Mayor Adams gives himself a B+ in his first year as mayor, punts on grading Lamor Whitehead, indicted ‘bling’ bishop mentee

Mayor Adams awarded himself a B+ for his first year in office Wednesday, but demurred when asked how he’d grade Bishop Lamor Whitehead, a Brooklyn preacher he mentored and who was indicted earlier this week on federal extortion charges.

Adams gave himself the high mark during a meeting with the Daily News editorial board, noting that he had much to overcome in his first year, including crime, COVID and a monkeypox outbreak.

“I’m a hard grader on myself,” he said. “I think I’m a straight B+ because I’ve gotta leave room for improvement. I’m a solid B+.”

Mayor Eric Adams

Adams, though, was a bit more stingy when doling out high marks to Whitehead, who federal prosecutors accused Monday of bilking one of his church parishioners out of tens of thousands of dollars. When asked what grade he’d give Whitehead, Adams suggested the bishop should “rate himself.”

“When you look at my work around mentoring and helping people, it’s fairly impressive. Many of these young people have gone on to do some good things with their lives, and I’m going to continue to do it. This is what I do, and I’m not going to stop doing that,” he said. “If you want, he should rate himself. That’s not my job to do, to judge others, especially since I’m perfectly imperfect.”

A day earlier, Whitehead did do some rating of his own, though it didn’t involve any letter grades. The ‘bling’ bishop took to social media on Tuesday to proclaim his innocence, saying that “just because you are arrested doesn’t make you guilty.”

Bishop Lamor Whitehead

During that bizarre rejoinder after being arrested, he also reminded followers of the cloud that hung over him after masked gunmen robbed his church in July, stealing close to $1 million in jewelry.

“Everybody said I set up the robbery. Everybody was 100% sure I set up the robbery, and then when they caught the two of the three of the men that robbed my church, everybody got quiet,” he said on Instagram. “I need y’all to give me an opportunity.”

The mayor suggested Wednesday that he’d be among those who withholds public judgement until the case against Whitehead is complete.

“If there’s one thing I learned in the area of investigations: Allow the investigators to do what they have to do, stay out of it,” he said. “I have no comments on the federal investigation. They’re doing their job. I’m doing my job as mayor.”

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