Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts Community Conversation

February 12, 2024

Commissioner Fred Kreizman, Community Affairs Unit: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Mayor's 23rd Town Hall Meeting, Community Conversation with Eric. Welcome to the East Midtown conversation. Great to have everyone come out tonight. I know how busy the schedules are. 

Six to seven today, we had roundtable conversations at each table with members of the mayor's office, community affairs office, taking diligent notes on the topics you are discussing so we could be better informed on the issues that make a difference to your neighborhood.  

It is seven o'clock now, we have asked folks to prepare questions at your table based on your conversations. We'll go through all the tables and then we'll have an opportunity to get those issues addressed by the mayor, and you see all the city agencies here present today to help address those issues. 

We'll have Borough President Mark Levine, followed by the mayor, speak. I just want to go through the dais and say who's here today. We're honored to have, of course, the mayor of the City of New York, the Honorable Mayor Eric Adams. 

Deputy… We're going to hold off all the applause till the end, just to save time. We have the Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services Anne Williams‑Isom, Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor of Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar, Deputy Mayor of Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres‑Springer, representing the First Deputy Mayor, Yume Kitasei, Chief of Staff. 

We have NYPD Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart, Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro, ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser, DOE Deputy Chancellor Kenita Lloyd, DYCD Deputy Commissioner Susan Haskell, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief Financial Officer Aaron Anderson, Mayor's Office Community Mental Health Senior Advisor, Andrea Hamilton, Health + Hospitals Ambulatory Care Chief Medical Officer, Andrew Wallach, DSS First Deputy Commissioner Philip Terwiel, End Gender‑Based Violence Acting Commissioner Saloni Sethi, MOCJ Director Nora Daniel, Mayor's Office of People with Disability General Counsel Emily Sweet, the Department of Finance Assistant Commissioner Jacqueline Gold, CCHR Chief of Staff Jose Rios Lua. We have DDC Eric Macfarlane, First Deputy Commissioner. 

And to my right, we have Borough President Mark Levine, Councilmember Keith Powers, Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Small Business Services Commissioner Kevin Kim, Department of City Planning Commissioner and Chair Dan Garodnick, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, Department of… DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga, Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo, Department of Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés‑Vázquez, HPD Chief of Staff George Sarkissian, DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala, Mayor's Office Climate Environmental Justice Executive Director Elijah Hutchinson, NYCHA Chief Operating Officer Eva Trimble, EDC, the Chief of Staff, Jennifer Montalvo, NYCEM Emergency Management Office Deputy Commissioner Heather Roiter, DOP Deputy Commissioner Robert Maldonado, FDNY Chief Michael Barvels. 

We're honored to have also in audience, Chief McCarthy Patrol Borough of Manhattan South. We want to thank, of course, our principal, Yvette Sy, who is hosting us today, NYPD 17th Precinct CEO Captain Maggie Clamp, Midtown South 14th Precinct Inspector Aaron Edwards. We have NYPD Manhattan South Inspector Aaron Edwards here, NYPD 13th Precinct Deputy Inspector Dan Orlando, we have from Chief of Department's office Inspector Saraceno, as well. Thank you very much. 

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine: Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Kreizman and thank you, Mayor Adams, for hosting us and convening us tonight here at the Murray Hill Academy. Principal Sy is not here, but I want you to know this is a great school, so DOE, listen up, they're doing great here. Assistant principal Danny Chu's in the back. Big round of applause from Murray Hill Academy. 

And you are at the junction, I'm sure this is on purpose, of three community boards here tonight, and we have lots of reps from here in CB6, CB5 and CB3. We've got a brand‑new CB3 chair, Andrea Gordillo. We've got CB6 chair, Sandra McKee and Renee Kinsella repping CB5. But we have a recently retiring CB5 chair, Vikki Barbero, who's awesome. I'm grateful to this leadership here. 

You shout out a lot of NYPD brass, but I don't know if you shouted out Chief McCarthy of Manhattan South, who's amazing. Give him a big round of applause. A great partner for me. 

Pleased to be here with my partner and government, your city Councilmember Keith Powers. 

Very, very quick, though it's not officially a city issue, I want to add my voice to the concerns about a hospital closure pending not far from here. I don't know if this is on your radar, Mr. Mayor, but the Beth Israel campus of Mount Sinai proposed to close. It would really be a big blow downtown where we've lost many, many hospital beds. It would impact Bellevue. 

So, this might come up in the questions tonight, but I want everyone to know that I'm very, very concerned about this closing. 

Mayor, I hope you're going to talk to us tonight about your plan for registering e‑bike delivery workers with apps, because I think that's going to be of great interest tonight, from what I hear in the community. I know there's a lot of interest here on fighting the epidemic of scaffolding. 

I want to shout out Commissioner Jimmy Oddo, who's been a great partner on that and Councilmember Keith Powers who has great legislation on this. This is a big concern here in midtown and beyond. A lot of concern about illegal cannabis shops here, and I know, mayor, you're looking for power in Albany to shut them down. We definitely support you on that. 

And finally, real concerned about the tragedy of severe mental illness on our streets, and we know we need more capacity of inpatient hospital beds, et cetera, to help those folks get the treatment that they need. 

So, I am excited for this conversation. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor, for convening this. Thank you, everybody. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Thank you. At this time, we'll give it to Councilman Powers. 

Councilmember Keith Powers: Thank you. Let's give it up for President Mark Levine. 

And of course, let's give it up for the entire dais here of so many talented people from our city agencies. Let's give them all a big round of applause as well. Some of the best and brightest here. 

I just want to thank the mayor's team. I want to thank everyone from these agencies for being here tonight. This is an important conversation to always have amongst our community about all the big issues here. The borough president mentioned the Beth Israel closing, which I'm equally concerned about, but we have so many other things we need to get to. 

He talked about illegal cannabis shops. I have legislation at the City Council to shut those down. Want to thank the mayor and the sheriff and all their team for working out with us. 

The scaffolding, he talked about, but also we have a big housing plan the mayor's got that's coming to City Council that myself, the borough president and others have been talking about the urgent need to be able to tackle the housing crisis here. 

And I want to thank the mayor and his team for putting out big and bold ideas for how to tackle that. It's meeting the moment and that's what we need, is real leadership. 

But also talking about these issues that all of you are talking about every single day, talking about cannabis shops, talking about scaffolding, talking about public safety, the e‑bikes, talking about things that our neighborhood issues and having real talent and resolve to solve those. 

So, I'm also here to hear from you guys tonight. I do want to recognize equally all our NYPD, all the great folks in NYPD are here today. A lot of folks that we work with every day. Let's just give them one more round of applause. 

And with that, I'll hand it back over. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for being with us tonight. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you, both the borough president and the councilpersons, for coming out tonight and thank all of you for joining us. This is number how many? 

Commissioner Kreizman: 23. 

Mayor Adams: 23, and we've just got started. And how many older adults town halls? 

Commissioner Kreizman: We're going to give courtesy… We're going to give courtesy to folks who came out tonight to have an opportunity… 

Mayor Adams: Thank you for coming out. 

Commissioner Kreizman: ...table by table. You wait your turn... 

Mayor Adams: Thank you for coming out. 

Commissioner Kreizman: So, we're going to be respectful to everyone. We're asking everyone here to be respectful. 

Mayor Adams: The one thing I learned about New York, we have 8.3 million people and 33 million opinions, and everyone is going to let you know how they feel and you have to be prepared for that. 

First, I want to get to the most important aspect today, is that we have… five point, we have five to eight [inches] of snow tomorrow and so I want to make sure... 

...that you know that if you have children, schools are closed tomorrow. They're not closed, we're doing remote learning tomorrow. The commissioner of the Department of Sanitation is here. She's going to make sure… Stand up so they can see you. 

Commissioner Tisch, she's going to make sure that we are going to keep our streets clean. We are going to start early to make sure it's done correctly. And if you can take public transportation tomorrow, please do so because it makes it easier for our plows to get around. 

We have some new technology that we're using where we don't have to guess what streets are going to be plowed. We are going to be able to remotely ensure that all of these streets are plowed, what we call in a very equitable fashion. 

And so we want to open the floor to you. We want to hear from you. We want to engage in some real conversation. And I'm very clear, when you speak, I listen, when I speak, I ask for you to do the same, so we could communicate with each other so we can learn the issues that are important to you. 

Look at the city that we inherited January 1st, 2022. Crime was trending in the wrong direction. Homicides were increasing, shootings were increasing. Our streets were over proliferated with guns. 

We saw that it was uncertainty what was going to happen in our educational system with our children. We had real battles. Covid was here alive and well in the city. We didn't know if we were going to keep our schools opened. Businesses, we were hemorrhaging, we were dealing with housing issues. 

Look at two years later, two years and two months later. We have more private sector jobs in the history of the city, decreasing homicides, double digit, decreasing shootings, double digit, four million people back on our subway system when there was an uncertainty of who was going to be on our subway system. 

Bond raters — who determined if they're going to invest in our city — gave us an increase in our bond rating because of how we managed the fiscal crisis that we were facing in the city. Able to put money back into low income New Yorkers, brought down the cost of childcare from $55 a week to less than $5 a week, increased earned income tax credit, invested in NYCHA, put in place high‑speed broadband in every NYCHA household for free. 

Invested in foster care children, paying their college tuition with stipends and Fair Futures to allow them to have life coaches until they're 21 years old. More summer youth jobs for young people in the history of the city, 100,000 young people. 110,000 young people went to our Summer Rising initiative so they can have support throughout the entire year in our educational services. 

Real Ws. And I encourage all of you to go on our website and look at the list of W's that we have to accomplish. Do we have more to do? You're darned right, we do. But there's not ever going to be a mayoralty where you're going to look back and say you wish you would have done more. 

But we are proud of what this team has done that's sitting here night after night, day after day in the most diverse administration in the history of this city coming from different neighborhoods, different backgrounds so that everyone could have a voice at the table. 

And we did this, folks, with 172,000 migrants and asylum seekers. No authorization to determine who's deported from this city even when they break a serious crime. No authorization to stop buses to come in. 

No authorization to allow people to work, which migrants and asylum seekers would love to do, they would love to work. No authorization to determine who's not going to be housed and fed three meals a day and given all the needs that any person would require. 

In spite of no real support coming from the federal government, $12 billion budget, they gave us 138 million and we have not even gotten that yet. That is what we are going through every day and that is what we will continue to move our city forward on. 

And so it is imperative that we stay focused on running the city in the most complex moment this city has ever experienced and we're determined to do that because we have the right team. And there's only one thing I know: I got to stay focused, I can't be distracted and I have to grind. That's all I know. 

I got to stay focused, I can't be distracted and I have to grind, because that's all I have known. When you were a third grader and you walked into a classroom and saw people write "dumb student" on the back of it and you still had to learn, you become thick skinned. 

When you are a child and you see your mother push that little shopping cart to go get that hard cheese to feed her children without having any meals to go through and not knowing where the next one was going to come from. When you saw her carry Tupperware bowls to the Amsted daycare centers and get the leftovers so she can feed a family of six children by herself, you become resilient. 

I've been boo'ed enough, I've been yelled at, I've been called names. Been there, done that. 22 years, folks, I put on a bulletproof vest and stood on these street corners and protected the children and families of this city. 

This is the time for me to be the mayor to navigate us out of this challenge, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. That commitment I gave you as a cop, I'm going to give you as the mayor of the City of New York. 

That's what I'm going to do. And so now I'll open the floor and have real questions from real people. Thank you very much. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table one 

Mayor Adams: Where are we? On this side or this side? 

Commissioner Kreizman: Right side. On this side. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Pastor. 

Question: Yes, I'm number one. 

Mayor Adams: Go ahead pastor. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Thank you. 

Question: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: Thank God, I'm good. I'm good. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Question: Public officials, thank you, NYPD, thank you and fellow New Yorkers. My name is [David Reef]. I'm a lifelong New Yorker. I live in Tudor City in Midtown, a very nice community. And with this nice group of people that I met for the first time tonight, we democratically decided what we wanted to ask you. So, I'm going to ask the question that the group came up with. 

We are concerned about the deteriorating quality of life for residents of New York City. Instead of us listing all the different complaints that people were giving before, we'd like to ask you, can you please list your top five priorities for improving New Yorkers' quality of life? Please be specific and provide action points and timeframes. Thank you, sir. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you very much. I don't run the city alone. I run the city with a team. We have to be the safest big city in America. We are. I just listed several to you already. Double digit decrease in shootings, double digit decrease in homicides, five of the seven major crime categories decreased. Our subways are safer from what we inherited because of the partnership with the governor and our Subway Safety Plan. 

13,000 guns removed off our streets of the City of New York, as much as they continue to come in. Sued ghost gun manufacturers with the AG to stop the manufacturing, the creation of guns in our own households. 

But then we also must make sure our schools are doing a good job to educate our children because that's the real quality of life. We are outpacing the state and reading and writing faster than the state. A new phonics‑based reading program that the state is picking up and now the federal government is even going to start looking at on what we're doing. 

But you have to have a clean street. So, Commissioner Tisch, can you tell us what we're doing about the garbage in the street, because a lot of you don't know. I hate rats. And so tell us what we're doing about garbage in the street of the city. 

Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Department of Sanitation: We're doing something that's actually very novel in New York City and not novel at all in the rest of the world, which is, we are putting our trash in containers. We make 44 million pounds of waste every day in New York City and historically, that has all sat directly on our curbs. It looks gross. It smells gross. It's an all night all you can eat buffet for rats. 

We are not breaking the mold in the world. We are copying what the rest of the world is doing, and we are doing it very quickly because the mayor is very focused on it. So, over the next year plus, you're going to see 70 percent of the trash in New York City containerized with a full plan to containerize a hundred percent of the trash already announced. 

Mayor Adams: And so when we talk about not only that, when we came into office, did you notice that your highways and your roadways were not being cleaned because no one was basically assigned to it? 

So, what the commissioner did, she moved into these no man lands and we started cleaning these areas with a partnership with the commissioner of parks. Can you tell us please, commissioner, what we're doing in our parks now to improve on the quality of life that this table was talking about? 

Commissioner Sue Donoghue, Department of Parks and Recreation: Yes, absolutely. Thank you, mayor, and thank you for the question. This is an administration that has been very focused, as you know, on public safety and quality of life issues. 

And we all know that our parks are such an important quality of life issue. That's why he's invested money in our parks budget to create new parks, to plant a record number of trees that helps with the resiliency of the city, that helps us to deal with storm water and all the issues we're seeing with climate change and making sure that we have the programming and the parks that make for a healthy and safe city. 

Mayor Adams: But let's not stop there because we have to walk our streets safe. Okay? Commissioner Rodriguez, can you talk about what we have done and talk about how the fatalities historically in comparison to what we had last year? 

Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, Department of Transportation: Yes, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Commissioner of DOT. 

Commissioner Rodriguez: Yes, definitely New York City is leading the nation when it came to making the streets safer for pedestrians and for pedestrian fatality. In United States, we have the higher numbers of pedestrian fatality since 1987. Here in New York City, we have the lowest numbers of pedestrian fatality of the last 113 years except 2020, the year of Covid. 

And that's because we are redesigning the street in places such as Second Avenue and 30th Street and 33rd Street, as you have seen it, all the work that we have done it improving the safety intersection such at that area. And that, we don't stop there. 

This is the result of the three E of Vision Zero, that this moment we are celebrating the 10 years. The three E's stands for, the first E is how we are Enforcing the law. So, [DEP], Rivera, Commissioner Caban, they've been partners with us to be sure that we enforce. But also we use automatic enforcement. We have seen that when we have a speed camera, there's a reduction in overspeeding of more than 70 percent. 

The second E is Engineer, that's the team of DOT planning how we can improve safety. And the three E is Education. So, we invest more than $10 million every year educating drivers about their responsibility to protect pedestrian and protect cyclists. 

Mayor Adams: And no matter how safe and clean we are, people need some place to live. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, can you tell them about our housing numbers and the records that we have broken? 

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, Housing, Economic Development and Workforce: I'd be happy to, mayor. Good evening, everyone. A critical part of this administration's focus is making sure that all New Yorkers have access to safe, decent, affordable homes. And so our Department of Housing Preservation and Development and our Housing Development Corporation have been really busy since the start of this administration. 

In the last calendar year, they financed more than 27,000 units of housing. Included in that big number are records that the mayor mentioned, including the most number of new construction units ever financed in the history of this city, the most number of supportive homes financed in the history of the city, the most number of permanent homes for the formerly homeless, the most number of placements of New Yorkers into permanent homes through our Housing Connect system, the most number of permanent homes using CityFHEPS vouchers. 

And that is just part of a larger plan that we are working with so many on, and I have to give kudos here to Borough President Levine and Councilmember Keith Powers to reach a moonshot goal of 500,000 new homes over the course of the next decade. 

Why is it important? Everyone here knows that too many New Yorkers face housing insecurity. But let me give you a statistic that is particularly heartbreaking. 1.4 percent, that is the vacancy rate for rental units in the city. It is the lowest vacancy rate in our entire, in the last 60 years. 

So, what does that mean? We have to redouble our efforts with the financing of affordable housing. You heard about the records that we have. We also need to streamline the development process, which we have a plan on and we're seeing successes in that regard. 

We have to work with partners in Albany, get critical tools to increase a supply and also work with the feds to make sure that we have all of the tools that we need here in New York so that affordable, safe and decent home is within the reach of all of our neighbors. 

But we have so many partners in this mission and I want to, in particular, call out Dan Garodnick, who's the chair of the City Planning Commission because as part of that, we also have what I think is the most comprehensive, most pro‑housing proposal to build a little bit of housing in every neighborhood of the city. 

It's a City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. You all have probably heard about it, you will hear more. It's critical that we work with the City Council to get that pass because that helps us make a dent in that statistic that I mentioned that is all too low and all too heartbreaking. Thank you, Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. And everybody talks about those sheds, those scaffolds. Can you tell them what we're doing, those scaffolds that's probably been up as long as we have been alive? 

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Yes. We did take one down. That was 21 years old. Yes. So, obviously, we love our city, we love our space, we love our sidewalks, but too often, we shadow our sidewalks with scaffolding. And the reason for the scaffolding is life safety. 

Sadly, there has been the death of [Grace] Gold, was the reason why Local Law 11 was first passed. So, we never want to undermine that safety concern. 

But too many times, scaffolding stays up because it's cheaper than doing the underlying repair, and so we see people that are willing to pay almost a hundred thousand dollars a year to leave scaffolding up because the facade repair would be in the millions. 

Working with City Council — I'm looking straight at Borough President Levine — we are going to have an aggressive agenda to increase the fines associated with leaving your scaffolding up and so it will no longer be the cost of doing business; and the best part is, the building repairs will happen. 

We know that not every building is positioned exactly the same financially. So, working with SBS and with the City Council standing up a loan program so there can be financing available so we get to the crux of the problem, which is, how do you pay for the cost of the repairs. 

And also doing what so many other cities do. Local Law 11 is every five years regardless of building type, but we know we have a variety of buildings in New York City, so it doesn't need to be every five years. And so based on the type of building, we can stagger those inspections so we don't have so many of our streets shrouded in dark green plywood and cold stainless steel. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, deputy mayor. And when I came into office, this is the last topic I want to talk to, talking about your table, because that's a good question that you asked and I'm able to show what we're doing about quality of life. 

Quality of life is public safety. Quality of life is we want our streets clean. Quality of life is dealing with mental health. January and February of 2022, when I got elected, went out in the streets without my security, visited the encampments, the tents. 

Went inside and spoke to the people who were living on the street, as cold as it was. You know what I saw inside those tents? I saw human waste, stale food, drug paraphernalia, schizophrenic, bipolar. And we were walking by that. Many of us acted like we didn't even see it. We normalized people living on the streets. 

Go Google other cities, folks, see what is happening in other cities. I made it clear to the team, we will not have people living in encampments, and we will not have shanty towns in our city and they don't exist in this city. And when we see them, we have a plan to address them. 

But we don't just address them by not giving the services. Who do I have here from Department of Health and Mental Hygiene? You want to talk about it, Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom? Talk about what we're doing around those who are dealing with severe mental health illnesses. 

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams‑Isom, Health and Human Services: I loved it, he said five things and we just talked about 10 things that you wanted to do. So, I was like, which one am I going to get? Is it going to be the women's health agenda? Is it going to be the work that we're doing? 

I love the fact that when the mayor came to us and he said, we're not going to just walk by people, that that's somebody's husband, somebody's sister. And so since 2022, we were able to connect a thousand New Yorkers to permanent housing, something that you talked about. 

We were able to increase by 60 percent our outreach staff, because the only way that we're going to be able to connect people — some who really don't even know that they may have issues — is through the outreach. And we've been able to bring in over 6,000 people who were living on the street to a shelter, about 1,200 of them are still in place. 

But this issue around severe mental illness is so important to us, because we know that it's not the majority of people who have mental health issues, but it is a proportion. So, we really wanted to go deep. We wanted to make sure that people understood what are those circumstances when you might have to do an involuntary removal, which everyone feels like we want to make sure that people have their rights. We're not trying to take away people's rights, but we wanted to make sure that people were clear. 

We got together with the Department of Health, with the Department of Homeless Services, with the Police Department, all of the work that we do with the Department of Sanitation when we're working on encampments, it's an inter‑agency perspective because we feel like we have to give people a holistic approach when you're dealing with human beings. 

And we had something called our top 50 list, which were people that we saw that were living in subways and on the streets, and we really focused on them and we were able to get 50 percent of those people inside connected to a psychiatric bed. 

By the end of this year, we're going to have a thousand beds that are back online, those beds that were taken offline, which is going to be so important. And we have trained over 95 percent of the EMS workers, the DMH workers, all of the workers that do this work together. 

Do we still have a lot of issues? We all know that we still have a lot of issues, but we are focused on it. We're proud of the work that we're doing and we're proud that the mayor holds us accountable for that work. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. One of the most impactful moments for me during those months of January, February was when I was out there and it was a retired police officer. No shoes on, he was freezing, puss was oozing from his legs. And he was sitting there. It was clear that he was not in his right frame of mind. 

And I said, listen, I just want you to come inside, Brother, so we can get you something to eat. And he was, I'm all right. I like being out here. Everything is fine. If you don't know that you need help, how do you get help? 

And so when we talked about involuntary removal, everyone said to me, you're out of your mind, you're never going to win this conversation. You want to be demonized. You're going to say you inhumane, that you want to take people who need help, don't know they need help and you are going say you're going to give them the help that you want. It was the right thing to do. 

And sometimes history be kind to you in reflection not in current state. I did not become the mayor just to go along to get along. There were broken systems in the city that needed to be fixed and I'm willing to fix those broken systems with all the boo's that come with it. 

We're going to be a better city because we were bold enough to do things that other people were afraid to do. That is why this is going to be a better city and that is why we're going to deal with those quality of life issues that have historically been ignored in this city. Not in this administration. Next table. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Question number two. 

Question: Wow. Okay. Thanks. All right. So, sounds like there's a lot of good work that you all are doing. I appreciate that. And while that is the case, our group does still feel that we ain't feeling it. Okay. There's a lot more work to do. 

So, our question is, and know this isn't about me, but since you introduced yourself, I'd like to say that my name is [Sam Penix] and then I also represent besides table number two and these fine folks here, East Village Neighbors Who Care, which is a mutual aid project supporting the East Village and our migrant new neighbors. 

There is a lot, okay, of desperate situations that people find themselves in, and these contribute to behaviors that make us all less safe. Drug addiction, loss of affordable housing, migrants coming here, the unhoused. These people don't ask to be in these situations, right? And they need our support. 

So, when our neighbors struggle, we struggle. How are you all going to reduce this desperation and why are your hands tied? 

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, I don't know if it's going to be this year, next year or the year after. I'm going to finally get a tattoo. You inspired me, you know? 

Listen, let's be clear on something. Let's be clear on something. You said something that's important that I really want us to think about it. You said, how are you all. How about how… Oh, there you are. See? You just learned a new...there you are. 

Question: How are you going to do this? 

Mayor Adams: Okay. How are we going to do this? Okay, now remember the rule? 

Question: Yes. 

Mayor Adams: I'm going to listen to you and then you're going to listen to me. 

Question: All right. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. That was the agreement. 

Question: Ready. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. So… 

Question: I want to hear one more time. 

Mayor Adams: ...let's first identify what's causing the crisis. The cause of the crisis is we have a federal government that dropped 172,000 people into our city. 1.5... 

[Crosstalk] 

How are we going to do this? 

Question: I'm ready. Go. 

Mayor Adams: 1.5 the size of Albany was dropped in the city, and like you're right, they're here already. 

Question: Yes. 

Mayor Adams: And so the only way we're going to resolve this is for organizations like yours. Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom is looking for volunteers to help us with the migrants and asylum seekers. We are teaching them. So, when we got the 25… How many thousand did we get went through TPS? 

Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom: 32,000. 

Mayor Adams: 32,000, we went through TPS. We've maximized the most we can get that could be able to work out of the hundred and something thousand. So, we need your support to tell the federal government this should not be happening to New York City. 

That's what we need right now. Nothing is stopping us. What I do on my block on Lafayette Avenue to be part of the cuts that we had to do in Sanitation. It's time for us to be communities again, like the organization that you said that you are a part of. 

Question: We'll link up with you. 

Mayor Adams: We'll make sure before the night is over you will connect and we will come out and show you some of the initiatives that we are doing with real community partnerships. Because so it's not you all folks, it's we all. This is our city and we are in it together. Okay? 

Commissioner Kreizman: So, [Ray], get the contact information. We'll connect them afterwards. Table number three. 

Question: Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. How are you? 

Question: So far so good. But I'll give you a different answer after your answer maybe, but I hope not. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. Uh‑hmm. 

Question: My name is Anne Greenberg. I am a lifelong resident of Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village. We account for 11,240 or so apartments that are rent stabilized out of approximately a million such units all around the city. Essential for people of modest means, lower income. 

But too many people paying more than 50 percent of their income to rent, 30 percent of their income to rent. We know about the 1.4 vacancy rate, which means nobody can move anywhere. And now we're coming into Rent Guidelines Board season again. Mayor Bloomberg slammed us. We got some relief under Mayor de Blasio and there is data that shows that owners have been more than made whole by the whole Rent Guidelines Board process. 

Unfortunately under your Rent Guidelines Board the past two years, we've been slammed again. And I say "your Rent Guidelines Board" because you appoint them and there may even be somebody on that board who doesn't even believe in rent stabilization. 

So, now as we are coming up to the whole process starting again, what relief are you going to give to the million households around this city that can't afford to move, that need a safe place to live? 

I hope you're going to tell me something like rollback or freeze, because if we're talking like the essential, or the effect of 6 percent on a two‑year lease that was last year, that's really not a good answer for me as a senior citizen and for lots of other families, singles, whatever, all around the city. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. Thank you. Listen, and this is such an important conversation because I know what it is to be a renter because I was a renter. But I also know the mother, father, longtime New Yorker, immigrant, whatever you want to call it, they come to the city, they come to the country, all of their wealth is in a 17‑unit building. That's all they have, all their wealth, everything is tied into it. Like my little of three‑family house that I have that helped me pay my son college tuition, that's all they have. 

Everything went up on them. Everything: repairs, heating, electric, all of their wealth is in that building. And when we talk about you cannot see your income go up, although everything went up on you, you know what happens? They lose that building and then some great developer comes in and overdevelops that community. 

The wealth of Black and brown and immigrant New Yorkers is tied to their property. That is all they have. Now, if there's a way to separate from those who own 4,000 or 5,000 units of housing, we need to figure that out. 

But I've got to protect those small property owners that are watching everything go up around them and they can't keep pace. Those are real people, and they come and see me, and they talk to me, and they tell me how they're struggling, how they're on the verge of losing all of their wealth because they cannot afford to keep their buildings. 

We've got to find a sweet spot in balance, and that is what I want to do as the mayor and that is what we have been good at doing. 

Question: If I may just add that most landlords are in fact not small landlords. They're really big landlords. My landlord is like the biggest landlord on the planet and the trend is for really big owners. So, yes, I agree. Maybe there has to be some adjustment that has to be done through legislation. 

But you can't keep saying, oh, we got to help these small people, because the majority of our housing and our rental housing is owned by really big concerns, sometimes LLCs that you don't even know who they are. So, I think you can't keep pushing that, like, small landlord narrative because it's not the whole story. 

Mayor Adams: Okay, well, you know, I strongly disagree with you and it's easy to say what most aren't until you meet the family that is. And I meet those families because I'm not in the sterilized environment of City Hall. I'm out on the streets. I know who owned those small buildings, 18 units, 20 units in Flatbush, in Brownsville, in East New York, in Canarsie. 

We cannot devastate working class, middle class people, and we cannot get to a point even where large owners can't take care of their buildings. People walked away from buildings in the South Bronx during the sixties, they walked away from buildings in Bushwick. We have to find the sweet spot, and that's the role I must play. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number four. 

Question: Thank you, everybody, for coming. Thank you, Mr. Mayor… 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Question: ...for hosting 25. How many town halls? I appreciate it. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Question: And as for the lady over there, my family and I, we're actually own a small apartment in a walk‑up building. I have three kids, they all go to PS 116 and so there are small landlords out there. The question… 

Mayor Adams: Hold on. That's a point. That's an important point that you just raised, you know, because oftentimes when we talk about this narrative, we just forget people like you. We forget the struggle to get that building. 

Do you know how hard it was for me to get that little three‑family house that my son was able to go to college? He was able to graduate without a $250,000 loan. And sometimes when we think about all of this conversation, we forget you. 

Question: Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: We forget you and your children, your struggle and what that building means to you and how it is the wealth of your entire family. And people need to start seeing these faces. We miss these faces sometimes. So, I'm glad you said...you shared that. 

Question: Thank you. The question for our table is, how will our city engage with our residents to pay for both Local Law 97 while dealing with some of the negative effects of congestion pricing such as increased in contractor costs and a loss of commercial revenue? 

Mayor Adams: I know Rit… Who is Rit? Rit here? Who's here from DEP? 

Commissioner Kreizman: Rit. 

Mayor Adams: Oh, Rit. Rit is here. Rit, can you talk about Local Law 97? And what Rit did, because we knew that co‑ops, condominiums, small property owners, we knew, you know, the cost of that. And Rit was really creative. Rit Aggarwala is the chair, is the commissioner of DEP. Can you share what you did and what we did to try to absorb some of that course? 

Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala, Department of Environmental Protection: Thank you, Mayor. Look, Local Law 97 is a challenging law. There is no question. And as the mayor said, we worked hard over the last two years to come up with what we think is a thoughtful approach to its implementation. 

On the one hand, the climate crisis is real. You don't need to look beyond the weather report to see that. And the only way we will ameliorate the challenge, the damage that climate is going to cause us, is if we reduce our carbon emissions. And I think we all appreciate that that's absolutely necessary. 

At the same time, we know it is challenging. There's going to be a lot of work. In fact, we in this administration undertook the first analysis of how much it's going to cost, and it's going to require over $12 billion for buildings in New York City to comply with this law. It's a big deal. 

As the mayor pointed out, we put in place under Jimmy Oddo's leadership at the Department of Buildings, which deals with the enforcement of this law, a set of rules that we think are thoughtful. They balance the fact that the work has to happen with the fact that we know some buildings are going to need additional time. 

And so, now that the law is in effect as of January 1, the first reports are due in to DOB in the middle of next year. If your building complies; and by the way, 90 percent of all buildings are already in compliance with this compliance period, right, so we're really only talking about a handful of buildings, a thousand or 1,600 of them across the entire city that are at risk of being in violation right now. 

Buildings in that category can submit a plan to reach their 2024 target and their 2030 target, which is much more ambitious, and they will get extra time to do that. 

We also in the rule, there is a provision that if the cost of the upgrades would impair the finances of your building in a structural way, there is a way to get extra time for that. And so there are a number of safeguards built in. 

At the same time, we are now, now that the rules are in place, we are laser focused on making sure that the resources are available. So, the first step and looking forward to the City Council taking the next step on J‑51. There are several thousand buildings that have work to do between now and 2030 that would qualify for J‑51. 

Once the City Council enacts the implementing legislation, we will make sure that the buildings that qualify, which include a lot of low and moderate income or low and moderate value co‑ops and condos, can get that J‑51 deduction for work they do to comply with Local Law 97. 

In addition, that's only going to cover a portion of the buildings. We have PACE financing, which is a program that allows you buildings to take out loans that you pay back on your property tax bill, and that helps a lot of lenders give low income financing. 

And we are in extensive conversation right now with the state and with the federal government about unlocking sources of financing. So, getting that ability for you and other building owners to comply with this law in a way that you can live with is our top priority. 

Mayor Adams: Because we agree with you. We know, listen, it's a price tag. Especially if you've a fixed income of your co‑op, of your condominium, you know, and particularly if you are older adults and you're in a fixed income, we got it. 

And we need to, number one, make sure you know of all the resources that are available; and number two, we are still trying to advocate to get additional funds. We're going to need help from our partners in Washington and in the City Council, but we hear you loud and clear. 

Commissioner Aggarwala: Mayor. Mayor, I'm sorry. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes. 

Commissioner Aggarwala: Elijah reminds me, I forgot one other important point, so let me turn it over. 

Elijah Hutchinson, Executive Director, Mayor's Office Of Climate And Environmental Justice: Sure. Hi, it's Elijah Hutchinson from the Mayor's Office of Climate Environmental Justice. 

We also have a one‑stop shop for all building owners. Whether you're a building manager and you're looking for assistance on how to comply with Local Law 97— which is the requirement to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions— you can go to NYC Accelerator and they will walk you through what are the available incentives, what programs might you line up with, what resources you could have to get you through the compliance period and develop a plan for decarbonization. 

Mayor Adams: So, what we should do, DM Joshi, we should hold a town hall just on that. Bring everybody in, walk them through, see what are the opportunities, see how we could bring down the cost. 

So, we should hold, just let folks come in and really educate them to navigate the bureaucracy of getting this done, because it's a real concern. We heard that when we were out in the town hall in Queens also. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Question number five. 

Question: Hello, Mayor Adams. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: I'm good, how are you? 

Mayor Adams: Quite well. 

Question: Good. My name is Arlene Miller. I live in Stuyvesant Town, and this is a quality of life issue. As Councilman Keith Powers knows well — he lives in Stuyvesant Town — we have had an intractable illegal vending problem on the south side of 14th Street from Avenue A to First Avenue for a long time. It was made infinitesimally worse by Covid. 

We cannot seem to get rid of these people. They are stealing from our local pantries, stealing from our local stores. They're dealing drugs. I myself, a couple of years ago was accosted by one of these very aggressive illegal vendors. If someone hadn't come to my aid, I would've been hurt. 

We can't seem to get this problem to go away. The 9th Precinct shows up, moves them out, they're back in an hour, they're back the next day. We have a lot of people who go to a church on that block, who shop at Trader Joe's, which is on that block. 

People are afraid to walk down the south side of 14th Street on that block. We need help. We can't seem to get the resources we need to deal with this once and for all. Can you help us? 

Mayor Adams: Yes, no, thank you. And the councilman called me on it. I walked that street several days. I went out there and I walked that block and it was disgusting. And I had the platoon commander meet me over there and I said, you know, what is this? 

And so we repeatedly, I've been out there over and over again. You know, as my mother said, you got to inspect what you expect or is all suspect. So, I have traveled that block. I'm going to go back over there. That condition should have been rectified. 

So, I'm going to go back over there and see it again, and it better not be what I saw over and over again. No one should be living like that, living on the street, selling everything that you could possibly imagine, laying on the street, having carts full of garbage. 

We were on, I think it was either 16th Street, and there was this big plastic bag. And I called the R&P and I said, what is this? And when we started to remove the bag, somebody yelled out and said, I'm living here. That is not acceptable. We are going to fix that problem. 

Question: Thank you. I was walking down it on Saturday night and it was completely out of control. I actually was so nervous, I crossed the street and I shouldn't have to do that in my own neighborhood. 

Mayor Adams: You're darned right, you shouldn't, and you're not going to. So, Chief? 

Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart, Community Affairs, Police Department: I hear the message loud and clear. 

Mayor Adams: Right. 

Deputy Commissioner Stewart: Loud and clear. And you'll see uniforms when you're crossing that street. 

Question: Thank you. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number six. 

Question: All right. Thank you so much for being here, Mayor Adams… 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Question: ...and thank you to your entire team that came out tonight. And we have an awesome table, captain Tony Herbert and a really amazing officer deputy with us Officer Rodriguez. So, thank you for having us here. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. That's going to cost me more money now. 

Question: So, we have an issue with small crimes. A lot… 

Mayor Adams: Small? 

Question: Small crimes. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. 

Question: What are we doing to address these small crimes, particularly in our stores? We want small businesses to be here, restaurants, we want to be able to be safe walking on the streets, sort of to table number five's point. What is happening in our local communities to address this so that we don't lose too many small businesses and we can keep our residents safe? 

Mayor Adams: You know, and that question is just so important because, you know, everyone criticizes...not everyone, the loudest of people criticize me because I believe strongly in quality of life. 

It angers me. I walk into a Duane Reade or a store and everything is locked up. You know, it angers me that people believe that they can sit on your stoop and inject themselves with drugs and you're supposed to just accept it. 

You know, I just don't believe my son should have to live in a city like that, in our parks as we walk the block, as you were just stating. We don't have to live that way. We are limited in what our actions are, and I think it's imperative that we communicate with those who we elect of what our expectations are. 

We are going to do our job. But when we have someone arrested 40 times for stealing something in the store and they just think they can do it over and over again, it just defeats the purpose of what these police officers are doing. 

We're going to continue to do our enforcement, but we are really handcuffed by what we believe should be done to send the right message. Our shoplifting issue is just a small handful of people that are repeated offenders. When you look at some of the records, it will blow your mind how many times they've been arrested for doing so. 

And many of our stores have thrown up their hands and said, why even call the police anymore? And we encourage them to do so. We have some new things we're doing online to bring down some of the petty crimes that you're talking about, but we do need help from our partners in all level of government to say quality of life matters. I believe that, I live by that and I'm not going to relinquish my belief in that. 

But if you identify a problem where there's a petty criminality, you need to let the precinct know. The Community Affairs is here. Commissioners Stewart is here and his team is here from Community Affairs, those who are wearing these light blue shirts, help us identify and we'll put a plan to address it. This is a big issue for me. 

Question: Thank you. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number seven. 

Question: Hello. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: Great. How are you doing? 

Mayor Adams: Good, good. 

Question: Very nice meeting you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you very much. 

Question: I've seen you on Instagram many times and to meet you in person is a pleasure. I'd like to thank, as well, Councilmember Keith Powers and Borough President Levine for the remark on Beth Israel. The question that I will be asking is about Beth Israel. 

So, I am a resident of Stuy Town, moved to Stuy Town about a year and a half ago, and I am concerned with the closure of the hospital, for many reasons. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine playing soccer actually had a heart attack. And if it wasn't for Beth Israel being so close by, I don't know if he'll still be alive. And I will be a father soon, and obviously, one of the concern is having access to healthcare close by. 

So, I think I speak on behalf of Stuy Town, but also the east side community in the concerns that we have with the closure of the hospital. So, the question to you is a) do you support Beth Israel still remaining open? And if not, then what is the plan that you have in place to champion an alternative to the current plan, which is to reallocate some of the services to other hospitals? 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. You know, the game changes once that baby's born. Trust me. Our team was not briefed on the closing of the hospital. We are going to find out exactly what the plans are. We've been hearing and reading, but we're going to sit down. We spoke with the governor about the closing of the hospital Downstate in Brooklyn as well as the reshaping of another hospital in Brooklyn. But we were not briefed on this at all. This is, as you know, this is under state control. 

But we are going to find out exactly what is happening with that. And we'll put a coalition together with our city and state lawmakers. I think everyone needs to come in the room and be part of that. That is not one of our H + H hospitals, but we are going to have to pick up any slack that comes from not having a hospital in this community. 

I was very much engaged in the St. Vincent Hospital fight that I thought it was important that this community needs a hospital, and we're going to do everything we can to support either keeping that hospital open or using our voice and advocacy. 

But it does not fall into our H + H hospital system. But if you lose a hospital in this community, it's going to impact our H + H system. And so we are going to be there with your local and state electors to fight on behalf of the community on this issue. But we were not briefed, we will find out what's taking place with it. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number eight. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: Good evening. Well, thank you for indulging us. 

Mayor Adams: This guy was my trainer in the police academy. [Lindsey Easton], not him. He trained me as a rookie cop. I didn't even see you here. Yes, go ahead, sir. I'm sorry. 

Question: That's all right. You began this meeting touting your Clean Streets program, containerization before this meeting, in fact. And these are great. 

Mayor Adams: Talk into the mic. 

Question: We appreciate that. Paradoxically though, it is your city government that is often dumping trash in our streets. I think we have a few examples. Mine is at Union Square Park, Union Square East, where the Parks Department literally— and I know what the word literally means— dumps its trash into the bike lane. 

And when I say trash, we're also talking about slime and goop and slick stuff. And it's been doing this for six years. No complaints seems to do anything about it. So, the question is, how do we get the city government to discipline itself? 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you for that. And you said it has been going on for six years? 

Question: Yes. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. You know, I've been mayor for two, right? I'm just curious. 

Question: I sent you a letter a year ago. 

Mayor Adams: You sent me a letter where? 

Question: Yes, you remember the pictures where they came with it? 

Mayor Adams: No, I don't. I don't even remember the letter. You know, because I'm very accessible. But I just want to understand, this has been a six‑year problem. Okay. It's going to stop this year. Okay? Six years. Everyone else has failed. It's going to stop this year. Do we know about this, Sue, or…  

Commissioner Donoghue: Yes, Mr. Mayor. Obviously, we work really hard to keep our parks clean and have great folks working on the maintenance and operation side. I'm sorry to hear of this issue. It's not something that we typically do. We definitely avoid putting trash in the bike lane, things like that. So, absolutely, we've got a team here. We've got our maintenance and operation teams here tonight. We'll follow up with you and address the situation. 

Mayor Adams: So, now you're saying they're dumping garbage or are they putting it there for the trucks to come and pick it up? 

Question: Well, it's more complicated than that, but the simple answer is when the… 

Mayor Adams: Well, talk into the mic. You don't like talking into the mic. 

Question: I'm scared of these things. The simple answer is that they put the trash in tilt trucks and when they come to collect the trash, which is already half in the street, they dump the trash into the bike lane and then they scoop it up with shovels into the back of a garbage truck. And not only does that not collect to the goop, but if it goes into the truck, it drips, too. 

Mayor Adams: You know what? You see, you know what? He gave it a different impression. You made it seem like we were dumping garbage into the streets. So, you're saying you put it there to lift it into the dump truck? 

Question: Well, it's more than that, if I should say. 

Mayor Adams: Okay, so you know what? I'm going to come over with you and you and I are going to walk that area together and I'm going to see exactly what you're talking about. Okay? 

Question: But just note the larger question is, how do we get New York City to discipline itself? 

Mayor Adams: And we do. We do. I ride around the city 1:00, 2:00 a.m. in the morning looking for garbage and problems and then I called the commissioners and wake them up and say, you know what I saw? So, we discipline themselves because their mayor's out there disciplining myself. That's how I am. I'm on the ground. 

Hold on. Stand up for a moment. Listen, I'm not kidding. This is my trainer in the police academy. 

It's a good man. What is the next table? How are you, ma'am? 

Question: I'm next. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number nine. 

Question: I'm going to get right to the question. How are we addressing underutilized spaces in our neighborhood? Right now there are cars parking on our waterfront and parking under the FDR, blocking our access to the water. 

We imagine these spaces turned into recreational spaces, greenery with parks and spaces we can use for lots of other things. We need your leadership to address the multiple agencies involved in this. It's a very complex issue. And I guess my question is, will you take it on for us? 

Mayor Adams: I would love to learn more about it. I don't believe we used… There's a couple of spaces under highways that I think we can do better. I think Bloomberg was a genius around what he did with the skyline. I've been big on greenways in Brooklyn, you know, allocated resources to that. 

I think we have some good spaces. I would love to look at bicycle highways. I think we could do something under Park Avenue in Brooklyn, under the FDR. I don't think we utilize that space as good as we should utilize. Out in East New York there's abandoned railroad track that I think we could use. 

So, I would love, you know, to speak with our public realm officer and Department of Parks, right, Meera? Can we sort of put together, look at some of these spaces? We should do a mapping around the city, where are spaces, like we're doing with redefining these spaces. But I think there's some good spaces that we could sort of restructure the city with the public realm officer, Ydanis Rodriguez also, Commissioner Rodriguez. But go ahead. 

Deputy Mayor Joshi: This is the absolute ideal where we're a city where a space is a real commodity and it's rare, but we have a lot of hidden space that we're not opening up for the public. So, we opened up a piece underneath the Brooklyn Bridge earlier, the arches, and people flock there. 

As soon as we open up these spaces, they get used in a heartbeat. So, it's absolutely opportunity lost if we're not there, we're not activating it, we're not making sure it's maintained so the public can enjoy it. We'll connect with you and figure out exactly where you're just talking about. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, it's a real win, real win. 

Question: Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: You should put on our website, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi took me for a walk of what under the Brooklyn Bridge used to look like. That space is not even being utilized anymore. We want to open that space back up. There's some great spaces in this city that have been closed down, we want to open those spaces back up. 

Question: And not to let you off the hook, but this is something… 

Mayor Adams: I'll never off the hook. 

Question: It's something we've been trying to do for a long time. So, if you can take it over, that would be fantastic. 

Mayor Adams: Now when you say trying to do, were you talking about years and years?

Question: Maybe not years and years, but it's been, you know, parking, parking where you could have waterfront parks. It doesn't make sense, so… 

Mayor Adams: I'm with you. I'm with you. So, let's...we are going to do it. 

Commissioner Kreizman: She's the chair of the community board here. 

Mayor Adams: You're the chair of the community board? 

Question: I'm chair of Community Board 6. Who is the other community board chairs? Can you stand up? One, two, three. The hard way? Okay. Okay. You what? Five? Three. 

Mayor Adams: Three, six. And what is it? One more? 

Question: I think we have five. 

Mayor Adams: Five. Okay, great. Great. Good to see you. Thank you. That's a hard job. That's close to being a mayor. 

Question: Great. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Table number 10. 

Question: All right. Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: Good. Eddie, is my name. I'm the owner of a local restaurant in the neighborhood. 

Mayor Adams: What's the name of it? Do free advertisement because you're going to be covered. 

Question: Hill and Bay. 32nd Street and Second Avenue. 

Mayor Adams: Look at that. 

Question: We invite you, Mr. Mayor. So, we have a lot of different concerns around our table, but one that is, I think we would all agree is a priority, what can we do to get bikers, pedestrians and cars to respect each other in this city? Our chef at Hill and Bay in 2017 was sadly killed in a hit and run on 15th Street in Union Square. Unfortunately, I don't think justice was ever brought for his family. 

I have to say one other thing and this is on a personal note, I just wanted to say, what can we do to get people in New York City, particularly people of different faiths to respect each other more? Walking in here tonight was, it's not easy walking around the community these days. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you for that. I really, really appreciate that. I want to answer that one first. We have something called Breaking Bread, Building Bonds. Our goal was to do a thousand dinners across the city, 10 people a minimum at each dinner. No 10 people came from the same background. And we want them to do something revolutionary, talk to each other. 

Why do I wear yarmulke, a hijab, why did I have a turban on, why do I go to, you know, houses of worship on Fridays or Saturdays? What is my culture? It's amazing that this city is diverse, but we are strangers to each other and we are really afraid of each other. 

We've had a thousand tables that we've done this with, people walked out of that room feeling differently. And if all of us in this room host just one dinner with their neighborhood, not someone that you know because we are comfortable around people that look like us, talk like us, walk like us, eat the same food and things. 

But if we are willing to just go outside of our comfort zone and see the beauty of healthy discomfort and say, I want to sit down with people who don't do the same things that I do, we can change this narrative. 

We have become so ugly and mean spirited to each other. We believe I have to prove you wrong. So, I'm right. I got to yell you down. I have to call you names. And I just think we've got to move away from that. And you're right, and I'm so glad you asked that question because we're missing the respect that we used to as a city, and we need to bring that back. 

Even in our school system. You know, all of our children are learning how to breathe and meditate and to just go inward. People are hurting. Social media is ripping our young people apart. Depression is increased, suicide race is increasing. They're duplicating behaviors like riding on top of trains, stealing cars and just painting hateful signs all over the place. 

We'd better regain our families or we are in big trouble, and my hope is encouraged just by you asking that question, because there are folks out there that matter. So, I would encourage you to join our Breaking Bread, Building Bonds. Pastor Monrose is here. Lamona Knight is normally here, is not here. 

And I would encourage all of you, host one dinner, host one dinner with 10 people and you're going to walk away feeling better about yourself when you do that. One of my good friends, Alibaba is here . Every Wednesday night, he's on 34th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue feeding New Yorkers from his restaurant. 

And those are not homeless people on that line, those are everyday people who cannot afford to feed themselves. And I try to join them as much as possible. But we got to get back to doing those things again. 

And that's the same with bikes, mopeds, scooters. Our streets have changed. Covid had a lot of us ordering out. I was with my son the other day, he ordered his toothpaste through Amazon. No one goes in stores anymore for the most part. 

And because of that, we have scooters, we have mopeds, we have bikes. We have to restructure the streets, and that's what Commissioner Rodriguez is doing. 

We have new streets that were not like this at one time, and we have to learn the right decorum of using these busy streets. And that is what the focus is. It's a combination of education, enforcement and making sure we have clear guidelines. No one should be riding up and down the sidewalks on these bikes, motorcycles and scooters. 

Illegal motorcycles and scooters, we have confiscated thousands of them because they were unregistered, illegally used and used in a harmful way. But it's a combination of those things that we want to accomplish. But again, thank you for your question. Next, Breaking Bread, Building Bonds, I hope you come with me. You and I going to go together. Okay? Appreciate you, man. 

Deputy Commissioner Stewart: And Mr. Mayor, can I jump in a second? Mayor. Mayor. 

Commissioner Kreizman: And anyone interested in hosting one, please speak to mayor's office. 

Deputy Commissioner Stewart: Okay. I'm the commissioner of Community Affairs, and I get what you're saying loud and clear. But let me tell you, I travel the whole city. It's not like that. We do have certain areas that people are not educated in faith and religion, but we do have a lot of people who very much are. 

I go to the mosque, the synagogues and what the Muslims do, like the mayor said, they feed people, not just the Muslims, all New Yorkers. So, I don't want you to feel like just because where you are you don't see it. I'm blessed that I get a chance and I see it. Good New Yorkers are still around here. Good New Yorkers still care about this city. 

And I wish that you could travel in my shoes and see what I see. Good New Yorkers are still here. So, I don't want you to leave thinking that they're not. 

Question: I'm so sorry. What we see in this community and in Midtown Manhattan is what the rest of the world is seeing in New York City. The media is focused on this. So, if we're talking about growing tourism, if we're talking about improving, you know, people understanding that we are the greatest city in the world, this area is where the news is spoken from. It is just a small radius. So, somehow that narrative, if we're feeling it here, what the rest of the world is seeing is not very good. 

Deputy Commissioner Stewart: Okay. Okay. And I'll address that. So, what you're seeing is five minutes of TV when the news comes on. We're seeing 24 hours of the whole city and what's happening in this city. 

And believe me, there are good people in New York City who's helping out, who helps pick up trash, who goes to the parks, who volunteers with their time. I don't want us to get stuck that New Yorkers are all bad and what you see on the news for five minutes that that's taken over the whole city because it's not. 

Mayor Adams: Well said. Well said. Well said. 

Commissioner Kreizman: And then Mr. Mayor, just to add to what Commissioner Stewart said, mayor said, Breaking Bread, Building Bonds and I ask anyone who's interested to speak to the member of the mayor's office. And like the mayor said, to Alibaba not only on Wednesday night, this is this community. 

Wednesday night does the same thing on 34th Street. He does the same thing in front of his restaurant on Thursday nights. So, this is just a testament to just what's happening in your community. 

And as Commissioner Stewart says, we see it, whether it be the Buddhist temples, the Sikh temples open around the clock. We have Masbia soup kitchen in Brooklyn that feeds more non‑Jews, Hasidics feeding non‑Jews. And the line goes around a block around COPO in Brooklyn. In the Bronx, we see it. We see it in all five boroughs and we see it in this neighborhood as well. 

I just want to give a shoutout also to Robin Force for helping organize, our Manhattan director, because before we go to the last table... 

And just one thing I want to say on quality of life. Under this mayor's leadership, we see the ending of these silos of ownership of problems. In our office together with the first deputy mayor's office, we have Community Link working with chief of department, chief of patrol's office, Chief Chell's office, Anthony Pennolino, who's deputy commissioner. 

Our office is co‑lead, and we have a director of quality of life in the mayor's office, Ray Carrero, who they focus on this day in, day out working with the local‑based organizations, with the community boards, which are very essential partners in the community, the BIDs, the community organizations, community ambassadors and NYPD in partnership with Commissioner Stewart's office, we work on quality of life issues on a daily basis in partnership with community interests. So, just before we go to the last table. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, no, so true. And, you know, you just really inspired all of us by what you said. The Sikh temples give out three meals a day every day to whoever shows up. It's just unbelievable. 

Muslims Giving Back. There's a group of Muslims, they call themselves Muslims Giving Back. They give out socks in Manhattan throughout the entire city. They serve food for, halal food throughout the entire city. Masbia Jewish organization in Borough Park, they feed whomever shows up at their door. 

And so Commissioner Stewart is right, there's some amazing, amazing New Yorkers. You wouldn't know it if you read the headlines, but this is a city that's thriving, not just surviving. This is the greatest city on the globe. 

When I meet with other mayors, they debate about number two and number three, and they look at me and smile. They say, you know you are number one. New York is the greatest city on the globe and you have to be privileged to live in this great city and you are one of them. Thank you so much. 

Commissioner Kreizman: Number 11, the last table. 

Mayor Adams: How are you, ma'am? 

Question: Good evening, everyone. My name is Ms. Stewart. 

Mayor Adams: How are you, Ms. Stewart? 

Question: I'm very well, thank you. Since the issue of quality of life seems to keep emerging all around the room, my question this evening is, is not gainful employment also considered a quality of life issue? 

With regard to the closing of Mount Sinai Beth Israel. There are thousands of employees whose lives have been thrown into a tailspin. There's uncertainty looming. There are many lives that are being turned upside down because we now have employees who are unsure of their employment status. 

Mount Sinai Beth Israel will be closing. As I speak to you currently, my appointment with the Labor Relations Board is on tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. I am uncertain what my future employment is going to look like. That disturbs me. I'm a single‑income household with a disability. I pay all of my bills on my own. The system grants me nothing, absolutely nothing. But I still grind every day. 

I work on a nursing unit, that's medical ICU, and the things that I envision on a daily basis confirms to me each and every time the system is broken. It's not fractured, it's completely broken. We all need to work collaboratively with each other in trying to get things back on track. The closing of Mount Sinai Beth Israel is going to prove disastrous to the community as well as to some of the employees. 

Mental health is another thing that I've heard go around this room tonight. And the uncertainty of employment or the lack thereof is also a contributor to one's mental health status, I can assure you. What or to whom do hospitals and healthcare facilities report to when they are pending closure? 

Mayor Adams: And so, first of all, thank you for that. And we have city hospitals as you know, because you're employed with a hospital, we have city hospitals and hospital that they fall under the control of the state. That hospital falls under the control of the state. 

We handle H + H hospitals. And when the hospital closes, like you are mentioning, that is going to overstrain our other safety net hospitals and is going to overstrain our health and hospital system. 

So, it behooves me to fight with you and my other local electeds to make sure we find out how to either prevent the closure or to make sure that something is there to help us assist in those who need the healthcare services they need. 

But it does not fall under the control of the mayor. That is not under my control. My control is to add my voice with folks like yourself to see how do we prevent this from happening? 

Question: Well, is it not a reportable body head or something that oversees those types of things? 

Mayor Adams: Yes, that's the role of the state, Department of Health, the State Department of Health. We're the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The state has a Department of Health. So, there needs to be an analysis of exactly how are we going to pick up the hospital needs and services. This is a similar fight that those of us who are old enough to remember what we went through with St. Vincent when they closed St. Vincent. 

So, they need a plan of how we're going to deal with the needs of those services that people are going to need to utilize when it comes down to hospital care. So, we are with you. 

And our hospital employers are one of our largest employers inside this entire city and state, so we don't want to lose jobs. And we will be briefed and we will have a conversation with the state, but we are aligned with you that we would like to find out what is the plan to deal with this. 

This is what I'm experiencing in Brooklyn, but also Downstate Hospital. We need to know how are we going to offset, if anything, those patient needs care. Kings County is going to have to pick up a bulk of when we lose Downstate. We don't know what the plan is going to be here, but we will inquire and find out. Okay? 

Question: ...job security [inaudible]. 

Mayor Adams: I'm not the choir. I wrote the song. Thank you so much for coming out tonight. Have a safe night. 

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