The Big Apple’s real “nightlife mayor,’’ Eric Adams, said Tuesday he was too busy being honored with a literacy award to attend one of the city’s biggest social events of the year, the Met Gala.
Hizzoner — who famously made a political splash on the Gala’s 2022 red carpet with his “End Gun Violence” tuxedo — told reporters he ditched this year’s star-studded fashion soiree Monday night so he could accept a local “literacy hero” award instead.
“I had four events around the same time,” the mayor said at a press conference when asked why he skipped out on the glitzy, coveted, Big Apple affair.
“One of them, I was being honored by a literacy organization. I was receiving the literacy hero’s award down at Casa Cipriani. They acknowledged the good work we’re doing around literacy — and I had several other events that were in conflict.”
“I would have loved to have come and, you know, sport a nice tuxedo, but I had other engagements,” Hizzoner said.
According to Adams’ public schedule, the mayor accepted the 2023 Champion of Literacy Award at the Literacy Partners Gala at 8 p.m.
An hour earlier, he delivered remarks at the Hotel Association of New York City’s Red Carpet Hospitality Gala.
It wasn’t immediately clear what other two events the mayor was invited to or whether he actually attended — or what private events he may have attended afterward.
“This is a big city. Every night, there are a million and one things going, and I try to spread love the New York way. That’s why I couldn’t make it,” Adams added of his Met Gala absence.
Adams — who has repeatedly defended his party lifestyle — also hit back at the notion he hasn’t been spotted out much at night, insisting the New York Times just isn’t tailing him anymore.
The mayor had berated the Gray Lady in August over a “silly” front page story that examined his embrace of the city’s pricey, high-end nightlife.
“I’m the nightlife mayor,” he said Tuesday when questioned by a reporter about his so-called cut back on nightly outings. “This is a 24/7 city. I’m obligated to go patronize my restaurants, patronize my theater. That’s my responsibility. This city doesn’t shut down at 6 p.m.
“I didn’t fall into the house last night until 2 a.m. So it’s not that I’m not out.
“I’m still out if you want to hang out, I got some nice spots we can hang out in where we can enjoy it,” Adams quipped to the reporter.
“I’m a Tito’s and seltzer person, or I like a good cognac and a nice cigar, but I’m out. I enjoy the city. I don’t get home early.”
The city is currently lacking an actual so-called “Nightlife Mayor,” after Ariel Palitz, the founding director of New York’s Office of Nightlife who earned the moniker, resigned late last month.