NEW YORK \u2014 Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that he had become a citizen of Albania, putting him one step closer to his oft-repeated dream of leaving politics behind for a life abroad. <\/p>\n
Adams, a Democrat, received the honorary citizenship \u201cat his request,\u201d according to an official decree from the country\u2019s president, Bajram Begaj. <\/p>\n
The news was first reported in the Albanian press and confirmed by a spokesperson for Adams, who said the ex-mayor had \u201clong been a friend and ally of the Albanian-American community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision by the Republic of Albania to grant Mayor Adams citizenship reflects that enduring relationship and mutual respect,\u201d the spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, said in a text message, adding that the recognition \u201cfurther strengthens the bond between New York and Albania.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams, who once described himself as an \u201cinternational mayor,\u201d has previously expressed an affinity for the small Balkan nation. His adult son lived in the country while competing in Albania\u2019s version of \u201cAmerican Idol.” Adams traveled there himself in October \u2014 one of several international trips taken in his final months in office. <\/p>\n
The purpose, he said at the time, was \u201cto say hello to a friend and learn from a friend and build a relationship with a friendship that will not allow our oceans or seas to divide us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t immediately clear what, if anything, Adams planned to do with his new citizenship. But he has previously expressed a desire to move far from his hometown of New York City. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I retire from government, I\u2019m going to live in Baku,\u201d Adams, then Brooklyn Borough President, said at an event honoring the Azerbaijan community in 2018. A few years later, in an interview with a Jewish publication, Adams said he would like to retire in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.<\/p>\n
As mayor, Adams’ penchant for international trips to Turkey prompted a federal indictment focused, in part, on allegations that he accepted improper travel benefits from foreign nationals. <\/p>\n
Adams denied the allegations, and the case was later ordered dropped by President Donald Trump\u2019s Justice Department. Adams later met with Trump administration officials about the possibility of taking an ambassadorship, which did not materialize. <\/p>\n
Shortly after dropping his ailing bid for reelection, Adams embarked on a four-day trip to Albania, meeting with the country\u2019s Prime Minister Edi Rama and members of his Cabinet, along with local business leaders. The trip was paid for in part by the Albanian government.<\/p>\n
Since leaving office, Adams has been spotted in Dubai and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He also told reporters that he planned to fly to Senegal for a business opportunity, which he declined to discuss further.<\/p>\n
In January, he launched a cryptocurrency coin that he said would beat back antisemitism and \u201canti-Americanism,\u201d but it drew scrutiny after losing millions of dollars in value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that he had become a citizen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3046,9,56,63,65,64,3047],"class_list":{"0":"post-192664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-ap-a-wire","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-ny","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-headlines","13":"tag-nyc-news","14":"tag-wires-bot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}