Prior to leaving for a whirlwind Latin America trip that will take him to three countries and a treacherous jungle crossing, Mayor Eric Adams attempted to head off accusations that he is wasting taxpayer dollars.
“I’m paying my own way,” Adams told reporters on Tuesday. “You know my rule, my dime, my time, don’t whine.”
But in an often overlooked aspect of mayoral travel, taxpayers will in fact end up footing the bill for a significant portion of the trip: Adams’ security detail and staffers. Members of the NYPD routinely follow the mayor wherever he goes to offer protection, and none of that changes when he goes outside the city.
An overseas itinerary means they will rack up airfare, hotel, meal and overtime costs. But City Hall has so far declined to say what the cost to taxpayers will be.
“The real cost here is the cost of sending everybody,” said John Kaehny, the executive director of Reinvent Albany, a good government group.
The mayor, who arrived in Mexico City on Wednesday night, has billed his visit to the region as a way of gaining a better on-the-ground understanding of the migrant crisis and dissuading migrants from coming to New York City. The Mexico leg of the trip is being funded by the U.S.-Mexico Foundation, a nonprofit led by business and civic interests, according to the mayor’s office.
Kaehny said mayors should avoid having their travel paid by special interest groups, who may be seeking contracts or favors from the city.
While he was in Mexico City, Adams spoke at a business forum that included a conversation with the CEO of Mexico AT&T.
Adams is said to be footing the bill for his visits to Ecuador and Colombia.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio famously got in trouble for misusing his security detail. During his ill-fated 2020 campaign for president, taxpayers paid nearly $320,000 for his security detail to travel on 31 out-of-state campaign trips.
In this case, Adams is entitled to having a security detail and staff accompany him. While…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply