Where Eric Adams got his Rosh Hashanah fit
The New York mayor was spotted wearing some fresh Bukharian threads
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sept. 18. Photo by Benny Polatseck/NYC Mayor’s Office
By PJ Grisar September 25, 2025
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Since Eric Adams fulfilled a campaign promise to get his ear pierced, he has been an unlikely style icon. That reputation was on full display at Rosh Hashanah services this week, with the politician donning an impressive — yet traditional — fit that lit up the internet.
Appearing at a Brooklyn shul, Adams was spotted in a Bukharian Jewish overcoat, known as a chapan, resplendent with Stars of David and ornate embroidery.
City Hall confirmed that Adams was gifted these dashing threads by Ehran Gohari during the mayor’s visit last week to Congregation Od Yosef Chai, a Bukharian synagogue in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens. A spokesperson said the gift was logged as an official gift to the city and is going through the proper channels.
While Adams’ look stood out from the crowd in their white tallises in the Sephardic Lebanese Congregation in Brooklyn Tuesday, the ensemble wouldn’t be out of place in a Bukharian service.
Bukharian Jews, who hail from Central Asia, take their cue from Joseph, favoring coats of many colors, often using a dyeing technique called ikat in their weaving. Chapans tend to feature ornamentation like Adams’, though this particular garment appears to be bespoke.
The stuff memes are made of, Adams’ High Holiday drip is part of his continued appeal to Jewish constituents. The mayor has made combating antisemitism a key part of his platform in the current race, and at one point after losing the Democratic primary was to appear on the ballot as a candidate for the EndAntisemitism party (a party of his own creation).
Honored to join the Sephardic Lebanese Congregation today in welcoming the start of the High Holy Days.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 23, 2025
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and meaningful Rosh Hashanah.
L’Shana Tova! pic.twitter.com/GmWSujkCC3
Mayor Adams was far from the only mayoral hopeful to appeal to Jews during the Days of Awe. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and JVP Action blew the shofar with Zohran Mamdani in Prospect Park. Andrew Cuomo hit up shuls in Brooklyn and on the Upper West Side. Curtis Sliwa was spotted noshing at a Jewish family’s home.
But none made quite the fashion statement that Adams did. That frock alone is worthy of his name being inscribed into the Book of Life. It remains to be seen if it will translate into people ticking his box at the polls.
Additional reporting by Jacob Kornbluh.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct that the gift given to Mayor Adams was logged as an official gift to the mayor’s office.
