Dr. Ermal Zatriqi was born in Peja, Kosovo, and has dedicated his career to advancing cardiovascular health. He earned his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Pristina, where he built a strong foundation in clinical practice and research. Currently, Dr. Zatriqi is completing his residency and fellowship in cardiology at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, with a focus on delivering evidence-based care and improving patient outcomes.

His professional interests include preventive cardiology, innovative treatment strategies, and the integration of modern medical technologies in patient care.

Driven by a passion for continuous learning, Dr. Zatriqi strives to bridge global best practices with local healthcare needs in Kosovo and beyond.

Outside of medicine, he is an avid traveler who enjoys exploring new cultures and perspectives—experiences that enrich both his personal and professional life. A lifelong basketball fan inspired by Michael Jordan, he values discipline, teamwork, and perseverance—qualities he brings to his medical practice. His favorite quote is: “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Klodiana Zylo/

Mayor Adams, it is a great honor and pleasure to get this interview for Alba Life TV based in New York with Albanian diaspora viewers across the United States and across the globe. I had the opportunity to listen to your speech last month at the Albanian-American Relations Council Gala and I was absolutely blown away by your warmth and support for the Albanian community. At the end of the event, I also had the luck to take a picture with you, which has been the highlight of my social media accounts.

And so to have the opportunity to interview you today is an absolute privilege. So thank you. For our viewers today, we are here with the Honorable Mayor Eric Adams, who is the 110th mayor of New York City and has served in this role since 2022. Prior to that, Mayor Adams had a very distinguished career in the New York City Police Department and as a New York state senator and Brooklyn borough president.

K.Z. Mayor Adams, you have been a big supporter of the Albanian community here in New York throughout your mayoral mandate. You just came back from a very historic visit to Albania as the first mayor ever of New York City to visit Albania. We understand that you were invited by Prime Minister Rama, whom you met together with other government officials in Tirana. What was the purpose of this visit and can you share with us some of the impressions during this visit?

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. And I want to first just talk about the contributions that the Albanian community has made to the City of New York. The community believes in family, they believe in faith, they believe in small business, and most importantly, they believe in public safety. The numbers of Albanian officers have grown in the Police Department, they’re on the front line of ensuring that our city lives up to the belief that public safety is the prerequisite to our prosperity. And they have added so much to the quality of life of our city.

K.Z. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Several years ago, I met the prime minister and we developed a good friendship throughout the years. Oftentimes, when he’s here in the city, we get an opportunity to sit down and socialize. And during that time, I promised him I would come and visit him. He was extremely excited about the developments that we have witnessed in Albania. Many people don’t know Albania [went] through a very turbulent period under communism.

As he was sharing with me 20 years ago, you only had roughly 70 streetlights in Albania. Now you’re looking at a thriving city, you’re seeing a level of excitement, a level of businesses that are growing. There were little or no skyscrapers in Albania, and now you’re seeing skyscrapers, not only residential but commercial towers. I wanted to look at what they’re doing around technology and what they’re doing around business, particularly women-owned businesses.

K.Z.: That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that, and especially the context and the background. One of your posts on the X platform about the trip in Albania was around your discussions about the Albanian community in New York and how it can develop a strong business relationship with their home country.

K.Z. What are some of the projects you hope to accomplish with the Albanian government that you may have discussed during this visit? And more specifically, are there plans to ensure that they are seen to completion after you leave office at the end of this year?

Mayor Adams: My job is to leave the city in good hands and good platforms that we can grow on, something that Mayor Bloomberg did when he was mayor. It is up to the incoming mayor to continue the successes. We’re showing great success in business, more jobs in New York, in the city’s history. In housing, we build more housing than any other mayor. We brought down crime to record levels, including homicides and shootings. Our subway system is safe.

And so the role is to have the next mayor built on those successes. And that’s the same with the relationships we’re making in the international community. Commissioner Camara, who’s in charge of my international affairs, has made many of those developments. And I’m hoping specifically the relationship we’re building with the Albanian community, we can grow on. The prime minister has moved the country forward on things like artificial intelligence.

What he’s doing there is amazing. How he is allowing every city resident to have a unique identifiable number that allows them to navigate government services without having to reintroduce yourself to government all the time, each time you need those services. Those are the things we can learn on our business operations as well. And so we want to exchange ideas. I’m even looking at a government to bring a group of businessmen from the Albanian community and outside the Albanian community to Albania to see how we can continue to develop business relationships.

But we also want to change cultural changes. You know, as you know, the prime minister is an artist, and he’s very much engaged in cultural opportunities in sports [and] tourism. I want to assist and use my political pulpit to get a direct flight to Albania. There’s [inaudible] we don’t have one. We have one to Azerbaijan and Baku. We should do the same when it comes down to Albania.

K.Z. That’s wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. One thing that our New York and Tri-State area audience would love to confirm is the status of the direct flights between New York City and Tirana that was supposed to start in the summer of 2026. From your meeting in Albania, I understand you advocated for this initiative. So do you think it will go through as planned? Do you have further insight as to this major milestone for our community?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is an important milestone. You know, we have one of the largest populations from the country here in New York. And so we would like to see that direct flight. I immediately tasked my team to see if we could help to make that actualized. I think it would be a huge benefit for exchange and tourism and also to allow the members of the community to visit their family members and loved ones back home.

K.Z. That’s great. I’m truly looking forward to that. Looking back as Mayor of New York City, can you talk to us about some of the projects that have been rolled out during this time, specifically with the Albanian diaspora in New York?

Mayor Adams: Well, again, when you look at the things that are important for the community, small businesses. We have [had] more small businesses operating in New York City in the city’s history. The community is known for their small business in the food industry, the construction industry, and other delivery of services. We’ve made it easier to do business in this city with our Small Business Opportunity Fund, as well as looking at some of the unnecessary fines that the community small businesses were receiving from our city agencies.

We revamped many of our fines to make sure that it is something that needs to be given and not just being harmful to small businesses and our small businesses on the go. How we move to the various communities. We’ve been up in the Bronx, on Arthur Avenue, we’ve been on Staten Island, some of the areas where we have a large Albanian population.

What I’ve learned from the community is that they would like for business not to be in it, for the government not to be harmful to their business, and that’s what we have been continuing to do. But just as in all residents, the community wants safety. We have made the city a safe place to raise children and families, and that is crucial to the community and we want to continue to do that.

K.Z. Thank you. We read in the papers of the possibility that you may be appointed as the next ambassador of the United States in Albania. Without entertaining the rumors, is that something that you would welcome?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, I am swirled up in all sorts of rumors, you know, people speculating, no matter what. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life. I think I did an excellent job as the mayor, and I’m leaving the city in good hands for whomever is the mayor in the future. And I’m looking forward to several different offers that I have received.

Many people have been extremely pleased by what we’ve done around safety, around business, around education, around health care, around cleanliness. And they’re asking me to go into either business or further governmental services, continuing the success we’ve shown. So I’m not leaving any doors closed. I’m going to look at every open door and make a final determination.

K.Z. Fantastic. I would personally love it and book an annual trip to come and meet you at the July 4th party in the U.S. Embassy throws in Tirana for the U.S. citizens. So I hope I can see you there and get an invite for it. Lastly, a couple of short personal questions for people to get to know you better as a lifetime New Yorker. Okay. So what’s the one thing about New York City that makes you the proudest to be Mayor of?

Mayor Adams: The people, you know, how diverse we are. We say often that we are the largest of a group, largest Albanian, largest Caribbean diaspora, largest Spanish-speaking, Dominican, Puerto Rican. I think that the diversity of our population allows us to cross-pollinate ideas and to interact and learn from each other. So it’s definitely the people.

K.Z. So very true. Thank you. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up and how do you unwind after a long day in this sleepless city?

Mayor Adams: That’s a good question because almost the same [thing] I do when I wake up is what I do before I go to bed. I meditate, pray, do breathing exercises, and do some form of exercise to get my body ready for the day. And then in the morning, I take a nice green smoothie to start the day.

K.Z. Wow. That’s very inspiring. Thank you for sharing that. Can you share with us some of your favorite local spots or, you know, one of your favorite local spots in New York City?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I love the water. Many people call me the nightlife Mayor because I knew how important it was to bring our nightlife to the city. You know, 100,000 employees are in the nightlife industry, it’s a $30 billion industry. And it basically was on its last breath when I took office. But by going out at night, speaking with the waiters, the dishwashers, the busboys and girls, the bartenders, the cooks, I was able to show them that they matter.

And that energy came back to the city. So there’s several nightlife spots that I like, I like to enjoy. Sylvia’s up in Harlem is a favorite of mine. Down in Manhattan is a restaurant called La Baia. I enjoy going there and socializing. And I like– I’m a cigar smoker. So I like a few of the cigar locations, you know, up in Washington Heights. They have a few in Harlem. And so I enjoy after a long day being able to have a good meal and interact with New Yorkers.

K.Z. Socialize. Very good. And then what’s the one dish that if, you know, if a tourist comes to New York, they must try?

Mayor Adams: Oh, wow. There’s so many good dishes. I would tell them to go into the various communities and each community find your favorite dish based on the community. I try to have a plant-based lifestyle. There’s some good plant-based dishes that you could find. So I don’t want to get any trouble talking about one, but there are many.

K.Z. I’m finding out so much about you. And then lastly, what is the proudest moment as Mayor of the most beautiful and most vibrant city in the world?

Mayor Adams: Well, it was probably on January 1st, 2022. I got sworn in at Times Square and I had a picture of my mother. She was not able to be there with us as I became the Mayor. She died in ‘21 while I was on the campaign trail. But it was really right in the center of the greatest city on the globe. I was able to hold up a picture for the entire globe to see her. And that meant a lot to me. And that was probably the proudest moment I had as Mayor. And I was extremely pleased by that moment.

K.Z. That’s very touching. And I’m sure she’s looking down and very proud of you. Well, thank you, Sir, so much for your time at the interview. We wish you success in your next chapter. And we hope you continue to maintain your friendship and brotherhood with the Albanians in New York City. I’m going to say thank you the Albanian way. Thank you so much, Sir. It’s really, truly an honor. Have a good one.

Mayor Adams: Take care.

October 15th, 2025

New York