The Mayor of New York City has come under fire for throwing a tantrum at a woman during a town hall and seemingly accusing her of owning a plantation.
Jeanie Dubnau just wanted to know why New York City rents were increasing so drastically while surrounding New York counties were enjoying little or no hikes - but NYC Mayor Eric Adams didn't like her tone.
During a town hall event in Washington Heights, a neighbourhood in northern Manhattan, the politician threw a tantrum at Ms Dubnau and accused her of disrespecting him and his elected position.
He even insinuated that she owns a plantation — a roundabout way of calling her, a white woman, a slave master.
"In Nassau [a county on Long Island], they had a 0% rent increase," Ms Dubnau could be heard saying in a video posted to Twitter by WNBC journalist Myles Miller. "Why, in New York City, where the real estate is controlling you, Mr. Mayor, why are we having these horrible rent increases last year and this year?"
Throughout her spiel, she could be seen pointing at the mayor, becoming animated as she spoke.
"If you're going to ask a question, don't point at me and don't be disrespectful to me," he clapped back at her. "I'm the mayor of this city. Treat me with the respect I deserve."
"I'm speaking to you as an adult," he continued. "Don't stand in front like you treated someone that's on the plantation that you own."
Some observants began clapping, while others audibly gasped, shocked at Adams' remark.
"@NYCMayor went off on a woman during his town hall tonight," Miller captioned his video.
View it here:
The tweet garnered over 2,200 likes and over 1,500 retweets — and the numbers keep climbing.
Users flocked to the comments to express their outrage at Adams' behaviour.
"Outrageous to accuse an old woman of talking to him as if he’s on a plantation that she owns. Utterly disgusting racism on his part and gaslighting - she was there begging for affordability!!!" wrote user @nycfreethinker.
"He flipped the whole conversation into an ugly irrelevant race issues," responded @DarweeshHeiba.
"Indeed. Real leaders don’t behave this way. NYC needs change!" @nycfreethinker agreed.
"Hmm, sounds like he is the one who took it too far. He is the mayor, so he needs to be able to deal with upset constituents. She points her finger and he brought up slavery against her? He's the one who got triggered and said something he shouldn't," summed up @itmatters2me3.
Ms Dubnau, the woman the mayor verbally accosted, is the co-founder of the Riverside Edgecombe Neighborhood Association — a tenants and housing rights advocacy organisation based in Upper Manhattan, according Twitter user @JuanRosa_NYC.
"She has +40 years advocating for low income NYers of all races. Jeanie is not a racist & this was wrong," he tweeted.
Several others expressed their desire for Adams to leave office — either by getting ousted in the next election or by stepping down. His term is up in 2026.
Adams wrapped up his remarks by saying: "Speak with me as an adult because I'm a grown man. I walked into this room as a grown man, and I'm gonna walk out of this room as a grown man."
