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Ex-NYC Mayor Eric Adams mercilessly heckled as he tries to pitch Wisconsin town on AI data center: video

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams was heckled and booed during a Saturday meeting in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, while pitching a proposed AI data center on behalf of PNK Group, an industrial engineering and construction company. Attendees shouted insults, including "You belong in prison!" and "You're here to steal our water!" The project, planned for a former paper mill site that closed in 2020, would create 50 to 150 permanent jobs, but locals opposed it. Adams' spokesman Todd Shapiro disputed the account of the meeting.

read3 min views1 publishedAug 4, 2026
Ex-NYC Mayor Eric Adams mercilessly heckled as he tries to pitch Wisconsin town on AI data center: video
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Add The New York Post on Google They didn’t love his swagger.

Former Mayor Eric Adams got heckled and shouted down during a Wisconsin meeting as he tried to pitch locals on an AI data center, a wild video shows.

The excruciating video — first reported by Hell Gate — shows the one-term mayor awkwardly introduce himself to the Wisconsin Rapids crowd, with his name met by an avalanche of boos during the Saturday meeting.

“You belong in prison!” one attendee shouted, referencing Adams’ controversially dismissed federal corruption case.

The cheesehead kerfuffle is the latest post-mayoralty headscratcher from Adams, who opted not to run for a second term in 2025 after a scandal-plagued four years in office.

Since leaving Gracie Mansion, Adams became an Albanian citizen and has been the subject of bonkers Chinese AI slop videos and watched his close adviser Frank Carone get hit with a corruption indictment of his own.

The flamboyant former mayor has also embarked on a new venture as a “business development consultant,” hocking a portfolio that includes green rebar and fire retardant.

He recently bragged to The Real Deal about his portfolio and 80% close rate helping firms sell everything from cleaning services to health monitoring technology.

But Adams’ pitchman prowess apparently faltered in Wisconsin, where he spoke on behalf of PNK Group, an industrial engineering and construction company hoping to build a data center on 209 acres along the Wisconsin River.

The site was a former paper mill that closed in 2020, taking 900 local jobs with it.

PNK reportedly said the project would create 50 to 150 permanent jobs but declined to say who would occupy the building.

Locals, however, apparently didn’t cotton to the project — leading to the awkward meeting with Adams.

“Whether we like it or not, folks, data centers are going to be here,” Adams told the crowd.

Audience members — who seemed puzzled as to Adams’ identity until he named himself — didn’t hold back attacking him.

“Get out of here! Put it in your backyard!,” one resident spouted off.

“You’re here to steal our water!” another yelled.

“How many bribes did you pay in this town?” yet another shouted.

Adams — who used to captivate New Yorkers with fishy-sounding stories, including one about a childhood pet rat named “Mickey” — then tried to win the room with a story about artificial intelligence helping a friend catch a breast cancer diagnosis.

“Is this story true?” one attendee questioned.

After Hell Gate detailed the chaotic meeting, Adams’ spokesman Todd Shapiro contended the outlet got the facts wrong.

Shapiro argued Adams’ consultant work for Panattoni, an industrial developer, is consistent with the “pro-growth, pro-innovation philosophy he championed while serving as mayor.”

“A short video clip cannot accurately portray an event that lasted much longer,” Shapiro said. “It omits the many attendees who approached Mayor Adams afterward to thank him, ask questions, and express appreciation for his willingness to engage directly with the community.

“Reasonable people can have different views on individual projects, but the facts are clear: AI is transforming the global economy, and data centers are the infrastructure that powers it.”

Representatives for PNK said Adams serves as a consulting adviser on “community engagement.”

“We have retained him on a paid consulting basis to advise us on community engagement strategy and best practices,” the reps said. “His experience is valuable as we work to engage openly and constructively with the communities where we are evaluating future projects.”

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