New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is refusing to apologize for likening an 84-year-old constituent to a slave owner.

What is the background?

As TheBlaze reported, Adams exploded at Jeanie Dubnau during a community event on Wednesday. Dubnau — a longtime New York City resident, fair-housing advocate, and assistant professor at Rutgers University — accused Adams of having "raised the rents," referring to the city's Rent Guidelines Board voting to approve rent hikes of up to 6% for rent-stabilized housing.

Adams, however, sharply disagreed — and made it immensely personal. While demanding respect because he is mayor, Adams accused of Dubnau of being "disrespectful" because she pointed her figure as she talked. Then came his shocking accusation.

"Don't stand in front like you treated someone that’s on the plantation that you own," he said.

Ironically, Adams had requested she stand up.

What is Adams saying now?

In an interview on WINS-AM, Adams was asked whether he "went too far" in accusing the woman of treating him like a slave that she owns.

But instead of reflecting on where he could have responded better — a characteristic of a strong leader — Adams doubled down and refused to apologize.

Well, some can say that, and her behavior was acting in a disrespectful way, and I'm just seeing this disrespect that we’re displaying, not only locally but nationally. Disrespect to police officers, disrespecting religious groups when they are in our city, disrespect to everyday people who deliver services — and it needs to stop. You know, I came from a family that — my mom made it clear — never allow someone to be disrespectful to you.

That woman disrupted a meeting where all the participants were acting respectfully and cordially, to get their issues heard — she disrupted that. And then she was degrading in how she communicated with me. I'm not going to allow civil servants to be disrespected, and I'm not going to be disrespected as the mayor of this city. I'm the representative of this city, and we need to start having a better dialogue on how we communicate with each other, both locally and nationally, on how we communicate.

What is Dubnau saying?

According to the New York Post, Dubnau was born in Belgium in 1938 after her parents fled Nazi-controlled Germany. Her family hid in Belgium and France during World War II and then emigrated to the U.S. after the war. Dubnau arrived to New York City when she was 8 years old and has lived there ever since.

Dubnau has served as a fair-housing advocate since 1960, according to the newspaper — the same year Adams was born.

In response, Dubnau maintained her criticism of Adams, telling the Post that his response proves he wants "to avoid accountability for his policies."

"He didn’t have an answer," she asserted. "That was just a deflection that's all, because he doesn't have any answers."

"He's a landlord himself. He said, 'Oh, I don't raise the rent on my own tenants.' Who cares about his own personal tenants? He's raising the rents on thousands and thousands of people in New York City," she added, calling Adams "a landlord stooge and the enemy of tenants in New York City."

Dubnau, moreover, said she is not waiting for an apology.

"Oh, he's not going to apologize," she told the Post. "I mean, you know the mayor. He thinks he’s the greatest and doesn’t want to be criticized."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!