Mayor-elect Eric Adams flew to Puerto Rico earlier this month on a bitcoin billionaire’s private jet — even as he claimed that the trip was on “my dollar, my dime and my time.”
New York City’s next mayor — who has pledged in recent weeks to take his first three paychecks in bitcoin and said cryptocurrencies should be taught in schools — hitched a ride to San Juan on billionaire Brock Pierce’s private Gulfstream jet, Adams spokesman Evan Thies told The Post.
Thies said Adams paid for the ride on his donor’s plane through a travel agent. He did not provide a receipt or say how much Adams paid for the flight, saying only that it was “the cost of a leg of an open private flight.”
While in Puerto Rico, Adams stayed mum about the flight with Pierce, who has donated to his campaign and partied with him on election night. Instead, the mayor-elect told reporters in San Juan that he had paid for the trip himself.
“Before the question is asked, I paid my own way. I learned the best way to tell people to mind their business is to come out your pocket and cut your own check, so I’m here on my time,” Adams said at the time, according to Politico. “It’s on my dollar, my dime and my time.”
The jet ride was first reported by Politico, which also said that Adam’s girlfriend Tracey Collins rode on Pierce’s plane — an accusation Thies denied. The trio had dinner with Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, according to the outlet.
Pierce — an eccentric ex-child actor who appeared in Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks” and received 50,000 votes in a 2020 presidential run — was mum about the issue when reached by The Post.
“I’m not commenting on any of Eric’s business,” Pierce said. “I don’t have any role in his administration.”
Pierce is part of a community of crypto traders who have moved to Puerto Rico, which has looser tax rules than the mainland US. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and YouTube star Logan Paul also relocated to the island in 2021 — even as critics have griped that crypto-consumed outsiders are driving up housing prices for locals.
The SOMOS conference, which took place in San Juan in early November, is an annual gathering where New York politicians, lobbyists, operatives and union leaders hobnob and form alliances. In addition to Adams, this year’s event was attended by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James.
De Blasio downplayed the issue during a Tuesday press conference.
“I think Eric Adams has a real moral center, I really do,” the Mayor said in response to a question about Adams’ jet ride. “I’m sure he will figure out the right way to handle these things. So I wouldn’t read too much into one moment. I think he is someone who — he’s been a public servant his whole life, and for the right reasons.”
–Additional reporting by Sam Raskin
