NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams Says He'll Accept His First Three Paychecks In Bitcoin, Eliciting Groans From Many New Yorkers

New York City is famous for electing mayors its people despise, and it seems its new Mayor-Elect is well on his way towards keeping that tradition alive.

Eric Adams, who emerged from a field of Democratic challengers (including Andrew Yang) to stand in the general election against Curtis Sliwa, a man best known for wearing a red beret and having 17 cats, tweeted today that he would accept his first three paychecks in Bitcoin. He also vowed that NYC would become the center for cryptocurrency and "other fast-growing, innovative industries."

In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor. NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!

— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) November 4, 2021

This was news to New Yorkers, as Adams had not made a Big Apple embrace of cryptocurrency part of his campaign. Many did not react well to the news.

this man should be thrown into the hudson river https://t.co/4YlGZvPR1k

— Dan Walden (@dwaldenwrites) November 4, 2021

i hate it here https://t.co/fpyOHtNXuN

— bing bong enjoyer (@doinkpatrol) November 4, 2021

It's irresponsible for the mayor of NYC to promote a ponzi scheme that is propped up by tens of billions of Tether coins that your own state AG investigated and found was backed by nothing.

— vessol (@rwvessol) November 4, 2021

Adams' tweet was also good news to cryptocurrency enthusiasts, but it is unclear how Adams will attract cryptocurrency business while New York State itself is legally hesitant to embrace Bitcoin on account of its impact on the environment.