New York City Mayor Eric Adams Allegedly Meets With Alleged Drug Dealers At Local Burger King, Echoing Memphis Mayor’s Ceasefire Talks With Gangs

Young understands that the city needs several approaches to dealing with violent crime in the city, and that includes involving gang members in discussions about how to accomplish that.

As the New York Post reports, New York City Mayor Eric Adams allegedly met with alleged drug dealers who are reportedly using a local Burger King as a headquarters for their operations.

A witness who saw the drug dealers and Adams told the Post that the meeting lasted approximately an hour and police officers were also present at the meeting.

A City Hall spokesperson told the paper, “Mayor Adams personally stopped by this past weekend to see the situation on the ground and hear from employees, patrons, and locals. The 1st Precinct has been, and will continue to be responsive to community complaints.”

As Business Insider reports, Kevin Kaufman, a resident and condo owner in New York City, filed a $15 million lawsuit against Burger King, claiming that the restaurant has allowed “professional drug dealers” to operate with impunity.

According to the lawsuit, “The operation of the drug dealers at this Burger King attracts drug addicts, drunks, and emotionally disturbed people who have been terrorizing the neighborhood for months.” The lawsuit also claims that the “quality of life that is crucial for a neighborhood’s well being has been jeopardized, profoundly harmed, and destroyed by the nature of this illegal activity.”

Adams is not the only city leader to sit with those whom some would say are driving crime. In Memphis, Mayor Paul Young met with gang members in February to request a ceasefire.

As WREG reports, Young’s meeting was facilitated by HEAL 901, a Memphis non-profit headed by Durell Cowan, who told WREG that the gangs needed to be included in the conversation.

“We can’t have conversations about how to help individuals without including them in a conversation. Doing violence intervention and prevention work, it’s easy to be in contact with these individuals and what we found out is that they were not hesitant in meeting with the mayor. And once again, this was not something that was in negotiation,” Cowan said. “It was hey, we got to do something about crime. I need a seven-day ceasefire. What would it take to bring to your community to prevent these things from happening?”