Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds In-Person Media Availability

March 12, 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. Our press and communications teams work tirelessly to keep New Yorkers informed about breaking news, essential government services and the state of our city.

Last week, our team here got even stronger. As many of you have seen, we announced that we are not only promoting some of the incredible public servants already working here at City Hall, but also bringing in new voices to help us communicate even more effectively to New Yorkers.

This enhanced team will strengthen our work and ensure all New Yorkers have a clear line of sight into their city government. That will always be our goal of our work, including our weekly media availabilities where this morning the mayor has, once again, convened senior leadership to answer your questions and address important issues.

Joining us today are Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chief Advisor to the Mayor Ingrid Lewis‑Martin, 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 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. Thank you, DM Levy. For those at home who can't see, the amazing Marcia Cramer is wearing my hat: stay focused, no distractions and grind. We've got to get one for all the reporters. That's the Christmas gift.

You know, we say over and over again, two years ago, we had a real clear vision. And clarity is so important, and that vision is clear: protect public safety, rebuild our economy, make the city more livable. And each one of those items that commitment was a promise made and promise kept. We're delivering all three of these every day.

We have made it a priority to ensure that New Yorkers can get from Point A to Point B safely no matter how they travel. We discussed the steps our administration has taken to respond to an earlier spike in transit crime during the month of February by deploying 1,000 additional police officers into the subway every day.

And we saw the results of that. In February, we saw subway crime drop by over 15 percent year over year. That was important to all of us. Transit plays a vital role in the movement of people and playing on the psyche of people on feeling safe in our system.

And we want to be extremely clear. Our subway system is safe and the men and women there are working to deal with quality of life issues and increase in arrests and increase in enforcement. It's a real clear message that our system must be safe.

We also have been focusing on car thefts. If you do an analysis of the numbers of increasing crime in the city where we were having problem areas, it was dealing with car thefts. A lot of that was driven by Kia's and Hyundai's, which is connected to the Car Theft Challenge, the Kia Challenge on social media, that when we do analysis across the city, you see that those are the cars that are leading the way. Kia, Hyundai's and Honda are leading the way, and that it has been problematic.

But we have really put in place an initiative that I stated about looking at those numbers. And as a result of our efforts, grand larceny auto began to drop four percent in December and four percent again in January, and now grand larcenies has dropped another 13 percent in February.

We're also taking additional actions with our state partners, and I'm excited to have Governor Hochul and so many partners join us later this afternoon as we talk about an initiative that we're doing with ghost plates, paper plates and other methods that people are [being used] to really cover up their vehicle's identification. Plates are there for a reason. They provide a vital role of identifying a car in an accident or if it's used in a crime.

And we want to continue to bring down crime. We're simultaneously bringing jobs up and breaking records again and again. No matter what... One could have an opinion, but facts don't lie: we have more private sector and public sector jobs combined in the history of the city, over 4.7 million jobs.

We're moving in the right direction and we're going to continue to do that. 300,000 of those jobs were under this administration, that goes to revitalizing our economy, rebuilding our economy. We talked about public safety, we talked about job recoveries, of recovering our economy and we're going to continue to do that.

This job is helping New Yorkers put food on the table and build this sense of dignity, support families and give back to their communities. That's what it looks like to stand with working class New Yorkers is what I believe in, so important.

But livability, quality of life, our streets clean. Spoke with Mayor Bloomberg earlier, late last week when he was talking about the whole trash initiative that we are doing and making sure we containerize our garbage. And as we make sure New Yorkers can afford the city, we want them to live in a clean city. Cleanliness is important to us.

Last Friday, the Department of Sanitation took the next steps on our trash revolution, a call for company to design the containers that would make it possible to get black bags off our streets for good. This is a shift in the look of our city and it's part of our cleanliness revolution we want.

So, when you think about a half century, we started with these mountains of garbage bags, and hordes of rats followed outside our homes and we believe trash belongs in bins not on the street. These new containers will help us bring the trash revolution to our large builders, which is the next layer of ensuring that we're containerizing our garbage and we'll start in upper Manhattan next spring and then move to the entire city.

This is the vision: protect public safety, crime is going down, we're living up to that responsibility and obligation. Rebuild the economy, more private sector jobs in the history of the city, bond raters are showing how we are making the right steps to do so and make our city a more livable.

To focus, not being distracted and grinding, as the cap will say. So, I want to turn it back over to you, DM Levy.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I have two questions.

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Question: The first question has to do with congestion pricing. The former governor of the State of New York who actually pushed through congestion pricing and signed the bill authorizing congestion pricing, has now come out against congestion pricing saying now is not the time in the city to do congestion pricing because things have changed, Covid, people not having to come to work, et cetera. I wonder how you feel about that, and if you think maybe congestion pricing should be put off until the city recovers more.

And my second question has to do with the National Guard in the subways, if you think that's a good idea, a bad idea, you'd rather see cops. So, congestion pricing first.

Mayor Adams: The former governor has been all over the place lately, you know...

Question: He's been all over the place [inaudible]. 

Mayor Adams: You know, we have to make the right decision on congestion pricing. One, we need to make sure it doesn't overtax everyday working class New Yorkers; two, we have to make the determination, is the time right?

You know, I'm a big believer. I don't want to do anything that's going to impact our economy and our continuing recovery, and hearing voices from former and current elected officials, I'm open to hear what they have to say. It has to be done right. We have to do it right. That's the bottom line.

It can't impact working‑class people, it cannot impact slowing down our economy. And if anything concretely states that is doing either one of them, we need to come back to the table and figure out how to do it right.

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Can I just add to that? Marcia… 

Question: Do you agree with that… 

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Marcia, can I just add real quick? The mayor mentioned doing it right and there's a couple things that the city's advocated for that are really important that ended up in the TMBR recommendations and direct negotiations with the MTA. 

$100 million of the congestion pricing dollars will now go to environmental justice initiatives, that's asthma centers, park lands, EV charging. Also negotiated and advocated for a 50 percent discount for low‑income New Yorkers after their 10th trip. 

There's also a differential for overnight, out of respect for those that do shift work and need to come into the city, as well as we're really advocating— and I think successfully— around an exemption for our yellow school buses, which is an important transportation method for our public school students. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, I guess the question I have for you... is, is this the time? Do you think that maybe it should be put back a little bit of time so that the city can recover, more people will come into the city, the central business district will recover and that maybe it should be postponed a little bit?

Mayor Adams: So, what we can't do, we can't make these decisions based on our gut. There are experts out there that will make a determination if something is implemented, [if] it could get in the way of slowing down our economic recovery. And I don't want anything to slow down our economic recovery, and I don't want to overburden taxpayers. And we should continue to negotiate as much as possible that both of those items are protected.

And so if there's some substantial research or data that is going to determine that, we need to look at it and have that conversation. You know, when you look at the report that came out, we stated that environmental issues in the Bronx, environmental issues in Staten Island, we have to look at the data.

This can't be just gut and it can't be just emotionally driven. This is a major shift in how we're going to use our roadways. Mind you, I think New York City should have had the overall...between the Councils and the mayor's office, we should have had the overall planning of this, but we didn't. We didn't. I had one person I was able to appoint and I think that's something that impacts New York City streets should be determined by New York City elected leaders.

Question: So, it sounds like you have reservations?

Mayor Adams: Nope, not reservation. I just want us to do it right. You know, I want us to do it right. And let me tell you, there's not a uniform position within my administration. People have different thoughts and we all...

This is a major shift in our streets, in the use of our streets, and so we are all having healthy conversations on how to get it right. All of us want to get it right.

Question: National Guard on the subways? 

Mayor Adams: The goal... I've said this before and I remember when I said it the first time I took a lot of criticism and heat for it. When you look at the numbers in our subway system, two percent of the overall city crime is in our subway system, two percent, over four million riders, about six felonies a day. 

And what I knew when I came in, based on my work as a transit police officer, that no matter what the numbers are, how do people feel is important. I don't know if you remember in 2022 when I said we have a perception problem that, you know, I got criticized because that's the reality.

I can tell New Yorkers every day that, you know, out of the four million riders, that only six felonies happen. But if people don't feel safe, that means nothing. So, my role is to make sure that we have the actual numbers or get rid of those six felonies. 

But also I had a major initiative of, how do I make people feel safe? And what did I hear from riders? Too many homeless people, too many people are dealing with severe mental health illness. The place is not clean, not seeing police officers, you know, visibility. 

We changed that. Doing patrol, moving around, having our outreach workers get people off the system. And what the Governor did, and her thought is, how do we also enhance that? The presence of a uniform makes people feel better, and if the National Guards or the state police want to add to that presence, I applaud that. 

You know, our Subway Safety Plan that the two of us put together earlier in my administration played the vital role in bringing down crime. And we continue to bring down crime. Let's be clear, we had a bump in February... January, we had a bump in January. We put police officers back in the system and we saw that shift. 

So, you get those bumps from time to time. But our subway system is a safe place to commute. And I hear it all the time from New Yorkers. They say, yes, I would love not to see anyone homeless on our system. I would love to have people not yelling and screaming on our system.

But Eric, I ride these trains. I get to and from my place of employment to school. We have a safe system and I'm going to make it safer and I'm going to make people feel safer at the same time.

Question: Hi, Mayor Adams. I wanted to ask you about a story my colleague wrote today in the city about the uptick in young migrants under 18 who have been turned away from the city's youth shelters. Over a period of time in the fall, 200 young people were turned away; over the previous time period, it was seven.

I wanted to ask you your take on this and how this squares with your assertion that there's no young people sleeping on streets, that people are being evicted from city‑run migrant shelters and then they're being turned away from city‑run youth shelters, which also have had issues with your administration not allowing them to stay overnight or to sleep and drop in centers because there's issues there.

So, I wanted to ask your take on that and if maybe, if it's at odds in what you proclaim that there are no people sleeping on the street when our reporting found that there are and there are young people sleeping on the street. 

Mayor Adams: Well, okay, first two things. One, what I said and I said it over and over again, no children and families. No children and families. I've said that over and over again. So, you know, and someone may reinterpret what I said; no children and families.

But also don't get lost on the fact, City Council passed a law last year that stated people are allowed to sleep on the streets of the City of New York. That is the law they passed. People are allowed to sleep. We cannot stop New Yorkers from sleeping on the streets of the City of New York. That's a law that they passed. There's not much I could do.

I speak to some migrants and asylum seekers when I'm out there— and I'm always speaking with them— many of them say, I want to sleep on the street. We can't stop that from happening. You know, so when you said that there were 200 that were turned away, I want to be clear on the numbers that have come in, we have 182,000 that have come into the system, 182,000.

So, if there are 200 that are saying they're turned away, we always try to find room for not only young people who are 18, but anyone that comes in. We try to find room and we're going to continue to manage this crisis to the best that we can. 

What I've learned about managing this crisis, you know, one of my chapters that I'm writing in my book, is that no matter what you do, they're going to be those who are going to say, we could have done something differently or better.

We know how well we did with this crisis. National and international leaders have told us the success that we've done is not duplicated anywhere in the country. I know what this team has done. I know it.

So, you are always going to find someone out there that's going to say, this administration could have done something differently. And yes, we could do stuff differently and we are going to continue to evolve. So, I don't know those 200 that you're talking about. 

Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar, Strategic Initiatives: And to this difference, Katie, and we mentioned the drop‑in center, which is a place for our young people to go in, receive services, be connected to other services that they might need. And everyone who comes through DYCD, which is the agency who takes care of our drop‑in center and the [inaudible] homeless youth provides a bed for those who come in.

If any young person who finds themselves in the street, they can call our office, call our number at DYCD. And I'll give you the number, that is (800) 246‑4646. For the record, DYCD in the last two years have been able to place 600 young people in permanent housing from those that have come through the system.

And as the mayor mentioned, let's not forget the 182,000 migrants who have come through our doors and the 60 percent of them have been able to find the path forward through the services that the administration have been provided for them.

Question: We reported they turned away 200 people over a few month period. Additionally, I don't think these young people are choosing to sleep on the street.

First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright: Well, I think it's important Katie, the drop‑in centers are not for sleeping. They're not allowed to have people sleep there overnight. So, no, people cannot sleep there overnight. They can certainly get services. DYCD does have beds for homeless youth that they fill every single day.

So, I would like to understand, you know, a little bit better, just the reporting, people were not turned away from services, but you're not allowed to sleep in a drop‑in center. You have to be, you know, certified to do that. But there are homeless beds for young people and they're also prioritized in the work that we're doing with asylum seekers.

Question: 500 teens and young adults turned away in the second half of 2023. So, what is... I mean, I don't know what turned, I mean... 

Deputy Mayor Wright: I don't know. That was your reporting, I don't know...

Mayor Adams: Yes, and we have to dig into it. And you know, wherever we found there needs to be a need of services, there's a pathway for it. Let's not, while they write that story, write that we had 182,000. So, you're telling me, Eric, 200, something needs to be adjusted. We'll look at it. 182,000, 60 percent self‑sustaining. Those are numbers that I would take any day of the week of the level of benevolence. 

And international and national leaders have come here, walked through what we're doing and said, nowhere in the country do we see what New York City is doing. New Yorkers should be proud of what they're doing and not allow people to say, we have not shown a level of benevolence. I'm extremely proud of what New York City has done.

Question: Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor Adams: What's happening?

Question: So, Albany is out with their budget proposals, includes no more money than the Governor has already laid out on her proposal. I just wanted to see, like, what efforts have you, your administration, undergone to lobby lawmakers in Albany for more funding and what would you like to say to them in providing the funding that the Governor has already set aside for it?

And one other thing, about seven weeks ago, your administration signed the contract with MoCaFi for these prepaid debit cards. What is the delay here in rolling out this program and why sign an emergency contract when it clearly didn't need to be implemented instantly, right? Since it's been seven weeks.

Mayor Adams: Well, two things. First, Albany, Albany's going to do what Albany is supposed to do, and we've been up in Albany. I was just there. I was in Miami with the buildings trades and took a trip to Albany there for SOMOS. I was there speaking with the leaders a few weeks ago and we're going to continue to engage in the conversation.

And we do this dance every year. No, this is not a new dance. And each year, we start off the year, Eric is not going to get what he want in Albany. They're not going to do anything. Then we walk off with all these wins.

So, listen, this is the beginning of the process. It's going to be all right. All we have to do is, just take a deep breath, it's going to be fine. We're going to make sure we get the things we need. We've heard this in the beginning of the year.

You know what we're going to start doing? We're going to start playing the tapes in the beginning of the year. But you guys say this every year. We're going to be fine. We're going to get the things we need to move the city forward.

And I'm not worried about that. We have some great advocates up there that are fighting on our behalf for the issues that we raise. Everything from school accountability to the housing issue, to increasing our bond capacity, all those issues that are important, we are going to be just fine.

And now the MoCaFi, MoCaFi is on schedule. You know, it is on schedule and what we want to do, it's going to roll out, it's going to save us $600,000 a month, over $7 million a year. We're committed. And I told the team, we are going to bring down the cost of migrants, asylum seekers by 30 percent. That's what we're going to do.

We're shifting from all of a sudden have this dropped into our lap to figuring out how to do the long‑term stretch, because I don't think this is going to stop and we need to be prepared to make sure we minimize the cost to New Yorkers.

And MoCaFi is one of those areas. And I want to see the expansion of finding ways of putting these dollars back into our local economy, supermarket, bodegas, local hiring. This is all part of our overall master plan.

Question: What's the schedule on that?

Mayor Adams: It's going to be out soon.

Question: Back to subway safety.

Mayor Adams: How's it going?

Question: What do you see as the role of the National Guard there versus the NYPD? And would you have preferred that the state funded additional NYPD officers as the state did and the governor did during the first subway safety?

Mayor Adams: And that's a great question. And what I charge the commissioner with is that I would love to have more funding to help, but I need my Police Department to figure out the new norm of policing. Like I stated, we had almost a 50 percent cut in policing in the subway system by the dual patrols. So, we have to figure out what does this new norm looks like.

I would love more funding from the governor, but I don't want a Band‑Aid approach. I don't want us to figure out, our plan can't be, do we continue to run a system on overtime? That's not the plan I want. And that's the conversation I had with Chief Kemper and with the commissioner.

We need to figure out the new norm of policing in our subway system that can get rid of those six felonies a day. We've done a great job in enforcement. We've done a great job in quality of life. We've done a great job on getting the encampments off our system, but I need us to figure out how do we normalize in this new environment and that is the charge I have.

And the governor has been a partner in doing that from the beginning. We knew when people came back on the subway system, we were clear that there was a lot of concerns and fear and that omnipresence was important. And so the omnipresence right now of having that National Guard.

If you are on the subway and all of a sudden, you come upstairs and you see that state trooper, that police officer, that National Guard, you're going to be feeling the safety. And that uniform means a lot to people. And when I speak to New Yorkers, they say, we love seeing the uniform presence, and that's what we have to do. And so I'm not against whatever uniform presence we can have. I'm for it. It helps make people feel safer in our system.

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How you doing, Mike? 

Question: How you doing? 

Mayor Adams: Good. 

Question: I'm all right. So, I got two questions. The first has to do with the state troopers and the National Guard. That was kind of like a flashpoint between your predecessor and Governor Cuomo years before. 

I was wondering, like, what kind of conversations did you have when you talked to Hochul about this proceeding, this big move? You know, what were the particulars that you guys discussed in rolling it out? And when did you start talking about, like, when did this kind of seed get planted and then go from there?

And the other question I have is on the Bishop Whitehead conviction. I was wondering when the last time was you spoke with him, and I'm going to just read a quote from him. He's suggesting that the FBI was trying to get him to inform against you.

The quote he gave us was, I was not going to be an informant for the FBI against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. So, I guess on that question, like, when was the last time you spoke to him and what do you think of that? I don't know if that was actually going on, but that's what he told us.

Mayor Adams: What was that date, Camille, we spoke with the governor? Do you recall?

Camille Joseph Varlack, Chief of Staff: It was two Thursdays ago.

Mayor Adams: Yes. Okay. So, we sat down and it was her response. You know, she reached out to me and said, Eric, listen, I want to be helpful around the high‑profile incidents, because high‑profile incidents can really play on your psyche. Here's someone push you to the subway track.

Like the other day, someone pushed their loved one to the track. You know, people thought it was a random attack and it wasn't. It seemed to have been a domestic dispute. The slashing of the conductor. You know, those are chilling events. If you take to subway every day and you pick up and you read that, it's frightening.

And so she called and said, Eric, I want help, you know, and what do I need to do to help? I said, listen, let's get our teams together. So, the governor brought her team together, Camille organized our teams, and we all got in the room together.

And I was on Zoom, the governor was in the room with her team, and we hashed out some things that we can do to deal with what people were feeling about the subway system. And out that came a conversation, well, can I use additional manpower, state troopers, National Guards? And I said, listen, I love uniform presence. Whatever uniform presence we could have, people feel comfortable as I was just talking about that.

So, there was a conversation of a series of things that she felt she could help, and that is what that all of us came together and put our heads together. And I want to continue to do that. But I'm not going to move away from the fact that I have a dual role here. I have to bring down, make sure those six felonies are gone.

So, those four million riders will continue to not to see any felony on our system, and I have to make New Yorkers feel safe in the system. And that is the role that I've constantly stated and I'm going to continue to do.

Question: Do you prefer that...

Mayor Adams: Mike, I haven't seen him in a while.

Question: Do you prefer that...

Deputy Mayor Levy: He was here last time.

Mayor Adams: Oh, was he? Why was he so quiet? He didn't ask a question.

Question: Do you prefer that the National Guard state trooper presence to, you know, more funding for NYPD [inaudible], and do you care one way or the other in what form that presence comes?

Mayor Adams: Listen, we could always use more funding. We could always use more funding. I want us to make sure we use that funding correctly. And as I have been... One of my pet peeves, it drives the Police Department crazy. One of my pet peeves is a deployment of police officers.

Late at night when I hear crime takes place and I go to the scene and the crime is under control, you have the person apprehended, everything is fine, why do I still have 40 police officers there? You know, and so I tell the commissioner, why am I still seeing this? You know, if I go to the parade, the Japanese Day Parade, why do I have hundreds of police officers there?

We have to deploy our personnel better. And although we could use more funding, I want to make sure we are deploying our police personnel better and we are using taxpayers dollars.

So, I would love to have both. I would love to have that state trooper standing there. I think their uniforms are cool as hell, you know, having them being there standing in the subway system, people like, [Shannon], you know, it makes people feel better.

And that's what we are fighting. We are fighting a perception issue that our system is not safe. It is a safe system. But if New Yorkers need to see that omnipresence, I'm going to give them whatever they need that they will feel they have a good ride and they're comfortable.

Because I hear from New Yorkers all the time, Eric, I feel comfortable in the subway system. I see the police, they're moving better, they're walking through the cars and I'm going to continue to do that.

With Bishop Whitehead, I don't know what was going on with his investigation. I had no part of it. The prosecutors indicated that there was no benefits coming from government. And so I can't respond to, you know, what the thoughts are around that.

Lisa Zornberg, Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall: I would just add with a quote that the federal prosecutor made during his closing argument in the Whitehead trial when he said, quote, Mr. Whitehead was, quote, lying about access. He was lying about influence. He was lying about all of it.

Question: When was the last time you spoke with the bishop?

Mayor Adams: I don't even remember the last time.

Question: Two questions, please. 

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good. So, first of all, how many times have you been to China and how many of those trips were with Winnie Greco? I think you said six trips in the past. 

And then second of all, I wanted to ask about a story we just published. The New York Times reported that New York City officials are investigating a confrontation at a city‑run shelter in Queens where police officers struck and used a stun gun on a Venezuelan migrant while he was holding his one‑year‑old son. The videos on our website are pretty disturbing. So, are you concerned about that response?

Mayor Adams: Yes. First part, I don't recall how many times, my first trip, I don't even think I was the elected official when Tracy and I went on a vacation. So, I don't recall the exact time, number of times that I've traveled there. I don't recall the exact number of times.

I saw that incident. And I spoke with the commissioner over the weekend. And the two most dangerous jobs a police officer can go on is, one, a car stop, it's car stop. Two, domestic violence.

I don't know if people realize the number of injuries a police officer encounters when they attended a domestic violence incident. And that heightens when a person is under the influence of drugs, narcotics, alcohol. This person was under the influence of alcohol, holding the child. Those officers had to get that child from him so that child was not going to be endangered.

All of this is on body‑worn camera. Those officers responded to a person who was dangerous and they took appropriate actions. And domestic incidents is extremely dangerous. As I just talked about. A man pushed his wife on the tracks and she lost her feet because of that.

These are very volatile situations. Those officers have to respond accordingly. They wanted to get that child out of that gentleman's hand after warning him several times, asking him to turn over the child several times, he refused to. He was violent, he was volatile. They had to take that necessary action. And, you know, based on our review, those officers took appropriate action.

Question: And the number of trips to China with Winnie Greco, was it one or more?

Mayor Adams: I've just stated I'm not going to do the bigger than the bread box thing. I said I don't recall the exact number.

Question: Yes, Mr. Mayor, they were very happy to see you out there with the 1180 and the [inaudible] for equal pay. I attended many of those and you were indeed the first mayor to get there. And...

Mayor Adams: I got a lot of firsts by the way.

Question: Yes, I know. There's also... No doubt there's not a glass ceiling in your administration as you evidence every Tuesday. But for a long time, there's been a structural disparity for EMS FDNY.

In fact, during the campaign, you expressed support for the idea of parity, inequity. That title was held primarily by women and people of color and we're still in that disparity with tens of thousands of dollars. Could you speak to that issue?

Mayor Adams: Yes. So, you know what I did in my analysis just about every law enforcement uniform agency outside the police department is predominantly people of color. Just about all of them. Department of Correction, DOT, parole, probation. You could go down the list.

And throughout the years, we have been more biased towards good solid contracts, benefits for the men and women of the NYPD and it hasn't cascaded out to these other law enforcement...

Question: Firefighters too, [the] disparities.

Mayor Adams: Right. Firefighters as well. And my goal is to rectify and correct that. It's only been two years and two months. I know it's hard for people to believe that, you know, but it's only been two years, two months, Covid, migrants, crime, economy.

And so but the goal is to look at all of these inequities and start peeling back those inequities. And as we finish this term and once I'm reelected to the next term, we'd be able to get more. So, if you vote for me, we'd be able to do some of those things that are important for you to continue to rectify what we rectified already.

It's unbelievable the stuff that we rectified already in this city and we want to continue to do that, you know, but it is definitely on my radar, it is on my to‑do list of how to correct some of those inequities.

Question: Can I go on?

Mayor Adams: Yes, you can.

Question: So, one of the things is that we know that in the aftermath of the pandemic, the federal government and Senator Manchin and Republicans withdrew the expansion of child tax credit. And it was six months, it was open and happened and millions of children lived out of poverty.

And then after that, it was like, you know, I've talked to people who are in the nonprofit sector, it was like you could see it almost instantaneously locally in the demand for snap, cash assistance for working‑class people struggling to get by.

And at the same time, the federal government has not come to your rate on the scale it has to the humanitarian international crisis you're dealing with. So, it's really a one‑two punch. We really need to talk about the fact that they may have pulled the plug on this social supports for working families and they've not been responsive when it came to...

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. That is... What you said is so important. Even when there was a report put out about, you know, children living in poverty, you saw that it was a sunsetting of a lot of these benefits. Now, what we did, this administration, particularly with my deputy mayors, they said that what do we do within our span of control? We increased the earned income tax credit, went to Albany and fought to [get] that done.

We decreased the cost of childcare from $55 a week to less than $5 a week. We put in place our women forward agenda $43 million dedicated to those areas. A lot of our employment initiative, what we're doing around children with our summer youth employment.

We knew that help was slow from coming from the federal government. So, we said, what can we do here? You know, everything from deliveries, states receiving the salary that they deserve, you start picking off all of those things we did for children and families, putting money back in the pockets from the foster care, young people to the cost of using our subway system.

We wanted to look at, what are the things we can do to bring down the cost of living in the city while we get to help from the federal government. They need to look at those plans that were in place and reinstitute those plans.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: I'm good. How are you today? 

Mayor Adams: Quite well. 

Question: My question is, the Council is in the midst of budget hearings right now. Today is about libraries and cultural institutions. I know you canceled the next round of cuts. I'm wondering, are you looking at any restorations, and where are libraries on that priority list? 

Also, wanted to ask you some questions about the four shootings in the 77 Precinct in Crown Heights. Is your administration talking to Brooklyn North? Are they talking to the precinct? Is there any anti‑violence type of initiatives or more police presence in that area of planning for your administration with those in the community. 

And last question, on the migrant crisis, has there been any movement on the $107 million from the federal government? Why is there such a disagreement between the city's work trying to get the access to those funds and what the federal government is trying to do to help you get access to those funds? 

Mayor Adams: So, let's peel that back one at a time. One shooting is a shooting too many. And I think we're up to 13,000, 14,000 guns we've removed off the streets. And that's why I'm consistent about making sure we give these police officers the support they need to go after these guns. 

I put in place the anti‑gun unit for a reason. A lot of pushback. You know, we go back and everybody was saying, you know, Eric wants to be heavy handed policing, when I was very clear, the city has to be safe. 

And when you see a 13‑year‑old child, you know, shot like that. I speak to victims of crimes. I know how impactful it is to be a victim of the crime. I mean, it's just unbelievable to knock on the door and tell a parent, your son, your daughter, your husband, is not coming home. Your wife is not coming home. And that's real. 

And so I'm really troubled about those four, but I'm troubled about any shooting in this city. And the police department has looked at them, they're not connected, it appears, at this time. And so the goal is just to make sure that that commander there [and] Brooklyn, the Brooklyn chief that's in charge of that area, we say we need a real plan to see where do we go to those hotspots. 

We have great partnership with the crisis management team that's there. They have done a great job. That's why we have really poured money into the crisis management team. But we're going to going to continue to drive down crime. 

Yes, we have a double‑digit decrease in homicide, double‑digit decrease in shootings, shootings are down 17 percent that we're seeing. But that gives me no joy to be able to say we just decreased. You know, zero is what I'm looking for. And it's a real battle when you look at the combination of ghost guns, the combination of illegal guns coming on on our streets, so many young people carrying guns. 

We had an eight‑year‑old child with a gun. I mean, just think about that, eight‑year‑old child with a gun. A real issue. And we're going to continue to do the right things that has allowed us to bring down crime the way that we have brought it down.

In the issue of the libraries, the budget, the conversations are going on now. Jacques Jiha and the team were sitting down with the City Council. Everyone has their role. You know, the City Council, they have their role, we have our role, and we're going to do the best we can for the people of the city.

Two budgets, we've been able to come and land the plane together. We're going to land the plane together again this time. We're going to get through this, folks. We're going to get through this. That's the most I can say. We're going to do it with as least pain as possible, but we have to be fiscally responsible. That is why our bond raters continue to lean into that we're willing to make the tough choices to get the city out of this and navigate the challenges that we're facing.

Your last question was on...?

Question: The $107 million...

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce: On the funding.

Question: ...if we've been able to access that and you...

Mayor Adams: Yes. Yes.

Question: ...were there any [inaudible] disagreement between what the federal government is doing and what you guys [inaudible].

Mayor Adams: Got it. Think about this for a moment. When you, first of all, even Brad Lander, the comptroller, states that it's a problem. We're clear on that. And I don't see that a lot of times when people talk about the fact that we don't have this money. You know, even Brad Lander says, this is just too many hoops. Chicago's mayor, too many hoops, and they only had a fraction of what we said.

But what's getting lost in this conversation that I keep, don't let them fool you guys. What's lost in this conversation is that we spent $4 billion. You know, so they want to act like, well, you guys didn't go after the $100 and something million, because that is a distraction.

The real issue is, why those clergy leaders are in Washington right now, is because we spent $4 billion. And to say that, you know, well, you didn't go after this hundred and something million dollars, now everybody's writing the story, well, why didn't y'all get it? Oh, you're incompetent. Oh, you can't manage it, you don't know how to fill out documents. That's a game they're playing! That's the game they're playing.

Then, think about this. Hey, Eric, we're only going to give you $13 million for a hotel. Are you kidding me? What hotel do you know in this city that you could get for...I mean, $13.

Deputy Mayor Levy: $13.

Mayor Adams: $13. What did I say, $13 million?

[Laughter.] [Crosstalk.]

We're going to give you $13 for a hotel room.

And so we are saying to them, your numbers of reimbursement is not lined up to the needs. And then when you look at some of the documentations that they're not getting at the border, they're asking us, well, you're not going to be able to get that reimbursement because this person doesn't get this number or this documentation.

So, there's just a multitude of reasons that the money is not flowing as it should be. We're turning over everything that we have in our possession. They need to look at how they modify the paperwork, the requirements, the reimbursement to make it fairer and to understand the moment of this crisis that we're faced with.

So, yes, you know, it looks like that, you know, here you have, as you pointed out last week, Sheena, here you have a city that gets billions of dollars from the federal government or put in for billions of dollars from the federal government. We know how to fill out paperwork. Let's not, let's not insult this administration as though you guys don't know how to fill out paperwork and do reimbursement.

We know what we're doing on that area. The problem is on their end. They know it's on their end and they need to fix the problem. Reimbursed us based on the needs and then reimbursed us based on the four billion we spent.

And y'all shouldn't be allowing them to use you in this way. Y'all should be standing up and say, this is our city! How you telling us Eric didn't go after a $100 million when he spends $4 billion? We should be going after them together, like those clergy leaders. I want a bus full of reporters going to Washington, D.C. fighting on behalf of New York City.

Question: Are you going to pay for it?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I'm going to pay for the bus.

[Laughter.] 

I'm going to pay for the bus. I'm going to pay for the bus.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: [Laughter.]

Question: Mayor, good afternoon. [Inaudible]. Politico reported last month that one of your top advisors, Tim Pearson, delayed the opening of Floyd Bennett Field trying to get a contract for your friend, Bo Dietl. We're wondering if you think it's appropriate for a top advisor to try and secure that contract and why it was delayed.

Mayor Adams: Let me tell you what happens in government that I've learned. And it's not much we could do about it because it's just the reality of government.

There are people who remain, administration after administration, and they're just angry. And they call you up, you know, hey, I saw Eric eat a piece of fish. You know, I mean, it's just the reality of it.

And my team gets so frustrated sometimes, and I say, we have 300‑and‑something‑thousand employees that are doing the right thing. All you need is one person to give the impression that people are doing something wrong.

You know, we want the lowest price for New Yorkers. And I don't get distracted by people who think they're going to call someone and someone's going to write a bad story on me and all of a sudden I'm going to do something different. No, that doesn't impact me.

I keep telling people all the time when I go to these town halls, I've been yelled at, booed at. called names, the dumb kid. That's all you got? [Laughter.] That's all you got, is that you're going to call me names or write a bad story about me?

We're going to get the best price for New Yorkers. If Bo's price is the best price, then we are going to look and go through the legal aspects of it like everyone else. The best price for New Yorkers. Those who are going to call you and make these innuendos, hey, there's nothing I could do about it. Best price for New Yorkers, and we're going to follow the rules.

Question: Is that Pearson's role to be finding the best price?

Mayor Adams: It was his role that when I reached out to Tim and I reached out to Camille, I said, we got to find a 30 percent decrease in the cost of migrants and asylum seekers— that includes food, that includes care. that includes washing sheets, that includes hotel rooms, everywhere. And they all came together and said, here's what we're paying, here's how we believe we can bargain better.

That means having DCAS comes in, that's experts on using space. The whole team is following the charge that I gave them: 30 percent decrease. We're going to bring down the cost that we are using and spending to do so.

They're all part of that operation. They meet regularly. They engage in conversations. They look at how do we bring down the cost, because the mayor wants that cost down 30 percent because that's what taxpayers want.

Question: Thank you. Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good. How are you? 

Mayor Adams: Good.

Question: I want to circle back to comments that budget director Jacques Jiha made last week during their Council hearing. He was talking about the plan to close Rikers and replace it with borough‑based jails. He said, quote, we know it's not going to happen by 2027. Do you agree that the city will miss that deadline?

And as a follow‑up to that, you've called before for the Council to come up with a Plan B. What specifically do you want that alternative plan to include? Do you want to see a later deadline? Do you want to see more substantial changes to the borough‑based jails plan?

Mayor Adams: And I think Jacques is sharing the frustration of what we all believe was not a well thought‑out plan. We know what happened in Covid, we lost two years in the plan. And you know, I think you saw a very honest approach, which I ask my team to do all the time.

We, listen, we're probably the least politically correct administration in history. We're not going to just tell people what they want to hear. You know, I don't know how many times ...

Deputy Mayor Levy: You know we tell the truth, and they get mad at us.

Mayor Adams: Right, right. But we're not going to be dishonest. We, the price of this was, what was it, $8 billion, when we first made this plan, I think we first made this plan it was $8 billion and now it's up to...

Deputy Mayor Levy: 8.2 to 15.5.

Mayor Adams: 8.2 billion, now the cost is $15.5 billion. We're building jails that will hold 4,400 people when we have 6,000 people in our jail system.

Deputy Mayor Levy: 6,200. 

Mayor Adams: 5,200... 

Deputy Mayor Levy: It's sixty‑two. 

Mayor Adams: You know, so we have over 1,000 people more.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Two thousand.

Mayor Adams: Over 2,000 people more than what the system fills.

Now, either we say, you... And now people who are in Rikers right now for the most part are serious violent offenders. Either we're going to, as a city, say, it's okay that we allow people out of jail who are violent. But if that's what the city wants, I'm going to follow the law. That's all I'm going to do.

If the law calls for me by 2027, come hell or hot water, Rikers is closed, whatever happened to that other population, we have to figure out what [it's] done, if we have to break it up into other little holding locations. I'm going to follow the law.

Jacques shared what his feelings were and his thoughts were. We spoke with the commission, Judge Lippman commission. We've been engaging in conversation. I am going to be honest with New Yorkers, here are the facts. Law calls for me to [call in] 2027, I'm following the law and closing in 2027.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Can I add also from a construction perspective, you know, will the jails be built by 2027? I think that that's obvious that they will not. And that's evidenced most clearly by the fact that we registered a contract for the construction of the Brooklyn jail with the city controller that has a completion date of 2029, and that is the first of the four jails.

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief Advisor to the Mayor: And the money's not there, either. You know, money's a major issue. So, we need money, you know, the state, somebody, fed, somebody has to give money. The money is not there.

Question: Okay. So, a couple of questions.

Mayor Adams: Yes, sir.

Question: So, yesterday, a coalition led by the Progressive caucus is calling for you to invest $2 billion in affordable housing construction both to preserve homes and then also increase home ownership among low, middle income people over the next four years. Want to know what you think about that proposal.

Also, there was reporting that the program for reticketing for migrants is only being utilized by two percent of those leaving shelter under 30‑ and 60‑day rules. Do you think that program is worth continuing considering the low utilization?

Mayor Adams: Yes, a couple of things. And this is a number that, you know, because I was thinking about this earlier. Last year, we created more housing than ever in the city history, more than in city history, you know? More people we put into housing using FHEPS vouchers in the history of the program. More homes in one year in the history of the city. 

So, whenever we write these stories, we need to include some of this stuff in it. Our history, what Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer has done, it's just been unbelievable what our team has done.

And so we're going to look at their proposal, because we want to put people in housing. And what we're going to do also, we're going to ask them, please go to Albany and help us get this housing agenda passed. We did nothing last year on housing. We knew that 421‑a was sunsetting, what was it, 51 percent of our housing, Maria? We... 

Deputy Mayor Levy: She's over here.

Mayor Adams: Maria? 

Deputy Mayor Torres‑Springer: That's right, [inaudible] affordable, yes. That's right. 

Mayor Adams: 51 percent of our affordable was through 421‑a. We know we have these vacant commercial spaces. So, while they're giving us a proposal, we're asking them to look at our proposal. The 500,000 units of housing that we want to build, we want them to embrace our City of Yes. 

We've had a racist policy of building in the city for a long time. A lot of communities don't have any affordable units. And so we're going to look at their proposal. We want to come together with the Progressive caucus and everyone else, the Common Sense caucus, this caucus, that caucus. We Love Eric caucus. 

We want to get all the caucuses together and build more housing. We have an inventory problem, you know? We have a one percent vacancy, 1.4 percent vacancy rate. So, we want to look at all of these ideas. We have to build more. Anyone that is saying, starting off a conversation without building more, they have a flawed plan. 

Varlack: And to the reticketing point. Yes, sure. 

Deputy Mayor Levy: Do you want to just let Maria, before we move on?

Deputy Mayor Torres‑Springer: Sure. I'll add on to that to‑do list, mayor, because as I've mentioned previously, we need all levels of government. So, any partner in this from the state or local level could also join us in our advocacy with the federal government to get the types of reforms to the low‑income housing tax credit, for instance. 

So, Congress has an opportunity to pass that in the next few weeks; and if it does, that's thousands of more units that we can finance in terms of new homes in this city [that] helps us stretch the dollar. 

What I am grateful for in the advocacy is that they talk about home ownership programs and other important preservation programs that HPD has been— has been— implementing with a lot of energy, whether it's the Open Door Program or it's the Neighborhood Pillars Program. 

Those are two good programs. I started those programs at HPD. We should do those. We should do many more. But we can't lose sight of the fact that this is not just about dollars and cents. It's about having the tools that we need so we can stretch the city capital dollar because our resources are not limited. 

So, how do we do that? We get the tools from Albany, including 421‑a. We get the tools to clear artificial zoning caps, like lifting the FAR cap, because that, too, allows us to build more without spending public resources, we get the resources we need from the federal government. 

And as the mayor mentioned, on the local level, the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is, of course, the most pro‑housing set of reforms that this city has ever seen. I think it probably is the most any city has ever seen. And you know, imitation is the greatest form of flattery— you know, we saw the other day from the mayor of San Francisco, a City of Yes for Housing set of reforms in her State of the City. 

So, I think what we're seeing is a growing chorus, a growing movement across the country. And we need that, because housing and security isn't just a New York City problem, it is a state, national and a national problem. And so we'll certainly look at the specific recommendations from those leaders and anyone else who wants to be a partner in this mission. 

Mayor Adams: And Camille, before you answer this question, you know what's interesting? I'm glad you said that, Maria. If you read across the country, what we are doing here, the City of Yes, San Francisco is saying that. Taking a stronger position on the use of hard drugs on our streets, Portland, Oregon, is now reexamining after they were all pushing for it. What the Supreme Court is looking at now about, should people have the right to sleep on streets, what we've advocated for over and over again. 

What you're seeing happening to all these cities and these good mayors, but their hands were tied, of these cities and what they're going through right now, we're not going through that here in New York, because I was always clear: we would have clean streets, we would be safe, we're not going to advocate for these idealistic policies that impact us in a realistic way. 

That has been the difference here. When you look at what you don't want your city to become based on some of these, just throwing out these ideals, these random ideas, you see that right here in this city, our city is navigating the challenges of the moment because of the clarity of the message we have here. Camille, you want to go into the...? 

Varlack: Sure, on the reticketing. 

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Varlack: So, first of all, perspective is always important, and so remember and recall, of course, that we've had over 182,000 asylum seekers come into our system since the spring of 2022. We offer reticketing at more than St. Brigid, it's offered at the Roosevelt, it's offered in a variety of places.

And so, 60 percent of the individuals that have come into our care have already taken those next steps; and over the course of the entire system, approximately 25 percent have indicated that they wanted to be reticketed to another location. So, we have very limited tools that we can use, and we think that this is a very good one and we'll continue to use it. 

Mayor Adams: And so we may have two percent here, three percent there, five percent there, it all adds up to 60 percent have moved on, you know? And so if we start saying we're going to abandon this because it's only two percent? 

No, that's a mistake. We are looking at every percentage we can give to come up with 100 percent of people who have come here are going on to become self‑sustaining. Every percentage is a percentage that is successful. And you know why that's important? Let somebody raise your property to tax two percent. You're not going to only say, well, there's only two percent. [Laughter.] You know, every percent matters. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you? 

Question: Good. So, the NYPD's Chief of Transit, Michael Kemper, he did an interview on Fox News, I believe it was Monday morning.

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Question: He retweeted it. And he talks about migrant crews on the subway system who are shoplifting. My question is, this is not the first time that the NYPD has spotlighted crimes by migrants, even though you yourself have said, and the commissioner has said, too, that this is a very, very small proportion of crimes. Most migrants are law‑abiding. My question is, why, what is the reason... What is the public safety reason behind describing it as a migrant crew?

I've never heard the police say, this was performed by an Asian or a Black crew. Is the point to communicate to the public that we need to be afraid of migrants?

Mayor Adams: No, and a couple of things. Number one, they didn't say that this is a West African crew. They didn't say that this is a Venezuelan crew. When we find patterns, if there is a crew of Blood gang members, we'll say, this is a crew of Blood gang members. If there's a crew of a particular group, we say that.

You know? And so I don't think that he used ethnicity. And he just, and my understanding is he didn't say shoplifting, he said pickpockets.

Question: Oh, pickpockets.

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes. No, it's okay.

So, if there's an organized pickpocket group, professional group, carrying out a crime, he's identifying a crime. You know, and in order to solve the crime, don't sit down and say, okay, let me be politically correct in what I say. No, identify what it is.

If I have a group of Crips who are carrying out a particular snatch and grab, we're going to say this is a group of Crips gang members who are participating in this, we need to be aware of that. We need to be conscious of it. That's what he said. He did not say the particular ethnicity, the particular place of origin.

He identified what the problem was. A group of migrants are organized and carrying out pickpockets, and they are putting in place an operation to identify them, and some of them have been repeated. They have been repeated.

So, it is not his job as a law enforcement person to say, let me find a nice way to say something. It's his job to stop the problem. And that's what has happened too much. We've tried to be so politically correct that we're not public safety correct.

We must be safe in the city and we must identify the problem and execute a plan to correct the problem. The overwhelming number of migrants and asylum seekers, they only want one thing: they want to work, they want to continue their journey. And we've advocated for that.

And when we had national leaders here, we had national leaders here two or three weeks ago, what was it, two or three weeks ago. They said, because of you, Eric, you have raised the conversation nationally about the employment issues. Your voice has been one of the most important voices on the national movement.

Not the local political stuff that's going on, but people who watch this, they came here and sat down at Gracie Mansion with me, and they said, your voice has raised a national issue like no one else has done it.

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