These days, a cough is fairly simple to come by. With children back in school and swapping germs, and families gathering for the holidays, along with the raging, ongoing pandemic, it’s simple enough to spike a slight temperature. 

Another highly transmissible sickness making the rounds: World Cup fever. And folks, Mayor Eric Adams has it bad.

Over the weekend, Adams announced that after a conference on antisemitism in Greece, he’d be taking a four-day trip to Qatar next weekend to learn more about hosting a World Cup. 

Putting aside the fact that New York City is but one of sixteen 2026 host cities spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and that New York is home to gigantic international events on a regular basis, or even that the games themselves will not be played in New York City but rather in New Jersey, or that Adams might not even by mayor in 2026 (also: Adams is leaving the city with the highest Jewish population in the world to learn about antisemitism?), there are some major questions we have about this trip. 

Who’s paying for it? Apparently, City Hall tells the Post, that’s still being worked out. When the last mayor, Bill de Blasio, went abroad for several days, it cost taxpayers over $16,000. Expenditures like these are definitely something to consider for a mayor who’s asking city agencies to cut their budgets to the bone. 

Are any other mayors from major North American cities attending alongside Adams? Unclear!

What does the mayor personally have to see that can’t be done by other city officials? Maybe Adams feels like he has to go himself because top mayoral advisor Frank Carone, who traveled to Israel and South Korea for the administration, is leaving City Hall? 

Whose idea was this? We’ve had some recent history with someone governing through watching TV, so would love to know how long this has been in the works.

We’ve reached out to City Hall with questions about the trip, and will update when they respond.

Still stuffed from Thanksgiving? No matter—feast on some links!

• NYPD officers can commit serious felonies, but still keep their jobs!
• The Governor of New Jersey is getting ready to kill a lot of bears. And yes, while they’re godless killing machines, their lethal presence in New Jersey can only be a net positive for the environment. 
• Fresh off tanking Democrats in local elections by stirring up fake outrage over the state’s bail reform laws, Mayor Eric Adams and his police commissioner are still spewing nonsense about how police feel so bad about the changes.
• Here are your finalists for the state’s top judicial position.
• Queens teachers are going above and beyond for their unhoused asylum-seekers students.
• Brooklyn Democratic Party? Incredibly un-democratic.  
• You will never own a home in New York City.   
• And finally, got to say, this rules: