Mayor Adams blasts Washington Post report that billionaires pressured him to end Columbia University protest

Mayor Eric Adams on Monday blasted as a “lie” and “antisemitic in its core” a recent Washington Post report that a group of billionaires and business tycoons pressured him to shut down pro-Palestinian encampments at Big Apple college campuses last month.

The May 16 Washington Post report indicates that a group including Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of Kind Snacks; Daniel Loeb, a hedge fund manager; billionaire Len Blavatnik; and Joseph Sitt, a real estate investor, held a Zoom call with Adams last month. Those on the call — which the paper said it learned of through messages it obtained from a private WhatsApp chat, discussed cracking down on pro-Palestinian encampments at Columbia University and other colleges in the city as well as making donations to Adams’ 2025 re-election campaign.