews around the world hold the Chabad Rebbe in blessed memory.”
The cemetery, known to observers as Ohel, which means “tent” or “house” in Hebrew, attracts about 1 million visitors a year, along with many other cemeteries. Among them are Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and the president-elect made a guest appearance on Election Day last week. President Donald Trump marks the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“Some come to pray. Some come to pay their respects. Some come for answers. Some come to be inspired,” said Chabad spokesperson Rabbi Motti Seligson.
“People will come halfway around the world just to spend a few hours there.”
A representative for Adams said the visit was kosher.
“Mayor Adams has visited this location many times over the years to pay his respects in a personal capacity and seek inspiration,” said spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak.
“As mayor of a city with the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, Mayor Adams respects many of Jewish traditions.”
But former City Comptroller Scott Stringer said Adams shouldn't expect the visit to improve Hizuner's sluggish approval ratings.
“I heard that God told him he couldn't get a second term,'' quipped Stringer, who is Jewish and plans to challenge Adams in next year's Democratic mayoral primary.
