This week, Mayor Adams is undertaking a trip to the Balkan region specifically to meet with Albania’s prime minister. This marks his first international visit since withdrawing from his pursuit of a second mayoral term.
According to his spokeswoman, Kayla Mamelak, Adams departed for Albania on Monday and will remain there until Thursday. New York City houses a prominent community of Albanians.
The mayor had plans to meet with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama soon after his arrival on Monday, as well as visit “local businesses and factories,” according to an advisory from his office. It’s not entirely clear whom Adams will engage with over the rest of his visit. However, the advisory states his intentions to meet with “government, business, and tech leaders to advocate for economic activity and tourism to New York City.”
Adams accepted the trip invitation from Rama, with the Albanian government covering his accommodation and ground travel expenses at approximately $290 per day, Mamelak explained. The costs for the mayor’s flights and other incidental expenses are being paid using city taxpayer funds.
“It is a trip with a city purpose,” Mamelak said.
According to Mamelak, Adams is accompanied on this trip by a scheduling staff member and several members of his NYPD security team. Their costs are covered by the city, she mentioned.
Adams’ visit, publicized by his office shortly before midnight on Sunday, follows closely after his appearance in an interview with an Albanian television host, during which he highlighted that his adult son, rapper Jordan Coleman, participated in the nation’s version of “Idol” during 2022.
“I’ve accomplished so many things, but what I have not accomplished — and I’m jealous of my son — he went to Albania, he performed there, and you know here in New York, this is the Albania of America,” the mayor said in the interview with the TV presenter, Alketa Vejsiu.
Spokespeople for Rama, who’s also the chairman of Albania’s Socialist Party, didn’t immediately return requests for comment on the mayor’s visit. Rama has drawn international condemnation from free speech advocates for pushing through laws that rolled back press freedoms in Albania.
The mayor’s trip comes a week after he dropped his independent campaign for reelection.
Adams’ decision to exit the November race came after President Trump’s team and New York business leaders floated the idea of offering him a job in exchange for a commitment to suspend his reelection campaign to help clear the field against Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.
Adams has yet to say what his next move is professionally, but sources say talks about a position in the Trump administration have cooled off recently.
Adams has said since dropping out said that he’s deeply concerned about the direction Mamdani would take the city, citing the democratic socialist’s platform that includes vows to increase taxes on millionaires in order to fund programs like free public buses.
Adams has for years been known to enjoy traveling across the globe. His federal corruption indictment, which was dismissed by Trump’s administration as part of a controversial arrangement this spring, alleged Adams was given discounted flights and hotel stays as bribes from Turkish government officials in exchange for political favors.
Originally Published: October 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM EDT
