‘Get over it,’ sez mayor
Doubles down on his faith while making rounds on St. Pat’s
Mayor Adams told New Yorkers on Friday to “get over it” if they’re vexed by his recent push to make religion a centerpiece of the city’s identity, doubling down on a message that has rubbed some local civic leaders the wrong way.
The mayor, who first ruffled feathers last month by declaring he doesn’t believe in the separation of church and state, struck the defiant message after attending morning Mass at Midtown Manhattan’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“Some people, they see me go to Mass and they get upset because I believe in God and faith, but, you know, all I can say is:
Get over it,” Adams said in a live Q104.3 radio interview from Connolly’s Pub, which was packed to the gills ahead of the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. “Faith is what lives and inspires us and drives us.”
The Christian mayor acknowledged that his predecessors “did not really express their strong belief in faith as much as I do.”
“But if you would’ve watched my journey and realize how broken I was as a child — only faith can take me to where I am,” he said. “To go from that brokenness to be the mayor of the greatest city on the globe, every day I wake up and I give thanks to God for that ... Right now, this city needs prayer, and we got to pray together.”
Civil rights advocates — and some clergy members — have said they’re unnerved by Adams’ mixing of politics and religion. While stressing that the mayor is free to let faith inspire his approach to governing, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said earlier this month that his messaging suggests “he doesn’t respect the separation of church and state.”
Since the church and state controversy emerged, Adams has sought to clarify his remarks, including saying on March 5 that “government should not interfere with religion, and religion should not interfere with government.”
But he keeps calling for an expansion of faith in city government, proposing Wednesday that houses of worship should help recruit “God-fearing young men and women” to the NYPD. On Thursday, he said it’s his mission to transform the city into “a place of God.”
While participating in the radio interview at Connolly’s, Adams was served a freshly poured pint of Guinness that he took a few sips of before setting it aside.
“I am drinking this glass of water [instead],” he joked to radio host Jim Kerr.
The mostly vegan mayor was asked to name his favorite Irish grub.
“I don’t want to insult the Irish spirit, but I have this vegan sort of cabbage mix that I make with my little burger, vegan burger, but, you know, you won’t even realize it’s vegan when you eat it, trust me,” he said. “But I think today folks are doing corned beef.”
After Connolly’s, Adams — who donned a green tie embroidered with shamrocks — headed to another nearby Irish staple, Mulligan’s Pub, where he chatted with St. Patrick’s Day revelers and snapped selfies with them.
Later, the mayor marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade up Fifth Ave. alongside FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, as thousands of observers lined the streets.
Kavanagh, the FDNY’s first woman commissioner, has lately been mired in a feud with some veteran fire chiefs angry about her leadership style, gripes her supporters attribute to sexism in the ranks.
Adams, who has stood by Kavanagh, told reporters along the parade route that he is confident in her ability to reform a department that has long been led by men.
“Everyone knows how I feel about the commissioner. She is really going to move us forward,” he said.