Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Calls in Live to WBLS 107.5 FM's "Caribbean Fever" with Dahved Levy

February 12, 2023

Dahved Levy: And now, we have our special guest, Mayor Adams. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, I’ve been on this show so many times now I shouldn’t even be a guest at this point, I’m family now. How many more visits before I get family status?

Levy: Next visit, you get that family status. Next visit, family status.

Mayor Adams: All right.

Levy: Sir. Let's get into it, sir. You know what I really want to appreciate, are you watching the game and talking to me at the same time? How are you doing this?

Mayor Adams: Yes I am, man. It is a good game. I hate the games when there is a blowout. My dad used to watch the games and when you ask him which team he likes, he said, "I just like a good game." This is a good, exciting game. These guys are equally matched.

Levy: And what are your thoughts on Rihanna's halftime performance?

Mayor Adams: Excellent. I mean, she's one of those premier artists. She has an amazing story and she brings her A-game every time she takes the stage. I'm happy about her career and how she chose to live her life. Really a symbol of the independence of women of today.

Levy: Sir, Gary Jenkins, the City Department of Social Services Commissioner, who oversees the troubled homeless shelter system, announced his resignation. The commissioner’s move comes as the city is grappling now with the affordable housing crisis, the influx of asylum seekers and has put pressure on the shelter system. Sir, is the system so bad that your commissioner had to run from the job?

Mayor Adams: No, just the opposite. People like Gary, Frank Carone, Lorraine Grillo and others, I asked them at the time, "Can you give me a solid year, a little more than a year, so that we can stabilize some of the indigents we saw in the city?" And they all committed to that. Lorraine Grillo was not going to stay in government, but when I asked her, she says, "Eric, I'll do it for the city." Same thing with Frank Carone. He had a promising legal career, but he came on to be my chief of staff. He said, "Eric, I'll give you a solid year."

And Gary said the same thing. Gary grew up, he lived in a homeless shelter as a child, he had a lot of experience. He navigated us through some very difficult times and I needed that solid person at the wheel, but now he wants to go on and do other things with his life. When you are a city servant and you are the top of the food chain, it is extremely demanding on your personal life. And I cannot thank him enough for giving us that solid year that he did and those who committed to that. And now you hand it off to the next level of leadership.

Levy: Okay. Mayor, you went to Qatar, and from all angles that looked like a very successful World Cup, but it was plagued with the inhuman way that treated the workers who built the stadiums where the matches were played. Are you concerned, sir, on how New York City will be viewed because of the homeless asylum seekers and crime situation?

Mayor Adams: No, not at all. One, New York, New Jersey, we are one of the hosts of the games in 2026 and we are excited about that. We're going to put on a great show. We're hoping that we can get to the finals, but when you look at this city, you see that this city is not on its way back. This city is back.

This is an exciting place. No one hosts events better than New York. Everyone knows that. And we're moving in the right direction. We're excited about hosting the games and so many groups and games and organizations are looking to come to New York because of what we have to offer.

Levy: Sir, crime on the subway and crime in New York is still the number one topic on New Yorker's lips. I thought about you, sir, when the guy was beaten to a pulp on the subway by teenagers and then their parents were called to come and pick them up. What do you say to the residents of New York City who believe that this situation emboldens the teens to do crime and get away with it?

Mayor Adams: I share that belief. I'm a little bit old-fashioned, that we need to learn real messages on how to have the level of common decency. I believe some of the laws that we have in place, they're sending the wrong message, not only here in New York but across the country. To have someone assaulted or to have someone robbed or shot, we need to be very clear on not only how we treat those who commit a crime in a humane way, but we need to start looking after the New Yorkers who are doing the right things and then the victims of some of these crimes.

I'm talking about it over and over again. We have the revolving door system of catch, release, repeat. Many of the individuals who are participating in this criminal behavior, they had long criminal records and it's just unfortunate. And we too zero in on those extreme recidivists. The person who shot the off-duty police officer a few weeks ago, this person had a long criminal record. You find it over and over again and that is what we need to zero in. We believe there's about 1,700 people who are committing a disproportionate amount of the crime in our city, and we need to make sure that when we apprehend them, that they're not allowed to go back on the streets and repeat their violent offenses.

Levy: I think some people might say, sir, they're very concerned about the youth who are participating in these crimes and feel that because of their age, they can get away much easier.

Mayor Adams: And that was something that those of us who are old enough, we could remember during the '70s and '80s, those who preyed on young people by having them carry drugs because they knew the young person would not get charged with a serious crime. That is allowing them to be exploited, and you're seeing that with guns. A young person who's caught with a gun, if it's not publicly exposed, they are treated differently.

We need to really examine these laws to make sure that we are not incentivizing adults to exploit the behavior of children. We have witnessed over the last few years a substantial increase in young people committing crimes and young people who are victims of these crimes. And I think it has a lot to do, as much as we had a good intention of doing some of the reforms that we put in place, I think that we're making some mistakes that we need to reexamine to make sure we are not incentivized in adults exploiting children to carry guns and commit criminal behavior.

Levy: Let's get into a little fun for a little bit, sir. What are your thoughts about the Brooklyn Nets? Harden gone, Kyrie gone, Durant gone. I want to take off your mayoral hat and put on your manager on business hat now. What are your thoughts on the Brooklyn Nets?

Mayor Adams: Anyone that owns a business, runs a business, or manages a business, or if you are an everyday employee, you know it's about synergy and energy. No matter how good your talent is, if you don't have the right energy and synergy, you are not going to win. You cannot win championships if people believe that they're playing an individual sport when it's a team sport. There was too much distraction. I take my hat off to the Net's management. They stated, "It's time to rebuild. It's time to bring in not only talent that is capable of putting the ball in the basket, but those who are emotionally intelligent enough to know it’s about building that team synergy and energy."

That's what you have to do. I built a team at City Hall, and my administration, I talked about it all the time. I want people that are emotionally intelligent. Those who can identify what their emotions are and emotions of others who are going through crises. I think that's what the New York Nets management did, and the owners, they stated that, "Enough of being on the front pages saying what is dysfunctional about the team, instead of how we're winning and let's focus on our building and winning energy in the team."

That's important, and that's what I strongly believe in. You have to have the right synergy and energy and it just what's not there. It was too many distractions. Everything but winning in the game that was being played out with the New York Nets. Brooklyn Nets, I should say.

Levy: Sir, I'm going to call two names and I want you to give your thoughts when I call these two names. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James.

Mayor Adams: Believe it or not, people point out how many points they scored. Of course, Kareem was the leader. LeBron caught up and surpassed him. But I think it's not so much what they did on the court, what they did off the court. They were true icons. What LeBron James is doing with his school, what he's doing with athletes, he's standing up for those issues around proper policing of proper business practices, of being a father to his children. I think that both of them, Kareem and [James], are going to be known for how well they did in the game of basketball. But I dig into the crevices of a person's life.

Both of them have been great role models as dads, as business people and as real leaders and as Black men. Sometimes we are ashamed to acknowledge the ethnicity of an individual, but in a day when we are looking for strong leadership of Black men, both of them personified that. I was a real fan of Abdul-Jabbar when he played and the dignity that he played. And I also take my hat off to LeBron James and how dignified he is on and off the court.

Levy: Okay, let's get back now, let's leave sports alone. It says that Biden is preparing to let hundreds of thousands of migrants cross the border into the U.S. under a plan that would see mass deportations of non-Mexicans to Mexico. What concerns do you most have about this? And is this factual?

Mayor Adams: No, I'm not clear that this is actually taking place. That there's going to be deportation, but we have not properly handled the migrant/asylum seeker crisis. And particularly here in New York. We have a rich history of over 400 years allowing people to come and pursue the American dream here in our city. There's a reason that the Statue of Liberty sits in our harbor, 'cause this has been a place that has been welcome to immigrants and migrants and asylum seekers.

We've done it so often from different parts of the globe. We have one of the largest Caribbean diasporas, the largest Chinese, people from Turkey, people from AAPI communities. This is who we are. But it should be done in an organized manner. We've dropped a ball on what's happening at our borders right now. The most important thing is that the Republican Party, they have really gotten in the way of coming up with a comprehensive immigration reform that we can allow people to come to the country and pursue the American dream.

But the second thing is the White House, there's some things they must do. We must have a single person that is going to coordinate the decompression strategy that allows those who come to the country to go to states throughout the country, so it doesn't all fall on New York. People are passing through other cities like Brownsville in Texas and El Paso, but they ending up here in New York City and no one has given us any federal money to assist us in this endeavor.

Can you imagine, Dahved, that people are coming here to the city as migrant and asylum seekers and they're being told, "For six months at a minimum, you cannot work. You are totally dependent on the taxpayers of New York." That is just unfair. It's unfair to our city, it's unfair to Houston, Chicago, El Paso. 

So, we must get national funding to deal with a national problem and we're not doing that. I think it's imperative that we get temporary work visas to allow people to work. We have all these open jobs. People are looking to hire people and these migrants want to work and we should give them an opportunity to do so. And at the same time, get the support we need from the national and the state government.

Levy: Sir, last question. We can't help but see the devastation in Turkey. Over 20,000 people dead. Sir, is New York prepared to handle something like this?

Mayor Adams: Well, I have been to Turkey six or seven times. They call themselves Türkiye now. They changed their name and we have one of the largest Turkish populations here in Brooklyn, I think second only to Paterson, New Jersey. I know the Turkish people, hardworking, believe in public safety, believe in business, believe in education, believe in working hard. And they really contribute to the fiber of our city and our country. My heart goes out to the family members. This is one of the largest tragedies, natural tragedies, in over 300 years, so it's really impactful.

I stood with men and women from the church's community last week at one of the mosques and I really called for all of us to stand up and give whatever support that's necessary. They need some basic items that the families and children are missing. When you look at those numbers, it's devastating. These natural disasters can impact the country in a very real way. My goal is to be there for them and as we always done, the city will be there for them. This is what we did when Haiti went through a natural disaster such as an earthquake. We've done it with other countries, and I'm hoping we do the same with the people of Türkiye.

Levy: Well, sir. Any views before we go? You've got the last call.

Mayor Adams: Yes. I spent some time the other day, as you know, Dahved, I spent the night in the homeless shelter on one of the coldest days of the year. And I spoke to the young men and women that were there. Saturday, yesterday, I was at a location giving out food and clothing. And every Wednesday at 9 p.m., I'm on 34th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue, feeding people who are not only homeless but migrants as well.

Levy: Every Wednesday?

Mayor Adams: Every Wednesday at 9 p.m. And so I say that to say is that, when I leave those events, if it's either sleeping in the shelter or if it's either giving out clothing to people or feeding people, I leave feeling better about myself. I am a Christian and giving 10 percent is not only what you tithe and offer on Sunday, but 10 percent of our lives should go back to helping people.

I'm asking New Yorkers to just donate one hour a week, one hour a week. 8.5 million people donating one hour a week to helping people. It could be someone in a homeless shelter, senior center, domestic violence shelter. It could be tutoring a child that's learning how to read. It could be showing someone financial literacy or could be just sitting with someone and praying with them. We should just donate an hour a week to doing something for someone. Trust me, you'll come away realizing that that investment is more for you than it is for them, you'll feel a better person in the process.

Levy: Sir, you're a man of class. You know what? You got your big game going on, but you still took time out to talk to us. We do appreciate that.

Mayor Adams: Always, brother. If you not rocking you, rocking you, then you not in the game at all.

Levy: Thank you very much, sir. Have a beautiful evening and a beautiful Super Bowl. Okay?

Mayor Adams: Take care.

Levy: Okay. Caribbean Feva, 107.5, WBS. That was New York Mayor Adams.

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