Osteria La Baia is Mayor Eric Adams’ favorite restaurant: an Italian spot in Midtown Manhattan with plates ranging from $31 to $50.

He likes it so much that according to the New York Times he had dinner there 14 times during the month of June.

“If I’m sitting down with Bill de Blasio, Cuomo, friends… I mean, who doesn’t have a favorite restaurant,” Adams said.

What You Need To Know

  • According to a New York Times report, Adams dined at Osteria La Baia 14 times in June

  • The mayor claims he pays for his meals, but is not willing to show the public the receipts

  • New York bars public officials from accepting gifts over $50 when they come from people who do business with the city

Back in February, it was Politico that first reported that Adams had turned into his unofficial meeting place, this newly opened restaurant owned by two brothers with past felony convictions.

Asked about who pays for his meals, the mayor says he does, but he is unwilling to offer proof: “I owe no one a receipt of a private dinner that I have with people in the city.”

New York bans public officials from accepting gifts with a value of over $50 if they come from people who do business with the city. The mayor’s office doesn’t provide the names of those dining with Adams. He says those dinners are private, but at the same time he acknowledges, “I’m never on private time. I’m considered mayor all the time. I don’t clock out.”

The mayor’s nightlife habits could end up raising some ethical concerns.

“There is, I think, a concern that people have that public officials play by the rules. And occasionally, if the violation of the rules is so egregious, they get in trouble,” said Columbia Law School Professor Richard Briffault.

Adams is also a regular at the exclusive SoHo club Zero Bond, where annual membership dues go up to $4,000. Members are allowed to bring in a guest, and the mayor says he goes as someone else’s guest, but refuses to disclose who.

“If I tell you who I go with, you are gonna do four page stories on them. Nobody is gonna wanna hang out with me anymore,” Adams said.

The mayor complains he is being treated unfairly and that he’s not doing anything wrong.

“Mayors are allowed to take time off, they are allowed to have fun, they are allowed to go to clubs. What they are not allowed to do is get stuff that the rest of us pay for for free if there’s reason to believe that they are getting it because they are mayor,” Briffault said.

Adams has always made a point of the importance of a thriving New York City nightlife essential to a strong overall recovery.

But he is offering little detail about his interactions while out at clubs and restaurants.