Eric Adams Mingles With CEOs, Rappers in NoHo After Win
Eric Adams Mingles With CEOs, Rappers in NoHo After Mayoral Win
(Bloomberg) -- After a dance troupe performed and bartenders served $14 mixed drinks (cash only) in a Brooklyn hotel ballroom, Mayor-elect Eric Adams headed to the private club Zero Bond in NoHo, where he stayed past midnight in a room with CEOs, models, the rapper Bobby Shmurda and actor Forest Whitaker.
Outside, bouncers behind velvet ropes had already let in Eric Schmidt, Wendi Deng and Ja Rule as dozens of people waited Tuesday night to get into a separate party for Sandbox, the metaverse startup backed by SoftBank.
Inside, Adams found his way to the microphone, past Marimekko and Keith Haring decor, a display of Barbara Sturm skin creams, a gallery of Calicho Arevalo paintings and waiters carrying trays of spicy margaritas with cucumber ice. Zero Bond’s founder, Scott Sartiano, cued Adams up for a crowd of about 125 people that included Jefferies Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler, Anchorage Capital’s Kevin Ulrich, venture capitalist Deven Parekh and Equinox Group’s Harvey Spevak.
“Can we hit reset with our business community?” Adams asked. “Can I say to you, ‘This is going to become one of the most business-friendly cities?’”
“Yes,” many answered.
“Help me with your talent,” Adams added. “We have normalized the dysfunctionality of our city. How the hell do you spend $38 billion in the department of education and 65% of Black and brown children never reach proficiency? Talking about wasting our tax dollars.”
Afterward, Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz worked his way to say hello and pose for a photo with Adams, one of so many to do so. Adams paused long enough to field a question about Novogratz’s support.
“We need to start looking at a lot of the things that he’s doing, even around blockchain,” said Adams, who’s a fan of cryptocurrencies. “We need to be open to what’s new in the globe. We should be leading every industry. When you sit down with so many people in this room, they understand. They have one thing in common, they love New York.”
Eventually, Adams sat down in a booth and sipped water, next to his son Jordan Coleman and public relations executive Ronn Torossian, getting up when waiters brought out sparklers to celebrate the birthday of socialite Camilla Olsson.
Adams received some pushback for hosting a party at a members-only club in Manhattan, but dismissed any notion on Wednesday that he was catering only to the social elite.
“I was happy to go to Zero Bond, that’s the heart and soul of our city,” he said during a Wednesday morning interview on NY1. “We’re trying to get our nightlife up and operating. I’m going to visit as many restaurants as possible.”
Asked about Adams hosting such a party, Novogratz said in interview Wednesday, “He’s his own man. That’s what I like about him. The election results nationwide last night sent a message that ‘woke’ isn’t a winning strategy. Eric is authentic.”
At Zero Bond, guests were eager to talk about what New York needs from its next mayor.
Handler said because he’s in the municipal bond business, he’s not allowed to donate to Adams. “I’m here emotionally and spiritually, because I want this guy to succeed,” he said.
Adams has “to listen, understand the motivations, incentives and the pressures that we’re under, and harness them for the collective good,” to help New York’s business community, Handler said.
“Society has issues,” he added. “Any leader really wants to help society get to the next level, and that’s a hard thing to do. It’s a very complex world today. If you can help us figure that out, we want to to help you.”
“Messaging matters,” said Schmidt, a California resident who said he spends as much as time as possible in New York. “If you can make it easier to start companies and invest in them, everything else solves itself.”
Shmurda and Ja Rule were focused on what Adams means to Black men in the city.
“You’ve got to understand how we feel as young Black men, being promised a lot of things by politicians, and never getting those promises delivered,” Ja Rule said. “When you can actually have a conversation with him, it feels different.”
“This is somebody fighting for us,” Shmurda said. “I’m from Brooklyn, straight out of the ghetto.”
“What he’s about to do as far as policing, a White man couldn’t have done, not in the eyes of the people, and be looked at honestly,” Ja Rule added. “He has a good plan on how to execute everything and I trust him.”
At the end of the evening, a corner table held the remnants of a good time: an empty bottle of Don Julio 1942 tequila and several empty glasses.
“There’s an incredible, vibrant feeling for the fight for New York to come back, and you have the titans here who really want to help do it, to help communities across all boroughs to thrive,” said Charlie Walk, CEO of Music Mastery. “Tonight’s about getting our game back.”
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