Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on "Good Day New York" on FOX 5

April 3, 2025

Curt Menefee: Thank you for joining us, mayor. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. 

Menefee: Just about an hour after you announced that you're going to run as an independent. Let's start there. Why run as an independent rather than as a Democrat, even though you say you're going to remain in the Democratic Party?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, no, I am a Democrat and I'm going to remain as a Democrat. And I think just a simple answer, we got more work to do. There's much more we want to do. Great successes. As we're going to announce today, shootings this quarter [are] the lowest in recorded history and five straight quarters of decreasing crime. We look at all of the success we've had. I got more to do and I'm looking forward to running as a Democrat on the Independent line.

Menefee: We can talk more about the crime statistics in just a second, but I want to talk about this announcement here for a little bit. When did you make this decision to run as an Independent? Was it before the announcement yesterday by the judge?

Mayor Adams: And that's a great question because it was a tough decision. We collected 25,000 signatures on our Democratic petition and we sat down with the team two days ago prior to the judge's announcement and we said, “Eric, we have to get the campaign up and running, get our fundraising back into action”. You just can't do it in such a short period of time. Let's have a longer period of time and put the team together. And after the judge's announcement, we were able to move forward the way I want to and get back into the streets the way I've always done.

Rosanna Scotto: So many people are wondering, will you seek President Trump's endorsement?

Mayor Adams: No, I'm not seeking any endorsement, but everyday New Yorkers, that's important. Some of my colleagues that are here in the city, those who want to support the work that we've been doing, I'm looking for them to see it. The numbers don't lie. We have turned the city around. I'm excited about it.

Scotto: You know, yesterday you held up a book written by Kash Patel, who's the FBI director under Mr. Trump, President Trump. And a lot of people wondering, what are you going to do differently in the next, if you get the next term?

Mayor Adams: You did a two part question there. 

Scotto: Okay, take each part separately. 

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, it has been extremely challenging to really explain to New Yorkers what this was all about. I felt I was targeted. And when I read several books during these last fifteen months, Kash's book, The FBI Director, really laid out how [the] government from time to time usurps our power. 

And I encourage people to read it, because we need to understand, as President Biden said, his Justice Department was politicized. And we need to be honest about that. And when you talk about what we're going to do differently, Rosanna, look at the numbers. 

Record number of housing built in year one, year two, decreasing crime, more jobs in the city's histories, more small businesses are operating, subway systems have gotten safer and safer. When you look at the migrant crisis, we handled 230,000 people here, even after COVID. So what we're going to do differently, we're going to keep the train moving forward in the success that we've experienced in the city.

Menefee: You said that the numbers don't lie, so you don't have to worry now that you're not running in the Democratic primary about the polling numbers for you versus other Democrats. When you get to the general primary, though, as of now, and we're at the beginning of April, your poll numbers are 20 percent, record low for any mayor. What do you think you can do between now and the general election to turn those numbers around?

Mayor Adams: I'll get the message out. That's what's important. I cannot tell you how many times I go to a community forum, sit down at a gathering, speak with business leaders, and we start telling our successors, you know what they say? “Wow, I didn't know that. I didn't know that you have the [second] largest tourism in the city's history. I don't know. I didn't know that you gave free high speed broadband to NYCHA residents. I didn't know that you're paying the college tuition of foster care children and you're paying off medical debt and putting $30 billion back in the pockets of working class people.” 

People never knew the story of this administration because it has been overshadowed by the migrant asylum seeker crisis, about these bogus charges that [were] levied against me. Our success has been overshadowed, but look at [it] since the indictment. We had five straight quarters of decreasing crime and the lowest shootings in the city's recorded history.

Menefee: And the crime is down on the subway and other places. One question though for you, what do you say to New Yorkers who say, you know what? I'm just fatigued by everything that's been going on and it's time to move on. What do you say to those people specifically?

Mayor Adams: I have to convince them. I have to rebuild trust. There's so many questions I want to answer. I'm sure you see the footage from our town halls and we walk out of those town halls after communicating with the public and they remember why they elected me in the first place. I'm the person that wore that bulletproof vest for 22 years and protected the city. We're all fatigued. We're fatigued about affordability in our city. We're fatigued about the concerns of raising healthy children and families. 

We're all fatigued. And with that fatigue, we're going to turn it into the fighting spirit of New Yorkers and we're going to continue to move forward. And I'm looking forward to speaking and communicating to New Yorkers.

Scotto: Do you feel like you were disappointed by the Democratic Party and that's why you're going Independent?

Mayor Adams: Well, listen, it's not about me. It is about the people. I think that, as I said before, that I'm not leaving the Democratic Party. I'm a Democrat. I think the Democratic Party, for the most part, has left the working class people. The things that working class people are concerned about. You see the headlines talked about my case, but go to those town halls. It wasn't mentioned at all. They were talking about their streets being clean. They were talking about their children being educated. 

We have to keep the main thing the main thing and stop being in this intellectual bubble where we're communicating with each other. I listen to working class people and that is what this is going to be about, working class people. 

Scotto: In your video where you announced that you're running as an Independent today, you quoted John Lindsay, who basically back in 1969 won the mayor role as an independent. Do you think you will be bringing a little bit more Lindsay to your campaign? 

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, listen, I'm not as good looking as he was, you know, but listen, he was a trailblazer and he showed that if you communicate directly with the people, you'll see it. You're looking at these national polls. You're seeing the sentiments that are coming from long term Democrats. They want an Independent voice. They don't want anyone far to the extreme to the left, far to the extreme to the right. 

Common sense leadership and remove those items that overshadowed this administration and just focus on the numbers. And you have to say this mayor navigated us out of COVID as a migrant crisis, a crime crisis, and an employment crisis. This administration did the right thing. And you know what? You're not judged by only what you have done, but what you have overcome. That is the spirit of this city. New York has overcome crises all the time and we continue to emerge.

Scotto: And mayor, you need some money. Let's be honest here. You got to raise some money quickly. How are you going to do that?

Mayor Adams: I'm so glad you said that because I'm looking for your contribution to come in. You know, listen, we still have a few million dollars on hand. We're going to get back and do what we do. I was always one of the top fundraisers in the city. I did it during the last race. We're going to get back and do it. But remember, I'm not running as an insurgent. I'm the incumbent of, part of raising large quantities of money is that you have to do a lot of buy time, a lot of ads that consumes a great deal of your money. I don't have to worry about that issue. I'm going to get my message out and I'm looking forward to doing it.

Menefee: Before we let you go, I'm not a big fan of reading body language, but yesterday afternoon, the press conference and right now, you seem to have an energy and a spirit about you that you didn't have a month ago, six weeks ago. Do you feel a sense of relief about all this and that's pushing you forward?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, I was hoping and, you know, I'm sorry you said that because I was hoping that I was not wearing the weight of what was on my shoulders. I was doing my best every day that I got up. I wanted to let New Yorkers know I was going to stay focused. And we continue to put numbers and points on the board. 

But listen, I cannot, I'm not even going to pretend to lie– this was a weight. This was the most difficult fifteen [months] of my life. It was difficult for my family. But my north star was working class New Yorkers. It got me out of bed every day and it allowed me to be focused on really producing and living up to my promise. 

If you look at the promise I made on the campaign trail and do an analysis of what I accomplished, you have to say this guy lived up to what he ran on. And so taking the weight of this indictment off my shoulders. Trust me, I slept well last night and I'm looking forward to lacing up my shoes and running a good race.

Scotto: And we're looking forward to having you and the police commissioner on Good Day New York. We're hoping tomorrow, you can come in and we'll talk a little bit more about City Hall and the accomplishments and, of course, running as an Independent.

Mayor Adams: Still a Democrat. Let's keep that in mind.

Scotto: But you were a Republican at one point, mayor, so I feel like you've hit every line just about.

Menefee: Thank you very much, mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Take care. 

Menefee: Thanks for the time from City Hall there.