Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on POWER 105.1 FM's "The Breakfast Club"

March 29, 2024

RaaShaun “DJ Envy” Casey: Yep, and we got a special guest in the building today. Ladies and gentlemen, the mayor...

Lenard “Charlamagne tha God” McKelvey: Mayor Eric Adams is here...

Casey: ...from New York City, Eric Adams. Good morning, Mayor.

McKelvey: And we also have lawyer and political commentator Olayemi Olurin here.

Olayemi Olurin: Good morning.

McKelvey: Good morning. Good morning, mayor. What's happenin'?

Casey: How you feeling, mayor?

Mayor Eric Adams: Good, good, good. You know, even before we get into the conversation, I was with Jordan the other day, my son, and somehow your name came up. And there was a group of young people in the room talking about politics. It's amazing how so many people are into politics now.

And they came up with saying something about there were people saying that how you would try to push Trump, push Trump, push Trump. So, Jordan pulled up his video of one of your shows where you broke down each time you were talking about what was wrong about his race.

McKelvey: Absolutely.

Mayor Adams: And just broke it down piece by piece. And Jordan said, Dad, you know what? Truth doesn't matter anymore with folks.

McKelvey: Nope.

Mayor Adams: People don't care about truth.

McKelvey: Nobody cares about the truth. Nope.

Mayor Adams: They don't care about facts. Facts no longer exist.

McKelvey: I've never pushed Trump. I actually do the opposite.

Mayor Adams: Exactly.

McKelvey: Yes, yes.

Mayor Adams: But we are in a generation where everyone gets up in the morning, look on social media and whatever's on there, they identify as the facts.

Casey: The headlines.

Mayor Adams: Exactly.

No one goes into the body of the story. Everybody's just, well, you know what, this is what the headline said and that's the reality of it. And so it was like an eye opener for him of how I said Jordan for over and over again, that one moment took away all those years of me saying, have your own facts. Don't let anybody define for you. You define for yourself.

McKelvey: That's right.

Mayor Adams: You know, and that's the power of this microphone. That's the power of media. Putting those facts out. If we don't control the message, the message will control us.

Casey: Well, we got a lot to talk about today.

McKelvey: A lot.

Casey: Your city. So, today we reported earlier about congestion pricing, right?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Casey: What's your what's your thoughts on that? I think it's gonna, it's gonna cripple New York City. You got a lot of people, the bridges already, the toll's already high, it's $17 I think for George Washington, $11 for the Midtown Tunnels. Parking is extremely high.

And now getting into the city it's going to be, it's going to hurt a lot of people to even drive in the city. And people are scared of the subways, you know, with everything been going on, people getting, you know, pushed into the train stations, crime. And people are scared of New York City?

McKelvey: That's a lot. Let's unpack.

McKelvey: Why the hell is the congestion crisis happening?

Mayor Adams: You've been holding on to a lot.

Casey: I have. I have.

Mayor Adams: So, but let's break it down for a moment. Let's break it down in pieces so we can really understand it. First, let's deal with the stuff about people who are scared of the subway. When I became mayor, no one wanted to be on the subway. We got over 4 million daily riders.

One of my guys was talking to a sister the other day. She said, you know, we have about 200, 300 crimes happening on this subway system. We have six felonies a day on our subway system out of 4 million riders. Look at those numbers. Our subway system is a safe system.

And we put in an additional thousand officers to do the high visibility to deal with the reality because safety is not only felt, it's perceived. So, those six felonies, we got to get rid of. We're clear on that. But people are back on our subway system.

But when you deal with specifically congestion pricing, a lot of people don't realize these are the city streets, but we had no authority on it. Albany passed the law and turned it over to the MTA. This is the MTA's baby. They should have allowed the city to be able to control how congested pricing was done.

So, that $15, we were able to fight to get $100 million to deal with the environmental impact in the Bronx. We were able to fight to get those who are shift workers to get a discount, those who make less than $50,000 to get a discount. But this was a bill that came out of Albany.

Casey: So, you don't agree with it, or do you agree with it?

Mayor Adams: No, I agree we got to deal with something with the congestion in our city, but you don't pass on the cost of that on low income New Yorkers or those who have to come to Manhattan.

You may have to have, go into your chemotherapy and this is the doctor you have to go to. You should not be hit over the head because of that.

Casey: Oh, people that live in the area. They're saying that people that actually live in the area when they drive, if they gotta drive uptown to the doctor, or they gotta drive, they get charged, too.

Mayor Adams: Yes, but I'm not feeling people that live in the area. Central Manhattan, south of 60th Street, has the best transportation system on the globe. You've got crosstown trains. You have south and north trains. You have buses that go across town.

There's no place else on the globe that you have the greatest access to public transportation than people's south of 60th Street. So I'm not feeling them. If they're saying that, you know, we don't want to pay, you know what? You need to get on the train.

I take the train, you know, so you can get on the train. I'm talking about low income New Yorkers should not have to carry the burden of that, and we asked to have more and a greater input in the shaping of that, but we don't. People don’t often realize we're creatures of Albany. Albany passed the laws, we have to implement the laws that are down here.

Olurin: I think you're right that there is a difference between perception and fact and how people feel about safety and the way people feel about the subways and I think it's your own rhetoric about the subways that has a lot to do with why people feel scared despite the fact that millions of people ride the subway every day without incident.

But you've continued to fear monger about crime in the subways, you've added 2,000 police officers despite the fact that you've acknowledged that the subways are not that dangerous.

And I think there is, you're right, poor New Yorkers should not be the ones who bear the brunt of this, but they will if they already have the subway being turned into a place that they have to fear that there's a National Guard, that there's a hypervisibility of police, that they're trying to stop people with certain records from even using them.

And now you have this congestion price. So, how do you reconcile that?

Mayor Adams: Well, let's go, first of all I would love, give me the quotes on my rhetoric, because I'm lost on that. Can you give me the quotes on what…

Olurin: Oh, that you fear monger about the subways?

Mayor Adams: Yes. Yes. Give me the…

Olurin: Oh, you've consistently done that since the day one of your administration, one of the first things you did was add 1,000 officers to the subway because you claimed that the subways are unrideable. You and Hochul did this and said how dangerous it is. And you recently did that when you deployed the National Guard.

Mayor Adams: Sister, but that wasn't my question. My question was, what was my fear mongering? What did I say that sent fear?

Olurin: You continuously say, I could point to a number of videos and quotes and everything from you but you've said repeatedly that the subways are dangerous, that New York is dangerous. You complain about crime relentlessly.

So, what I'm saying to you is, if you are saying that New York is the safest city, it's one of the safest big cities in this country — which is true — and you're recognizing that the subway stations are in fact not half as dangerous as they're presented to be, I'm saying how do you reconcile how your rhetoric has played into people's fear.

Mayor Adams: Okay…

McKelvey: And not even just rhetoric, I would say the actions because she's right, if you tell us...

Mayor Adams: Which is different. Which is different.

McKelvey: But it's the same thing, though. You put 1,000 police officers in the subway, 2,000 police officers in the subway, that don't make us feel save, we think something's wrong if you're doing that.

Mayor Adams: Okay, let me, first let me peel back again, because you've got to always peel back this stuff, you know, because oftentimes how you're depict in the media that I don't control is how people interpret you. I didn't put the National Guards in the subway, the governor did.

Olurin: I know, but I know what you said.

Mayor Adams: But you said, but you said Eric. I never…

Olurin: You stood with Governor Kathy Hochul and you co‑signed that decision. You did. And I'm not saying this as someone who's following social media, I'm saying that as an attorney in the city and an activist who follows everything that you do.

Mayor Adams: If you, I'm glad you do, because then you would realize how I turned the city around if you follow everything I do. You realize that I...

Olurin: I would say no, but we could get to that next.

McKelvey: Loosen up your tie, Mayor Adams. Gonna be a long day.

Mayor Adams: And listen, and I enjoy every moment, because this is what I do. You know, when you come with a serious history, if you follow everything, you know, I do, you know, how long I've been doing this. And you'll know what my record is. So let's peel back what you just stated. When fear is perceived and felt, that's what fear is.

So, no matter, as I shared, that we have six felony crimes a day with 4 million riders, if people feel unsafe, when we get into the subway system, when I ride the subway system and I talk to commuters and I say, what are you feeling and how do I help you with that fear?

They say, Eric, we see more visible uniform offices in our subway system. We're going to feel safer. We got it. Oh, let me… Can I, can I peel it back a little bit?

Olurin: You can talk. You can peel it back.

Mayor Adams: Okay. So, we got it that the numbers are down. We got it that we're back on the subway system post Covid.

But when we see, this is what the public is saying. When we see the visible presence of the uniform officer, we feel safer. Now you may say, Eric, I don't want to see a visible presence of a uniform officer and that's cool, but that's not what the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are saying.

Olurin: And I'm saying to you, the New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, recently put out a report finding that 50 percent of the city is disappointed and does not feel safe based on your rhetoric about the subways and your over-police presence.

Mayor Adams: Okay, but sister, first of all, that's not what this says, based on Eric's rhetoric. That's not, you keep using...

Olurin: No, no, no. No.

Mayor Adams: They didn't say, did they say based on Eric's rhetoric?

Olurin: Do you want to talk about based on your specifics?

Mayor Adams: No, no, Sister, I'm going back to what you said, because you're an attorney, you deal with facts.

Olurin: They have.

Mayor Adams: Did they say based on Eric's rhetoric?

Olurin: Yes, they have. The city is, there are, they have multiple reports. The New York Times, the Gothamist, the city comptroller and the federal monitor who reports, who reports, who's tasked with making sure that NYPD and Rikers are in compliance with the law, have both submitted reports saying that since you became mayor, there's been a return of stop and frisk.

That there have been over 15,000 stops, 97 percent of whom have been on Black and Hispanic people, a fourth of those stops and searches have been unconstitutional and they've yielded very few results.

Mayor Adams: Let's peel it back. Eric Adams, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, testified in federal court that the federal court judge stated based on Eric's testimony we are going to rule against the Police Department.

We were dealing with a million stops a year when I was with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement. My advocacy is what turned it around from that million stops a year, look at the numbers right now.

Olurin: I am looking at the numbers.

Mayor Adams: So, my advocacy and showing how to do policing correctly, because it's not that you want to eradicate proper police practices, you must make sure they do them right. And that is what I have been able to accomplish in the city, taking over 13,000 guns off the streets of the City of New York who the victims are Black and brown people.

When I go to community meetings and talk to community residents, they don't tell me, Eric, we don't want more police. They say, Eric we want our police doing their jobs correctly. And that is what I'm doing.

Olurin: The federal monitor, who is tasked with ensuring that NYPD is following the law...

Mayor Adams: Under who?

Olurin: ...conducting an analysis...

Mayor Adams: Came under who?

Olurin: ...conducted an analysis that happened eight years ago, but they're still here monitoring what you're doing and they said that you have brought back stop and frisk policies that are worse than they saw even during the Bloomberg era. But more importantly, they analyzed...

Mayor Adams: Sister, you're putting out… Show me...

Olurin: I could show, show... The report is available...

Mayor Adams: They said...

Olurin: ...and I know it's been available to you because your spokesperson has commented on it. They did an analysis of over 10 precincts...

Mayor Adams: Yes, but you can't keep putting out stuff that's not factual.

Olurin: ...10 different precincts. That is factual. There's a federal monitor reporting to Judge Swain on it and presenting the information.

Mayor Adams: And said what, says Eric...

Olurin: They said that, yes. Listen, let me finish so you can peel it back. They conducted an analysis of 10 different precincts and of the stops of 10 different precincts, they found that 97 percent of them, by the way, of the Neighborhood Safety Teams that were disbanded in 2020 because of their disproportionate abuse against Black and Hispanic people that you revived, they analyzed 10 of those different Neighborhood Safety Teams and found that they're conducting 97 percent of their stops on Black and Brown people, and a quarter of them are unconstitutional. That's what the federal monitor said, not me.

Mayor Adams: Yes, and at the same time, let's be clear on this because what you're giving the perception of, this is a federal monitor that came in long before I was mayor. Can we agree on that?

Olurin: Yes. Yes, they monitored...

Mayor Adams: Okay, that's number one.

Olurin: ...NYPD, not you specifically, you're the mayor.

Mayor Adams: Number two, right, right. Number two, I have been the mayor for two years and three months.

Olurin: Um‑hmm.

Mayor Adams: We've had a tradition of over policing for generations...

Olurin: ...and it's gotten worse now that you're here.

Mayor Adams: ...that I fought for. We had issues of over policing for generations that I fought for. We acknowledge where my history is in this place?

So, two years and three months we are turning around not only over policing but we're turning around the crime, because when I came to this city we had a 40 percent increase in crime, and most of that crime, Black and brown communities.

Olurin: You became mayor after a global pandemic in which there was record unemployment, business loss, homelessness...

Mayor Adams: Exactly.

Olurin: ...and you're not drawing that connection to it.

Mayor Adams: Exactly.

Olurin: You're making a note.

But what I'm saying is, crime is connected to what is happening in the city and the experiences of people. This is the most expensive city in the world. We had a global pandemic where businesses closed and people are out of work.

Mayor Adams: Exactly.

Olurin: So, if you...

Mayor Adams: And now they're back. Now they're back.

Olurin: ...so if you saw crime, it was connected to that.

Mayor Adams: Highest level of private sector jobs, c'mon.

Olurin: But you're saying also...

Mayor Adams: Highest level of private sector jobs, c'mon.

Olurin: Also...

Mayor Adams: Highest level of private sector jobs.

Olurin: ...you're saying that you've turned it around, NYPD's abuses, but just last year, we paid out $150 million in settling police misconduct from NYPD...

Mayor Adams: Right, and we should, if we do something wrong.

Olurin: And that was double the number, that's double the number in police misconduct since you became mayor.

Mayor Adams: You know, I noticed something. I noticed how much passion and commitment you have.

McKelvey: It's one of your constituents.

Mayor Adams: And I'm one of my constituents, too, now.

McKelvey: That's right.

Mayor Adams: You know what I'm saying? I grew up in this city. I noticed, and this is what I hear often of those who articulate when a person in a blue uniform commits an inappropriate act, balance that with what we're doing to take the violence out of our communities.

Because I know what I hear when I go to these community meetings. I know what I hear when I go speak to these mothers who lost their children to violence. I know what I hear. You are not even talking about that at all.

Olurin: You know, first of all...

McKelvey: Well, let's, how do New Yorkers feel safer, thought?

Olurin: I was a public defender.

Mayor Adams: Huh?

McKelvey: New Yorkers don't feel safer…

Mayor Adams: But that's what you said. That's what you said...

Olurin: And my original question was about how you relate to that.

Mayor Adams: You said that New Yorkers don't feel safe.

McKelvey: Yes. There was a poll that came out with last week.

Olurin: Yes.

Mayor Adams: Right. Right. And in that poll that came out by the CBC, it stated that the priorities of Mayor Adams is moving the city in the right direction. My priority.

Now, remember, two years, three months Brother. It's two years, three months. I inherited a pandemic. I inherited 180,000 migrants and asylum seekers that can't work that we have to house them every day. I inherited...

McKelvey: And you called for a lot of them, too, though.

Mayor Adams: No, we didn't, brother.

McKelvey: You said it was a sanctuary city, you told them...

Mayor Adams: Okay, see, that's why it's important...

McKelvey: ...this is a safe place.

Mayor Adams: That's why it's important to have this conversation, because sanctuary city and the migrants and asylum seekers are two different issues. Sanctuary city, if you're undocumented, we can't turn you over to ICE or authority. Migrants and asylum seekers were paroled into here. They're here legally. They were paroled into.

But what the federal government did and Governor Abbott did, they said we're going to send them up to Chicago, New York, Boston, and the federal government is saying Eric, you can't allow them to work. You've got to give them housing. You can't stop the buses from coming in. You cannot turn them over to ICE. All of that is illegal. If I do that we're breaking law.

So, when people look at the migrant and asylum seekers that are here, we didn't call people to come here, they were sent here by Governor Abbott. And the failure to secure our borders is allowing this to continue. And we're not getting any funding, any money from them. We got about $100 million out of a $4 billion price tag.

Look at Chicago right now. Look at what's happening in Chicago right now. My brother, Mayor Johnson, over there, what's happening with him? Look what's happening in Boston. Look what's happening in Houston, Los Angeles.

And then do a comparative analysis of what's happening on our streets here. While we dealt with that crisis, turned around our economy, outpacing the state in reading the math of our young people.

I've been on Rikers Island more than any man in the history of the city talking with inmates and correction officers to turn around what's happening on Rikers Island.

Olurin: I know you got to Rikers, in 2022 when there were three deaths back to back because Correction officers left their posts and allowed it to happen. You went to Rikers to express your support for the Correction officer. I know you go to Rikers.

Mayor Adams: No, no...

Olurin: What I do want you to do, Mayor Adams...

Mayor Adams: Well, you know what, then? But you keep, you keep giving out misinformation.

Olurin: It's not misinformation, Mayor Adams. I'm quoting the monitor.

Mayor Adams: I was on Rikers Island this week, this week.

Olurin: Um‑hmm. Um‑hmm.

Mayor Adams: ...with a group of 12 young brothers who recommitted themselves to Christ. I went to see them in the morning. We prayed together because they said, this is not the first time you've been here.

You've been here over and over, visiting us, talking to us, nurturing us. You know, because I know what it's like to be locked up, because I was locked up as a child.

Olurin: I know you were.

Mayor Adams: So, I know what it's like to be treated unfairly because I'm dyslexic. When you do an analysis of the number of young brothers and sisters who are in Rikers or in jail, they're dealing with learning disabilities because they were never given the support that they have.

That's why I have dyslexia screening., so we can catch people who are are thrown overboard before they get thrown overboard. So, we have a philosophical, we have a philosophical disagreement.

Olurin: Mayor Adams...

Mayor Adams: Your...

Olurin: No, I do like, I'm glad you brought up Rikers.

Mayor Adams: Your feelings towards police is different from mine.

Olurin: These are not my, this is not about my feelings of the police.

Mayor Adams: Your feelings towards what the city is doing...

Olurin: This is about the actual statistics that I presented from the federal monitor...

Mayor Adams: We have a philosophical...

Olurin: ...monitoring you.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: We're not going to agree.

McKelvey: What do you say about her statistics, though? Because I mean, these are statistics.

Olurin: These are federal monitor. Are you disputing with the federal monitor and the actual, and the comptroller?

Mayor Adams: Think about this for a moment. Think about this for a moment. Comptroller Brad Lander? Okay, please. If we're going to throw people in names on who we...are independent sources, he should not be one of them. Think about this federal monitor.
Olurin: The one that was independently elected by the people of New York? Placed there?

Mayor Adams: But I was independently elected also.

Olurin: And we've been there, and I'm addressing you.

Mayor Adams: So, think about this for a moment. The federal monitor wants to take over Rikers, okay? Rikers has been dysfunctional for generations. I came in, decreased violence, put in real incentive programs for young people there, but I didn't do it from a distance. I went to Rikers and walked to halls and talked with inmates.

We're doing workshops and support groups with inmates and find out what do you need to be here? We instituted real turnaround programs there with the sister that's now the commission of Correction there.

So, I didn't do like other mayors. I didn't sit back and say, let me just turn my back on Rikers. I said to those Rikers inmates when I got elected, I'm coming here. I'm going to see what you're going through. I want to make sure you leave here better than how you got here in the first place and we started instituting programs to do so.

So, that same federal monitor, go look at the federal prisons. That federal monitor wanted to take over our prisons after I had it only two years and three months. No, they wanted to take over my first year, although crime was going, violence was going, violence was going down.

And people say, well, Eric, you know, people are dying on Rikers. Look at how they died. People are coming into Rikers in terrible medical conditions.

Olurin: And not getting their medical appointments.

Mayor Adams: It's not that they were dying because Correction officers were killing them, people were coming in with heart problems, drug problems…

Olurin: Under...but under...

Mayor Adams: They were overdosing on drugs.

McKelvey: When will people in Rikers start to feel that?

Olurin: Okay, but first of all...

McKelvey: Because I know, I got people that are in Rikers right now serving time and they hate it. They think it's disgusting…

Mayor Adams: 'Eh, well, who likes jail!

Olurin: These...

McKelvey: They're trying to raise awareness to it.

Mayor Adams: Who likes jail, Brother? Who likes jail?

Olurin: Respectfully, Mayor Adams, fundamentally the things that you are saying is untrue. You actually cut $17 million that were used for classes for people at Rikers. Rikers to reenter society. Those were cut under your…

Mayor Adams: Check out the programs that...

Olurin: Those were cut under your administration.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: We were spending millions of dollars...check this out.

Olurin: 31 people have died at Rikers since Eric Adams became mayor.

Mayor Adams: We were spending millions of dollars for these professional folks to do these programs. Reentry programs, millions of dollars, seven people sitting inside the class. When I came into office, I said, wait a minute, why are we spending so much money on programs, but our people are still in these bad conditions?

People have profitized poverty. They are making so much money off of Black and brown people because it's a lucrative business to come up with all these different programs, all these different ways.

And then when you go to them and say let me say the results of the programs that we're paying you millions of dollars for, and then you look and see what was in charge of these programs, they all look like us. People have been playing us, Brother.

Olurin: Moments ago you said you instituted programs, and when I brought up the fact that you actually cut programs now your anti‑program. Okay, 31 at least...

Mayor Adams: We got some good programs we have to pay for.

Olurin: At least 31 people have died at Rikers since you became mayor.

Mayor Adams: Fatherless No More. Fatherless No More program. Fatherless No More. This was the brother, the pastor, Fatherless No More it's called, the program, and I would encourage you to come and check it out. This brother here, instead of saying pay me millions of dollars to do a program to turn around the lives of our young brothers in Rikers, we're not, he doesn't want money. He's committed to the cause.

But you have these professional programs that were in place, and when I went to them and say show me the results of what you've done in these programs, show me what we produce for our millions of dollars as in many of these programs in the city, and I'm saying we're no longer paying y'all to just play us year after year.

So, Fatherless No More is turning around the lives of people, not being paid millions of dollars for it. If we're really true to what we said we want to do, why do we have to pay you millions of dollars to do it?

You know, why don't you come on Rikers like I do and volunteer? Why don't you come and really be committed? Because people are not committed to us, brother. They've been playing us. You know, this is a street hustle that has been going on for years and people have eaten off of the dysfunctionality of watching us stay in these permanent states of being.

Casey: A lot of people are upset, too. They feel like the prison reform is bad for New York City. They're saying people do crimes, they get out immediately and then they commit the crime. You've just seen an officer that passed away a couple of days ago, rest in peace to him, and always healing energy to his family.

But they say that individual was arrested for a gun and has a record the size of, we don't know what, and they're saying that people are doing crimes, and they're getting back out. Officers don't want to arrest people. A lot of officers don't even want to be officers anymore, because the people that they're arresting get out so fast. So, what do you say to that?

Mayor Adams: And brother, let me tell you something. I say this term all the time: idealism collides with realism. This far leftist mindset that believes we should not have a criminal justice system in place. We're going to look like some of these other cities that you're seeing with a lack of a criminal justice system in place.

We're losing correction offices. We're losing district attorneys. We're losing police officers. We're losing probation offices. We're losing school safety agents. Every piece of our public safety apparatus that the everyday working class person wants, we're seeing it all of a sudden erode and we're going to lose the foundation of our prosperity and that's public safety.

So, when you look at these cases, we have three problems in the city that if you dig into it, you'll see how they continue to intersection between each other.

Casey: What are they?

Mayor Adams: One, we have a recidivist problem.

Olurin: This is not true.

Mayor Adams: We...we... It's a revolving door. 38 people that assaulted transit workers were arrested 1,100 times. 545 people that were arrested for shoplifting were arrested 7,500 times. The person who shot that police officer, his driver was just arrested for having a gun in April of last year, now he's back doing the same thing all over again. These guys are arrested 10, 15 times. It's a small population of people that are repeated offenders.

Olurin: This is…

Mayor Adams: The second problem that we have in this city is a severe mental health problem. I'm not talking about somebody that's depressed, someone is going through a bad day, I'm talking about a severe mental health problem.

Go look at these cases of assaulting passengers, pushing people on the subway track. The cat that pushed the person on the subway track the other day, in and out of the system.

And so when I came into office I said we can't keep just walking by these people that are dealing with severe mental health issues. We need to give them wraparound services and care. The far left pushed against me…

Olurin: Oh, my gosh.

Mayor Adams: …You're inhumane. You just want to take people off the streets.

Olurin: Mayor Adams...

Mayor Adams: No, I say no. In this city...

Olurin: That is not what happened.

Mayor Adams: ...people are not going to live in encampments, they're not going to live in tents. Go look at Los Angeles, go look at Oregon, go look at all these other cities where you see tent cities, San Francisco, you see tent cities, people.

When I went out in January, February when I got elected in 2022, I went out without my security team and started visiting people in tents and encampments and started talking to them. Bipolar, schizophrenic, human waste, drug paraphernalia, stale food. They didn't even realize they were in that state.

One cat was an ex police officer that I spoke with, didn't even realize, started seeing and talking to himself, I said I'm not going to do this. My city's not going to be like San Francisco. It's not going to be like these other cities where you're watching people living on the streets in tents and tents. You don't see that in New York City.

The third problem we have is random acts of violence. Those random acts of violence are being highlighted. If you have, if you have 24 hours in a day and something that happens to you in an hour in a day, you start to define yourself as that entire day. Those random acts of violence are plastered on social media, they're plastered on...

Olurin: On the NYPD Twitter page.

Mayor Adams: ...newspapers, they're plastered on everything, people begin to believe that oh, I'm living in the city that's out of control. We are not.

Casey: She made a good point, thought, if New York, if NYPD is reposting that kind of stuff, what are we supposed to think?

Mayor Adams: No, no, no, no.

Olurin: I said at the beginning...

Mayor Adams: Look, everybody got a phone, brother.

Olurin: No, no. NYPD's page is doing this. It's recently been there, so much so that they're arguing with journalists on there. It's NYPD on their own Twitter pages that are posting and sensationalizing crime.

And I said this at the beginning. You said that there's a difference between perception and reality, how people feel afraid versus how safe New York actually is. And I agreed with you, but I said that it's your own rhetoric and NYPD's rhetoric that plays into that.

And you did it just now. because the reality is a condition of release for everybody, for every crime, whether it be non bail eligible or bail eligible, is that if you commit a crime, you're rearrested, that you bail can and will be set on you. So, that's the first thing.

Second of all, they have conducted multiple studies, but the Brennan Center literally just put out one, less than two percent of anybody in New York City that's released on bail is rearrested for any violent crime. More importantly...

Mayor Adams: I'm not talking about bail.

Olurin: In the same breath that you...

Mayor Adams: I'm not talking about bail.

Olurin: In the same breath that you want to sensationalize and we want to highlight, and point out, oh, an officer was killed the other day, which is a rare occurrence across the United States, but let alone in New York.

New York police officers have killed at least seven people this year, including a 19‑year‑old…

Mayor Adams: Sister, first of all...

Olurin: ...an NYPD officer killed a 19‑year‑old in Queens...

Mayor Adams: ...I am not going to dismiss...

Olurin: ...yesterday.

Mayor Adams: I'm not going to dismiss the loss of a life of an innocent person that wears a uniform to protect us.

Olurin: But you do of the 31 people that died at Rikers…

Mayor Adams: A rare occurrence.

Olurin: ....and the 19‑year‑old killed yesterday.

Mayor Adams: ...a rare occurrence...

[Crosstalk.]

I feel like I don't want to take you out of context and I don't want people to all of a sudden criticize that you're being dismissive of a young man being shot and killed.

Olurin: Mayor Adams, that's not going to work on me.

Mayor Adams: I'm not trying to work anything on you. I lost a member of the Police Department. The same way I go to see the mother 11‑month‑old baby that was shot in the head when I first became mayor and I sat in the hospital with her, the same way I go visit these mothers who lose their children to gun violence, I go see them.

Olurin: Yes, but not the mothers of people who are dying in Rikers.

Mayor Adams: Just as I go, just as I go to see a family member of a slain police officer, I go visit those parents that lose their loved ones to violence.

Olurin: Did you visit...

Mayor Adams: Now, do you do that?

Olurin: ...are you visiting the family of the...

Mayor Adams: Do you do that?

Olurin: First of all, yes I did. I held a Rikers...

Mayor Adams: You went to visit...

Olurin: I represented hundreds...

Mayor Adams: You went to visit... You went to visit the family members of a slain officer?

Olurin: No, not the slain officer.

Mayor Adams: Oh, of course you didn't.

Olurin: No, but what about the 19‑year‑old that was killed yesterday by the NYPD in Queens when he called for help? Have you said anything about that? Are you visiting them?

Mayor Adams: First of all, that's…

McKelvey: Is New York safer or not, Mayor Adams?

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry?

McKelvey: Is New York safer or not?

Mayor Adams: Okay. We just showed the graph that we put up, right? There's a graph that shows how many people, murders based on 100,000 people. It shows a graph each city, the large cities in America. New York is the safest big city in America.

McKelvey: Should we say crime is down or should we say it's safe, because...

Mayor Adams: No, crime is down, Brother, and safe.

McKelvey: ...I think there's a difference between saying crime and now saying something is safe.

Mayor Adams: And safe. Well, random acts of...

McKelvey: And if I'm 330 pounds and I lose 30, I'm still fat.

Mayor Adams: Right, right.

McKelvey: You know what I'm sayin'?

Mayor Adams: But random acts of, that's why what I must do with New Yorkers is give them the facts, not give them what people are spewing out there. The facts are clear, as I've always stated. We are the safest big city in America, and as people talk about reporting these reports that come out and reporting how things are done, no one wants to report the fact that everyone is saying across the globe, New York is the safest big city in America.

McKelvey: Are we trending the right way, Olayemi?

Olurin: I think that New York... I don't dispute that New York is safe, what I dispute is how Mayor Adams' own rhetoric is the reason why people don't feel safe. I agree that New Yorkers don't feel safe because of the way the NYPD, the Post and Mayor Adams go about sensationalizing crime, and I'm asking you to talk about it differently.

Mayor Adams: Okay. And listen, and you have a right to your opinion and your belief. You and I have a philosophical disagreement. You, as many.

Olurin: It's not about the philosophical disagreement.

Mayor Adams: Many people on the far left disagree with me. You know, many people on the far left, they say, Eric, people should be allowed to sleep on the streets no matter what. They should be allowed to sit on your stoop and inject themselves with drugs.

They should be allowed to go stores and steal whatever they want. They shouldn't have to pay on the subway system. They should be allowed to carry a gun and be able to come out the next day. Like people disagree with me all the time.

Olurin: Earlier you asked me to point out the rhetoric.

Mayor Adams: That is not my opinion.

Olurin: Earlier you asked me to point out specifically what you say to fear monger about crime, so I just would like to say, Exhibit A, like what you literally just did. You continue to say in this that New York is the safest big city, while simultaneously you are the one sensationalizing crime.

Mayor Adams: I point out facts. I point out facts. All I know is...

Olurin: Which is the facts, is it safe or is it not?

Mayor Adams: All I know is when I came in office and I stated that I wanted to take, I'm not allowing people to sleep in tents on our streets, they're going to get the care that they deserve, the far left attacked me.

Olurin: No, we attacked you because you made it so that people could be involuntarily committed.

Mayor Adams: I know when I stated that, I stated that...

Yes. Listen, if I'm sitting down with you, brother, and I'm in a tent with you on encampment, and I'm seeing human waste in the corner, I'm seeing stale food, I'm seeing drug paraphernalia, and I'm hearing you talking about you're only here until the spaceship comes to take you to your next planet, you need to be involuntary committed.

Olurin: Didn't I just say about sensationalized kinds of stories?

Mayor Adams: No, this is what I saw.

Olurin: Because when did that happen?

Mayor Adams: This is what I saw.

Olurin: Oh, you did? Yeah?

Mayor Adams: This is what I saw...

Olurin: You were there?

Mayor Adams: ...around, when I went around the city.

Olurin: Because the activists that were actually there at the encampments you had torn down...

Mayor Adams: The activists.

Olurin: ...you weren't there, but they were there when they were being arrested.

Casey: People are also upset that they feel like too much money's going to migrants and you're cutting too many programs, right? They're saying you're cutting the Pre‑K.

McKelvey: $170 million in pre‑K...

Casey: They're saying that you're cutting so many different funding for other people.

Mayor Adams: Love that. Love this question, Brother. So...

Casey: People are saying, people are feeling like, you know, they never have money for us, but as soon as migrants come into the country, they find money.

Mayor Adams: And listen, people have a right to be angry. You know who's even more angry than they are? I am. I've been to Washington 10 times, 10 times to talk about this subject. So, people got a right to be pissed off of what they're doing to New York City.

Casey: How can we fix that? Where these like, I mean, we're cutting a lot of programs.

McKelvey: $170 million in Pre‑K.

Mayor Adams: Hold on, let's talk about that. Let's talk about...

Casey: One day these kids couldn't go to school because migrants took over the school one day.

Mayor Adams: No, that's not, that wasn't accurate.

Casey: Okay, break it down.

Mayor Adams: Let's, first let's deal with that. We always utilize our school buildings during the time of crisis. And if we're saying to ourselves, if there's some, when we had the major fire when I first became mayor and we saw that fire in the Bronx…

Casey: In the Bronx, yes.

Mayor Adams: You know, we had to take a school to take care of those people who lived in the building temporarily. When we have major storms, we take a school to use it temporarily. Schools is part of the resources of the city.

And thank God we had something called remote learning where young people are still able to go on to learn.

Olurin: You opposed remote learning.

Mayor Adams: But we can't say, we can't say...

We can't say that we will use a school building during an emergency, but we're not going to do it for children that are migrants and asylum seekers.

Olurin: You publicly opposed remote learning and remote work.

Mayor Adams: So, here are the things that are crucial about the migrant and asylum seekers that we need to put to rest that people don't realize.

Number one, I don't have the legal authority to stop the buses from coming in. That's against law. I don't have the authority to allow them to work, which they want to do. That's against the law. I don't have the authority to say I'm not going to house you and give you three meals a day. It's against the law for me to do it.

I don't have the authority to deport someone that commits a crime here in this city and turn them over to ICE. That's against the law. So, what we had to do was figure out how do we house people? So some people said, well, you give me no more than what you've given us.

Go to the HERRC centers where they are, the shelters. The restrooms are outside. The showers are outside. They're sleeping on cots. They get three basic meals a day. And when I go visit them, they say, we don't want any of this from you. All we want to do is have the right to work so we can provide for ourselves.

McKelvey: In less than 30 days, migrants won't be allowed to work per federal guidelines and they won't be allowed to be housed in NYC anymore and these NYC anymore so where would they go after that?

Mayor Adams: They find their way. Out of the 184,000, 60 percent of them found their way. Like many of us have done. You notice you don't hear about the…

McKelvey: Where are they going to get housing in 30 days, though?

Mayor Adams: Many of them, we're giving them intense care. We're not just telling you come here hang out for 30 days and we're not helping you, no. In those 30 days, and if you're a young person you're getting 60 days.

But in those 30 days or 60 days we give them intense care. We're showing you how to find your way in our city. We're showing you how to go about applying for housing, how to go about applying for the services that you need.

And some people are saying we never wanted to come to New York at all, we wanted to come to another city, but Governor Abbott said no, we're sending you to New York.

Think about this for a moment. We got thousands of Ukrainian migrants, thousands. Do you hear about them? No, because they can work.

McKelvey: Just Mexican and Africans are the only ones you hear about.

Mayor Adams: Because they can work. They have the right to work. So, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if we gave them the authority to work. And you know, the real irony of this? We need workers. I need lifeguards. I need food service workers. Many of these migrants from Venezuela are nurses and other professionals. I need people that backstretch workers.

Other states are telling me, Eric, we will take the migrant and asylum seekers if they just allow them to work. We're not going to take them and just have them sit around every day. If they're allowed to work, we would take them.

Olurin: I agree with you.

Mayor Adams: The national government...

McKelvey: She agrees with you!

Olurin: I agree with you that migrants...

Mayor Adams: She agrees with a lot of stuff. Trust me. If she's on that train and she sees something...

Olurin: No, no.  I trust you that I do not...

Mayor Adams: If she's on that train and something's jumping off...

Olurin: I'm sitting here, Mayor Adams.

Mayor Adams: She's going to be dialing 911.

Olurin: First of all, I ride the subway every day.

Mayor Adams: Right.

Olurin: I've worked as a public defender in this city and represented thousands of people.

Mayor Adams: You're happy to see a cop there. Who you kiddin'?

McKelvey: Do you think more police make people feel safe especially Black and brown people?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Olurin: No, they don't.

McKelvey: No, Black and brown people?

Mayor Adams: Yes, Brother. I go to...

Olurin: Oh, my God.

Mayor Adams: I just had a town hall, I just had a town hall yesterday. All these Black and brown folks inside that town hall. Number one issue they came up with, we want to feel safer. We want more cops on our corners, we want...

Olurin: People want to feel safer doesn't mean they want more cops. And if they did, New York City has the most police in the country.

Mayor Adams: Go do an analysis.

Olurin: We're the largest police department in the country.

Mayor Adams: Go do an analysis.

Olurin: How many more police do you want, Mayor Adams?

Mayor Adams: If you go do an analysis across this city in communities of color and ask them...

Olurin: We have. I live in Flatbush.

Mayor Adams: ...do you want us to take your police away or do you want more police, I guarantee you you'll be lost to find someone...

McKelvey: What about when you add resources to that list. Do you want more resources to get to the root of these issues.

Olurin: That's what people want. Right.

Mayor Adams: Think about the resources we've done. Check out what we've done. Check out what we've done. Advocates, the far left, they have been calling for summer youth employment for years. We gave them 100,000. Never been done before in history. Never.

They've been calling for investment in NYCHA. We put NYCHA as our top program. When I was, during Covid, I was knocking on doors, handing out masks to NYCHA residents because the city refused to do so. And people were saying, why are you giving masks to those people?

When I was knocking on the doors, I would ask the residents, how are your children doing in school? They said, Eric, we don't even have high‑speed broadband. I said, When I get elected, we're going to change that. Now, NYCHA residents all have free high‑speed broadband, so their children can have access like other children. We are doing the NYCHA Land Trust. No one was able to do it.

We put more people in affordable housing using the voucher system than the history of the program. We've transitioned more people out of shelter into housing in one year in the history of the city. When I went to do an analysis with all of my gang members and I asked them the question, you know, how many of you have learning disabilities? How many of you are dyslexic?

Olurin: All of your gang members?

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes, there's a lot...

Olurin: That's what you decided...

Mayor Adams: I meet...I meet...

Olurin: ...to characterize them?

Mayor Adams: I meet regularly with people who are...

Olurin: You kick it with the gangs? Okay.

Mayor Adams: ...other folks that want to...

No, I meet regularly with people who...

McKelvey: You met up with some drug dealers at Burger King.

Mayor Adams: I'm glad you brought that up. Hold on, let me just finish this one piece because this is important. We noticed when we did the analysis across the country, not only in New York, across the country, 30 to 40 percent of the inmates in jail and in prison have a learning disability.

So, when I sat down with the chancellor, I said, listen, we can't wait until people break the law. We did dyslexia screening in our schools and we were able to now catch it and give them the wraparound services they need.

So, I want to talk about Burger King. So, I'm sitting at home and I look at the paper, they say there's drug dealers selling drugs in front of Burger King. So, I call up the precinct commander and I said, what is this, we're not having open drug markets.

He says, mayor, we did a complete operation, buy and bust, went to see what drugs are they selling, who's selling drugs? He said, these guys are not selling drugs. These guys are homeless, and they just come to feel as though they could be around others.

So, when I went on Sunday, I went down and did what other people don't do. I spoke with them. I said, Brothers, can we sit down and talk? Let me find out what's going on in your life. We sat at Burger King, had a conversation, sharp brothers.

McKelvey: So, they weren't even drug dealers?

Mayor Adams: No.

McKelvey: Okay.

Mayor Adams: They were not drug dealers. They were just homeless brothers that just wanted to be a place where people, they could commune among others, like other folks do, where people have dog parks and people sit on the steps of a museum.

And so we sat there and had a conversation and we were able to identify what services. And what I learned from them, you can have all the services you want, but if people don't know the entry ramp to those services, then what good is it?

So, now we're going to devise a program that they're going to help me devise on how to reach out to those services, and I want those brothers to become recruiters, to go inside the shelters. But you're not going to do that if you are afraid to get on the ground and have these one‑on‑one conversations.

I've been here, man, you know, I know what it is to buy a nickel bag and make eighth joints so mommy could feed herself. I know what it is to run numbers.

Olurin: And yeah, you just lock 'em up.

Mayor Adams: I know what it is to do all those things. So, I'm comfortable among my folks. And the problem that a lot of people don't understand is they don't know how authentic I am about this work.

But they're going to look back over it and say we had a mayor that came from us and delivered for us. Even the billions of dollars that I'm putting into MWBEs that we've never had before. People are going to look back over these years and say this brother was real about what he's doing because that's why I'm doing this.

McKelvey: I see your people are wrapping up. I have two more questions. How do debit cards for migrants compare to the New York City welfare benefit?

Mayor Adams: I like that. That's a good question, because that was one of the biggest myths. And I think the Daily News just did a piece today of saying why this makes sense. So here's what happened.

We were paying people, because by law we've got to feed them three meals a day, we've got to feed the migrants three meals a day. When I told the team we got to bring down the cost of this by 30 percent because it was costing us too much money. $12 billion over three years, $4 billion already.

One of the places was food. We were seeing that we were having a 10 percent food waste. People were getting food that didn't didn't want and they discard it.

So, my team came together, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, the first Black woman to be a first deputy mayor. She came up with a team called MoCaFi, an MWBE Black product. They said that we can give people food cards where they can only purchase food and baby supplies.

You will save $600,000 a month in costs. People will buy the food that they want and not giving it to them from someone from some large corporate conglomerate. Then they will have to spend the cars in the bodegas, the supermarkets, the local stores so the money stays inside the community. And the program is run by a person of color.

We're saving over $7 million a year. We have no more food waste because people are buying what they want. It's a Black‑owned company, so we're putting money back into a Black business like I said I was going to do. And you cannot buy anything but food or baby supplies.

It's a complete win. But people heard it, and it was sensationalized. Oh, you're giving money to migrants. They're only getting $13 a day for the three meals. It's a winning program.

Casey: Olayemi, is it a win?

Olurin: It's not that I have a problem with it. It's that, again, the sensationalism has a lot to do with the fact that you got up and declared that we have this migrant crisis. And I thought it was interesting, your earlier point about the difference between how Ukrainian migrants are being received versus migrants, Black and Latino migrants.

Because again, you gave a town hall where you were the one who gave this speech and like you incentivized New Yorkers to feel this way.

Mayor Adams: Feel which way?

Olurin: Just feel like there is a migrant crisis where the migrants are being treated differently than them, where they're getting resources, that the migrants are getting resources that are not being given to them.

Because you were the one who presented it to the city that you would have to cut budgets across because of the migrant crisis, even though recently you decided that you all actually do have the money to handle the migrant issue that just wasn't publicized as much. So this goes back to my original discussion.

Mayor Adams: Sister. Sister, you're an attorney and I'm amazed, I think your art is I'm just going to throw it out there and make people feel that way towards her.

Olurin: Mayor Adams, before you say it, there's an entire Council that knows you're lying.

Mayor Adams: You know, she's a… Listen, sister, let me, let me. Sister, let me, let me. We still don't have the money for the migrants. We're spending $12 billion in three years, $4 billion already. What I said to New Yorkers at that town hall, this issue will bankrupt...will destroy our city. This issue...

Olurin: You called specific countries, I remember you calling with countries that the migrants were from.

Mayor Adams: Sister, no. Sister, no, no.

Olurin: And they weren't Ukrainian migrants, you weren't talking about them.

Mayor Adams: Sister.

McKelvey: So, what happens when we don't have...

Mayor Adams: Sister. Hold up. Sister, I did not call the countries what they were from. I went to the country.

Olurin: It's on video, Mayor Adams.

Mayor Adams: I went to Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico to get a full understanding of the flow. I went to the southern border. Just as I went to those brothers at Burger King, I went to the southern border to understand the problem.

Olurin: I remember you started that tour before you were going to go to go D.C. and when you were going to go to D.C. to talk to Joe Biden about the migrant crisis. But you were stopped because they had to, the FBI had to take your phones.

Mayor Adams: Good Lord, you just make up stuff as you go along.

Olurin: Did I make that up?

Mayor Adams: Yes. Sister.

Olurin: That's in the... That's reported. The FBI didn't seize your phones?

Mayor Adams: Sister. Sister. Sister.

Olurin: The FBI didn't seize your phones.

Mayor Adams: No, but...

Olurin: They didn't investigate your top aides?

Mayor Adams: No, what did you just...

Olurin: That's not happening.

Mayor Adams: What did you just say? You just said...

Olurin: Um‑hmm. I said I remember the tour...

Mayor Adams: You just state...

Olurin: ...that you went on when you were going to the border...

Mayor Adams: And when did I come back?

Olurin: ...when you were going to D.C. to talk to...

Mayor Adams: And why did I come back? I came back because somebody had to take my phone?

Olurin: ...President Biden. Because it stopped. I said I remember on the day of, I remember it because it was...

Mayor Adams: Well, you got a bad... You got amnesia.

Olurin: Oh, me and the news. Me and the media.

Mayor Adams: No, no. Hold on.

Olurin: Your phones weren't seized.

Mayor Adams: This is important. This is important. I want you to understand. I want you to understand the hypocrisy of people.

Olurin: Mmm.

Mayor Adams: When the... Law enforcement does something every day, it's bad. But when they do something against Eric Adams, oh, it's good. You know...

Olurin: No, I didn't say that. I said what happened. I didn't say that it was good. I don't think it's good that our mayor is being investigated...

Mayor Adams: I came back, I came back...

Olurin: ...for illegal campaigns. I don't think that's good.

Mayor Adams: I came back because of not that they had to take my phones.

Olurin: Mmm.

Mayor Adams: That is not true. And you should...

Olurin: I said it happened that day.

Mayor Adams: ...I don't know... No, it did not happen that day.

Olurin: I said it was reported before you were going, that you were on your...

Mayor Adams: It wasn't reported that day.

McKelvey: It was reported wrong, is what you're saying..

Olurin: Yes, it was, Mayor Adams.

McKelvey: It was reported wrong.

Olurin: What [inaudible] did the FBI seize your phones?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Olurin: Did they search your top aides?

Mayor Adams: But not that day.

Olurin: Did they search the home of several people?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Olurin: Okay, that's what I said.

Mayor Adams: Yes, okay.

Olurin: And I didn't say that was a good thing. I don't think it's good that our mayor is being investigated by the FBI.

Mayor Adams: Okay, there you go, okay.

McKelvey: So, Mayor Adams, so what happens when New York City doesn't have the money for migrants? And then, you know...

Mayor Adams: A great question.

McKelvey: ...the migrants are in this city and they probably have to do what most poor people have to do, which is sometimes resort to crime. How is that going to make the city safe?

Mayor Adams: Right, right, and that's part of the problem. Imagine having a group of people 18 to 24 years old and being told you can't do anything all day. When you go to these HERRCs, and you're seeing these young people, and I walk in and I talk with them, some of them come from West Africa, South America, Central America, all they're saying is, man, we just want to work. We don't want to sit around here all day and not do anything.

That is why the real focus should be on our national government that's saying, why are you doing this in New York? Why, check out what they're doing. They're doing it to New York. They're doing it to Chicago. They're doing it to Los Angeles. They're doing it to Houston.

What is the same in all those cities? All Black mayors. All Black mayors. And so, what we're saying, same thing that I'm going through here, my Brother Johnson is going through. My Sister Bass is going through. My Brother Turner is going through.

So, our folks, what they wanted to happen, Governor Abbott wanted to happen, we're going to turn these cities against their mayors. We're going to create this environment where they're all going to go against their mayors.

Go Google what they're doing to my Brother in Chicago. Go Google what they're doing to Sister Bass. So the cities have now turned against these Black mayors that are making real change for the first time.

Olurin: By over policing Black people.

Mayor Adams: And they're using this to say, okay, these Black mayors are not competent, they can't run their cities. They're giving everything to the migrants and asylum seekers. This was a perfectly executed plan that we are buying into...

McKelvey: To make Black mayors look bad.

Mayor Adams: Exactly. And when we're doing just the opposite. I inherited a city that was in disarray. Disarray. You know? And no matter how much you do your analysis, you've got to walk away with this Brother got more private sector jobs in the history of the city, we reached that point.

This Brother had his bond rating increased. 40 percent increase in crime when I came in, we're now dropped those crimes. 13,000 guns removed off our city. Outpacing the state in reading and writing for our children in the public schools school system.

62 million tourists are back here. More housing FHEPS vouchers. You go down a list, invest in NYCHA. You go down a list, you're seeing a Brother that managed the city that people said was unmanageable, and we did it in two years and three months.

McKelvey: This is my last question. Do you believe the Biden administration's border policies have fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history?

Mayor Adams: In New York? You said New York history or in America history.

Casey: Leave it at New York, New York history.

Mayor Adams: I think, well, it definitely impacts us, but I think it's in the accumulation of what the White House is failing to do, and the Republican‑led Congress is failing to do and other administrations. People don't want to deal with the fact that we need real immigration reform.

Let me tell you what that should look like. Do you know right here in our country where we are decreasing the population in many cities, we're hurting for people in many cities. When people come across the border, the national government should say, you're going to go to this city where we need populations. Stay there for three years and then you can go anywhere you want in the country.

We need to use this crisis as an opportunity. Our cities are hurting. In Kentucky, they're hurting for backstretch workers in the racing industry. We should be saying, you want to come here, you're going to go to Kentucky, you're going to stay for three years, you're going to learn how to be in the country and work.

That's how we should do it. Instead of just saying, go wherever you want and allowing this to be politicized by the governor of Texas and saying we're going to now, we're going to hurt Chicago, hurt New York, hurt Los Angeles, hurt Philadelphia.

We just got a sister who was the elected mayor, the day she was being sworn in, a plane of migrants was coming in. None of them was coming before. No migrants was going to Los Angeles until Bass became mayor. When the first female Black mayor became mayor, when she became mayor they said let's start sending them to Los Angeles.

They playin' us, man. They playin' us. You know that?

McKelvey: Wow. I respect any elected official who can come have this conversation, because these are the tough questions from your constituents.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt.

McKelvey: What can y'all do to work together?

Mayor Adams: We should. You're… Because no matter...

Olurin: Yeah.

McKelvey: Because both y'all care.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, without a doubt. And you know what's interesting you said that, because when I was in, you know, I'm in rooms with folks, and I walk out of those rooms, and I said, you know, we both disagree, but we both love the city and love our people.

We have to separate the 10 percent of disagreement and focus on the 90 percent that we agree on. You agree that our children should be educated. You agree that our brothers and sisters when they get out of Rikers should come out better than what they went in.

You agree that we should be safe. You agree that no mother should have to lose their child to over policing or to someone who is discharging the gun.

We agree on many things. The 10 percent that we don't agree on, then listen, let's debate that. But that's 90 percent of the stuff. We agree that Black women should be able to go through their school system and get into some of these employments, like first mayor in history that had five women deputy mayors.

First mayor in history, Dominican, Filipino, African American, Trinidadian. You know, first mayor in history that has a person of color that's the police commissioner, Correction commissioner.

First mayor in history that have done so many things. I know retrospectively I'm going to be appreciated as the mayor that lived up to what I said I was going to do. I'm not going to do that now, you know, people always crap on us when we're in the ring.

But when my gloves are hung up, people will look at, listen, that was an authentic bald‑headed, earring‑wearing Brother that did his thing as the mayor of the City of New York. "The" most important city on the globe is being run by a person who was dyslexic, arrested, rejected, and now I'm elected to be the mayor of the city.

Casey: Well, there you have it. This is Mayor Eric Adams, Olayemi Olurin. It's the Breakfast Club, good morning.

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