NYC Mayor Eric Adams Compares Woman to Plantation Owner When She Expresses Concern Over Rent Hike

New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared a woman to a plantation owner after she called him out for supporting a hike in rent prices for rent-stabilized apartments.

Footage from the Wednesday town hall meeting shows a woman standing across the room from a panel of more than a dozen public officials, shaking her finger at Mayor Adams for publicly approving the Rent Guidelines Board’s decision for an up to six percent increase in rent prices for more than one million stabilized apartments. 

“Why in New York City — where real estate is controlling you, Mr. Mayor — why are we having these horrible rent increases last year and this year?” the woman said. 

Adams said he does not have control over the Rent Guidelines Board decisions, but the woman pointed out that he has publicly supported the rent hikes.

Adams told the woman she was being disrespectful to the “mayor of the city.”

‘If you’re going to ask a question, don’t point at me and don’t be disrespectful to me,” Adams said during the meeting in a school in Upper Manhattan.

 I’m the mayor of this city. Treat me with the respect I deserve to be treated. I am speaking to you as an adult. Don’t stand in front like you treated someone that’s on the plantation that you own. Give me the respect I deserve and engage in the conversation. Don’t be pointing at me, speak with me as an adult because I’m a grown man. I walked into this room as a grown man and I’ll walk out of this room as a grown man. 

The Rent Guidelines Board in a 5-4 decision approved a 3 percent increase in monthly payments in the first year of a lease, and then up to 2.75 percent in the second year. This will go into effect for leases issued October through September 2024.

Mayor Adams first pushed back on a 7 percent rent increase, but then he said 6 percent was a good “balance.”

“I want to thank the members of the Rent Guidelines Board for their critically important and extremely difficult work protecting tenants from unsustainable rent increases, while also ensuring small property owners have the necessary resources to maintain their buildings,” Adams said in a statement. “Finding the right balance is never easy, but I believe the board has done so this year.” 

The rent hike comes at a time when 50 percent of New York households struggle to cover basic needs and  80 percent are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to a 2023 report by the United Way and the Fund for New York city. 

“The Rent Guidelines Board’s vote to authorize rent increases, while on the lower end of the proposed ranges, will only further exacerbate the homelessness and housing crisis in our communities at a time when New Yorkers can least afford it,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said  in a statement. “As our city grapples with a record-high shelter population, an affordable housing shortage that remains unabated, and rising costs, New York City tenants increasingly struggle to make ends meet.”