Photo: X/@NYCMayor

Last month, Eric Adams confirmed months of swirling rumors and dropped his beleaguered reelection campaign. Just days after he made his exit official, City Hall announced that Adams would be doing what any outgoing mayor trying to shore up his legacy would: taking a previously unannounced four-day trip to Albania and revealing said trip only after having left the city.

A spokesperson for the mayor told WNBC that his visit to Albania, which ends on Thursday, stemmed from an invitation from the Albanian prime minister and is solely about strengthening business ties between the two nations. Adams’s past foreign trips have famously been subject to intense federal scrutiny.

City Hall told WNBC, which first reported the trip, that the city (and thus taxpayers) would be covering the airfare for Adams as well as an accompanying staffer but that the mayor’s lodging and transportation in Albania would be covered by the Albanian government, which Adams’s office says is in accordance with conflict-of-interest rules and allows for better security for the mayor.

Today, I met with the Albanian Minister of Defense Pirro Vengu and discussed ways to monitor security concerns around the world as we ensure the safety of our people back at home. These relationships can foster new ideas on our public safety practices. pic.twitter.com/AtTJPC9GrR

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 7, 2025

Adams’s public itinerary for his trip has featured meetings with Prime Minister Edi Rama and numerous members of his cabinet and business leaders, as well as visits to local businesses and a tour of the city of Vlora. But the mayor signaled in a local interview that increasing tourism between Albania and New York City was a top priority of the trip. “We engaged in a conversation about a direct flight from New York to Albania, something that we did with Azerbaijan. Now, we have a direct flight,” he told the reporter. Suffice it to say, this has not been a major issue in the mayoral campaign.

In that same interview, Adams revived his oft-repeated catchphrase comparing New York to other countries.

🇺🇸🇦🇱 NYC Mayor Eric Adams in Albania:“New York is the Albania of America” https://t.co/9b0inV7KsA pic.twitter.com/7v2MUTezBq

— kos_data (@kos_data) October 7, 2025

“New York is the Albania of America. We have one of the largest Albanian populations and many times the Albanian New Yorkers have asked me to come and visit the country. So now this is an opportunity to do so,” Adams said.

Adams does have some unique ties to the region. In 2022, the New York Post reported that the mayor’s son, Jordan Coleman, an aspiring rapper, took part in Kënga Magjike, Albania’s equivalent of American Idol. According to the New York Times, Adams spoke with an Albanian TV personality during the recent United Nations General Assembly, mentioning his son’s appearance on the show. “I’ve accomplished so many things, but what I have not accomplished — and I am jealous of my son — he went to Albania and he performed there,” he said per the Times.

While Adams’s penchant for travel has been well documented, he notably took aim at his rivals in the mayoral race for traveling during the campaign, boasting about his ability to stay in the city and do the work. In a social-media video posted in July, Adams knocked assemblymember Zohran Mamdani for a trip to Uganda to celebrate his recent wedding and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who had taken several trips outside of the city to the Hamptons for fundraisers.

The mayor used the social-media clip to make light of his legal troubles, floating Istanbul as a possible destination for himself, but it ended with Adams declaring he had to stay in the city in order to do his job.

“But I realized I’m not a wannabe mayor. I’m the actual mayor. I just can’t get up and leave. If I’m gone, there won’t be an Eric Adams keeping things under control. Somebody has to keep us safe and get stuff done,” he said.

I hear my opponents have travel plans… pic.twitter.com/r7v2XuPI5Y

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) July 24, 2025

At least one New York politician was baffled by the timing of Adams’s trip. “He’s got a few months left, and I’d think he would be making sure your legacy — your education, your housing, every last little bit is done,” Councilwoman Gale Brewer told the Times. “I thought that’s what he’d be doing.”

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