“I walked into a meeting and straight into a surprise birthday cake,” Adams said of his birthday dinner with friends
Credit: Jairo/BACKGRID
NEED TO KNOW
- Eric Adams celebrated his 66th birthday with friends at a restaurant and piano bar in Manhattan
- The next morning, he was photographed biking in the same outfit, sparking jokes about a “walk of shame”
- Adams defended his late-night partying in the past, saying at the time it supported New York’s economy and encouraged residents to go out
Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams appears to have taken the phrase “birthday celebration” seriously.
Adams, who turned 66 on Tuesday, Sept. 1, spent the evening celebrating with friends at a midtown Manhattan restaurant and piano bar, where he was joined by businessman John Catsimatidis, PR executive Todd Shapiro and sporting goods executive Mitch Modell, according to his post on X.
“After 22 years in the NYPD, I thought I could spot a setup. But Mitch Modell, John Catsimatidis, and Todd Shapiro got me. I walked into a meeting and straight into a surprise birthday cake,” Adams wrote. “Three real New Yorkers, and three very smooth operators!”
But it was the following morning that really caught New York’s attention.
Credit: Eric Adams/X
At around 8:03 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Adams was photographed riding a Citi Bike on the Upper East Side — still wearing the same button-down shirt and brown pants he had on during his birthday festivities the night before, according to the New York Post.
The shirt appeared noticeably more rumpled and untucked, while Adams sported earbuds as he made his way across town.
The photos quickly sparked jokes about a “walk of shame,” though Adams seemed to take the coverage in stride.
“Hold on a second. Don’t you all party all night on your birthday?” Adams wrote on X in response to the attention.
During his tenure as mayor, Adams developed a reputation for being a fixture of New York’s late-night scene, regularly turning up at exclusive clubs, restaurants and celebrity-filled events.
He has also openly defended his love for late nights, arguing that his presence at restaurants and nightlife spots was part of supporting New York’s economy.
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Adams has been a frequent guest at the exclusive members’ club Zero Bond, which became closely associated with his social life during and after his mayoralty, according to a 2025 interview he gave to GQ.
In 2022, while speaking to CNN, Adams said, “People are afraid to go back out to restaurants; now they see our mayor going out saying ‘come back out to our city.’ That is what the whole theme is.”
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