Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds In-Person Media Availability

February 20, 2024

Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy, Communications: Good morning, everybody. My name is Fabien Levy and I serve as deputy mayor for Communications for the City of New York. We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and appreciate you all joining us today for our weekly in‑person media availability.

From keeping people safe on our streets and subways, to delivering good paying jobs for working class New Yorkers, to taking bold action to protect our youth's mental health, our administration has broken down silos and worked across city agencies and leaders to get stuff done for our city.

By bringing those leaders together to answer your questions and illuminate their work, we've been able to deliver information in a more accurate, accessible and comprehensive way, and we look forward to continuing that process this morning.

So, joining us today are Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres‑Springer, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams‑Isom, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar and Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg. So, without further delay, I'm pleased to turn it over to Mayor Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. This was a long weekend? Monday wasn't a work day?

Deputy Mayor Levy: We were working… 

[Crosstalk]

We didn't get a lot of inquiries in.

Mayor Adams: Thanks a lot, DM Levy. I was in Albany last weekend, great conversations with my colleagues up there as we push forward our agenda for the city. We want to continue our winning streak in Albany. We did well in two budgetary cycles and our goal is to continue to look towards fortifying a real housing agenda, mayoral accountability, as we deal with cannabis reform and some of the other items that are important. It was a great conversation with them. There's a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. We are clear that we have to deal with the inventory issue that we are facing in our housing.

And since day one, we've been clear on our agenda: public safety, rebuild our economy and make our city more livable for everyday New Yorkers, particularly working class people in this city. And we're delivering on that every day. You know, I say it over and over again until it resonates: jobs are up, crime is down and we are moving in the right direction as we deliver for our working class New Yorkers.

To keep New York City on the upward trajectory, we have to work together. And that was my conversation I had with my colleagues in Albany. And they are clear that there's some challenging times ahead, but together we could really create real livable, affordable housing. We could get the housing and the tenant protection that people are looking for.

We want to extend mayoral accountability, give the city the authority, which is so important to close down the cannabis shops here in all the cities. I spoke with colleagues across the entire state; they, too, are facing the cannabis issue that we are facing here.

And so important, with major capital projects in front of us, we need to increase New York City's debt ceiling. And they are focusing on that as well. And I'm looking forward to coordinating the next couple of months with the electeds and my colleagues in Albany as we bring home the victories for our city. And so Fabien, I’ll turn it over and let's answer some questions.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Great. Thank you.

Question: Good morning, mayor. There is video on social media that shows officers trying to take a suspect or a person into custody under the Randall's Island shelter. There's a large group of people around the officers, items are thrown at the officers.

I don't know if you had an opportunity to view the video, what your thoughts are on the video. Is there any way to avoid incidents like this happening, especially in the wake of the assault of the officers in Times Square? And then I don't know if you have a reaction to the Legal Aid Society lawsuit over vouchers and the City Council approving a lawsuit as well.

Mayor Adams: Yes, I saw the video and I was briefed this morning and we are going to have a follow‑up meeting. We have, I think the numbers there are 5,000. How many do we have on Randall's Island?

Camille Joseph Varlack, Chief of Staff to the Mayor: 3,000.

Mayor Adams: 3,000?

Joseph Varlack: 3,000.

Mayor Adams: 3,000 men in that facility. The overwhelming number of them are carrying out the roles here, looking to take their next step in the journey. Do you have bad actors? Yes.

And any time you have 3,000 people who are placed in an environment that they cannot work, they have to sit around all day. You know, things like this have the potential to happen. And I've said this over and over again.

But the police officers went in, they carried out their job, they used the minimum amount of force to take the person into custody. And we're going to do a review. Because of that video, we're going to do a review of some of the actions we want to take because I have to make sure our Police Department is safe and those residents who are there are also safe.

And so we are still looking into this, and I'm going to have a follow‑up conversation with the New York City Police Department, the security team that's there because each site has a security team and we did a complement of offices that are there also to assist.

But this is, again, this is what happens when you get this national problem on the city. We need the national government to assist in resolving this problem. The lawsuit, counsel, you want to talk about the lawsuit?

Lisa Zornberg, Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall: Sure. So, the Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit and it's going to play out in court. This administration has been exceptionally clear and transparent with the City Council for many, many months that however well‑intended they were in passing the law, it's our belief as a legal matter that that law goes beyond the City Council's authority and that it's actually preempted by existing state law. So, there are significant legal issues and they will play out in court.

Question: Mr. Mayor, on another video that was released by the NYPD earlier in the month in the assault of the NYPD officers. I'm not sure if you've gotten a chance to view that, but that video appears to show that it was actually one of the officers who first put his hands on one of the migrants. So, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on that video and whether you think the officers might have acted inappropriately there.

On a totally different matter, Lamor Whitehead, I guess former friend of yours, is about to go on federal trial in Manhattan federal court. Federal prosecutors released some documents in that case last week in which they say that your name is going to come up during the trial in connection with how Mr. Whitehead allegedly extorted people and used your name in doing so. Does that concern you in the way that Mr. Whitehead has used your name for allegedly corrupt purposes and in order to extract money illegally from people?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that also if we're going to quote their documents, quote the documents that stated that clearly he did not have authorization and there was no connectivity to the actions of mayor or borough president. I believe that was what they pointed out.

And so there are 8.3 million people in the city, Chris, and anyone that can use the name of others to get what they want, they're going to do so.

Question: [Inaudible.].

Mayor Adams: You know, the way we do this is I listen to you when you ask the question and I hope you will listen to me when I answer it. We don't talk over each other.

People use people's names all the time. You know, the folks running around all the time when they come in and try to interview me, they say they know Chris Sommerfeldt. You know, hey, you know? So, I can't stop people. 

[Crosstalk]

So I can't stop people for hurling out the names of others. That's as old as one can imagine. People always use the names of people. But the investigators made it clear that he made promises on something he could not deliver. That's what was stated. And so my name may come up in the trial and I'm sure it's going to come up with that same premise, he made promises that he couldn't deliver.

The officer, I have not looked fully at the video and the officer may have grabbed someone in the communications of carrying out his duties. And if an officer touched someone, no one gives the authorization to kick, punch, try to grab the gun of an officer. That's not acceptable.

And if someone is using it as a reason for carrying out that action that the officer may have touched one person, but there was more than one individual who were assaulting those officers. It's not acceptable and it's not going to happen. We have a sense of law in this city and that is going to be carried out.

Question: Mr. Mayor, there have been a number of questions raised about the company that was hired to provide these debit cards for migrants to purchase food. Several questions including the amount of money that they're getting paid, the fact that the same company was fired in Detroit because it was giving information about the credit card holders to ICE.

And also, questions about whether these debit cards for food are good for people who are in hotels and don't have the ability to cook food. I wonder if you could answer all these questions and whether you're going to review the company and its actions to see if it's actually fit for the project.

Mayor Adams: So, we have to be… I gave a mandate to the team, particularly our budget director, Jacques Jiha, and stated we have to find a 20 percent decrease in the dollars that we are spending on migrants and asylum seekers. We have to find ways to cut corners and bring down the cost.

And while we're doing that, we also wanted to address the food waste issue, which mind you, 90 percent of the people were consuming the food, but this still was a 10 percent, and we want to find a zero loss to taxpayers dollars. 177,000 people, we're required to give them three meals a day. We are required to accommodate them and house them and their cleaning and all the other things.

And what this city has done without the support that we believe we should be getting from the national government, we have been picking up the responsibility of doing so and we've done a great job in doing so. International leaders have come and realized what we have done.

Specifically with this card. It's a 500‑person pilot project to see if it's successful. It is going to save us in the area of $7.2 million a year, I believe $600,000 a month. If we just sit back and just state, we are going to just allow people to be here forever and just continue to hit taxpayers with dollars, not trying things new and different, we're not going to solve this problem.

We are using this pilot to see if we're successful, we're going to expand it if we're successful because we got to find successful ways of bringing down the cost and dealing with this crisis that taxpayers should not be paying.

And First Deputy Mayor Wright will go into the particulars of it. We attempted to go over it last week, I think, where we laid out, last Monday the exact bullets of this so it could be explained. And so people want to give the impression that we did this in a cloak of secrecy, that we're not saving money, that's just inaccurate, inaccurate. DM Wright, you want to go over it?

Question: Do you think that the company was carefully enough vetted so that you were protecting the city? I mean, I know it was an emergency contract, but were there other people that could have provided the same service for less money? You know, are you getting the best bang for your buck?

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. And the DM will go, first deputy mayor will go over that. And as I indicated, you know, there's several things I'm attempting to do in the city: one, to use technology; two, MWBEs, you know, women and minority‑owned businesses, have historically been locked out when you looked at the dismal numbers that women and minority‑owned businesses have been providing. And, how do we recycle our dollars.

This program is not going to go to a large major firm, it's going back to small bodegas, grocery stores, people who hire locally. And to some people we are pushing against the historical norm, you know, where we've denied these local entities and we've denied these small women and minority‑owned businesses.

So, I know I'm disrupting what people traditionally would like for us to do. But I've made it clear from the beginning, we are going to reinvest in small businesses. We are going to go after women and minority‑owned businesses because it is embarrassing how much business we do with women and minority‑owned businesses.

And this company has a unique way that I would like to see if it's successful to expand on using a product of this nature. But DM, you want to go into… 

Question: [Inaudible] at all concerned that they were fired by Detroit for selling the information to ICE… 

First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright: I think that's not true, Marcia, so I think we should...

Question: ...the story.

First Deputy Mayor Wright: I think… I read a lot of stories that...

Deputy Mayor Levy: Marsha, that wasn't a story by the Post, it was by the Manhattan Institute, just to remind you. So, Craig, I don't know if he's in the room? Oh, there he is. He wrote a story two weeks ago or a week ago, I don't know exactly when. He actually wrote the story. Today's was not a story by the New York Post. It was a column by the Manhattan Institute.

Question: I just want to know if you feel that this is the right company to do the job since it was a no‑bid contract.

Mayor Adams: Yes and we do, even in the no‑bid contracts, you still vet. You don't just throw out and say you're going to give it to anyone. You still vet. We've been looking at this product of MoCaFi and this concept for close to three years now.

When we first communicated with them on the campaign trail, we looked at the product, it went into my areas of products we're going to look at like drones and the dyslexia screening. There were a host of things that we looked at. And so this is not something that just popped up last year. We've been looking at products of running our city more efficiently, and this was one of the products that we looked at.

First Deputy Mayor Wright: Yes. And just to clarify, I think there were a lot of inaccuracies in the, it wasn't an article, as you said, in the… 

Deputy Mayor Levy: Column.

First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright: ...opinion piece that was in the Post. One, that giving data, that is, I don't believe that that's true at all.

That there was a rigorous process to evaluate the vendor. It was approved by the comptroller in the fashion that all of the contracts have been approved. One thing also to clarify. The $53 million contract is if it is at scale. We are starting with 500 families, and so that's a subset of the 53 million.

And the maximum that would go to MoCaFi is about $2 million. All of the balance of the resources, the potential resources on the contract would, in fact, go to the families to buy food and baby supplies. So, that's just some clarity and some facts as opposed to what was in the opinion piece.

Question: [Inaudible] hotel, is that still a good thing for them [inaudible] since they may lack the ability to cook the food?

First Deputy Mayor Wright: Well, this is, they can buy cooked food, they can buy food that's more culturally appropriate. And certainly it's monitored and there's a limitation in the amount of food they can buy. And it aligns with the SNAP beneficiary in terms of the food that is available to them.

Mayor Adams: And so, hold on a minute, because this is important because there was so much information that was put out there. It gave the impression that the $50‑something million was going to MoCaFi just for administrative costs. That is just not true. It's not true.

And then it states that we are going to spend billions of dollars. This is going to cost us less. I was very clear with the team, we are going to bring down the cost of migrant and asylum seekers. That was the goal of bringing down the cost, and we're finding ways to do so.

And so we didn't roll this out with every migrant and asylum seeker that we had. We said, no, let's do this as a 500‑person pilot to see if it's effective. And so our three goals — MWBE, bring down the cost, bring down food waste, invest money locally into the economy, which many of our local businesses are hurting — this checks the boxes. This checks the boxes.

And hopefully, it is as successful as we anticipate, then we could expand it even greater and we can use this concept in other places that we are providing food services. I don't want tax dollars going outside the city to buy from large corporations outside the city. We want to invest locally in our local economy. They hire locally, it'll deal with our unemployment issue.

So, our holistic approach to government is different from others. We want a holistic approach, one solution to solve a multitude of problems. That is how we operate.

First Deputy Mayor Wright: And the last thing I'll say is that they've been very successful in other major cities like Los Angeles and others where they've expanded their product and their platform.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: NYPD reports a rise in crime in the subway for the month of January but we are hearing the stories last week, attacks on musicians and innocent tourists. I'm wondering if there is any plan for action in response to that specifically in the subways, because I know there were extra officers in the past put in place, but some people report they don't see that many officers anymore. So, I would like to…

Mayor Adams: And that's a great question. We rolled out the Subway Safety Plan in '22 and we saw amazing results. The governor was a real partner in increasing the number of police officers in the subway, very visible, that whole omnipresent concept and theme. And we had to scale back after the money ran out.

What the first deputy commissioner, Tania Kinsella, put in place with our partner with the chief of the Transit police is to do 12‑hour tours, and so we have an immediate response where our officers are going to 12‑hour tours. We want more visibility, more movement

We want officers walking through the trains, being at the platforms, being near the token booth and identifying where the crime is actually taking place. And we're seeing a substantial amount of that crime taking place on our subways.

And so we're going to shift and we're going to engage in a conversation with the head of the transit authority and the Governor's office to see if we can get a complement of support to have additional amount of overtime for those offices.

Question: So, there's going to be extra to what it was because it was scaled down, you said, or it's going to be back to those numbers before it was scaled down?

Mayor Adams: The money that we had for the Subway Safety Plan sunsetted, now we're going to try to get additional money for that. But we're also shifting the tours of officers, they moved to 12‑hour tours. We get a greater level of visibility and we're finding that the officers rather have more days off where they're able to do a longer tour while they are in. So, it's good for morale, good for actions, good for the movement of the officers.

But the goal is our subway system has to be safe. Proportionally, the number of riders that we have, we are capping over four million riders. We have about six felonies a day on our subway system. That's six too many, we want to get down to zero. But our subway system is a safe form of transportation in the city.

Question: Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor Adams: What's happening?

Question: I'm just following up on the Mobility Capital Finance. So, this pilot… 

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, which one?

Question: MoCaFi. Sounds, maybe that's easier. Not really. But how are you evaluating this pilot process and how did you kind of land on this company to begin with? Could you talk a little bit about your relationship with the owner of this company? I feel like I'm going to butcher his name, but it's Wole Coaxum. I said… I feel like you said you met him on the campaign trail, I found a clip of that… 

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: Maybe you could talk about your relationship with him, and then how you're evaluating this process.

Mayor Adams: So, let's peel it back into layers. Number one, there is no relationship other than a professional relationship. On the campaign trail, I had something called mayoral classes where I reached out across the entire country to find ideas of how to run cities more efficiently. I had some of the most prominent people in business, in education, in healthcare. Every morning, I used to have these meetings from seven to eight to eight to nine for the most part, and sometimes even earlier.

They were one of the presenters. We looked at what they did in Los Angeles, and I looked at the whole concept of how do we use what we call a cyber wallet, how do we use and centralize payment of goods and services in the city. They gave a very good presentation. It went into my book of "we will visit later."

And little did I know, while we were working with them on some other projects, this came up about how do we deal with food waste, how do we invest in our local economy, how do we deal with MWBEs, how do we more manage to bring down the cost of paying for food?

And they were one of the presenters. I reached out to the first deputy mayor and said, hey, you remember that presenter we had called MoCaFi? Can we go look and see if that product is suitable here? And that's how we have it, so there's no relationship.

We don't hang out in the Hamptons together or go to the baseball game together. They're one of the many presenters that we had presentations given to us when I was running for office.

We're going to look at a combination of things. The investment into our local economy. We're going to look at the issue around food waste. Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom has made it clear, 90 percent of the food is consumed that we give to the migrant and asylum seekers. Our goal is to get that other 10 percent, we don't want any food waste at all.

And we're going to actually communicate with those who are using it, get feedback from them. Did you find it user‑friendly? Did it help you have culturally sensitive food?

So, it's about seeing how good the product is, and that's what pilot projects do. Pilot projects, before you fully invest, you want to find out how good this product is. And I think we may be on to something that's going to bring down the cost and invest in our local economy.

But you've got to try. We have to stop being afraid of trying new things. That's the problem of what we've learned in the city. We keep doing the same things over and over again because everyone is afraid of criticism. And we're just not. We'll take the criticism. Some of it we knock it out of the park, some of it we don't get right. But we're going to try to run this city more efficiently because it was not currently being run that way.

Question: Yes. Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: I'm good, how are you?

Mayor Adams: Good.

Question: What are your concerns and how are you addressing the gang issue here in the city? And there were different levels of it. Last week, Governor Hochul was talking about more resources to retail theft, and she said there are organized gangs here in the city and coming in from out of town to hold places up, rob them, wipe the shelves clean.

Then you have gangs of young people that are shooting each other and bystanders are getting shot and people are getting killed in the process. And then you have gangs that are coming from other countries that are now participating in theft and violence and going to other parts of New York and Florida to do business in that regard. So, how are you addressing this? It's affecting so much of what happens here in this city.

Mayor Adams: I think that's a great question you're asking. And what I do is keep my fingers on the pulse of what's happening across the country. That is important to maintain what's happening across the country, because we don't sit in a vacuum and things that happen across the country could impact our city.

And you're right, you peeled off several different areas that we're dealing with organized criminal behavior. Some of it was here long before, as the FBI talked about some of the South American gangs that are finding their way here. We had our Crips and our Bloods before that. We had small crews that are neighborhood-centered. You have crews that are going in in a very organized fashion, participating in shoplifting.

That's why, one, we have to make sure we give the city's Police Department the level of support that they need. Second, there needs to be a real coordination with the criminal justice apparatus to keep those repeated offenders incarcerated, and those who are incarcerated, we need an expeditious trial so they can serve their time and not sit and overpopulate Rikers Island.

Third, we are using a great level of technology to connect the dots. We're seeing a real collaboration across the country. People are looking at New York City and seeing what our police department is doing to connect the dots so we could identify those patterns like we broke up two weeks ago when we did the raid and to identify how the connectivity with Florida and other locales.

And so we have to stay one step ahead of bad guys in general but organized bad guys, you have to really use intel, enforcement and collaboration. And so it's a challenge, but we have been up for the challenge. You know, this police department, New York City Police Department has been really dealing with that challenge while we're dealing with hundreds of protests, you know, while we're dealing with changes in rules on how they do their job. So, they've been, this city has maintained a steady hand of managing all of these various gang involvements in the city.

Question: Do you advocate making more federal cases out of gang investigations because there are stiffer penalties as opposed to state cases?

Mayor Adams: Yes, and when they fall within the categories, particularly around transporting merchandise, stolen merchandise across state lines or organized gangs around guns or large fentanyl cases. We think that when it falls into that category, we should utilize that as much as possible.

Deputy Mayor Levy: I would also add, Juliet, that in the PMMR, the first four months of 2024, gang‑motivated incidents were down, and NYPD's targeted focus on combating gun violence and investment in long‑term cases of criminal groups contributed to a 67 percent decline in gang‑motivated incidents. So, I think that's important.

Mayor Adams: And that's the good job that they're doing.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good. Two questions. One, on the topic of pilot projects, can you update us on your deployment plans for the K5 autonomous robot now that it's not being used in Times Square anymore? And then the second question is, there's a Siena poll out this morning that shows that more New Yorkers would prefer a generic someone else over either Biden or Trump in New York State. Do you have any thoughts on what Biden is doing wrong as far as his reelection campaign is concerned?

Mayor Adams: No, I'm not running for president. I'm the mayor of the city, and so I think that their campaign team can give you analysis of what they're doing right or wrong. I know that people thought the economy was going to be far worse than it is, and it appears as though our economy is recovering well, and I thought their plan was a great plan.

We're seeing the benefit of that. He has done some amazing things around public safety. And I think that what I believe is that the president has really navigated us through Covid, he has navigated us through a real economic downturn. I was speaking with Jacques the other day, and all the economic experts thought that we were headed for a very dark place financially, and just the opposite. I mean, he's the president. If he has to take the negative on things, we need to look at the positives.

So, I think people need to just get his message out and I'm sure he's going to do that. The campaign season is still just revving up, primaries are still going on. And as I stated before, I'm a supporter of the President and I look forward to him leading for another four years.

The K5 is, you know, we have another plan that I want to do with the K5. I don't want to roll it out yet. But we still see there's a use of using robotics and technology. I'm a big believer in this. We have to really see how do we use robotics and technology to run our city more efficiently.

Because in a law enforcement area, we're really hurting in manpower. We're hurting in law enforcement from police officers, correction officers, parole officers, probation, school safety agents, all of our law enforcement communities are hurting. We're missing, we don't have the manpower.

Deputy Mayor Banks sat down with me and gave me an analysis, a national analysis, and we should really be concerned about what is happening in the law enforcement area of our cities across America. People no longer want to be in law enforcement. And even when I talk to my DAs, they're having a problem getting district attorneys.

And so the foundation to our prosperity is public safety. We could criticize our law enforcement as much as we want. But you know what? You're going to love them when you call 911 and that cop doesn't show up to your house. You're going to all of a sudden have a different feeling. Or, when you can't have enough correction offices at your correctional facilities.

It is idealism when you talk about you don't want police, realism is when you need the police. And so we're going to find another use for the robot. We're going to try it. And you know, if it's successful, we're going to pat ourselves on the back; if it's not, we'll blame the media.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Yes, how are you?

Question: Good. Thank you. So, one more question about the incident that happened on Randall's Island, the scuffle. So, there was some women spotted in that video. I know it's a male‑only shelter, so just wondering, is anyone allowed in there? Is there like visiting hours, or do people have to, I believe people have to check in? So, just wondering about that.

And then also any update on the cameras and metal detectors. I know you guys were talking about installing those at shelters, just how many have been done and is there a timeline for those are going to be completed.

Mayor Adams: DM? Camille?

Joseph Varlack: So, on Randall's it's, we have adults, but we also have adult families, so there are women that are living at that location. And your second question had to do with metal detectors. So there's a full review that's happening right now…

There's a full review happening right now of the security at all of our facilities and particularly Randall's. So, if there's anything else to report out, we will certainly get back to you.

Question: But do you guys have like a list of shelters that are getting metal detectors? And I know you guys were talking about installing those and cameras.

Joseph Varlack: We are looking at all of the locations as we do every single month to just make sure that we are aware of where there's been an incident, if there's a change that needs to be made to the security plan.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Camille, there are cameras already, though, so just to be clear...

Joseph Varlack: Yes.

Deputy Mayor Levy: ...there are cameras at these facilities.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: Okay.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Yes. That's been from the beginning, Morgan. That wasn't since the first incident or whatever.

Mayor Adams: And they're connected remotely also so we get to complement the officers who are assigned there, if there's a indicator that something is about to happen, we want to deploy personnel when it's possible.

And in this incident, we are reexamining when you have to go in and make an arrest like that, how do we make sure proactively no harm to the residents that are there and no harm to the officers that are responding.

But I cannot overemphasize, 3,000 people in a setting that they can't do anything all day. That is just not — I've been saying this for almost a year now — that is just not an ideal situation. Even the most peaceful person being confined to an area with 3,000 people — even if you're the most peaceful person —- there comes a time when you just, it just irritates you.

And that's what we need to, we need to fix this problem. We've done a great job, folks, 110,000 people who came through our system took the next step on their journey, 110,000 people. Not too many people can say what we've done, but you still have 60‑something thousand that are basically being told your American dream is paused right there, and they feel that way.

Question: Hi, Mayor Adams. I wanted to ask you… 

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: I'm good, thanks. About a post from Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry the other day where he said that the Police Department will be using drones to drop Inflatable rafts for people who are drowning. The police just referred me back to the tweet, Parks Department referred me back to the Police Department.

I don't know if you or Deputy Mayor Joshi want to talk about how many drones could be in use, would they stay on the beaches or would they operate these drones for One Police Plaza.

And then secondly, in speaking to people who are kind of experts at lifesaving, most people don't really realize they're drowning until it's too late. We have a dire lifeguard shortage; also, most of the drownings occur when there are no lifeguards.

So, can you talk about how some of this will work? Has it been tested here in the States? I know maybe Australia has been working on this, but I just wanted to get any more details you have about this drone program.

Mayor Adams: Yes. And first of all, New York needs to lead from the front. We don't follow, we lead. And I had a presentation last year on the use of drones dropping inflatable life rafts to people who find themselves caught up in a riptide, find themselves in the threat of drowning.

The communication, you can actually communicate to the person who's in the water to sort of calm them down. So, they're still working out to particulars. I was extremely impressed when I saw the video camera that's attached to allow people to know exactly where the person is located, and it's a new process.

And as you mentioned, we have a real shortage of lifeguards. Mind you, we have a lot of migrants and asylum seekers, if we allow them to work they can fill the lifeguard shortage that we're having.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Right. You know, and so this is a pilot. The Police Department is going to do a full presentation. They're going to show you how it works. It's going to be deployed from locales in the beach areas. I think they're going to start out with Coney Island and they're going to grow from there. But I saw the deployment last year during beach season, and I think it can be in a great addition to saving the lives of those that we lose over the summer.

DM Meera Joshi, you want to add anything to that?

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Sure. And as you know, we used some drones last summer, and so we'll continue and expand upon that work this summer. And it's really important to have those extra eyes in the sky.

I'm happy to report we have more lifeguards signed up at this time this year than we had last year. We're still in the process. And that's thanks to the wage increase that now makes New York City on par with some of our competitors, and if you're going to get paid the same, why not be on a New York City beach, so I think more lifeguards are certainly interested in working in New York City.

But the key thing is, it's eyes in the sky, and they also have the ability to communicate directly as those photos come in with the lifeguards that are on the beach. And so with that interaction, you can see further and you still get the benefit of activating our safety personnel and our lifeguards that are on the beach.

So we certainly, just like GPS has taught us how to see around corners and that's improved safety in cars, we certainly want to use this technology to improve the line of sight and ultimately the safety of our beaches.

Question: Why not just give lifeguards the ability to use drones? Why have the police drone program at all?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Because the lifeguards focus has to be on the water. If they're managing a drone and they're looking at that footage, they're not looking at the kids in the water, the families in the water. And so we don't want to do anything that distracts from them. So, PD pairs with Parks and supplements the work that they're doing by taking a broader bird's eye view using the drones and then work communicating swiftly with the lifeguards.

Mayor Adams: And on the drone, there's a loudspeaker that communicates with the person who may be in trouble and also communicate to the lifeguard: the person went under right there, you're three feet away, go to the right, go to the left. And so you're seeing a teamwork of the lifeguard swimming out to save and someone coordinating where that person actually is.

So you're no longer trying to figure out where it is, the drone is right overhead. You drop the life raft, the inflatable life raft, and you're communicating with the lifeguard that's going to save this person.

Question: How are you communicating with the lifeguard?

Mayor Adams: No, hold on, hold on, let… I'm sorry.

Question: I'm just trying to, you know, I asked the police, they didn't have any. How are you communicating with the lifeguard? And I know that… 

Mayor Adams: He's hearing from the speaker. There's a speaker, and it's a very good speaker.

Question: I'm sorry?

Deputy Mayor Levy: They are.

Question: Yes.

Mayor Adams: There's a speaker on the drone.

Question: Right.

Mayor Adams: And you're able to, you can hear, it's very good. We used it to clear out a park. You can hear it clearly. So, if that person is swimming towards someone, now you have eyes in the sky telling you the person is straight ahead, the person is off to your right, the person went under in front of you.

Now you have eyes in the sky that's actually assisting you, you're no longer blindly trying to figure out where the person is located. We're adding eyes in the sky to assist.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Katie, during one of the storms in the fall, there was a testing and it was on Twitter, the video of it, that some drones were like warning residents like, watch out, flooding and stuff like that. So, we can see if we can find it on Twitter, but I remember there was a specific video of that.

Question: ...they're used for shark monitoring, too [inaudible.].

Mayor Adams: Exactly, they… 

Deputy Mayor Levy: But the speaker, the point is the speaker is loud enough that even in a storm you were able to hear.

Question: I wanted to ask you about the NYPD dance team. They appeared on the PIX 11 morning news; and unfortunately, received no small amount of vitriol online, millions and millions of views, the right wing raising questions about policing, again, this is an extracurricular activity. The left wing raising questions about cost against de minimis amount of administrative costs. So, these women feel that they were bullied online. It speaks a little bit to the morale stuff you're talking about. What is your message to officers right now? What do you think of the dance team?

Mayor Adams: They are going to be joining me, I think today, to show me some steps. And I'm having them come here. I'm going to take pictures with them. And I spoke with the PD so they would be around later. If any of you want to learn some moves, you could be here to participate.

That is part of what I perceive as people just wanting to find reasons just to, you know, just to be mean‑spirited We have a NYPD boxing team, NYPD football team, NYPD hockey team, FDNY team. We have fraternal organizations.

This costs the Police Department nothing. It really humanizes our officers. It is a way to alleviate the stress and difficulties and challenges of doing the job. We have Girls Talk where Former Chief Holmes sat down with young ladies.

And what I critique the police department about often is that you are not letting people know how much you do more than just policing. These officers, if you do an analysis of police officers and what they do in their off hours and how they volunteer and how they give back — because they see some of the horrors in the communities that they're policing — these ladies and gentlemen off hours contribute so much.

They give out prom dresses that they collect from people, what Deputy Commissioner Stewart does with baby showers. Thousands of young people who don't have supplies for their children, he hands out. And so for those anywhere in the country, because let's keep in mind, because someone tweets something, doesn't mean it came from New Yorkers.

It could come from anywhere in the country. Someone is sitting at home in their pajamas, just finding a reason to hate on people. If you find something wrong with police officers volunteering on their time to humanize their roles, to alleviate stress, to just give back, then you're going to find things wrong with that.

I am proud of them and I'm proud of any and everyone that volunteers outside their hours and responsibilities and gives back. Everyone should be saying after I finish my nine to five I need to go and give back. There's nothing wrong with what they're doing.

And I told Commissioner Daughtry to see if they would come by today so I could, you know, personally thank them. And kudos to them for doing it. I hope we get bowling teams, I hope we get basketball teams to really show and humanize.

As we try to recruit more police officers, they need to see that you, just because you wear that uniform does not mean you cannot have other extracurriculum activities.

Question: I was wondering if any of the high‑profile women on the dais with you who help you run the city could speak to the unique challenges that a woman in public, the spotlight, faces if anyone cares to offer any thoughts about that. I mean, you're all on camera right now, for instance. I mean, can you speak to those unique challenges that these women are unfortunately facing right now?

Joseph Varlack: Certainly. I mean, I think I would add, and I had the opportunity to see the dance team during the annual FDNY NYPD game. I mean, they're exceptional, right? And they're doing it on their own time, and it's physical exercise, and they're supporting each other and they're doing something wonderful and supporting the department.

And I think most of us that are sitting here on the dais, I mean, we know how hard it is to be a woman full stop, much less in government where you have such a high‑profile position and you're called upon.

But when it comes down to we get up and we show up every day, I certainly know that I'm here because every day I get a chance to help people. And so there are going to be folks that are negative in the world. That's fine, you just keep it moving.

First Deputy Mayor Wright: And I think we should have a Press / City Hall softball team. I don't know if you guys would be up for it.

Deputy Mayor Levy: I would just point out, Henry, just to be very clear about… Well, actually, before, if any of the other women on the...

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, Health and Human Services: No, I'm meditating right now.

Deputy Mayor Levy: I don't want to interrupt if… I would just point out, like Commissioner Sheppard said today on PIX 11, just to be very clear, because I saw some people tweeting out, including a congressmember, how many classes were cut because of this you know, to the DOE budget? Zero, because zero taxpayer dollars are spent on this. So, it's very important to say that.

How much time of, you know, on duty, zero. This is off duty. The same way many of people in this room might participate in Inner Circle, that's in your off time. It's an activity you're allowed to do. You're not 24/7 required to be a reporter, they're not required to be policing 24/7.

Mayor Adams: Yes, and it's just, you know, some of those tweets, as I read, it's just mean. People just, you know, when you're hurting, you want to be hurtful. And it was just mean. And so I want those women to know that I appreciate them, New Yorkers appreciate them, and I appreciate all of these officers and what they do off hours.

They go in, they put their lives on the line, and instead of staying home, they go out and say, how can we help people that they're watching going through these difficult times. And just some of those tweets was just mean people saying and doing mean things.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good morning to the team. It's been a great conversation so far, touching on a lot of topics that I probably wanted to talk about. But I just want to pivot a little bit. The mayor of Atlanta, Dickens, he has this new program where he's repurposing these shipping containers and using it for affordable housing. He was able to do, I think, 40 units at a cost of $5 million, it was done in 60 days. What are your thoughts on that?

Mayor Adams: I bumped into a person at an event last week that had a similar concept. I told them to reach out to the office, set up a meeting.

I'm going to have the meet and turn it over to the team to look at, I think they're on to something. These shipping containers are being used for housing across the country, and there's a large number of shipping containers that are not being used.

I think it's a good idea. I'm going to reach out to the mayor of Atlanta, who's a good friend, and probably send a team to take a look at what he's doing. But I think they're on to something. And it's about finding the land. It's a little different in Atlanta than here in New York, they have more open space.

But from what I saw in the review of the document that was given to me, I think there's some great concepts here. You can stack them on top of each other. They're very sturdy. So, there may be a way that we can use this, and I think it's a good concept. And we're going to try it. We're going to try some type of pilot, and if the team looks at it and says there's a feasibility to it.

Question: Secondly, Women's History Month is next month, and some of the ladies from your team, I would love for them to visit the Reset Talk Show so we could highlight them.

Mayor Adams: I love it.

Question: So, I'm going to be reaching out. You know, we have a great audience and we want to salute you women.

Mayor Adams: I love that. Listen, they are my secret weapon. You know, I tell them, I don't think they get out enough. We should do a show on Reset where they can come and talk about each one of them. And what I love is each one of their personal narratives. When you sit down and hear each one of their stories, what Sheena's mom did around the AIDS fight when no one was willing to take on that fight, Camille's role in the governor's office and government, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer's just history.

I mean, can you imagine what Filipino-Americans failed to have a deputy mayor with her success and what she's doing around housing? DM Meera Joshi, she's in charge of the infrastructure and these large male‑dominated areas of this city. DM Almanzar. You know, we're getting ready to do something today. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet, but you know, what she's doing with these partnerships that we're having.

And you know, could you not be in awe with what Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom has done? No one else in the country has been able to navigate this crisis, 110,000 people taking the next step on their journey, not one child or family sleeping on the streets of our city because of what she has done.

So, I think the historical roles they're playing, I think that, you know, their message should get out more. You know, this is not... I may be the mayor and a man, but this city is being run by women, and they are doing a darned good job.

And history is going to be kind. We're going to be a retrospected appreciated administration. People are going to look back at these women who just really changed the game on what the possibilities are. And I'm proud of them every day. And I just hope they keep doing what they're doing.

So, I would love for them to be on your show and give an overview of the daily lives. You know, but each one of my, I have chapters in my books for each one of them when I finish up.

Question: Back on the summertime swimming. City Council passed a bill to guarantee 30,000 second graders swimming lessons, but it got eliminated in the budget cuts. I think it was like a $5 million program. So, one question is, is that going to be restored in any way down the road?

I think there's some philanthropic input, but that instead of teaching 70,000 kids, they're going to be able to teach about 1,500 kids, so it's a big... And they say, you know swimming is most prone to drowning when poorer kids, kids of color, CDC says they are most vulnerable in that whole thing. So, it seemed like it was a good idea to get second graders to learn how to swim.

Mayor Adams: Yes, we need… 

Question: And the other one is one of the reasons they put it in was because a lifeguard shortage, they eliminated all the swimming programs of all the city pools. Do we now have enough lifeguards to restore these swimming programs for the kids?

Mayor Adams: We had to make some real tough choices on our budgetary cuts. But I think that where the cuts took place, there are some real creative ways of having real partnerships to address some of those issues, particularly swimming.

The governor, you know, back in my days as borough president, I partnered with Swim Strong organization, who talks about teaching our young people how to swim. I think this is a great opportunity to partner with our YWCA's and other organizations and get older children, you know, our swim teams. All of our swim teams in the Department of Education should step up right now and say how do we put in place a real program to allow our young people how to swim?

The governor's on board with this with Plus Pool, something that I pushed when I was the borough president, I was happy to see it materialized with the governor. Swimming is a real issue. You know, we're surrounded by water and we need to do everything possible to get our young people the knowledge to swim and particularly in underserved communities.

And it brings us no joy to have to cut any type of program, but we have a fiscal obligation. And I think when we make those cuts, we need to find new ways of creating partnerships so we can get the results that we're looking for.

And there's enough organizations out there, there's enough swim teams, there are enough groups out there. This is something where my NYPD officers that know how to swim, if they want to do something on their off duty time, correction officers, teachers. Many of us know how to swim. This is a moment there's an all hands on deck moment so these children don't slip through the cracks.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: And I just want to add, we just opened up for summer camp registration, so people, if they're interested. And there's also an opportunity in that to incorporate our swimming, and that's giving kids a chance to learn how to swim.

We continue to push on our lifeguards. Thanks to our cooperation with DOE, we have more city school pools open that allow people to take that lifeguard test so that we have a larger pool to work with. And we are going to continue what we have navigated for the last two summers to really increase the number of lifeguards.

And the more lifeguards we have, the more programming we can do, which allows for a different test for the mini pools and that frees up more lifeguards to be at the Olympic sized pools and at our beaches. So, we'll continue to push to be creative to ensure that we have staffing so that we can have the most amount of swim training in the summer times especially when our pools are open.

Question: Do we know the actual numbers right now? You said they were up, do we know… 

Deputy Mayor Joshi: We're up for new to lifeguarding in New York City. Those that are registering, they have to take the training as well, but it's too early to tell also for our returning lifeguards.

[Crosstalk]

Mayor Adams: No, no, no. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Question: Pay rate is for starting lifeguards right now?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: 22 an hour.

Deputy Mayor Levy: And there was $1,000 bonus for a returning person, right?

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Yes.

Question: Mr. Mayor, good to see you. Earlier you spoke about your Albany wish list. You know, coming off of caucus weekend, which item are you feeling like you're getting the most, I guess, agreement on, where you feel like, okay, this is something we can definitely get done this year. And which is more like, going to be a bigger push, it's going to be harder for you to actually get that over the finish line? Not because of you, per se, but just like the dynamics around the issue.

Mayor Adams: I think the most important issue that I'm getting more and more excited about is the housing part. We have an inventory issue. We were not successful as a state to land that plane, but I think there's a deal to be made, and we can make that deal. And I'm hearing that many different circles are saying, listen, we know we have to deal with this inventory issue. And so I think that is probably going to be the most challenging, but I'm still hearing good energy up there.

And Tiffany Raspberry, the Intergovernmental Affairs leader, her and her team up there, Chris Ellis, Diane Savino, former state senator and others, they've been up there really pounding the pavement, really being proactive to get this through.

And all the items are important. Cannabis, we've got to deal with this cannabis issue. Mayoral accountability, we have to continue the success of Chancellor Banks. We're outpacing the state in reading and math, and people are looking at our reading program across the state. Raising our debt ceiling. We have everything from Rikers to BQE to class size. All of this is connected to this issue. 

So, all of them are going to be challenging. Albany is Albany. But it's clear the energy there is very inviting. We had some great conversations with the caucus, with individual members, with the leaders up there, and I think we're going to continue our winning streak. We're going to do well in Albany.

Question: Ms. Zornberg, under Callahan and its progeny, what is the basis for treating a migrant homeless person different from a traditional New York homeless person?

And for the mayor, you're a former police supervisor. Is it an appropriate use of force to initiate use of force against someone who makes fun of you for looking like Ugly Betty? This was in the migrant video in Times Square. The folks appeared to be dispersing. One of the migrants said in Spanish, they look like either Ugly Betty or words to that effect.

A police officer put his hands on the migrant, pushed him against the storefront, thus begun the meele. So, I understand your comments regarding what happened afterwards, just as a matter of, is it an appropriate use of force under the department guidelines to initiate use of force for making fun of somebody?

Mayor Adams: Well, and the...

Question: [Inaudible.].

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: [Inaudible.].

Mayor Adams: And we have very clear rules of if someone used an appropriate amount of force. I'm not sure if someone heard the video and someone made a comment about Ugly Betty. I'm not sure, you know…

All I know is that if an officer inappropriately uses force, there are mechanisms, either through CCRB or IAB to conduct a thorough investigation to determine if that officer did something inappropriate, and then a penalty is handed down based on the action.

Under no circumstances should we ever give the belief to anyone, migrant or non‑migrant, that you have the authorization to try to grab a police officer's gun, to kick an officer, to fight an officer. We should never do that. That's why we have clear guidelines that if an officer does something inappropriate, there are mechanisms in place to report that.

And that's going to be part of the full scope of the investigation. Did the officer do something wrong, and did the migrants do something wrong? And all of that is part of the investigation. And whenever there's an arrest, let's be clear. If there's an arrest, even if someone commits a crime, if there's an arrest, there's an analysis to determine if the officer did something wrong also.

You just don't say, okay, someone committed a crime so an officer can do whatever he wants. There's going to be a thorough investigation of that entire encounter to determine what actions were inappropriate on everyone that's involved. And that's the great system that we have in this city that others don't have. Other cities do not have a CCRB. They don't investigate these crimes, actions, incidents as thorough as we do. And that's what we're going to do here.

Question: And will that become the base, the conclusion of that investigation will be public?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it always is. CCRB, all of these investigations are public with the outcome of them.

Question: There is an investigation…

Mayor Adams: What happens on that video, whenever there's an incident on that video, if someone made a complaint, all those complaints are investigated. I don't have the full scope of if somebody made a complaint. I don't know if the person involved made a complaint that the officer did such and such.

We are saying that somebody made an Ugly Betty comment. I don't know did they, or is that where people are interpreting, or is that what someone heard on the street?

Question: [Inaudible].

Mayor Adams: Is that what the video, did somebody hear that? So.

Question: The gentleman said in Spanish words to the effect of… 

Mayor Adams: Hold on, hold on, hold on, Let him finish. Go ahead, I'm sorry.

Question: I'm, you know, I don't have the video in front of me, but in a nutshell, this migrant said, he looks like or they look like Ugly Betty.

Mayor Adams: Okay.

Question: Thereupon the police officer pushed him against the storefront and you know what happened next.

Mayor Adams: Okay. And if someone made a complaint based on the officer's action or if the department reviews even absent of a complaint someone's action is inappropriate there's going to be some form of review to determine if something was inappropriate.

Question: Okay. Thanks.

Zornberg: The short answer to your question is that what the city has sought in the state court proceeding is not complicated at all, and it's basically to say to the court during times of emergency when our systems are overwhelmed due to the surge of people, there needs to be some form of relief so that the city has the flexibility to deal with the emergency situation.

And that's the relief that's been sought, and the city continues to be in negotiations to hopefully, you know, to obtain a form of relief along those lines.

Question: But that's the relief you're seeking right now, if I can follow up on that...

Mayor Adams: No, yes, yes. Let him finish. Let him finish. Go ahead, man, finish.

Question: Ms. Zornberg, you haven't gotten that relief yet, so what is the legal basis for treating migrants differently from the traditional homeless population? You're seeking that relief. You haven't gotten it, right?

Zornberg: The negotiations continue, and there are a lot of… You're asking a legal question that actually has many permutations to it that require an analysis of local, state and federal law. So, I know you intend to ask the question simply, but the field is actually complex. What my point to you is that the relief that the city is seeking is not complicated at all. It's seeking a form of relief during emergency situations like this one. Thank you.