Transcript: Mayor Adams Participates in Live Interview on NEWS12 and Takes Questions From New Yorkers

April 21, 2025

Amanda Bossard: Hello, everyone, and thanks for being with us here on News 12, where local matters. I'm Amanda Bossard, and this is Ask the Mayor. It is a pleasure to be back here with you for the next half hour as we give you the opportunity to ask New York City Mayor Eric Adams your questions right here on the air. 

So the number to dial if you have a question is 718-861-6800. It will be at the bottom of your screen throughout the program for reference. With that, we welcome back once again tonight New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor, always a pleasure to have you with us.

Mayor Eric Adams: Yes, great to be here. It's good to be in the BX.

Bossard: Yeah, we love having you here in person.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Bossard: So as we wait for those calls to come in this evening, I will kick off the conversation with a moment of reflection on what so many across the city and across the world are thinking about today, and that's the passing of Pope Francis that we learned about early this morning. 

I wanted to talk to you about it because I know just under a year ago, you had the special opportunity to meet the pontiff in person, exchange some words with him, and I wonder what stuck with you most from that experience, and if perhaps he offered any guidance or words of wisdom that helped lead you through the last year and everything you've been through.

Mayor Adams: And, you know, my heart goes out to the millions of Catholics that are around the globe in general, but specifically to all of us. You know, I'm a Christian, I'm not of a Catholic background, but the pope is a symbol of Christianity here on the globe, and just being able to meet him… I asked him to pray for a series of things, and he stated, you know, believe in prayer, something that I talk about all the time, the power of prayer. 

And we're going to miss him, but we all know that transitioning from the physical to the spiritual is part of life, and the Bible states, absent from the body is present in the spirit. His work speaks for him, his compassion, his caring, and his boldness for what I saw, and, you know, we lost a great leader, and you don't reach the role of the pope without having a clear record among your colleagues and among the flock, and I think he lived a life that was worth living, and again, my heart goes out to the Catholic community, but also to all of us who have faith and belief.

Bossard: So many remembering his humanity today in light of his legacy and his passing. You mentioned that you asked him to pray for a number of things. Care to share what those prayers were, and whether at this point you feel like maybe some of those have been answered?

Mayor Adams: Yes. One area that I asked him to pray for is the violence that we were seeing globally. This was during the time of what was playing out in the Middle East, to pray for those children who were dying, to pray for the increase in hate that we see across our globe, and I asked him to just have a special prayer to just the violence that we're witnessing.

Bossard: I do want to switch gears and touch on some local happenings, and specifically this incredibly tragic story that unfolded over the weekend here in the Bronx, where we found a woman, a mother, and her eight-year-old son, both dead inside of an apartment, and her four-year-old daughter was alive among them. 

Now we're hearing reports that perhaps she was there for days, that ACS had visited the apartment days before but were unable to get inside. Can you shed any light as to what exactly happened here and how we got to this point?

Mayor Adams: You think about that for a moment, a child left inside, the mom and the sibling died. It's just painful. Anyone who's a parent is going to just feel that pain. We're looking into the case, we want to learn exactly what happened, but I [] commend ACS workers. It's a hard job, you have to make those difficult decisions, and they have been extremely active of just protecting children and families, but we are conducting an investigation, and we'll come to a conclusion of exactly what happened.

Bossard: And we'll continue to follow those details as they come to light as well. I also want to touch on some developing news that happened today. I believe a few weeks ago, your administration issued an executive order that aimed to allow ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island. 

In the aftermath of that, the City Council sued to block that from being able to take effect. Today, a judge has issued a temporary block and saying that it cannot go into effect until a hearing later this week. What do you hope to argue during that hearing in order to perhaps sway the executive order to be implemented?

Mayor Adams: Well, first I want to point out something that many people don't understand. The first mention of ICE on Rikers Island came from a City Councilperson, Councilman Holden. He believed in that concept. It didn't come from ICE, it didn't come from the administration. The councilman was the first person to do that. 

I turned it over and delegated it to the first deputy mayor. He wanted to make sure that he can do his self-analysis. That's what he did. He visited Rikers Island several times. He spoke to law enforcement. And this, from what I read of the EO, it's not just ICE. It is HSI, FBI, our postal inspector, Federal Postal Law Enforcement Agency. It is the combination. And I say this over and over again, our law enforcement partners, they have an obligation to assist us in keeping New Yorkers safe. ICE is not a criminal organization. FBI isn't, HSI isn't. All of these entities is about keeping New Yorkers safe. And so my first deputy mayor, he conducted his independent review and he came to an analysis and that is who has to answer any questions.

Bossard: Alright. We will continue to follow that hearing as it plays out later on this week. Are you ready to get to some callers this evening, Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Adams: I love the callers.

Bossard: I think this might be the favorite part of the program for you. So let's kick things off with Carl, who has dialed in from Brownsville. Carl, thanks for your time and for the call. What's your question for the mayor this evening?

Question: Yes. I want to ask the mayor, how you doing, Mr. Mayor? But I would like to add, okay, I would like to add, I had a stove that went out of order two months ago and I kept calling NYCHA to ask them how long would it take to get a new stove. And they just keep giving me the runaround. And then finally, two months ago, two weeks ago, we received a new stove. 

But every time you call, they want you to call the call center. They want you to call management. Nobody give you an answer. So I had to keep calling 311. Then 311 gave me a confirmation number, told me to call within two weeks, that if I don't have my stove, call them back again. Then finally, three weeks ago, we got the stove.

Bossard: We are happy. No, do not apologize. We're happy that at least the stove has been replaced. But this is a situation that all too many people, especially, I believe, Carl, you're calling from a NYCHA complex, that they deal with.

Mayor Adams: And the turnaround time as they deal with the calls for any appliance. And Carl, I would like for you to call my constituent assistance unit. And I want to use your case as a case study so that we can have a good product. This is good customer service. So I don't know what the turnaround time is for NYCHA when there are stoves, but we'll look into it and see if there was any reason that this was delayed.

Bossard: Happy to see there was resolution, at least for Carl, and hopefully we can keep that from happening to others again. I believe we have another caller already on the line as well, Marlene from Grand Concourse. Marlene, thanks so much for your call tonight. And what's your question for the mayor?

Question: Okay. Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: How are you, Marlene? 

Question: I'm fine. Thank you. So with the nice weather coming, okay, I'm an educator. I get up, got to get up every morning and go to work. And they are a series of cars outside of the building, playing music very loud. I mean, I just would like to know what is it that you can do about that?

Mayor Adams: Marlene, two things. Number one, I am so proud that I gave my educators one of the best contracts that the city has given to my supervisors and my teachers and others who are associated. Tell me something. Can you tell me what street is on the Grand Concourse? Where is it located for the most part so we can get over there?

Question: Sure. It's on Grand Concourse, between the Grand Concourse and Whyte Street, W-H-Y-T-E, I believe it's spelled. And I'm actually on 171st Street.

Mayor Adams: Okay. Okay. And this is in the evening, early morning hours when?

Question: Oh, no, it's mostly in the evening.

Mayor Adams: Okay.

Question: Especially with the summer coming, you know, like sometimes the music is blasting to the point where some of my furniture near the window is shaking.

Bossard: We heard a similar complaint last time from Woodlawn. We went over to the Woodlawn area. 

Mayor Adams: So we're going to get over there, you know. Now, you know what's interesting? This is what our quality of life division is about. It is about going after those areas that everyday New Yorkers are concerned about. 

Trash, loud noise, loitering, just people impacting the quality of life. As she stated, she gets up and she educates our children. She needs to have the sleep that she deserves. And this is what this new unit, Commissioner Tisch and an entire team put in place to deal with this. 

We want to go after those abandoned vehicles, people selling drugs, all of those things that impact our quality of life. And this is what this new unit is about. We were successful in bringing down crime last quarter at the lowest number of recorded shootings in history. Now we want to match that with people feeling good about their community. 

Bossard: Exactly. And especially as we head into the Summer months, we know that issues like that are all too common. The conversation is just getting started here on Ask the Mayor. Stay with us. We're getting to more of your calls right after this.

[Commercial Break.]

Bossard: Thanks so much for staying with us here on News 12 for another edition of Ask the Mayor with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Always a pleasure to get to so many calls with great questions. And we have more lined up on the line right now. So we're going to continue the conversation with Lorraine, who is dialed in from East Flatbush tonight. Lorraine, thanks for your call. And what's your question for the mayor?

Question: Thank you so much. Good evening, Mayor Adams.

Mayor Adams: How are you, Lorraine?

Question: I'm very well. Thank you. I understand and I see the development of affordable housing throughout New York City. However, within my neighborhood and throughout New York City, I don't see any plans, or maybe I haven't been paying attention to any plans for home ownership within the boroughs because it seems like everybody is getting priced out and we never get a chance to even be considered for the buildings that are going up or for the locations that are being opened because the developers come in. Are there any plans for home ownership within the five boroughs?

Mayor Adams: That is a great question. And you know, the way you don't get displaced or priced out is to own. You know, it's one thing to rent and we have, you know, hundreds of thousands of renters and that's important. But home ownership means a lot. I started out with my first small little co-op and then I was able to use that to step up to, you know, a building, you know, where I had tenants. 

And so Adolfo Carrión, who's the deputy mayor, he is really looking into several new initiatives about home ownership and how particularly we can help those who are first time home buyers with low interest rate mortgages. 

We are in alignment with you because we have a real housing crisis in our city and part of the goal that we want to look at is how do we put money back in the pockets of working class people. We put $30 billion back in the pockets of working class people, everything from paying off medical debt to paying the college tuition for foster care children, free high speed broadband for NYCHA residents. 

I mean, we have a whole list of them and right now we're fighting in Albany to ask the tax for working class, for low income New Yorkers. If you make 150 percent below the federal poverty line, you won't pay any income taxes. All of this is to allow people to buy a home and that home could be a house or co-op or condominium but this way you get, you know, you get revenue in it and you're able to build your value. We are in a line with you and that's what our deputy mayor is doing to focus on that.

Bossard: It's great to hear that there are steps being taken to make those pathways more accessible. I believe we have another caller lined up on the line as well. This time Lawrence has joined us from Mott Haven. Lawrence, thanks for the call and what's your question tonight?

Question: My question to the mayor is first, good afternoon. Is there anything being done about breaking into our cars like on [inaudible] and Gerard is becoming really bad and it's happening like too often. One day I came out, matter of fact, two weeks ago and they took all four wheels off of one person's car.

Mayor Adams: Listen, listen, first of all, thank you for that question and we're going to look at that area but I hate it. You know, if you're old enough to remember the days when we used to have Benzi boxes, we created an industry because we surrendered without cars being broken into. So they had your radios, you carry your radios out and walk the street. You're too young to remember that.

Bossard: Oh no, don't say that. Absolutely not. I do remember the days of AM FM radio, believe it or not.

Mayor Adams: So I'm with you. We're going to look at that area but we never want to go back to those days where you have to carry your radio out or you have to worry about coming in the morning and the only industry that was growing was those who repair windows because people broke into your cars. We're going to zero in. Those petty thefts are crucial. 

We have been really successful in bringing down the major crimes in our area but those of breaking into cars, petty larceny, grand larceny, those are very important issues and so we're going to look into that area because we're not going backwards on the quality of life and losing your property to someone breaking into your car.

Bossard: I believe last week Commissioner Tisch mentioned that Hondas are being targeted specifically because it's very easy to duplicate the key fobs and then thieves make off with it. Any idea as to how officers are trying to stay ahead of these trends in crime?

Mayor Adams: I like that. I like that. And first of all, we have a real partner here in the Bronx with District Attorney Darcel Clark. She just found, she knows how to have the balance of preventing crime and going after those that are heavy handed. We just made a major arrest with the collaboration of the District Attorney's office. That's very important. 

The industry must play a role. Honda is aware of this problem. That's why the large car thefts we have are Hondas. They're aware of this problem. They need to come in and play a role. But what we have been doing also is encouraging people to get the different tags and tracking devices. 

You hide one of those tracking devices in your car, we can find it just like that. And no one knows it's in your car. It has been extremely successful. We've seen a decrease in grand loss in the auto. But we really need the industry to be partners with us and we're going to meet with industry leaders of those cars that are frequently stolen to say you got to do a better job.

Bossard: That's such a great idea. A small investment in one of those trackers to save yourself from a much bigger hassle long term.

Mayor Adams: We find the car quickly. Yes.

Bossard: That's all you need is just that little GPS. I want to touch on that major arrest takedown that you were talking about alongside Darcel Clark last week that was announced. I know that in following up after that, several of those men, young men who were indicted as part of that scheme, were later released without bail. Back out on the streets.

Mayor Adams: Revolving door, recidivism, and many of them, some of them had several shootings, robberies. There's a small number of people that are creating a large number of violent crimes. If we don't get help from Albany to look at the discovery rules, recidivism, we're not going to be able to clamp down on as much as we want to. 

Now, lowest number of shootings this quarter in the recorded history, five straight quarters of decreasing crime, second lowest number of homicides in our city’s recorded history. But people should not have to be the victim of the crime. The question we need to ask ourselves is whose side are you on? I'm on the side of working class people.

Bossard: Alright. Stay with us. We're going to be right back here on News 12 for more Ask the Mayor after this quick break.

[Commercial Break.]

Bossard: Welcome back to Ask the Mayor here on News 12 with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. I want to take a moment now to reflect on a recent trip that you took down to the Dominican Republic following that tragedy we saw at the Jet Set nightclub with the roof collapsing and killing more than 220 people inside. What was it like to be there at the site in the aftermath and has the island asked the city for any of the support that you promised to give if needed?

Mayor Adams: It was extremely therapeutic for me and to many of the residents here in the city from the Dominican community. We have the largest Dominican community outside of the Dominican Republic and many ask, you know, what can we do? And it meant a lot to have the mayor go there, spend the day, spend time with leaders, to have a day of mourning here in the city where we lit up City Hall with the colors of the Dominican flag, and meeting with governmental officials and see how we could help. 

And there are many things we're offering, part of the investigation process if they need our law enforcement to assist, we're willing to do so, Department of Buildings for structure issues, our grief counselors because we deal with so many, you know, tragedies that we want to lend our expertise. 

And we basically stated we're here to help you in finding a way not to get in the way. And whatever way we can help, we're going to do so. It's a painful moment. This was a popular nightclub, Jet Set, over 50 years, many people had memories of being there. Some of the stories were just heartbreaking to, you know, hear some of the stories. And we wanted to be there.

Bossard: But a powerful show of support during what is a difficult time. I want to switch gears briefly before we let you go for the evening because a lot has happened to you personally since the last time we were sitting here. 

One of those being that you are now running for reelection as an Independent. When we spoke with you back in February, you told me I'm running on the Democratic line. What changed between then and now?

Mayor Adams: Great question. I'm still a Democrat. You know, anytime people hear Independent, they feel as though that you're switching your party. No, I'm still a Democrat, but I'm creating a line of affordable and safe because those are the two issues I hear all the time, and I'm going to do so. 

We collected 25,000 tickets to be in the Democratic primary. It just took too long to do, what the independent person stated to drop the case. It took too long. Now we have an opportunity to go out and let New Yorkers that we will be in November, and that's crucial.

Bossard: I got to ask you. Are we going to see more of the T-shirt between now and November?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we are.

Bossard: The new look that we've seen from you since. Mr. Mayor, a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you all for watching. We'll see you next time.

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