Praise God — especially when you’re under federal indictment.
Mayor Eric Adams solicited prayers from the city’s faithful during back-to-back church visits Sunday, defiantly vowing not to resign and instead claiming, “I’m going to reign” — two days after he was arraigned on sweeping federal corruption charges.
An animated Adams first raved about his love for Jesus while speaking to the congregation of the Emmanuel Presbyterian Reformed Church in The Bronx for about a half-hour — after which he refused to answer reporters’ questions.
“God placed me in this moment and placed in my heart to continue to move this city forward,” he said.
“And so you’ll hear the small number of loud people saying, ‘But he should step down.’ No, I’m going to step up. I’m not going to resign. I’m not going to resign. I’m going to reign.”
Adams then hoofed it to Staten Island, where a group of clergy rallied with him inside Mt. Sinai United Christian Church.
The group huddled and prayed for Adams, who told a small crowd of congregants there that he was warned by clergy that storms would arise along his journey.
“The question becomes, is how true is your faith?” he said.
“I’m asking the people of this city, let me continue to do this job,” he said.
Adams’ schedule after he was arraigned Friday also included a prayer-filled senior-center visit and stops at a Queens church where he vaunted “the power of prayer” and a Bronx gospel concert.
But some New Yorkers weren’t buying Adams casting himself as a virtuous man of God who’ll be vindicated against accusations he defrauded taxpayers out of $10 million in matching campaign finance funds and took bribes from Turkish officials and nationals.
Shortly after Adams’ arraignment, he visited a birthday celebration at the ARC A. Philip Randolph Older Adult Center in Harlem, where many seniors prayed with him — a display that drew skepticism from one 68-year-old woman who goes to the site.
“They were in there saying prayers and s–t,” the Harlem resident said. “That prayer ain’t going to work for a devil.
“I saw his face, and I did like this,” she said, raising her two middle fingers.
Alice Dividu, 70, who also saw Adams at the senior center, was more supportive — to a point.
She told him to “hang in there,” prompting Adams to smile, the retired daycare worker told The Post. But afterward, she expressed doubt about voting for him again.
“The charges are legit,” she said. “It sounds legit. What was he doing … it’s a sad situation. They coming after him.
“He made it seem like nothing was going [on]… I just saw him from the news. I said, ‘Damn, he came straight from the court to here,’ ” she said.
Adams’ approval rating sank to record lows for a Big Apple mayor months before the historic federal criminal charges.
But he has maintained the support of many prominent faith and black leaders, who stood alongside him Thursday right before the five-count indictment against him was unsealed and continued to vocally back him in pulpits and television broadcasts afterward.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, an Adams ally, urged Gov. Kathy Hochul during his National Action Network rally Saturday to not remove the mayor from office.
Adams, who has claimed God gave him a divine message roughly 30 years ago that predicted exactly when he would become mayor, has appeared only to happy to be blanketed by the faithfuls’ support.
“I’m asking you to continue to move the demonic energy that has engulfed not only our city but our entire globe,” he said during his Bronx gospel concert visit Saturday.
“I don’t know who came before me, but there is a man of God that is the mayor of the city of New York this time, and there will always be. So I lift you up in prayers, and I ask you to lift me up in prayer.”
