NYC Public Advocate slams mayor as ‘angry, bratty child’ in debate over policing bill

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams described Mayor Eric Adams as an “angry, bratty child” and “dishonest” Wednesday after the mayor attacked him and legislation over police stops he backed as out of touch.

The war of words kicked off during a press briefing convened by Adams and NYPD brass at Police Headquarters when the mayor referenced a bill Williams sponsored that would require cops to report demographic information after low-level encounters with civilians.

During the briefing, which focused on 2023 police statistics, Adams referred to the “same people” who “introduce the same bills over and over again” — and then specifically named Williams.

“Like, I find it astonishing that, you know, we have a public advocate who pushed for this police bill. He lives in a fort,” Adams said, making a reference to Williams’ home at the Fort Hamilton US Army Garrison in Brooklyn. “He lives in a fort. He doesn’t take the subway.”

Williams’ bill won veto-proof approval in the City Council last month — despite pushback from Adams and the NYPD. Adams has been mum on whether he’d veto it, but Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has said the chamber is prepared to override him if he does.

Williams shortly convened a press conference from his Fort Hamilton home and lit into the mayor — and his claim that God put him in City Hall.

“Eric Adams is not the messiah for New York City. He just is not,” Williams said over Zoom. “What I heard today really sounded like a five-year old throwing a temper tantrum, grabbing at straws because he didn’t get what he wanted. What I hope is that, instead of acting like an angry, bratty child, that he would sit down and have conversations and try to regain the trust that he’s lost from New Yorkers.”

Asked to address Adams’ description of him being out of touch, Williams dinged Adams for questions raised in 2021 about where Adams lived following a Politico story detailing time spent with his girlfriend in Fort Lee, N.J.

“I live in Brooklyn with my wife and kids,” Williams said. “My understanding is the mayor lives in New Jersey with his girlfriend, so it’s funny for him to try to say something like that to me.”

Williams went on to label Adams as “dishonest” and “desperate” and said the mayor was “lying” about his policing legislation.