Global Courant 2023-05-12 03:23:53
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called Rockland County Executive Ed Day “racist” and “anti-Semitic” on Thursday after the official issued a restraining order preventing the Democratic mayor from sending busloads of asylum seekers.
Adams tried to distance himself from Texas Governor Greg Abbott by telling reporters that New York City was footing the bill and only hiring volunteers. He stressed that his office has been in contact with Rockland and Orange County officials — a claim the counties have challenged.
New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks with relatives of fallen New York Police Department officers while attending the NYPD Memorial Day ceremony May 3, 2023 in Manhattan, NY, where new names were added to the Memorial Wall in the lobby from headquarters. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
“If you look at the County Exec (Ed) Day, I mean this guy has a reputation for anti-Semitism, you know, his racist remarks,” Adams said, without giving any examples. “You know, his thoughts and how he reacted to this, it shows a lack of leadership.”
Adams’ office pointed Fox News Digital to previous reports portraying Day’s comments as inciting voters against a bloc of Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities.
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Day fired back at Adams, telling Fox News Digital, “The mayor can call me every name in the book to deduce the reality of this clear disregard for our laws. And maybe he can make his own documented ‘racist remarks.’ to declare.”
Day referred to comments Adams, a former police officer, made before running for mayor in which he called white cops “crackers.” Adams later apologized for those comments.
New York Mayor Eric Adams sends migrants to New York State. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Adams’ comments on Thursday came as his plan to move several hundred asylum seekers into hotels in New York’s Orange and Rockland counties went ahead.
Leaders in Orange and Rockland counties have opposed Adams’ plan to send more than 300 migrants to the Rockland County Armoni Inn & Suites hotel in Orangeburg and The Crossroads Hotel in Orange County’s Newburgh, the latter of which saw migrants arrive on Thursday arrive.
Rockland County successfully obtained a temporary restraining order from a state Supreme Court judge on Tuesday after he argued the move violated local zoning laws.
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Adams said Thursday the city would not be deterred by legal challenges.
“You can’t use the court to deny people moving around New York State,” Adams said. “We’re going to fight any legal obstacles that try to get in our way because it would set a bad precedent for someone in New York State to say you can’t come here.”
Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues and much more.
