Protesters storm within inches of Mayor Adams during speech boosting NYC

NEW YORK — Several protesters stormed within inches of Mayor Eric Adams as he delivered a speech Tuesday to a roomful of community activists on the Upper East Side.

The incident occurred in the middle of Adams’ remarks at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York and ended with a security detail pushing protesters off the stage and escorting them from the venue.

The protesters strode to the stage, walked up the steps to the left of the mayor and, once on stage, began railing about Adams’ treatment of tenants in the city.

“When are you going to stand up for working New Yorkers?” one of them shouted as security pushed him out the door.

It’s not rare that demonstrators protest the mayor at events listed on his public schedule. What set Tuesday morning’s incident apart was how easily they got close to Adams.

The protesters did not have tickets to the event, according to representatives with the Association for a Better New York. A spokesman for Adams said they used counterfeit badges to gain entrance to the Park Avenue venue and that the incident is being looked into.

The venue had no metal detectors at the doors.

After the protesters rushed toward the mayor, a security team swooped into action, pushing the protesters down the steps and removing them from the venue.

It was not immediately clear exactly what security precautions had been in place or if anyone was arrested. An NYPD spokesperson said four people involved in the disruption have been taken into custody, but that charges are still pending.

During a press conference held later in the day, the mayor said there was no security breach.

“It was not a security breach,” he said, referring to his security team. “They know that there’s one thing the mayor can do, the mayor can handle himself.”

He added that he’s instructed his security team to not guard him too closely.

“I tell my detail members: ‘Do not crowd me, I don’t want you in the room, I want to walk by myself, stay on the peripheral, do not keep New Yorkers from coming near me,'” he said. “It is challenging for them. I am a security person’s nightmare.”

Adams’ half-hour speech was geared at boosting the city’s post-COVID recovery. During it, Adams touted real estate development, his response to the migrant crisis and his administration’s approach to addressing crime. Immediately after his speech, he sat for a Q and A where he played down the disruption.

Adams recalled how, years ago, he overheard a classmate he disliked saying he hated the sound of people popping gum.

“So I waited until the finals, and I sat down behind him and I started popping gum,” he said, laughing. “I felt so bad that I confessed to him.

“You’d be surprised how many people wake up every day just to disrupt you,” he continued. “They don’t like their own lives so they want to disrupt your life. And you have to realize to yourself: Pray for them. All those folks were doing, they were popping gum. I gotta stay focused on the final so I can get that A.”

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(New York Daily News staff writers Chris Sommerfeldt and Thomas Tracy contributed to this story.)