Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls In For Live Interview With 94.7 The Block’s “Jonesy In The Morning”

February 7, 2024

Mayor Eric Adams: Hey brother, this is Mayor Eric Adams. 

Tarsha Jones: A.k.a. Councilman Tate. Sike, I'm playing. I know you be hearin' me call you that, right?

Mayor Adams: It's all good, you know, better than some of the other names, you know, people say.

Jones: That's true. That's very true. But welcome. Thank you for calling in.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Yes, love it, love it, love this show.

Jones: Listen, thank you, I appreciate that. I know 50 got his foot on your mayoral neck about these migrants and them gift cards, so what are we doing? Who we want to be [inaudible]?

Mayor Adams: Listen, and I don't blame him because when information is put out incorrectly, you know, you naturally want to respond. And he and I had a great conversation and we broke it down and he had a full understanding of it.

Jones: What happened? Tell us, please.

Mayor Adams: Well, first, we knew we had to bring down the cost of migrants throughout the entire process, and one way was looking at the food. And we were delivering food to the centers, and some of the food in the shelters people were not eating.

And so the team came up with a good idea, why not find a cheaper way to do it? And we were able to do it. We're going to save $600,000 a month, $7.5 million a year. They are giving cash cards, debit cards, that you can only buy baby supplies and food for, and it's only 500 people we're trying to pilot project and that sunsets after a certain number of days because we're cycling people out of the shelter system.

We're not allowing people to sleep forever. 30 days for single adults, 60 days for children with families. And you're seeing 80 percent of the people we give them that deadline, they go on with the next step of their journey. So, this is saving taxpayers money because we have to continue to drop the cost of what the migrant and asylum seekers are costing us.

Jones: Yeah, 'cause a lot of people feel like we have enough homeless issues of our own. And you know, charity begins at home. That's what my mom used to say.

Mayor Adams: You know, your mother and my mother must have gone to the same school because that's what Mommy used to say all the time. And you know what many people don't understand, Sister? They don't understand that, they look to say, Eric, why are you allowing this to happen? They don't know that I cannot deport people. Only the federal government can do that.

I cannot stop the buses from coming in, it's against the city law for me to do that. I'm required to house them. That's what the law requires for me to do. All of these restrictions that the national government has not fixed its problem and it has dropped in our city.

So, New Yorkers are angry and I'm angry, too, because this is wrong for New Yorkers and it's wrong for the migrant and asylum seekers. They want to work, we should allow them to work. And you know, the federal government is not allowing them to work and that's why it's on taxpayers' back.

Jones: They can't be running through these streets terrorizing people though, also. I've seen them on camera putting their middle fingers up, beating up cops.

Mayor Adams: No, without a doubt. And you know, and in large group, a small number is going to be disrupted. The overwhelming number of people come here, it's like any other immigrant group, they come here, they want to participate and contribute to the American experience.

If we allow people to work, we would not have this crisis we're facing. But those who break the law, I don't care if they are migrants and asylum seekers or long time New Yorkers, we're going to hold them accountable. And that's exactly what we did with those who were committed in those robberies and grand larcenies and those who assaulted the police officers the other day.

Jones: We're talking to Mayor Eric Adams, for those of you just joining us.

Now I appreciate the fact that you reached out to call in, but I'm sure there is something on your mind that you wanted to discuss.

Mayor Adams: Yes, the excitement of the World Cup, I think this is huge, you know?

Jones: Yes.

Mayor Adams: We competed, Governor Murphy and I competed with all the other countries and states. And the World Cup, FIFA decided to come to New York. This is going to bring $2 billion in economic stimulus for our region, 14,000 jobs. Putting us on the global stage of showing how successful we are in the city in our comeback.

You know, a lot of people don't realize it has only been two years that I've been the mayor. I inherited the city where crime was moving in the wrong direction, no one wanted to come and open companies here. We were seeing that our children would not be educated correctly.

Now look at two years later. Two years later, we have more private sector jobs in the history of the city. Tourism is back, 62 million; to go back on the subway system, over four million riders. We are seeing the bond rating that determines how successful a city is doing has increased. The shootings are down, homicides are down.

Our children in our school system, they're outpacing the state in reading and writing improvement. And so people looked at our city and said, because of your diversity and your safety, this is where we want to put the biggest game in soccer right here at the finals for the World Cup.

This is huge. And I just want to tell people that they should be really excited about what is coming for the city with the World Cup.

Jones: We appreciate, I appreciate you and Governor Murphy. I'm actually living in Jersey now. So, I appreciate, I appreciate and I understand the influx of jobs. And but along with that, is going to come crime and with the rise and Stop and Frisk policing under your administration, how, you know, with this big tournament coming, how do you plan to ensure public safety while protecting the civil rights of the New Yorkers here?

Mayor Adams: You just said it the right way because there's a sweet spot you have to get. You know, my history, a lot of people don't realize my history from my days of being 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, you know, the history of fighting against over aggressive policing.

You know, I testified in federal court to stop the abuse of Stop and Frisk, as you just talked about.

Jones: Ah ha.

Mayor Adams: We used to get almost a million stops a year, and overwhelmingly 80 percent were Black and brown. And through the advocacy and the action that I did as a state senator, you don't see those numbers anymore. Those numbers are down in [inaudible], and so you can have public safety and justice. They go together. That's what we've been able to show.

You know, when you get a double digit decrease in shootings, double digit decrease in homicide and double digit decrease in the other major crime categories, you can do it without that broad net that you saw in policing before. And so we're becoming safer and safer as a city without abusing people's rights.

You know, I know what it is to be stopped unjustly and treated unfairly. And that's why we advocated for. As a child, I was arrested and abused by police officers. And so I went into the police department with a mission of saying we can give both safety and justice, because just as we don't want a police officer in a blue uniform to be abusive to us, we don't want a gangbanger in blue jeans to be shooting up our community.

My elders and my families, they talk about, we want to be safe from everyone. We want our police to do their job, and we don't want those who are the criminal element to be harming our children and loved ones. And so that's the balance I must do as the mayor.

Jones: Right. And that work never stops. Hold on one second.

Guys, we're talking to Mayor Eric Adams, and we'll be right back with more. 94.7 the Block New York's number one for throwbacks.

[Commercial break.]

We are back with Eric Adams on the line with us this morning. Wanted to ask you about the congestion pricing and the lawsuits that have held it up. What are your thoughts? Like why are we doing this when people feel like they're getting less service and it's just more and more and more. Are you going to make it so that we can't even afford to come into work, those of us at least that come from Jersey.

Mayor Adams: And you know, that's what I love about your show, Ms. Jones, is, hey, you can, you know how to get these current events and your audience and being introduced to some of the complexities of running the city.

This thing called congestive pricing is the new plan to try to prevent some of the congestion that's in the city. It was passed by the state.

Jones: Mmm, once again, that Kathy Hochul.

Mayor Adams: It was given an organization to be implemented by the MTA and the feds also came forward, were given permission to do so. So, what I argue is that the state should have given the authorization to the city. These are our streets. We should have had the right to move forward in the city to implement this.

And I think we would have had a different version. We'd have taken so much more into account. But I don't, I do not have a say so in this. This is not, although it's our street, it is being controlled by the MTA and their determination.

And to the fairness of Governor Hochul, who has been a real part in a lot of this stuff, this was, you know, something that was on the drawing board long before she came in, into office, it was being, this was being worked out through the state government. And now we have to be prepared to implement it; and I'm hoping before the implementation, they can look at some of the concerns that people are having.

Jones: Yeah, either that or you need Tommy. You know Tommy.

For those of you that are missing the joke. I refer to Mayor Adams as Ghost from Power. But it's just jokes! Mayor, I appreciate your time and I know you have to go.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Jones: But real quick, Wayne wanted to ask you your top five, your top five favorite morning shows of all time.

Wayne Mayo: Your top five, yes, absolutely. I want to ask that.

Mayor Adams: Listen, I gotta start with the one that I'm on. I love your combination, how you engage in real conversation, pull people in and you know, learn these different complicated topics. So, you're definitely up there. And you're, you know, my son, he always talks about the conversations that you have on your show.

And you know, also, listen, I'm with the [W]BLS. I love the Hot 97 crew. I love the La Mega 98.7. You know, it's a Spanish speaking radio show that I hop on all the time. And then I got to go across the town. I'm a 1010 WINS guy. That's where I get my news all the time...

Mayo: So do we.

Mayor Adams: ...[inaudible] when I'm on the move.

Jones: Right, so do we. You can't come here for facts. And I'm okay with that. Mayor Eric Adams!

Mayor Adams: All right.

Jones: Thank you, sir.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.

Jones: Be safe, thank you for your time.

Mayor Adams: Okay, take care.