May 5th, 2014

Doyle Murphy

New York Daily News

Add backing out on bets to his list of offenses.

A Toronto City Councilman has vowed to make good on a wager between Mayor Rob Ford and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams now that the partying pol has checked into rehab.

Toronto Councillor Josh Matlow, a one-term councilman who has repeatedly called for the embattled mayor to resign, stepped forward Monday to assure Brooklynites that Canada would honor Ford’s NBA wager — a CD by Canadian star Drake.

“With or without Mayor Ford, the business of government must go on,” Matlow told the News. “We’ve got to improve transit, fix gridlock and get a Drake CD over to President Adams.”

Adams bet that Brooklyn would beat Toronto in the first round of the NBA playoffs — but by Brooklyn’s 104-103 Game 7 win on Sunday, Ford had already taken a leave of absence to deal with his well-publicized substance abuse problems.

Adams had originally wagered a Brooklyn Brewery six-pack and Jay Z album but dropped the beer at Ford’s request.

“I don’t want it involving alcohol because I know how it will get spun,” Ford, who’d previously admitted smoking crack, told the Toronto Sun in April.

A sixer of suds turned out to be the least of the Mayor’s troubles when on April 30 the Globe and Mail published photos of Ford allegedly smoking crack from a copper pipe.

Ford abruptly announced his plans to take a leave of absence to “deal with his issues,” he told reporters.

“I wish the mayor well,” said Adams. “This is a teaching moment. The issues surrounding alcohol and drug addiction impact all of us and if it can reach the mayor of a major city you can only imagine how it reaches everyday people.”

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