Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds In-Person Media Availability

April 2, 2024

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

The mayor has once again convened senior leadership from across our administration to answer questions and address the issues that are top of mind for working‑class New Yorkers.

By bringing together experts with decades of experience in city government, public safety, public health and more, we've been able to provide a clear and more complete picture of the work we do every day. We look forward to continuing that process this morning.

Joining us today are Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chief Advisor to the Mayor Ingrid Lewis‑Martin, Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams‑Isom, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres‑Springer, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar and Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg.

So, without further delay, I'm pleased to turn it now to Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: We have some guests today, City College Academy of the Arts, who are the students, can you stand up?

Thank you. Thank you for joining. First time in City Hall?

How many of you – first time in City Hall? Okay. You know, when we finish, you know, come pop in my office and we can chat a moment, okay? Just block the reporters. Don't let them get in the way. 

So, it's great to be here. You know, we came into office two years ago. We say it over and over again: protect public safety, rebuild our economy and make the city more livable for all New Yorkers and we continue to deliver on that every day. Keeping New Yorkers safe on the subway and maintaining confidence in the system is key to ensuring that New York remains the safest big city in America.

I was down in the subway last night to about 1:30, 2:00 a.m. in the morning with Commissioner Daughtry, Chief Chell and other individuals and I contrast that to January 1st, February, March of 2022, and there is a stark difference in that system.

When I was there previously, homelessness was everywhere, encampment was everywhere. Last night as I drove through, rode the trains, interacted with people and saw what the subway system is looking like and moving towards, we are moving in the right direction. We're nowhere near, we're not spiking the ball, but there's a clear difference in what I saw when I first took office as the mayor.

And I talk about it all the time. We made it a priority in our office to just deal with crime. And crime is down, jobs are up. We're going to continue to say that over and over again and it's going to resonate with New Yorkers. January, we hit a bump in crime in the subway system. We immediately dispatched a thousand officers into the system and we saw the results instantly.

February, crime went down, March, crime went down. February, double digit decrease. March, 24 percent decrease. The numbers are still being finalized, but there's a real significant move in the right direction. We also deployed 800 more offices, because it's a combination, 4.1 million riders. Listen, they don't want to hear there's only six felonies a day in the subway system on average.

The reality is that they want to feel safe and there's nothing that makes passengers feel safer than, number one, seeing a uniform officer; and number two, not having to deal with those with severe mental health illnesses not receiving the services that they need, and that's what we've been focusing on.

And so we want to continue to move in the right direction. March is showing this quarter crime is down in the subway system. This quarter, crime is down in the subway system. We need to be clear on that, and I think it's important to continue to talk about that.

And so last week, we introduced technology into the subway system because we are clear, there is no one methodology to creating a safe system, there's a combination of things. What we're doing with SCOUT, Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom talked about interacting with those with severe mental health issues.

What we're doing with deployment of police personnel. That uniform presence, the omnipresence in policing has a real symbol that's been around for a long time. And what we're doing with technology, the cameras that the governor is going to put into the subways, we were into the subway cars. We already started doing that, and we're going to continue to expand on that. Her $20 million contribution to SCOUT that we expand on that to interact with those with mental health and our technology, that we are putting a call out across the entire globe that we want technology that can detect people carrying guns. We have a first version of it, but we have not had a contract with anyone. We need to be clear on that.

We are looking at the technology and we want to encourage more technology of this method. I have not kept it a secret that I believe technology can run cities better. These young people know it. They use it every day. They know how powerful technology is and we're going to use it in every aspect of government.

And anyone that deals with technology should know that it's evolution. When we first had the iPod, you know, all you did was listen to songs, now, you listen to your whole life on it, you know, from cameras to memos to keeping memorabilia on it. So, we're going to continue to evolve, but you can't be afraid of technology and the evolution that comes with it. And we're looking forward to having others come in and tell us how we could run our city better with the technology that we need.

We also cannot talk about safety in the subway without addressing, you know, this mental health crisis. We had a passenger last week that was shoved onto the subway track and we lost a New Yorker. And we keep seeing the correlation over and over again: mental health, recidivism, random acts of violence.

Those are the three items that are problematic in our city, and we are attacking each one of them, but we do need help from our partners to get the issues that we're seeing resolved.

Last week, we also announced that we're ready to start hiring more clinicians through the subway co‑response outreach teams that Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom has been talking about, and kudos to her for her team continuing to move this conversation forward.

Listen, our subway system is not a hospital and it's not our mental health facilities. People should not be on the subway system if they can't take care of themselves. They're in danger to themselves. They don't know that they're in danger to themselves. We need to play a role as responsible New Yorkers to make this happen. 

A young lady stopped me yesterday when I was on the subway system and she was here to do some design work and she said, mayor, what are you going to do about the mental health problem on the system? And I said, ma'am, let me ask the question differently. What are we going to do? What are we going to do?

How about you getting a group of your friends, these young, thoughtful young people who are energetic and smart? How about coming out one day and walking with us and interacting with these people who live on the subway system? 85 percent of them are Black and Brown, 85 percent are Black and Brown.

So, we are all in this together. And these young people who are in the room volunteering to go down and speak with those who you see living in the subway system, no shoes on. They just need a pair of socks. They just need someone to give them the nurturing that they deserve.

So, we are all in this together. It's not just this administration. Young people need to be leading this battle of some of the crises that we are facing in our city. And I'm happy that they're here today. And I will continue to talk to young people on how they can blow the winds of change in the city that they love, and the city that's going to be left to them.

Last week, we also launched JobsNYC, to bring new opportunities to communities across the five boroughs that have been overlooked for far too long. Yes, we have returned many of our private and public sector jobs, but unemployment in Black and Brown communities still remains too high.

And we're going into the communities. We were in Brownsville, really bringing people into the jobs that are available. Not only do we have thousands of jobs in city government, everything from school safety agents to clerical to HBD, to nurses, to lifeguards. Everywhere you look, we need employees. And so that's what JobsNYC is about. We are kicking off these hiring halls across all five boroughs. So, we're taking it on the ground to the residents of the city and we're launching an all-new online jobs portal at jobs.nyc.gov to help New Yorkers find jobs and job training opportunities, and all of these bills on the action we recently took to reform our minimum qualification requirements for certain entry‑level city jobs to make them more accessible to New Yorkers.

And as we create more job opportunities, we want to protect those who choose different kinds of work, and we are proud of what we did yesterday. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer and her team are looking at increasing the app base, our deliveristas, the men and women who deliver food for us.

Workers are now earning nearly $850 million more per year in the combined effort of the increase to $19.56 per hour before tips, up from the average earnings of $5.39 per hour. This is a real win for this administration, a minimum wage of the first of its kind in the nation. And we are proud that we are lifting up working class people.

And so finally, you know, I want to recognize the work my colleagues are doing in Albany. We need a housing plan. We're asking them, we know that the budget is delayed for a short period of time, but we think these issues are worthwhile, and we want to continue to encourage them to look at the housing issues that we are facing, and we know there's a deal to be made and we should make that deal.

We are also looking at mayoral accountability. We're looking forward to the extension of that issue and some of the mental health issues that we have been talking about for some time now.

New Yorkers deserve the freedom to walk down the street without being bombarded by a dozen illegal smoke shops, and that issue is so important. We think that we're going to find a deal and be able to address these issues that we are facing.

So, before taking questions, I want to remind New Yorkers to take safety precautions ahead of next Monday's solar eclipse and avoid looking directly at the sun. I know that people think that you could just look up at it. It is not a major issue, but it is. And so, we really want to encourage New Yorkers to be very careful. I think darkness starts around 3:25 p.m.

Eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last at the public library system. New York City Parks will host viewing events in all five boroughs. And if you are in a car, make sure to use your headlights. So, this is very, very important. Don't damage your vision. Do not look directly at the eclipse. Fabien.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you. Mayor, I think all these young people were born after there were iPods. I think it's just iPhones at that point, but we'll take some questions. I don't think that's a joke.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you today?

Mayor Adams: Quite well. Yourself?

Question: I have a couple questions for you. My first question to you is, in recent days, NYPD leadership has been attacking a journalist on social media. I was wondering if you think that it's problematic for them to be using their public or official accounts to attack critics on public platforms.

I also wanted to get your thoughts. The council yesterday released their response to your preliminary budget. They said that there's more than enough money there to restore all your previous budget cuts. I'm wondering your thoughts on that and would you use...if their projections turn out to be proven correct, would you use that money to restore the cuts or go to other priorities like the NYPD?

And final question, you voted today. Today is a presidential primary in New York. You've been critical about the migrant crisis here in New York City. I'm wondering if you have any concerns that that's playing on the minds of voters come November when it's the general election.

Mayor Adams: Okay, so let's peel back each one of those questions, starting with the voting first. I have been critical of the handling of the migrant crisis in the city, but New Yorkers have been critical of it, as well. Let's not lose that. It's not Eric that's singing this song alone. New Yorkers believe this should not be happening to the greatest city on the globe. And we should be reimbursed for the dollars that we are spending and we should allow people to work. And I'm clear on that.

And even in my criticism of the president, I have never made it unclear that I support the president. I support what he has done around public safety. I support how he has turned around the economy. Many people thought we were going to be in a worse off condition than we are in. I think he has done a great job. And I don't talk about who I normally vote for when I go into vote, but it felt good checking off the box for Biden.

Going into the Tweets. I'm not responding to tweets and I don't think they attacked anyone. They responded. The columnists shared his opinion. They shared their opinion. I think the Police Department, the criminal justice system, elected officials, I think all of us must be held accountable for our actions. All of us. I'm a big believer in the free press. I don't agree with everything I see in the press, but I believe in the free press. But the free press should be held accountable, too. I don't know why we feel the free press should not be held accountable.

To write a story that indicates crime has gone up 150 percent in certain crimes, it was wrong. To put things in a column that were inaccurate was wrong, and kudos to the Daily News for changing some of those inaccuracies in the column.

And the reporter you're talking about has been writing columns for years, from the days I was running. You never hear me criticize those columns. He has an opinion, everybody has a right to opinion. If a columnist has a right to an opinion, a police officer shouldn't have a right to his opinion? And here's a real horrific part of it that really impacted me. That column was released at 5:00 p.m., I believe, on the day we buried an officer, the day we buried an officer.

Ingrid Lewis‑Martin, Chief Advisor to the Mayor: Who was killed.

Mayor Adams: That was murdered...

Lewis‑Martin: ...he was murdered.

Mayor Adams: That was murdered, 5:00 p.m. I thought that was distasteful. I thought that we didn't take in consideration of Stephanie, we didn't take in consideration of the men and women who were mourning, who felt the rawness of that death. And I believe that standing by and continuously to allow people to just take open shots at the men and women who placed their lives on the line, it's just not acceptable.

And so Chief Maddrey, John Chell, Commissioner Daughtry who started that unit of those CRTs and to lose one of the loved ones in that unit, we saw the rawness of that pain.

And you know what? The rawness of the pain I felt, you know, Jennifer is in my detail. Every day I see her when she's working. She's smiling, enthusiastic, always got something pleasant to say. That was her cousin, that was her cousin.

So, sometimes I think folks forget, these are human beings. These are human beings. What you saw from Chell and Daughtry, you saw a human reaction. Just as you are protecting your reporters, they were protecting their cops.

Question: On the last question on the City Council response, if their projections turn out to be true, would you use that money for restorations or for the NYPD?

Mayor Adams: Listen, I pray to God every day that they found a pot of money that could resolve the budget issues. We don't want to make cuts. We do not want to take away services. And if they have, when they sit down with Jacques and if they have a way to do this, we are open to hearing that.

You know, they're co‑partners in government. These agencies are important to them. Our issues are the same. We want public safety, a livable city, revitalize our economy. The City Council wants the same thing. Adrienne wants the same thing that I want, and now Jacques is going to sit down with their team and our team here, and we are going to land the plane—a plane that we landed two times already.

We landed the plane two times already and we're going to do it again. We will find a way to resolve these issues that the city's facing.

Question: Hi, Mayor Adams.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: I want to ask you, we published a story last week from the markup that showed major errors in the city's AI chatbot. It provided wrong answers to questions about everything from dealing with tenants to taking tips from employees, encouraging behavior that is illegal.

Do you think that the chatbot should be taken down until it stops responding with the [inaudible] wrong answers and it was up as of 10 minutes ago? Why is it still up if it's so wrong with so many questions?

Mayor Adams: Okay, "so wrong" is a powerful term. "So wrong."

Question: I can read some of the answers to you.

Mayor Adams: Okay. No. When you say "so wrong," that means the entire process is messed up. It's wrong in some areas, and we've got to fix it.

But I want to be clear on something that many of us must understand. Even with, we announced the other day, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, we announced the other day self‑driving cars testing. Any time you use technology, you need to put it into the real environment to iron out the kinks.

You can't live in the lab. You can't stay in the lab forever. You must be willing to say, I'm going to put it out among the real universe to iron out the next level of perfection.

That is, anyone that knows technology knows this is how it's done. You test it as much as you can until you get into the real environment; when you get into the real environment, you're going to learn something else. Now, what you may learn may be enough to say you've got to take it down altogether, or it may be enough for you to say, now that we found some problems, let's fix it.

But this is the evolution of technology. And only those who are fearful sit down and say, oh, it is not working the way we want, now, we have to run away from it all together. I don't live that way.

Every evolution is going to build a better product until the product becomes an excellent, perfect product, and it's never perfect, you're still going to modify it. There's going to be more versions. And so we are looking at what the problems are. We're identifying what the problems are. We're going to fix them, and we're going to have the best chatbot system on the globe. People are going to come and watch what we're doing in New York City.

Lewis‑Martin: He's right. Think about MapQuest. When MapQuest first came out, there were so many kinks. It would tell people to make a right when they should make a left. It was, bad things were happening. But now, MapQuest is almost perfected. Same thing. Same thing.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: People are being told they don't have to accept Section 8 vouchers. They can take a cut of their workers' tips. They don't have to inform staff about schedule changes. These are kinks, but it's also illegal behavior that people can get in trouble for.

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, Housing, Economic Development and Workforce: I'm happy to answer that. So, first I'll say we should look at the chatbot pilot as part of what is really a long list of strategies that this mayor has insisted that we implement in order to help small businesses.

Because for too long in this city, the way government has approached and tried to support small businesses is really on enforcement and fining and making the entire system of standing up, operating or growing a business, a real mystery.

So, we did that by eliminating certain types of fines. We stood up entire commissions to look at regulation. We're doing better on outreach; and technology, as the mayor said, is a huge part of this. We were very clear from the beginning that this is a pilot, and so when you do a pilot, you learn from it.

And I want to be clear, this isn't the first chatbot in the history of chatbots or technological deployments where we have to improve. We're seeing this across all forms of artificial intelligence.

And so we want to improve that, which is why there are already planned updates to make sure that we mitigate as much as possible those types of incorrect answers. In the meantime, I'll say a couple of things.

There's clearly a disclaimer on that site that says that, number one, New Yorkers shouldn't rely on it for legal advice; and then number two, we want to call on New Yorkers who are using it, because that's how we improve that tool to provide that type of feedback so it can learn and we can learn.

But what we can't do, Katie, is wag our finger at technology and say, oh, it's too hard, because that would be retrograde and a disservice to New Yorkers who expect us to come into the modern age and help them by getting smarter and better at technology.

So, we'll continue to improve on, we're working very closely, of course, with our Office of Technology and Innovation, we have an entire artificial intelligence network, and we're going to be speaking to more members of the public so that we get better, because that's the only choice.

We can't stick our heads in the sand and pretend that there aren't tools that allow us to be more effective and provide a better service to all New Yorkers, including small businesses who desperately want a better way to get information.

Deputy Mayor Levy: I would just also add the chatbot was created specifically for small business purposes, and asking questions that are completely unrelated, makes no sense.

[Crosstalk.]

There were plenty of questions in that story that were unrelated. So, just want to point out.

Question: But I mean, they're answering. You know, I mean, so then say it's just for that. I think also a lot of…

[Crosstalk.]

Deputy Mayor Levy: It says it. It says that.

Question: [inaudible] be a business owner who has tenants upstairs or they're not restaurants that own a building and have tenants. So, I think if your [inaudible] for adding incorrect information, I mean, do I have to inform staff about schedule changes? Is that not a small business question?

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: What you are...

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: Yes, that's a small business question, in my opinion. But what you are doing is exactly what we want done. We want people to kick the tires. That's how this stuff is done.

You know, anyone that knows this realizes that you want this. We want people to find, here's the kinks, here's the problem. Now we get a chance to fix them. We would not have been able to get those answers to the questions if we would've stayed in a laboratory.

Lewis‑Martin: It's a pilot. It's a pilot. It is not the natural product. It's a pilot.

Mayor Adams: We took the whole story and we gave it over to the team and say, we got to fix these problems.

Lewis‑Martin: And it would've been good had you just shared it with us and we could have given it to the team and we could have corrected the problem and we could have given you...

[Crosstalk.]

But I mean, if you had come to us, what you did was you just wrote a story.

Mayor Adams: Right.

Question: I didn't write it, but …

Lewis‑Martin: Whoever your team member wrote a story, they didn't even give us the benefit of the doubt to say, listen, we did an in-depth analysis, and this is what we've come up with. Maybe you need to look at this. And we would've said, thank you very much. This is exactly what we needed because it's a pilot program.

And then we could have worked in partnership to let the world know that as a result our pilot program, we found all of these inconsistencies, and we want to thank Reporter X for sharing it with us. And we would've done that. Try it one time. Try working with us once.

Question: We tried.

Lewis‑Martin: No, you don't. You write stories.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: What's happening? How are you?

Question: I'm well. I'm well. I'm so happy we have the youngsters in the room today, because...

Lewis‑Martin: Yes, we are, too.

Question: You know, psychiatrists...

Mayor Adams: We should rotate and have a different school each week.

Lewis‑Martin: They should let the kids up front and put the reporters in the back.

Question: I agree. So, psychiatrists across the country are talking about mental health and young people.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: ...and how severely they were impacted with the pandemic.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: Are we going to roll out more mental health awareness campaigns to address this issue? Because it's overwhelming, even in the subways, even with the random pushing. What are your thoughts on that?

And secondly, when you spoke about the pilot program and the scanners, is it particularly to detect guns? Because I think that's important because a lot of people are pushing back on that.

Mayor Adams: Yes. And one with the, your first question, it's so important when we, or, actually, the second question, with the pilot that we're putting in place for, it shows you where the gun is actually carried. And there was a real question, could we use it on the subway system, because people were wondering, would they work on a subway system because of all of the mixed signals, et cetera.

 But we tested it over and over again and we were able to see that it was able to do the detection that we were looking for; and in addition to that, we're putting this out to the universe. We received so many calls from others who have this technology, they reached out and they said, we would like to put it in front of you and take a look at it. That's the exciting thing about it. When you put this out, it's like the butterfly effect, everyone starts working on it to meet the challenge.

And what's interesting, January, going back to 2022, we threw this out here. We said, this is what we want you to see if you could devise. And many of you were asking, when are you going to come out with the scanner? When are you going to come out with the scanner? And we came out with the scanner, you know, and it shows that it has the ability to show where guns are carried on a person's body or inside a bag.

And that's, if we're able to get it to the perfection that we think we can by everyone that's looking at it, this is a huge step forward for public safety in this entire country. And New York is leading the way. That's exciting, that's the exciting part about it.

With the mental health, and you're right, after Covid, you know, look, all of us went through something after Covid. And the team has really leaned into, under Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom and under Dr. Vasan, they had a series of things around this.

We've come out with Teenspace where you have 24 hours, seven day a week mental health assistance, with right on the phone, which teens are really comfortable in using. We looked at, we had a social media summit to look at this, because of what social media is doing, drawing our children into dark places, suicidal rates are up, depression is up, all of these different areas.

So, we realized these complex problems, it's not a one size fits all. We have to come with several different approaches to address this issue, and that's what we're doing.

And we did a youth town hall. We did several, I think we did 11, if I'm not mistaken. And that was the number one issue that came up at the town halls, the young people were talking about mental health issues and public safety. Those were going back and forth one and two.

But the young people were very clear: they are concerned about having the right mental health support inside their schools and being in a safe school. We heard it at every town hall of young people town hall that we attended.

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams‑Isom, Health and Human Services: Can I just add, JR, thank you for the question. And you'll remember that when we did our mental health plan, youth mental health was a very important part. Coming the next month or so, we're going to be doing more. There's really good models of care that we would like to highlight.

We see that young people love to have availability that's in their community, that's culturally competent, that's at their place where they like to hang out but also have access to a social worker. So, we'll be highlighting some more models of care.

We also have to really tackle how we pay and how we get reimbursed for these services so that the people are best able to do that are able to really have models of care that are supporting. So, that's going to be the next level of work that we do around this particular area.

And I think the mayor mentioned Teen Space, we just started that and we've already, they're almost, at 6,000 people, young people who are using that platform, which I think really shows, you know, the one hand we're really concerned about social media and social media and what it does, but that we never said social media, we wanted to get rid of it, we said we wanted to really see how young people could use it.

So, we just, I'm excited about what is happening and also just getting young people to work with us and to give us the feedback about what works for them.

Question: What about the parents that might be disconnected? How do we reach them?

Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom: Yes, so I mean, this is, I love this, because when I was at the Harlem Children's Zone, anything that we did included first the young person, then the family, then the community, right? This doesn't happen if we work in silos.

And I think a lot of adults want to figure out, where can I get access to high‑quality care? Where can I get it from a person who looks like me? Where can I make sure that I can afford to do it? These are all the things that we as parents want, so I think you're absolutely right that it is how, what is it that we need for young people?

How do we pay for it? Which communities is it located in? Is it high quality? How do we make sure that adults are connected to it and that schools and churches and all of us, all the caretakers who are part of this village have access to what is needed.

Question: Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom: You're welcome.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you?

Mayor Adams: Quite well. How are you doing?

Question: Well, you know, I'm getting through.

Mayor Adams: Okay.

Question: Up in Albany, Carl Heastie has shot down your calls to increase penalties for people who assault retail workers saying that he doesn't believe increased penalties has led to any decrease in crime. What is your response to that? And can you go through like maybe some of your lobbying efforts on this specific issue up in Albany?

And also on the restoration of police classes?

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, on what?

Question: On the restoration of police classes for fiscal '25. Is there any concern, I mean, potential recruits have told me and that I've talked to in the past about this, and this is an issue of that there's no stability to this. They're going to, they're on the civil service list and they get calls from other departments. They're going to take other jobs.

So, is there a concern that you're going to lose out on good potential candidates, and why not make the call to say that you are going about to restore these police classes so you can at least have that stability with all the recruiting issues we've had with.

Mayor Adams: Okay, the first with Speaker Heastie. He shared that his feelings were he doesn't believe raising penalties is a good deterrent. But he also said that he believed there's some other ideas that he feels could assist us.

We want to dig into that. We want to collaborate with them. Ever since our retail theft summit we came up with some great ideas. We're seeing some good work because of that, of what we have done.

And we want to really get a handle on retail theft. It's particularly people who are walking in with organized individuals, something that he understands, the organized crime aspect of this. He understands that.

And we're going to continue. We're up in Albany now. The team's up there today. The chancellor's up there today. Tiffany has been up there for some time. Ingrid has gone up a couple of times. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, the whole team.

And so we're going to continue to talk with them. They understand the seriousness of retail theft as well as some of the other issues that's on the front line. And we're going to work with them. We're going to hear some of their ideas.

And the goal in Albany is to come with the willingness of sitting down, of making sure that's how you come to a solution. That's how you get stuff done in Albany. That's how we've done it twice, you know, to get the things we need and respecting their views and matching it with the views we have.

And I think that we could come to a meeting of the minds, because we know retail theft is an issue. And the speaker and his team up there, the Senate, they all understand its an issue, we've got to come with the right way to resolve it.

The, you asked me about the...

Deputy Mayor Levy: Police classes.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: Right, we restored, I think we got four coming in this …

Deputy Mayor Levy: Four total classes this year, almost 2,000 officers come onto the streets this year alone.

Mayor Adams: Right.

Question: Yes, [inaudible]. So, the question was about not committing to the classes for fiscal '25, which start July and going forward, that go through the next year, losing out on recruits that are on the civil service test that will take other jobs.

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes. And you know, what I have found is that, because you're right, that you know, when other agencies call, we could lose some good candidates. And so we want to look in this budget process to see how much we could commit, but we've got to live up to it, because there's a lot of uncertainty. We're still in turbulent waters right now.

But what I have seen is that the number one thing that was concerning recruits, it was the pay. And we changed that game. We gave them a very fair contract. They had, I think, a 96 percent ratification rate. And you find that many people who join other police departments come to become part of the New York City Police Department.

New York City Police Department is the greatest police department on the globe. And you know, its people want to be a member of the New York City Police Department. When they're on the list, we have made sure that people are not waiting a long time, we're processing the candidates. And as soon as we could know what 2025 looks like, we're going to be very clear on it.

But the mere fact we restored those classes, and we have four classes going in, it says a lot, our commitment to public safety has not waned at all.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you? I'm here.

Mayor Adams: Okay, how are you doing?

Question: I'm good, thank you.

Mayor Adams: Good.

Question: I have a question, it's a follow up on the situation at the Ebbets Field Apartments, which you and I discussed.

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, on the what?

Question: Ebbets Field Apartments, the fatal arson that happened there.  I remember you went out to visit...

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: Okay, so, this week will be the year anniversary of that fatal arson that killed an elderly Black veteran named Roderick Coley. As you may remember, for about a year before that fire there was a man who you and others have said appears to be mentally ill, the neighbors thought he was, threatening to kill and burn his Black neighbors.

The police came and went many times from the building. Nothing was really done. He was brought to the psych hospital a couple times, but then released. This fire happened, and then all the neighbors came forward and said, this man's been threatening to burn us for a year.

But then the investigation appeared to stall. So, the police are now telling the family of the victim and the DA's office that they don't have enough evidence to charge this man with arson. He's in jail. He's charged with hate crime threats — that happened after our story — but not with the arson.

So, two questions for you. One, is what do you say to the family who hears you talking about doing more for people who are mentally ill and protecting people. This was not the subway, it was in the home. And separately, how do you feel about the fact that nothing has happened with the arson investigation?

They're claiming there's no eyewitnesses and no video, but there were the threats, the police had other evidence, a mattress from his apartment they think that was lit on fire. What do you say to this family who feels there's been no justice for their father?

Mayor Adams: Listen, criminal justice is a complicated series of events. And you know, there's often times, you know, a police officer can feel as though, hey, this person is guilty of a crime, I know he's guilty of a crime, but there's a process, and that district attorney makes a determination if they're going to prosecute.

No matter how much that officer would feel he has enough of a case. I can't even tell you the number of cases where it's, you know, the smoking gun is there, but if the prosecutors, they have to get it through the grand jury, then they have to do a conviction. And then if you swing and miss, you can't do double jeopardy.

And so we have a very thoughtful district attorney in Brooklyn with Eric Gonzalez. I'm sure these officers presented all the evidence they have and they're making a final determination on how they're going to move forward. You know, the level of making that initial arrest and then that prosecutor saying, we're going to take it to the next level, oftentimes it doesn't match up.

And my heart goes out to that family. That's why we went out there. You know, any time an innocent person is lost in the city, it's just devastating. But you know, this person was dealing with some mental health issues that were really threatening to the neighbors.

So, we need all those neighbors to come forward. The more they come forward, the more they're able to testify, the more they're able to give a firsthand account, the stronger, stronger this case would be.

Question: Follow up on that 

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes.

Question: Thank you, mayor.

So, with regard to the mental health aspect of it, you know, there aren't outreach teams as there are in subways in an apartment complex. But when residents feel like they called 911 for a year and said, police, help us, there's a man waving a knife. He's threatening to burn the brown people and turn them Black.

I mean, it was very hateful and disturbing, and they had to live like that for a year. There was no solution. And even after the arson, it was months before he was lifted out of there, I know you tried to help in that area. But what about the mental health system that appeared to really fail? Is there any consequence for the NYPD people? Did they mishandle it? Is there no solution?

Mayor Adams: I don't think... If a neighbor calls on another neighbor and says that this person threatened me, this person seemed to be actually an emotional threat, the police officer can only go and do a preliminary investigation. The police officer didn't see the individual doing some of those actions.

It takes some time, like we just saw. You have to come back again. We would rather just come in and say, okay, we just want to resolve this right now, but that's just not the reality in the real world. We get these calls all the, the NYPD will get a call like this all the time, neighbors dispute. Then you've got to figure out who's telling the truth and who's not telling the truth.

There are layers and layers to resolving these issues, and unfortunately, if this person did an arson I'm hoping that we're able to charge him with that arson.

Lewis‑Martin: But you said that the person went to the psych ward and was released, so the person was actually hospitalized. So, if they were hospitalized a couple of times, possibly they got medication and then they were let go. That's also an argument that we've been talking about. And I think Deputy Mayor Anne Isom has been saying that some of these people need long‑term care; and he may fall under that rubric, but we don't know.

Once the police took him to the hospital, you know, they finished their job, technically. Then it's now up to the hospital to continue moving it forward.

Question: Thank you. Two questions.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

 Question: First, if the NYPD had shown you a draft of its Tweet before it sent it, with the Tweet where it referred to Harry Siegel as Harry "Deceitful" Siegel, would you have approved their Tweeting that out?

And then secondly, last week you faced one of your biggest critics on the Breakfast Club and you got baptized at Rikers where, you know, your stewardship has been subject to a lot of criticism. What were you hoping...

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, what… 

Question: Where your stewardship has been subject to a lot of criticism. What were you hoping to sort of message with those two events?

Mayor Adams: Okay. Okay. First, the question that you asked about the Tweet, I'm not going to deal with hypotheticals. And I shared, I gave you my comments on the interaction between the reporter and those fine law enforcement officers that are protecting the city.

I think that when you look at The Breakfast Club, all of these different outlets, I've gone on all these outlets. I enjoy telling not only the story of what we're doing now, I enjoy my track record. I love my track record. You know, I have an impressive track record, testifying in federal court against stop and frisk, visiting correctional facilities across the globe, sitting down in front of these audiences and sharing my story and sharing the stories of what we do.

Now, when you have people who, you know, want to talk over you or don't want to hear the story, that's fine. That's the nature of being the mayor. I mean, you know, I'm the mayor of the City of New York. You know, people stop me on the street all the time and share their opinions. New Yorkers are opinionated.

That doesn't bother me, it doesn't rile me up. If you were to move around with me in one day, you would say to yourself, how does this guy deal with all of this? People are hurting; and when people are in pain, they do painful things. And it's not against me, it's against the symbol of the pain people are experiencing.

And so when I sit down and I'm able to share with the Breakfast Club audience what we did around migrant seekers, what we're doing around education, what our record is on NYCHA and Rikers, the Rikers problem didn't start January 1, 2022.

And many people don't know that. People think that all of a sudden, Rikers had a problem. No, Rikers had a problem back when I was a cop holding press conferences on the steps of City Hall on the conditions of Rikers. And no mayor has visited Rikers more than I have.

Question: And what were you hoping to show by getting re‑baptized there?

Mayor Adams: Like I said, my recommitment to my city, recommitment to faith, and do what the disciples would have done. They would have been with inmates. They would have been with inmates, standing with those 10 inmates, and being re‑baptized with them, having my feet washed with them, said to them, you matter to me. You matter.

Those young men who recommitted their lives to their faith, it meant a lot to be there with them on Friday, which was Good Friday, to be there. And them looking down and seeing, he's the mayor of the City of New York that's not looking down on us, that's looking at us.

That's no different than when I went and visited people at Burger King. That's no different than when I sit down with gang members and talk to them about getting them out of the gang.

I think some of us are so jaded that everyone has a game that they're playing. One day you're going to wake up and realize, I'm authentic in what I do. They are me. Those guys are me. I keep saying that over and over again. And if I'm not willing to do it as the mayor of the City of New York, then who is?

Take off our jaded glasses for a moment and say to yourself, maybe Eric do like the people he's fighting for. That's quite possible also. I mean, it is. It's quite possible that I do love the city that I'm serving and I wore a bulletproof vest for.

Question: Thank you. Mr. Mayor, just one specific question about the NYPD Tweets. Besides the ones about Harry and The Breakfast Club host, there was also one instance where Chief Chell was tweeting at Councilmember Tiffany Cabán and was suggesting that New Yorkers who value public safety should vote her out of office.

Regardless of the hypotheticals and whatnot, that kind of raises an issue of electioneering, right? There are rules against using city resources for political purposes. Do you think that was acceptable behavior for the chief to do that? And you know, what's the public safety benefit in putting out a post like that? Number one.

And I just want to ask another question on something honor related. My colleague Graham Raymond reported last week that your brother Bernard intervened in a conflict between Tim Pearson and Chief Milt Marmara that stemmed from the sexual harassment accusations against Mr. Pearson. But what type of capacity was your brother acting in there since he was no longer in the administration at that point?

And then after that dust‑up, Chief Marmara was reassigned in order to take a drug test. I'm curious if you can shed some light on who exactly made the call to reassign him and why he was subjected to a drug test.

Mayor Adams: My brother was not with the agency anymore. He went on to greener pastures. And that is part of a review, and you know how I feel about interfering in a review. Let the review take its course and then we will determine for that. I do not interfere when things are under review.

With Tiffany Cabán, I've made it clear no one can electioneer, we don't do that. And if anyone is doing that, we re‑instruct them. And we're very clear, follow the rules, follow the rules.

Question: Where's the chief [inaudible]. 

Mayor Adams: No, I don't think the chief was electioneering. You know, and if he was electioneering, we will correct him for doing so.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, how are you? 

Question: Good, how are you?

Mayor Adams: Quite well.

Question: Thank you. So, on the budget cuts, if the City Council does find this money to restore those budget cuts, what does this say and does this impact your trust in your own budget director not being able to find that money sooner?

And then also today being the presidential primary day, there's a coalition right now calling for New Yorkers to leave the ballot blank and protest what's happening over in Gaza. So, just hoping to get your reaction to that.

Mayor Adams: Okay, first the budget cuts. If anyone can say that one does not have faith in Jacques Jiha, that would shock me. What this guy has done, and not only did he have to balance the budget from Covid, we exhaled only to get, have to inhale again. Then he took 180,000‑plus people, $4 billion of money we had to find somewhere, a fiscal cliff. We had a fiscal cliff. The previous administration put all this money into permanent programs.

I am blown away when we sit down on these briefing calls and see how Jacques and his team spend hours on hours trying to balance a very complicated budget with all of the concerns and advocacy. Like no one walks in a room and raises their hand and says, hey, cut from me, cut from me.

That's just not the reality. Everyone comes to do just the opposite: listen, can you find another $2 billion somewhere? Listen, Jacques is a professional that the city should be blessed to have.

Now, the City Council, this dance happens every year, it's happening right now in Albany, it happens in Washington, it's happening in the city. Those ideas that are coming from the City Council, the speaker and her leadership is going to sit down with Jacques and we're going to come together and we're going to do what the speaker and I, what we have done for the last two budget cycles, we're going to resolve this and land the plane.

And there's a deal to be made, and we're going to make the deal. But I am so pleased that we have Jacques Jiha and everyone that's up here that sit on these calls and watch how he takes these complex problems, and because of his intelligence and his team, he's able to resolve them and give us — you know, Katie loves me talking about this all the time — give us a bond rating.

[Crosstalk.]

We got, I mean, they raised our bond. You know, the experts, the independent experts, looked over and said, we're going to raise the bond because of how we've managed this crisis. That's Jacques managing the crisis. So, we're going to be fine. We'll be able to make a deal.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: And then on the presidential primary.

Mayor Adams: Yes. Listen, you know, there's always these calls that go out. You know, don't vote for this one, don't vote for that one. These always happen. New Yorkers are going to go in, they're going to do their civic duties and they're going to do what's right. They can vote for who they believe, but they should go out and exercise their right.

And so some people are saying, don't vote for him because of this, don't vote for him because of that. You know, listen, New Yorkers would make the right decision. And those who decide not to, they have a right to do so. That's the beauty of America. You have the right to exercise the right. And I think that's great about it. You know?

But I did my civic duty this morning, and I encourage all other New Yorkers to do their civic duty.

Question: I'm Javier Castana.

Mayor Adams: What's up, Javier? How are you?

Question: Pretty good, pretty good. From Queens Latino. My question is about something that is happening on Roosevelt Avenue. I know that you visit that area with Councilman Francisco Moya, but the week after, things went to normal. Chicas Chicas is still there, street vendors, the garbage, everything.

But I'm not talking about that today. It's something that concerns our neighborhood, because I live there, too, is that gangs are taking over the parks. The gangs in motorcycles and scooters, just going to the park, threatening everybody.

They are showing machetes and even guns, and people disappear. So, this is new. This is nothing that was before there. So, what is the police and the city doing to control them?

Mayor Adams: You know, I love when we do these town halls and stuff like this is raised. And I love when you raise it, because everyone thinks I'm the only one that believes quality of life is just like that, that they're important. And when you raise it and when I go into communities in the town halls and we sit at the town halls and you hear these everyday people raising what they want, it just helps me say I'm speaking on behalf of New Yorkers.

And so, we're going to look at that problem that you're talking about. I'm not aware of that. This is the first time I'm hearing about it. But we have a whole plan for Roosevelt Avenue, cleaning it, continuing to go after the illegal sex trafficking that's there that some people are calling to legalize. I'm saying it should not be legalized because of the sex trafficking and some of the other problems, but there are those elected officials who are saying it should be legalized and there's nothing wrong with those brothels.

So I'm pushing back against that. I'm calling to go after those who are carrying out this illegal quality of life issue. But you need to know, in those same communities that you're talking about, there are people who are advocating to keep it from happening and saying the police department shouldn't be doing that. We shouldn't have police presence. We shouldn't have police who are being aggressive to go after this illegal behavior.

And so I agree with you, and I'm going to speak with the commander over there, who's a great commander. He really stabilized the plaza that was there. That plaza was out of control. When I went there about 1:30 a.m. in the morning, we saw food everywhere, pigeon droppings on the food.

So, we're going to go there and take a look at what you're talking about. And I will, you know, we'll meet you over there. You can walk through and show me exactly what you're talking about, because we don't want gangs taking over our parks, we want children taking over our parks.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you doin'?

Mayor Adams: So, José... I'm sorry. José, make sure we connect and we're going to take a walk over there. Okay, that's a nice suit.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: Mr. Mayor, I had two quick questions for you.

Mayor Adams: Yes, sir.

Question: One, so there was a rent guidelines survey recently and it showed based on the latest data that landlords' net operating income went up 10 percent, and it's based on a city‑wide average. I think it's driven by a lot of the buildings in Manhattan.

I was wondering if you're familiar with the survey, if you had any reaction to it, and if, how you think that should play into what the Rent Guidelines Board will do when they vote.

And then just quickly a process question on the PD's Twitter account. So, when the DCPI account tweeted the Tweet where they had the derisive nickname for the reporter...

Mayor Adams: The rights?

Question: Like the nickname for the reporter...

Mayor Adams: Right, um‑hmm.

Question: ...they call him like, deceitful. When something like that happens, I mean, it seemed like a bit of an escalation from the normal press releases that we get, like specifically naming the reporter. Is that something that gets cleared through like the comms office in City Hall, or is DCPI more left to kind of do their own comms when it comes to stuff like this?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, there are things that we vet if we want to sit on a clear message, but I trust Tariq. Tariq is over there. He changed the game in DCPI. You know, the more access to ethnic media, clearer message.

And these guys, listen, they're going to protect the men and women of the police department. That's my order to them. My order to them is I'm tired of everyone talking down on the people who are placing their lives on the front line. I'm out there with these guys. And every.... And let me correct that, not everyone. The overwhelming public is happy to see, the loudest are continuing to be anti‑police over and over again. And I want the leaders of the administration to stand up for police officers who are placing their lives on the line.

And I think that's what they're doing. I think Chief Chell is a real leader for these officers. Thousands of guns off our streets. These guys are out there, 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., on the scene of building collapse, of crimes, of flooding. These guys are on the front line, defending this city and protecting the city, and I think New Yorkers respect that.

I think New Yorkers appreciate what the men and women of the New York City Police Department, what they're doing. I think their hearts go out for Mora Rivera, for Jonathan's family, for Stephanie. You know, these are real people. And you know, let's not separate the fact that those who are leading these agencies are human beings.

And there are many articles that have been critical of them. You have to ask yourself, what happened this weekend? It was raw. 5:00 p.m. of the day they buried one of their own that they knew they were connected to, we saw something like that. I thought it was distasteful.

Question: And just on the...

Mayor Adams: Yes. Yes.

Deputy Mayor Torres‑Springer: And I'm happy to – I'm also happy to take it.

Mayor Adams: Yes, you can take it. But I want to be clear on this. That report, when you do reports like that of city‑wide averages, you're taking the Manhattan and expensive luxury builders into account.

When you speak to those 10‑family houses, 13‑family houses, single immigrants who have come here to the city or have come from the south and they put everything they have into their buildings, they're hurting. They're hurting.

You know, many of them are dealing, when tenants are dealing with fiscal problems, many of those that are not paying rent, that comes out of the pockets of these small property landowners. I keep talking about these small property landowners, and everyone is dismissive of them.

But they are hurting in this city, and no one seems to understand how much the impact on tenants have impacted them, because if somebody's not paying that rent, then the property landowners can't pay for their mortgage, can't pay for the heat, can't pay for the housing.

And so a report that shows overall I don't think it's going to show how these small property landowners and what they're going through. We have to be very conscious of them because the wealth of Black and Brown people, that wealth lies in their property. You know, all of my wealth is in my house, and if I can't maintain my house, then I'm losing my wealth, and that is what's happening to Black and Brown communities in the city. Maria?

Deputy Mayor Torres‑Springer: Yes, mayor. So, the mayor's absolutely right. So, in that same study, Joe, while Manhattan NOI increases were found as those buildings have rebounded, precisely the type of building that the mayor mentioned. So, in the Bronx, those buildings, their net income declined by 14 percent.

So, we are at the start of the Rent Guidelines Board process, as everyone knows. That is a several month process that leads to a preliminary vote around May and then a final vote in June. They make independent decisions based on data, based on analysis.

In the first meeting last week, they did look at this issue and this data and also at the results of the housing vacancy survey that HPD recently completed that shows the historic low vacancy rate. So, that process is going to unfold. They have to take all of these pieces of data. And we know that they'll get to the right balance and to the right place.

But for those who do watch the public hearings, they're pretty animated, right? And you hear both from landlords and from tenants about the strain that they are facing, and we hear it year over year. We were reminded every year through the Rent Guidelines Board process about constraints on both sides.

And so, what that highlights even more is that we need more tools. And the good news is that we are fighting for those exact tools at every level of government, at the city level, working with the City Council for the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity; obviously, in Albany for the critical tools that we need to boost supply; and, with the federal government for the resources that we need to boost our ability to finance more affordable housing.

And so I say all of that because the Rent Guidelines Board process will run its course this year. But we have to really think bigger and find the right types of tools to not be engaged in the same debate year after year leading to the same housing crisis that affects too many New Yorkers.

We do have a plan, and we're advocating every day. And right after this off topic, we're going to get back to making sure we're making those voices and our needs clear to lawmakers in Albany.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good. I have two questions.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: My first question is, what is the directive that NYPD who are working in the subways are given when they come across a) a homeless individual or someone who looks like they might be in distress. I know that when you talked about your mental health plan, you talked about giving them some training to start engaging.

And I take the subways every day, I haven't seen that. I see, I do see the NYPD there, but I don't see them having conversations with homeless people. Like, sometimes they'll ask them to get up because they're taking a space on the subway and they said, it's rush hour you need to leave.

But I don't really see them saying, like starting that conversation, do you need help? Do you need a place to stay? Are you hungry? And I'm wondering if that kind of protocol is being given to them.

And then my second question is on The Breakfast Club. Did you know that Olayemi was going to be there before you sat down for that interview? Or, did they kind of punk you?

Mayor Adams: Well, one thing for sure, I'm not a punk.

First let me deal with the NYPD question, because that's a very good one, and you're right, and that was one of my observations that I had yesterday, last night, that many of our officers are reluctant to do that engagement, you know, for many reasons. And we have to give the level of comfortability to go and do that engagement, you know, to find out, are you all right, do you need something?

Now some of them are good. We used to have the homeless outreach unit that, these guys were great. It was disbanded under the previous administration. And Commissioner Daughtry, Chief Chell, there's something that they are doing that I think is going to be really smart, where we can focus on it more.

But we do need to give officers the comfort they need to do that engagement that you're talking about, because they see it. You know, they've been better at, at one time, they would walk past someone laying on the floor or walk past someone who is, you know, in a place where they should not be.

They have stopped doing that, but we need to take it to the next level of actually, you know, with that engagement, but we've got to be sensitive, because remember, there's a lot of people that don't want officers speaking to the homeless at all, you know?

So, you know, these officers take a lot of criticism when they simply are just engaging with those who are homeless or dealing with severe mental health illness. And so, but I saw that yesterday, that if the person had no shoes on or they were sitting down, clearly, they needed help, the officers were not willing to engage. And we need to sit down with Deputy Mayor Williams‑Isom and her team and Brian and others, we need to figure out how we tweak that more because I would like to see the officers get more engaged just in that initial contact.

And with The Breakfast Club, it doesn't matter to me who's sitting inside the room. It doesn't matter, you know, people don't got to tell me who the hosts are, they don't have to tell me who the guest is going to be. That just doesn't matter to me.

I just feel so strongly on my record in the city, what I have done for over 35 years, what I'm doing now. So, when I walk into any rooms, I go into rooms all the time without knowing who's there and who's the person that's going to be in the room. Doesn't matter to me. My record is clear. I got a solid record in this city.

You know, my book is going to be an amazing book of this journey of what I have done in this city. I'm really proud of who I am, and people, you know, say it all the time, you know, you have been consistent, Eric.

Who I am now, if you go back and tweet and google back then, it's the same person, same person fighting on behalf of people, fighting on behalf of youth, fighting to protect our city, fighting to make sure policing is done correctly.

I'm the same person that I was when I was a rookie cop back in 1984 and when I was a 17‑, 18‑year‑old with Reverend Herbert Daughtry fighting on behalf of people. I'm the same person.

Question: Would you go on with her again? Because I think the ratings were off the charts.

Mayor Adams: Well, whenever I'm on the show the ratings are going to be off the chart. You know what I'm saying? People enjoy hearing the authentic approach I have to governing, and I'm looking forward.

And Charlamagne said to me, I have so much respect for you, because a lot of people would not sit in the room and go through something like this. And I said, Charlamagne, I would love to come on every week if need be. I reached out to Ingrid, who's connected with all of these radio programs, saying, Ingrid, I want to get on all of these programs. It doesn't matter to me. If you're confident in what you present, you don't worry about who's in the room.

So, I'm looking forward to going back on and he could have five people like her, because at the end of the day, they're going to walk away saying I have a whole new respect for you, Eric, as people do all the time when they go from the headlines and start digging into the character of the person. I know who I am.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Do we have a question from any of the students, we could take one more? Emma, do we have anybody?

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: The one in the red jacket.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: I like the one in the red jacket. She's opinionated.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: Yes, go ahead. Go ahead. You can stand up, stand up and introduce yourself.

Question: My name is Jeremy. I just wanted to ask, what's your favorite, like, TV show?

First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright: You watch tv?

Deputy Mayor Levy: I think we all know the answer to that question! Madam Secretary!

Mayor Adams: There's a show called Madam Secretary. Madam Secretary is a show that I enjoy. It shows the complexities of being the secretary of state. And if you were to watch that show, you multiply that show by 100 and you'll know what life is like as being the mayor of the City of New York.

But it shows the decisions you have to make every day, how no matter what you do, people are not going to be happy, how that you're under scrutiny all the time, every word you say, every sentence you say. You know, and Madam Secretary is a show that I enjoy watching because it just shows that, you know, there's always something going on in the City of New York.

But that's, that's one of my favorite shows, Madam Secretary.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you.

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