Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on PIX 11's "PIX on Politics"

February 11, 2024

Dan Mannarino: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to PIX on Politics. I'm Dan Mannarino, and this week we are taking a deep dive into the biggest issue facing New York City, with Mayor Eric Adams. And there is a lot to talk about. And in full disclosure, I did sit down with the mayor on Thursday before the shooting in Times Square as well as the release of police bodycam footage right here showing what led to a Times Square brawl where two police officers were attacked.

This video right here showing the police were trying to keep sidewalk traffic flowing. Well, now seven men living in migrant shelters have been indicted by a grand jury. Here are some of the photos here, the announcement by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg following harsh criticism after four of those men arrested in the attack were released without bail.

And even though we spoke to the mayor before that announcement, we still tackled the many important angles of the migrant crisis, including police safety; and of course, money. Here's more.

[Video plays.]

Mannarino: Well, Mr. Mayor, thank you for having us here in your house.

Mayor Eric Adams: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Mannarino: Appreciate it.

Mayor Adams: We call it the people's house. 

Mannarino: The people's house, there you go. I want to begin with your recent trip to Albany, right, where it's called Tin Cup Day, you go there to make your requests. You're back here now. How do you think it went?

Mayor Adams: Great. You know, tough questions. But they know I have a great deal of respect for what they have to accomplish, and they understand my role.

And you know, we just had real W's in Albany. We saw that in the beginning of the year every year, people saying, oh, you know, what is going to happen up there? But eight out of 10, nine out of 10 we were able to deliver for New Yorkers because they're real partners up there.

Mannarino: Yes. I want to zero in on some of the asks, right? The migrant crisis top of mind. You did ask the state to pick up half of the tab, but you did it when you were talking to the assembly members and the state senators.

But, not to the governor when you sat down with the governor, and she said she was caught by surprise that you didn't ask her. Why didn't you ask her?

Mayor Adams: No, we sat down with the team, Jacques is sitting down with the team, because people often look at, it's just the governor's responsibility, and it's not. You know the governor and I have really been partners on this, but I want the lawmakers also to understand that they are invested in this and they should also play a role and really advocating for the money.

If we can't get it from Washington D.C., because they passed the legislation that said a third, a third, a third; we didn't get that third from Washington.

Mannarino: Did you think you'll get it? Have you spoken to the governor since making the ask?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we sat down before leaving; actually, that was the last meeting I believe before I left Albany. We had a good conversation, going over all the things that we needed. She has been extremely understanding of what she presented in her budget when it comes to New York City.

Mannarino: So, do you think you'll get that half?

Mayor Adams: Oh, we're going to try.

Mannarino: Yes.

Mayor Adams: You know, my role is to get up there and try. [Laughter.]

Mannarino: Right, right, right. That's the whole point of the day, right?

Mayor Adams: Right.

And staying on the migrant topic, you've repeatedly sounded the alarm saying there is no end in sight. But there's been this whole topic now about sanctuary city and whether or not you have the authority as the mayor to repeal the sanctuary city status. What do you say to that?

Mayor Adams: And I don't have a goal of repealing sanctuary city, and I want to be clear on that. I have a goal of repealing any aspect where people are participating in a criminal behavior, violent criminal acts. They should not stay in our city. They should not be here when you're living off the benevolence of New Yorkers and tax dollars and you are committing crimes like what we saw in New York's, in Times Square.

Mannarino: Just to be clear, you don't want to repeal Sanctuary City status overall.

Mayor Adams: No, I don't. No, I don't. And I don't have, from our analysis, we don't have the authority to appeal it if we want to. It's a law. And I think we should be presenting that question to the body— which is the City Council— and get them to actually weigh in.

Now, with that said, we have an overwhelming number, the 175,000 or so migrant and asylum seekers, who are trying to pursue the American dream. And we should not use a numerical minority who are showing criminal behavior and state that that is what the immigrants and asylum seekers are doing, because asylum seekers there are here legally. They were paroled into the country.

Mannarino: But the perception now is changing and shifting. When you hear about high‑profile snatch and grabs on mopeds, right, that migrants are responsible for crime. Your police commissioner said, quote, recently a wave of migrant crime has washed over the city. Do you agree with the terminology there?

Mayor Adams: With the wave, he's talking about when you're looking at these organized groups who are participating in the crimes. For example, there's some parts of the city where we have real gang problems, the Bloods, the Crips and others. Do we demonize that entire community? No, there's a wave of gang violence of those who are committing the crimes.

That's not saying that entire community are criminals. No, there's a wave of people who have come into the city with criminal intent and they're committing crime. That is not the population of migrants in asylum seekers.

Mannarino: So, when you took a take a look at what happened in Times Square with the incident with the officers and the migrants allegedly beating down those officers, the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg coming under fire for his handling of that case. Do you think he should have issued bail? Is there a lesson here should it happen again?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, I'm a big believer any violent crime, you know, we should look at if bail should be put in place. But I think what you saw from the district attorney was that he knew he had to be extremely cautious not to rush to incarceration without all the facts and without getting a good identification, because you don't want a case being dismissed or thrown out or for some reason this person is not the right person you apprehended.

Mannarino: Right, but now he's really come under fire from democrats and republicans saying he should have issued bail because now there's this wild goose chase for the suspects.

Mayor Adams: Well, you know…

Mannarino: Go ahead.

Mayor Adams: Any DA would tell you, being under fire, it's the nature of the game, you know, so there are those who are going to look and do an analysis, but he has all the information in front of him. You know, I don't think any elected official has the same information that he has in front of him. And he has been a partner when it comes down to fighting dangerous criminal behavior.

Mannarino: Do you think it's unfair scrutiny?

Mayor Adams: No, I think it goes with the territory.

Mannarino: Okay. Let's talk about the president, saying that he would close the border down if there was a bipartisan deal; obviously, that is having some trouble in Washington, D.C. But do you think that the president should just close the border down right now to stop the flow?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think, really congress must come together. I think the republicans have really gotten in a way of real true immigration reform for a long time. But both sides of the aisle must contribute. 

I think my democratic colleagues in the White House, we need to look at the impact this is having on cities and we need to make sure that we manage the border correctly so that we don't in any way endanger the safety and also impact these cities that are being impacted.

Mannarino: Would you like to see it closed down temporarily just to stop the flow and really get a handle on everything?

Mayor Adams: It's up to the White House to make that determination. It's up to the White House and Congress, our leaders there to make the determination. If we're going to have borders open, allow people in, it should be manageable. We should have a decompression strategy and we should finance those cities and states that are impacted so we're not carrying the burden.

Mannarino: The president was here, Mr. Mayor, last week. You repeatedly go to Washington to talk to officials there. Did you talk to him when he was here?

Mayor Adams: My understanding he was here on a fundraising initiative. He has a campaign he has to run, he has a campaign he has to fund. I did not reach out and ask for a visit. He has to handle his fundraising aspect of this campaign, and I had a heck of a lot to do in the city.

[Video ends.]

Mannarino: All right, that is just part one. Still lots more to talk about with Mayor Adams. Right now, the City Council taking legal action against him over a housing voucher program; and, mayoral control of New York City schools up for renewal this summer. We're going to talk about it. PIX on Politics back in two minutes.

Welcome back to PIX on Politics. My conversation with Mayor Eric Adams continuing now with a discussion on mayoral control of city schools. Control up for renewal in June, Mayor Eric Adams seeking to maintain his direct oversight of the school system.

But with budget cuts, including cuts to popular school programs, he's getting strong pushback. I asked him about that and more in our exclusive one on one sit down.

[Video plays.]

Mannarino: Why do you think it's so important for the mayor of New York City to have full control of city schools?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that, you know, you said some lawmakers are pushing back, some lawmakers are pushing for it.

Mannarino: Oh, yeah, [inaudible] both sides.

Mayor Adams: You know, this is New York, 8.5 million people, 35 million opinions, you know? But I am really pleased of the advocacy that are looking at what we were doing.

Think about it for a moment: pre mayoral control, 50 percent graduation rate. Post mayoral control, 80‑something percent graduation rate. We put in place a reading program that even the state and the national leaders are looking at it and saying we want to institute.

We are outpacing the state in reading and math in the City of New York. Dyslexia screening, better food in our classrooms, putting children on the pathway to graduation and employment and college. I mean, what we are doing is what mayoral control or mayoral accountability was all about.

Mannarino: Yes, I know, and those are the wins, and you certainly have wins in terms of that.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Mannarino: And you really zeroed in on reading and done some great work there. The pushback I think has come, mandates on class sizes, reducing the class size and cuts to pre-K and 3K programs. So, what does that look like? Is there a real argument there?

Mayor Adams: Well, listen we believe in the class size mandate. It was a law, we're going to follow it. We're going to recruit more teachers. We're going to do a whole campaign around it. There's no pushback.
What we're saying to our partners in Albany is that we have a cap on how much money we can spend in capital.

Mannarino: Hmm.

Mayor Adams: We need that cap lifted so that we can continue to do the BQE, build out the class size and all the other items. And then when you look at cuts to pre-K and 3K, those were temporary dollars that were in place. They're sunsetted. Those were Covid stimulus dollars that are sunsetted.

We now have to figure out ways of how we're going to finance that. That would not have been a problem if we didn't have a $12 billion budget gap due to the migrants and asylum seekers. That's why everyone should be advocating for Washington to pay their part.

Mannarino: And there is this conversation now around the country on mayoral control of schools. Some cities are pulling back and doing more of a hybrid model, right, with some school boards and local leaders in the school system in partnership with the mayor.

Mayor Adams: Right.

Mannarino: Are you in favor of that?

Mannarino: And I love that concept. Some school boards are not winning. We are. I have a chancellor that continues to hit it out if the park. He's communicative. You talk to every elected official and they'll tell you the accessibility of this chancellor is unbelievable.

Mannarino: Right, but that's the elected officials. We spoke to some parents in the schools who are saying while you are winning, they would like to see a better partnership with some of the school boards.

Mayor Adams: Well, think about this for a moment, Dan, because you know, idealism can't collide with realism. But listen, we've got a million students in our school system. And when we put together a parent advisory group, even they didn't agree. So, we cannot believe or act like that all parents have the same belief, they do not.

So, there's someone that must stand up and say, I'm going to be held responsible; and with my responsibility, I have to show you results. That's what I said, that's what I'm doing. I said that in the beginning when I was campaigning, and we're seeing the productivity of the success.

So, there is no system you could create where a million students and parents are going to agree. Who are we kidding?

Mannarino: Yes. Let me ask you this, because there's a lot of talk about mayoral control and those who are pushing back saying take it away. Who would then be in charge of schools if it wasn't mayoral control?

Mayor Adams: [Laughter.] That is the $64,000 question. And then you know what's also interesting about it? Imagine placing migrant and asylum seekers into classrooms when you've got to go to each individual school board to get approval.

Imagine the Covid decision, how we kept the schools open, but you've got to go to each board and make a decision. You can't do that in the state of uncertainty that we are facing every day.

Mannarino: Okay. I want to talk about housing, and that's the last big topic here. City Council suing now over failure to implement this housing voucher program, right? And for those who don't know, it allows New Yorkers to apply for vouchers without entering the shelter system if they're facing eviction. You said it would cost too much. What's your response to them suing you?

Mayor Adams: And they have the authority. This is, you know, I keep saying over and over again, this is a beautiful concept of democracy where every area of government and citizenry, they have an opportunity to use our court system if they believe something should be done correctly or it was done incorrectly.

Now, think about this for a moment. They're saying give everyone who wants a voucher if they are, you know, one or two months or they got a letter of eviction or something like that. We have thousands of vouchers in the hands of New Yorkers that can't find apartments. We have an inventory problem.

And so here's their opportunity to help on this inventory problem with our City of Yes proposal, and get help from Albany to do another incentive about 421‑a tax incentive, and we could have tenant protections at the same time. But we have to build more.

Mannarino: Are you having an issue with the council overall? They overrode two of your bills, right? And now there's this issue with this lawsuit. Are you not in lock step with the City Council?

Mayor Adams: I'm not supposed to be! And the City Council shouldn't be in lock step of me. There's a reason we sit on two different sides of City Hall. We're supposed to deliberate. We're supposed to debate. That's what we're supposed to do. That's the balance of government.

If I had a City Council that was doing everything I wanted or they saw [they] had a mayor that was doing everything they wanted, then where would we be?

Listen. I had three bills that were that were overrode in the City Council. Mayor Bloomberg had bills that were overrode, Giuliani, you go down the list. That's part of the process.

My job is to present to the people of the city if I think a bill should not be put in place, their job is to look at that and override it.

Mannarino: No real issue with Adrienne Adams, you know the whole reports that are out there that you and Adrienne Adams are having a falling out.

Mayor Adams: Listen, we're...listen, I've known Adrienne when I was a speaker, Speaker Adams, we went to high school together. We were childhood friends. I still consider her very much a friend.

Families have disagreements, but if you're real family you come together for the overall mission. The overall mission is to create a city where our children are safe and we can raise healthy children and families.

Crime is down, jobs are up, tourists are back. The city went through some difficult moments and we're still thriving, not surviving.

Mannarino: Well, and…

Mayor Adams: And she has been a partner!

Mannarino: Yes.

Mayor Adams: Look at all the stuff we were able to do together because of the partnership I've had with her and other council members.

Mannarino: Yes. Talking about a lot of the wins, I want to talk about the World Cup. That was a big win for both New York and New Jersey. I'm a huge soccer fan.

Mayor Adams: Are you?

Mannarino: It's the final match for the World Cup. How did it come about, right, because someone was saying it was really this coordination between you and Governor Phil Murphy.

Mayor Adams: Yes. No, it was, it was unbelievable. Governor Murphy was a partner. When we announced that we won at Liberty Park, at the beginning, he and I walked off the stage together. We looked at each other, we said, the finals, now it's time to switch to the mission of the finals.

And when we sat down and spoke with FIFA, they said, listen, this city's safe. The diversity with all of these soccer loving fans that come from Central America, South America, European countries living in New York. Best media market. You know, I said, you must know Dan on PIX 11. [Laughter.] Best media market on the globe.

Listen, we know we've been on the world stage because of Covid, bad things. Now we're coming back. This is huge. You know, $2 billion in economic revenue, one million people coming here. We're looking at 14,000 jobs. This is great. I am so excited about this.

Mannarino: Money, money, money. Big money coming in, but you have to spend some money, too, right?

Mayor Adams: Yes, you do! Yes, you do. We used to say this as a kid when we went to Las Vegas: scared money don't win anything.

Mannarino: Let me ask you this, and I want you to be honest here.

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes.

Mannarino: How did it feel?

Mayor Adams: How you...what are you sayin', I wasn't honest before?

Mannarino: No, no, no, no, no.

Mayor Adams: [Laughter.]

Mannarino: You're always honest. Let me ask you, how did it feel, though, to beat Texas?

Mayor Adams: It felt good. It felt good. And then, you know what? They were walking around with the big D and said they're coming to Dallas. You know, we said, no, you know, just be calm, don't let it go. You know, stay focused, no distractions, and grind. And we did. [Laughter.]

Mannarino: All right. We'll leave it there. It's going to be great to have the World Cup here.

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is.

Mannarino: Mr. Mayor, thanks for being on the show once again.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Mannarino: Appreciate it.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

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