“Do you know who I am?”

A top advisor to the mayor got into some altercations, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe is closing for renovation, and a DOG MAYOR! #60

On Tuesday, a top advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, Tim Pearson, visited (at least) two shelters for asylum seekers and got into altercations at both, according to my colleague Gwynne Hogan.

He rolled up to Randall’s Island Tuesday afternoon with more than 100 police officers, two drones and a helicopter flying overhead in what had initially been reported as a bust of an illegal market run by migrants. The whole thing was planned and given as an exclusive to some outlets (you can see DCPI officers here in the photo.)

While there, Pearson and officers said they were looking for people they said assaulted another officer two nights earlier, according to the incident reports Gwynne obtained; when the site manager asked if they had an arrest warrant, Pearson got “upset and yelled” at a manager. He later made it inside without the arrest warrant and couldn’t find who they were looking for.

Hours later, he arrived at a site in Midtown, where nearly a dozen eyewitnesses said he refused to identify himself, cursed at employees and shouted “Do you know who I am? You won’t be working here after today.”

He then shoved a female guard, which set off a fight inside the shelter lobby, the witnesses said. It’s city protocol for anyone to identify themselves when entering a shelter – even if they’re “the most powerful New Yorker you’ve never heard of.”

Mayor Adams has not answered any questions about his friend Timmy Pearson, as he’s known, despite attempts by reporters. Some have called on him to step down, but the mayor didn’t answer any questions on that. 

You can read Gwynne’s stories here. 

ALSO - I’ve spent the last few weeks on this feature about the iconic cafe, which is closing at the end of the month for a three-year, $24 million renovation. You can read all about it here.

Other interesting stories

🔷More subway workers are being spit on as the MTA is looking for solutions [THE CITY]

🔶Some congestion pricing cameras are going to have to be taken down and put up every year so the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloons can pass under them safely [WEST SIDE RAG] 

🦖Related: When Barney was killed at the 1997 parade [YOUTUBE]

🎧LISTEN🎧
Some songs I’ve enjoyed this week

“Birth4000” by Floating Points
”The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” by Human League
”Stop Bajon-Club Mix” by Tullio De Piscopo

DOG MAYOR!

Mayor Sally Long Dog visited City Hall this week, stopping into the reporters’ quarters first (I did squeal after seeing her.) Some photo highlights:

Thanks for reading!