Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on NY1's "In Focus With Cheryl Wills"

February 23, 2025

Cheryl Wills: We begin on this Sunday with Mayor Eric Adams, who made history as Brooklyn's first Black borough president. We sat down with the mayor for an exclusive interview at Gracie Mansion on Wednesday, and New York City's second Black mayor talked about the crises he's currently dealing with in City Hall and what it would take for him to step down.

Mayor Eric Adams: And if ever I reach the point that I believe I do not have the capacity to handle the city that I love under crisis and non-crisis, I would not stay in this job.

Wills: What would you do? 

Mayor Adams: I would leave. 

Wills: You would resign? 

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Wills: We invite you to visit the Spectrum News app or ny1.com to see more. But we saved a portion of that interview just for In Focus. As the Trump administration declares war on diversity, equity and inclusion, what does Mayor Adams say about DEI now and other issues that Black New Yorkers care about, like gentrification? Take a look. 

Let's talk about Black History Month. You know, DEI is under attack in the federal government and New Yorkers are feeling it because this is a city that's based on a lot of equity, so many hard-fought gains. And it's devastating for what they're seeing. Black History Month has been canceled by the federal government. Your thoughts on that?

Mayor Adams: Well, first, you know, this is so important. I say this over and over again. There are things that the president would do, [that] I'm going to disagree with. We're not lockstep in everything, just as in the previous administration under Biden. There were things he did, I agree, and things he did, I disagree with. 

And of my understanding, Black History Month at the White House was not canceled, it was postponed because of the weather emergency. I was invited to go, and it was postponed until actually tomorrow, when it's actually supposed to take place. 

But you're right. All of these issues, all these hard-fought gains, we need to ensure that we fight to protect them. We need to educate people on why they are important. And we need to ensure that all of the progress that people of color, Blacks specifically, but all different ethnicities, it should be acknowledged and make sure that we lift it up. 

Wills: Last two questions. Diversity, equity, and inclusion, that's not postponed. That is under direct attack from the federal government. What do you think about that?

Mayor Adams: I think we need to re-examine and make sure that DEI is protected, promoted. We do things in the city, look at what I did with M/WBEs. When I came into office, we were having real problems with M/WBEs. We reached 33 percent [for the] first time in history. This was a program that Mayor Dinkins started, and we were able to continue it forward. The diversity of my administration, what we've done. So I believe that we should have… diversity is important. And I don't think it's a trade-off between capability and diversity. I think you could get both of them together.

Wills: And lastly, you know, our Black History Month focus is on Brooklyn, a borough you're very familiar with. And we have been digging into the fact that gentrification is really hurting the African-American community, which of course you know, especially in neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, you already know. What is your agenda to help Black New Yorkers stay in their homes?

Mayor Adams: Well, a couple of things. Number one, City of Yes. We fought hard for City of Yes. We knew how important it was. Hundreds of thousands of new units can be built all over the city. We knew that there were far too many communities where we were not seeing real affordable housing and development. 

You can't have 59 community boards in the city, and 10 were building more housing than the other 49 combined. That's just not fair. So we're building a little bit more housing in every community in the city. It's an amazing reform, the first reform since the 60s. That's a long time ago. 

But also we need to fight deed fraud and deed theft. We are leaning into this, and I want to really applaud our district attorneys for also looking at this. The Attorney General Letitia James, is also looking at this. We need to protect those who are in their homes. So the goal is, let's make sure we protect those who are in their homes, stopping deed theft, making sure they can get their assistance when they fall back on their mortgages and finding creative ways to allow them to use that space. 

Then we need to fight to build more homes in our city, which is crucial. And that is what City of Yes is about. And thirdly, we need to make sure people are gainfully employed so they can afford the rent, afford a mortgage, and come up with real first-time home-buying incentives. And that's what we've done. 

We've decreased unemployment in the city by 20 percent for Black and Hispanics, but we decreased unemployment across the entire demographics for everyone. So when you start combining our record number of jobs we've created, you start combining going out and doing our jobs fair, getting people to get money in their pockets, $30 billion we put back in the pockets of New Yorkers, from reducing child care to reduce their MetroCard. I could go through the list of how we put money back in the pockets of New Yorkers so they can stay in their homes. 

So it's a holistic approach. It's not a one-key approach to unlock the door to home ownership and to being in an apartment. It is a multifaceted approach, and that's what we've done.

Wills: Appreciate your time, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Good to see you.

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