Mayor Eric Adams’ public campaign against a pair of City Council bills he vetoed last week took another bizarre turn on Tuesday when a squabble erupted over the Council’s use of City Hall’s rotunda for a press conference intended to counter Adams’ attacks on the legislation.
The argument, which revolved around chairs provided for reporters, resembled a playground dispute fronted by the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, Menashe Shapiro. Although the mayor and the Council both use City Hall as a workplace and a venue for public events, the mayor controls the space on a day-to-day basis.
“I just want our chairs,” a visibly annoyed Shapiro told reporters before the Council’s press conference was scheduled to start. “If the City Council wants to give you something to sit on, it’s for the City Council [to do].”
A facilities staffer holding a hand truck stood next to Shapiro, awaiting the outcome.
But Shapiro’s complaint did not appear to move the half-dozen reporters in attendance, who remained seated. Shapiro declined to comment on the incident when reached by phone later on Tuesday afternoon.
Council spokesperson Mara Davis said the conference was originally scheduled to be held on City Hall’s steps, but was moved indoors because of rain.
“We would have hoped that our neighbors in the building would have been courteous of the extenuating circumstances,” Davis said in a statement.
The altercation was the latest episode in Adams’ bitter battle with the Council over the bills, which ban solitary confinement in city jails and require NYPD officers to report all their investigatory stops of civilians. Adams has recently railed against the legislation in some unusual settings, including a bar mitzvah as well as a gala for real estate executives, where he chided attendees for not aiding him in the fight.
Adams vetoed both pieces of legislation last Friday, saying they would compromise law enforcement’s ability to ensure public safety. The bills’ proponents…
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