New York City kicked off the new year with a new mayor: the, shall we say, eccentric Eric Adams. When he was running, he was caught doing unusual things, like driving on the sidewalk. Since taking office, he’s done unusual things, like keep schools open despite soaring COVID cases, diss “low-skill workers,” and appoint his under-qualified brother to a major position. So it was only natural that SNL, perhaps the city’s most famous television program, would send him up.
Chris Redd stepped in as a very cocky Adams, who spoke largely about himself — and his “swag” — during a press conference populated by deeply confused journalists. “The city’s never had a mayor with so much swagger before,” he boasted. “You can tell I have swagger. Keeps me healthy.”
He then diagnosed what’s really wrong with New York City. No, not ever-escalating income inequality. No, not skyrocketing cases in the most densely populated are of the America. No, not a broken subway system.
“The city’s been suffering from what I like to call a ‘swagless existence,’” Redd’s Adams postulated. “Y’all ain’t have any swagger, that’s why you’re getting sick.” He then claimed, “I haven’t been sick in over 60 years.” (Adams is 61.)
Over the course of the sketch his boasts grew ever more impossible. At one point he said he’d been a police officer for “70 years,” then later for “97 years.” When he was questioned about the scandals he’s accrued in a mere fortnight in office, his gaffes grew worse. At one point, he said COVID is “welcome any time in New York, and you can print that.” Considering the real Adams said that “low-skill” workers “don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office,” SNL’s really not being that far-fetched.
Still, New Yorkers are probably happy Adams is not Bill De Blasio. But then, he’s also not Bing Bong.
You can watch the sketch in the video above.