NYC Mayor Apologizes for 'Crackers' Remark

Eric Adams used term to discuss white NYPD cops at a 2019 campaign event
By Stephanie Mojica,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2022 9:30 AM CST
NYC Mayor Is Sorry for Calling White Cops 'Crackers'
New York City Mayor Eric Adams apologized on Friday for calling NYPD officers "crackers" at a 2019 campaign event, per Politico.   (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The current mayor of New York City regrets calling white NYPD officers "crackers" shortly before he launched his campaign, in remarks heard in a recently resurfaced 2019 video, Politico reports. "Every day in the police department, I kicked those crackers' a--," Adams said in the video, receiving a round of applause. "Man, I was unbelievable in the police department with 100 Blacks in law enforcement." Adams, a Black man who spent 22 years as a cop before retiring in 2006, made those comments at a private event in Harlem, where he discussed his upcoming run for mayor. In the clip, first reported on by the New York Daily News, the future mayor uses other politically incorrect words such as "Negro" throughout it, according to the New York Post. The founder of Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum publicized the video on Tuesday, though it was unclear why.

The mayor is now apologizing for his remarks. Speaking at an unrelated press conference on Friday, Adams alleged that a person who asked him a question at the event used the term "cracker." However, the question that led to the diatribe isn't recorded. "It's a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it but to New Yorkers, because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate," the mayor said. Multiple cops spoke about the video and apology; one told the Post he was "a cracker supervisor technically." However, the president of the Police Benevolent Association asked people not to rush to judgment. "We have spoken with Mayor Adams about this video," Pat Lynch said in a statement. "A few seconds of video will not define our relationship. We have a lot of work to do together to support our members on the streets." (More NYPD stories.)

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