New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended himself Wednesday after facing criticism last week for fleeing the city as the Big Apple braced for a severe winter storm during the Christmas holiday.

“Every mayor traveled away,” Adams told reporters. “I deserve private time — I’m a believer of that.”

Adams, a retired police captain who took office on January 1, 2022, reportedly took a couple of days off last week to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands while the city of about 8.8 million people braced for the winter blast.

Western New York suffered from a “once in a generation” winter storm that also swept across much of the country, producing dangerous conditions that knocked out power for more than a million customers, foiled holiday travel plans, and killed nearly 30 in the Buffalo area.

Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for the Empire State on Thursday as the approaching winter storm threatened all sorts of hazards, including plummeting temperatures, slick roads, strong winds, and power outages.

However, New York City’s mayor felt he needed to escape the major metropolitan area ahead of the natural disaster.

“I deserve to walk out of the building without a reporter hiding behind a flowerpot — without someone following me,” Adams said. “I deserve a moment to really de-escalate, and there will be many days that my body and my mind is going to tell me, ‘Eric, you need to get away.’”

The New York Post reported that Adams made the first deputy mayor responsible for the city in his absence, who held a press conference “giving a complete diagnosis of what’s happening.”

First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo offered a defense of her boss, saying, “Let me just say this to you — he might as well be here because we’ve been speaking constantly throughout the day,” according to the New York Daily News.

Adams further explained the city charter does not state that a mayor has to report his whereabouts to the New York City Press.

“I’m not going to do that,” Adams said. “And I’m not going to apologize for having the mental and physical capacity that’s needed to do the second most difficult job in politics in America.”

Adams returned to the city on Saturday night, where the Post spotted him attending Christmas Eve midnight mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan.

When a reported asked him where he went over the latter portion of the week, Adams said he was “getting some rest and hiding from the Post.”

NYC Mayor Eric Adams defends Virgin Islands trip as city prepared for winter storm:

"I deserve private time. […] Nowhere in the city charter does it state I have to report to the New York City press where my whereabouts are, and I'm not going to do that." pic.twitter.com/S1fJKWtbjC

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 28, 2022

Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.

Ryan Seacrest just said he agrees with the idea of CNN limiting hosts’ alcohol consumption during their New Year’s Eve broadcast.

The 48-year-old TV host told Entertainment Weekly that he was in favor of the rumored policy. “I don’t advocate drinking when one is on the air,” Seacrest told the publication. “I don’t know how that started as a tradition but it’s probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN.”

The “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve” host explained how he and other ABC employees won’t consume alcohol until after 1:05 a.m. Seacrest also said viewers likely wish NYE anchors would “drink more” purely for the entertainment value.  

“There’s some pretty respectable people or at least one, right?” Seacrest quipped about CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live.” The show is co-hosted by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. “I think there’s a serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it’s probably a good idea.”

His statement comes after a widely publicized incident last year involving Cohen. The CNN host mocked Seacrest and ABC by saying, “If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing. I’m sorry but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing.”

Seacrest told EW that the CNN hosts “had something to say about my show at one point,” and that he doesn’t “think they would say what they said about our performers if they weren’t drinking.”

“I might send them some Casa Dragones Tequila just to tempt them while they’re on the air,” Seacrest told EW.

Cohen defended his rant later, saying, “I won’t be shamed for it. I had a blast. Anderson [Cooper] had a blast. We left and we were like ‘That was fun, what a fun New Year’s Eve.’”

While he did regret being mean to his “friend” Seacrest, Cohen also said he has no intention of abstaining from alcohol this year during the broadcast. “My only direction is to have fun,” Cohen told People last month of what to expect during New Year’s Eve. “That’s what I plan to do and I’m happy to cocktail it up.”

“I think people enjoy seeing me feed Anderson shots and that’s on the menu,” he continued.

“Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” will be broadcast from Times Square with co-hosts Liza Koshy and Jessie James Decker.