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Mayor Eric Adams lunched with top New York Republicans and top NYPD brass during his last-minute trip to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., NY1 has learned.
A photo obtained by NY1 through a source shows Adams grinning with a thumbs up seated between former Republican Reps. Marc Molinaro and Anthony D’Esposito.
Also pictured are state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, state Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay, NYPD Chief of Department John Chell and NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.
Adams and the group ate at the swanky Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on Monday afternoon.
The source said Molinaro organized the soiree.
“He was a Republican once, he has been outspoken about the migrant crisis we have in New York City for obvious reasons, and he has talked about fiscal constraint, which I always welcome,” Barclay told NY1 on Tuesday in Albany.
“We’ll see where things go. Who knows where the mayor’s race is going to go,” he added. “Certainly, if he keeps talking like that, it does make it easier to think he could run potentially as a Republican.”
Previously, Adams told reporters he didn’t rule out swapping his party registration. State Board of Elections records show the mayor was a registered Republican from April 1995 to November 2002.
Lately, Adams has been cozying up to the GOP. Last week, he traveled to Palm Beach, Florida for another surprise meeting with Trump and Adams’ former chief of staff Frank Carone.
Besides facing a five-count federal criminal indictment and a trial set for April, Adams is also looking forward to a tough reelection bid.
Critics argue his recent closeness to Republicans and Trump may be owed to the fact that he’s preemptively seeking a presidential pardon ahead of his trial.
