All About Eric Adams' Girlfriend, Tracey Collins

Eric Adams, who has never been shy about his feelings towards Trump, landed himself in a position that mirrors the president's since he became the first sitting mayor to be indicted while in office in September 2024. The five charges include bribery, wire fraud, and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals. Essentially, he's being accused of taking a lot of money and abusing certain luxuries for personal gain. The mayor has adamantly denied the allegations, writing in a statement to People, "Despite our pleas, when the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics, I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target — and a target I became."

In February 2025, a federal judge postponed the trial indefinitely but hasn't dismissed the charges. Standing by his side at the initial court hearing — and likely to be with him when his case goes to trial — was his longtime girlfriend, Tracey Collins. They keep most aspects of their relationship tucked away, as it's unclear how long they've been together, but Collins has silently served as a rock for the mayor as he fights desperately to save his career, but she may not be entirely innocent herself. Here's everything you need to know about Collins.

Tracey Collins ran into some controversy of her own when she suddenly retired from the New York Department of Education in November 2024, but first, let's dive into her history there. She first started working for the DOE in 2008 and rose through the ranks, becoming a senior advisor to the deputy chancellor for school leadership. In 2021, Adams won the mayoral race in New York, meaning that when he took office, he would become her boss. At the time, Adams' spokesperson told the New York Post, "We will ask for [the Conflict of Interest Board's] guidance." Whether or not they took that guidance remains unclear.

When Adams took office in 2022, Collins was offered a promotion along with a cheeky $50,000 raise. Then, an unnamed coworker filed a complaint against Collins in September 2024, citing that they hadn't seen her in the office since the previous Thanksgiving. Additionally, the complaint stated some supposed actions that should be looked into, such as "Accepting gifts in excess of 100K from a foreign government and not declaring said gifts on her Conflicts of Interest disclosure," per the New York Post. The complaint also requested investigators look into whether Collins requested vacation days while she was on trips. By November, she quickly and quietly stepped away from her position. That's one way to clear your name.

On top of her career in education, Tracey Collins has made a name for herself as a self-published author, and her writing could lead to the answer to how long she and Eric Adams have been together. In 2008, she published "Sweet Promptings," a book recounting stories of random acts of kindness, and Adams wrote the foreword, making it clear they at least knew each other at the time. In keeping with the theme of kindness, a portion of the profit was donated to Hurricane Katrina relief.

Collins and Adams share a love of writing, as Adams released his first book, "Don't Let It Happen," in 2009. The book is designed as a resource for parents so they can know if their children are involved in dangerous activities. His writing project, a cookbook, came in 2020, "Healthy at Last: A Plant-Based Approach to Preventing and Reversing Diabetes and Other Chronic Illnesses." Not only did the text serve as a cookbook, but it also offered a rare insight into the political figure's personal life and his hidden admiration for his lady. "She gets up at dawn to run the largest school system in the United States," he wrote at the time. "She oversees schools in Brooklyn and The Bronx. I have never met anyone more devoted to her job than Tracey." According to Adams' book, Collins frequently worked 12-hour days and sacrificed her own health for her job. 

Eric Adams and Tracey Collins share so much in common; they even battled the same disease. Subsequently, they both switched their diets for the sake of their health. In Adams' 2020 cookbook, he revealed that she had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Adams, on the other hand, woke up one morning in 2016 and had lost his vision. After going to the doctor, he realized the issue with his sight was because he had Type 2 Diabetes, and the couple decided to make a change.

"We do everything together, and I wasn't ready to jump on board unless she was," he wrote in his cookbook, continuing, "Tracey and I aren't people who do something halfway. So ... we threw out every single unhealthy food in our kitchen." He wrote that saying goodbye to old family recipes and coveted dishes was no easy feat, but the payoff was immense. To make the regime change sustainable, Adams and Collins searched for new vegan recipes and spins on signature meals, including a plant-based pot pie. He shared that by switching to a plant-based diet, not only was his vision restored, but he had also successfully reversed his diabetes, and he and Collins had both lost over 30 pounds in an astounding three-month period.

In 2007, Tracey Collins founded a nonprofit organization called Fully Persuaded for Children & Families. The organization's goal was to educate children on safety and violence and inform them on how to make better decisions.

A plethora of campaigns emerged from the organization, most notably one that was backed by Eric Adams in 2010. In partnership with Collins nonprofit, "Stop the Sag" billboards popped up around Brooklyn, New York, as part of the campaign to end the trend of sagging pants. In a statement, Adams wrote, "As a community, we will 'stop the sag' person by person ... Our youth will demonstrate that they can control their own image and the message they send to peers, authority figures, and potential employers." Don't think that the two teamed up just to further Adams' career as a senator at the time. Collins has publicly agreed with the sentiment, stating that she believes the pants-sagging trend negatively impacts young people. "They walk into classrooms, they walk into schools ... and people make an assessment about their appearance," she said, per NBC. 

For a separate endeavor in 2012, they brought in the former aide to Governor David Peterson, David Johnson, to speak to at-risk youth and keep them from making the same mistakes he did, as he lost his job due to an ongoing domestic violence case. The organization unfortunately dissolved in 2015.

Tracey Collins and Eric Adams rarely step out together. She was notably absent from the mayoral race victory parties in 2021, but it seems they were just saving their public appearances for a much more coveted event, the 2022 Met Gala. Now, that's how you do a hard launch.

Adams spent the night introducing his partner to many who were unfamiliar, never failing to call her his "other half." One of Adams' friends expressed how surprised they were that she was in attendance, reinforcing that this was a rarity for them. "Nobody knows her. She wasn't there on primary day, she wasn't there on election day, she wasn't there the day he got the Brooklyn borough presidency," per the New York Post. Collins made sure folks would remember her as she donned a draped, floor-length Oscar de la Renta gown for the occasion, with some help from none other than someone from Anna Wintour's team. "She was provided a few options, but the first dress she tried on looked incredible and that's when she knew it was meant to be. She never had to try on another dress," a spokeswoman revealed to the New York Post of the ethereal white gown complete with dark, sequined embroidery. Needless to say, Collins can bring it, but only when she wants to.