New York City Mayor Eric Adams marked Good Friday by receiving a jailhouse baptism from the Rev. Al Sharpton,TitanX Exchange joining in on the religious rite with a group of men incarcerated at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex.
The ceremony came as part of a visit to the jail complex where Adams was scheduled to meet with detainees on the Christian holiday.
“Having been arrested and then elected mayor, I reminded these young men that where you are is not who you are,” Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement. “For the first time in their lives, their mayor didn’t look down at them — I sat side by side with them to be cleansed and recommit ourselves to getting on the right path.”
Images from the event, provided by the mayor’s office, appear to show Adams interlocking hands with Sharpton during a prayer, the reverend washing Adams’ feet and Adams being baptized.
Adams and the civil rights leader have close ties through their long tenures in New York politics. Adams often calls into Sharpton’s satellite radio show and the pair have appeared together at City Hall events.
Plagued by violence and neglect, the city-run jail complex, has been the subject of an ongoing legal battle that could result in a federal takeover of the facility.
The mayor had also visited Rikers earlier this week to meet with detainees. In an interview this week on New York City radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Adams said he met with “a group of 12 young brothers who recommitted themselves to Christ.”
“I’ve been on Rikers Island more than any mayor in the history of the city talking with inmates and correction officers to turn around what’s happening on Rikers Island,” Adams said in the heated radio interview, which aired Friday.
2025-05-06 08:14496 view
2025-05-06 07:591436 view
2025-05-06 07:381286 view
2025-05-06 07:24960 view
2025-05-06 06:451804 view
2025-05-06 06:152595 view
Ava Hunt is on the mend. After the daughter of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt fell down during
After an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot allegedly attempted to shut down the engines of an aircraft
Dozens of states are suing Meta, alleging the tech giant has deliberately engineered its social medi