Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts "Hear From the Mayor" Radio Show

April 27, 2025

Gary Byrd: Well, normally, each and every second Sunday of the month, WBLS presents Hear from the Mayor. With our mayor, of course, the second mayor of color and the first hip-hop mayor in New York City's history, Brother Eric Adams. This election season, we'll be moving into an extended schedule with our mayor, who joins us this morning, right here at 107.5 WBLS. Mayor Eric Adams, inside of our broadcast at 107.5 WBLS. My brother, good morning and welcome. 
 

Mayor Eric Adams: Hey, thank you so much, Gary. It's good to be on with you and the listeners. It's a real pleasure, and I want everyone to just sit back and enjoy the moment. And just welcome back to Hear from Eric, and I'm your mayor, Eric Adams.  
 

If this is your first time tuning in, the purpose of this show is just really to hear from you and just have an easy conversation so we can learn what is happening in the city. And listeners should give me a call and hear directly from me, or you can sign up to hear more from what we are doing by visiting nyc.gov/hearfromeric. You can sign up on our website to text with Eric and talk with me on WhatsApp. But tonight, or today, or this morning, hit a long ride from D.C. this morning. You can dial in to 212-545-1075. That's 212-545-1075.  
 

And before we get to our special guest, sister that I really, really appreciate, I want to announce some events we are having in the next couple of weeks. We continue our Faith in Your Borough series in the coming weeks.  
 

Tomorrow, April 28th at 5:30 p.m., we'll be at Queens Hall at Queens College, gathering with faith leaders from across Queens on May 6th at 5:30 p.m. We'll be in Harlem with Manhattan faith leaders. And finally, on May 1st at 6:30 p.m., we will be marking the annual New York City Day of Prayer, hosting a service open to the public at Christian Cultural Center with Reverend A.R. Bernard.  
 

But today, we're going to be discussing something that is really impactful to our communities, and that is gun violence. I always say even when the bullet hits its intended target, it does not stop its destructive pathway through the anatomy of our communities. It brings about pain, and it brings about social and emotional impacts throughout the year. The toll that it takes on our communities and the work we're doing to prevent violence is something we want to share with you. And last week, I was joined by faith and community leaders and families that we were able to destroy over 3,500 illegal guns in a gun-destroying machine, I like to call it.  
 

None of these guns will ever be used again to threaten, kill, or injure someone. But we don't do this work alone. We have some young people at the School of Cooperative Technical Education. These students are going to take the medal, and they are going to use their welding vocational program to build a memorial to victims of guns. And so we have a constant reminder all the time.  
 

Even today, we had a police officer who was shot. Thank God he won't succumb to his injuries. This is that reminder of guns are everywhere in our society, and we must do everything possible to eradicate this threat of violence. And we saw what happened to a grandmother. I spoke to her son a few days ago. She was shot in Harlem in the head, an innocent bystander.  
 

Two individuals shooting at each other, and one of them was just arrested last year for stabbing people during a robbery. These are the revolving door problems we're talking about. Now, we're doing our job. We're doing our job, and we're doing our job by removing over 21,400 guns off our streets. In this year alone, we removed 1,600 guns, and shootings are down. This quarter, quarters every three months, for five straight quarters, we've had decrease in gun violence.  
 

But this quarter, we had the lowest number of shootings in recorded history. Lowest number in recorded history because of the work we are doing. And so we want to continue to do so, but we can't do it alone. No matter how important our work is, we need partners, and there is no partner that we have that is as good as my special guest that's joining today, Iesha Sekou, founder and CEO of Street Corner Resources. This is on the ground. You know, you hear so many people, Sister Iesha, so many people talk about this.  
 

They want to write theses and papers, and they want to be sitting inside their comfortable cushion chairs in a sterilized environment of their chambers and say what we should be doing, but should be doing or shouldn't be doing. But you're out there. I see you. You're out there, not only in the village of Harlem and your catchment area, but when we have events all over the city. You know, I walk in the room, and I just see that energy that's there, and I cannot just say enough for you and your team of brothers and sisters from Street Corner Resources. And so, Iesha, welcome to the show. And, you know, why don't you start off. How did you get in this work? 
 

Iesha Sekou, CEO, Street Corner Resources: One, I want to thank you, Mayor Eric Adams. One, for the energy that you bring to this issue. I really want to thank you, and I want to do that face-to-face while your ears and your spirit can receive it. So I want to say thank you, and thank you for the gun crush. You know, I wanted to get there, but I had an important meeting at my office in person, so I couldn't get there and get back.  
 

But I want to say thank you. I was there in spirit. It's so important that we get guns off the street. So the thing that kind of got me in this work, I've always worked with young people. I lived on 136th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. Young people always hung out at my house, always had backyard parties and cookouts and that kind of thing.  
 

And I, at the time, was running a program under the city, and it was called BEGIN. And BEGIN was Begin Employment, Gain Independence Now, and it was people who were on public assistance, particularly women, the largest population that were being mandated to work at that time. What I found from the students that I had because I was running the educational component of that, most people don't know, I'm an educator by first profession. I didn't jump out the backyard. I went to school.  
 

So I was running that program, and while running that program, I met many women, and particularly from Harlem and Brooklyn. And they were beginning to lose their kids, their sons and daughters, particularly sons, and they were getting shot. And what I found was that gun violence was increasing and that young people were not just bloods and crips, that they were setting themselves up as three-letter crews. At that time, it was called three-letter crews, meaning like you had Get Money Boys, it was GMB and like that. And so parents, the mothers, would come to the educational program of which I was the director at the time, and they would be crying. They needed help with funerals and that kind of thing, right?  
 

And so because of that, I saw that more and more of them needed help with the children that were left in the home while there was the child that was caught up in the street. And so I felt like I needed to do something. And then somewhere after that, there was a young man named Scotty Scott. He was shot in his head on 140th Street for what they call [] betting. That's betting with no money. And so he had won the game but didn't have money if he had lost the game, and they shot him in the head. So he was 13. There was another young man a little bit later. So this pushed me further and further into this work.  
 

So when I saw the women who were burying their sons, and we had to find help to do that at that time, all of these things were not set up. You know, we didn't have this. There was no funding for gun violence. And I just knew I needed to get more and more and dig in deeper and put a presence on the street. So we put a presence on the street, and we called in brothers from a lot of places.  
 

It wound up being about four or five of us right now. One young man, he was living in Lincoln Houses at the time, and he was a student, and now he's Dr. Talib Hudson, Ph.D. I'm glad that I had input on his theses and that kind of thing, but he also has his own organization called The New Hood. It's called The New Hood. And we had other young people that just kind of helped. Beloved, who's now with Live and Redemption, was part of that team. And it was really just very ad hoc, but we were very consistent. We would be on the street. We took guns from other young people. We knew where the guns were hid. I don't want to talk a lot about that on the air, but I will say that we did some nontraditional things to stop violence.  
 

And then, of course, I had to go up in rooms and say things and talk to people who could make a difference. And the person who listened was, at that time, our council member, Inez Dickens. And she told me, you got to calm down and get out of your own way, because I was angry because I saw so many young people dying. So that's, in short, how I got in this work. And it was just about over years. It didn't happen overnight. Some folks say, I want the bag. I want to get money to do this work. It's not like that. This took commitment and passion and consistency and a lot of not necessarily being understood in this work to get to this place. 
 

Mayor Adams: I always say, you're not new to this. You're true to this. You've been doing it a while, and you were doing it without grants. You were doing the work on your own, like you said, hosting children. What could—think about my sister who just lost her son through illness, Jackie Rowe-Adams, and the work that she's doing. She lost two sons to gun violence. And so there's two questions I want to ask you. Have you lost any of your members of Street Corner Resources to gun violence? And what do you tell parents who have other children at home what they can do? 
 

Sekou: Well, I'll say this. I haven't lost a child to gun violence, oftentimes people confuse that. One, I want to give my condolences to my sister Jackie Rowe-Adams. She told me that her son was in very, very critical condition and that she may lose him. And I just want to send light and love to her. I didn't know he had passed, so I'm just hearing that part. So I want to send light and love to her, and I'll check in with her later on.  
 

So I have not lost a child that I birthed. I have one daughter. People think I have a lot of sons and a lot of young people, a lot of kids. But I don't. I have one daughter. But in doing this work and always having my door open, you gain children. And so I've lost a few. A few. And that kept me in this work. I knew that this was the place. Every time I think this is not where I'm supposed to be, it's where I'm supposed to be.  
 

My first degree is in education. So I'm a teacher by first profession. And I taught ESL and GED and TOEFL and some other things. But my real passion is for the young people, what people say in the street, but the young people in the community that I see every day. And so I haven't lost a child, thank God, of my own. But I have a grandson who's 20. He's listening now. He's 28. I think he's 28. And I would fear for him to come to New York.  
 

Every time he came, after he became like about 11 or 12, he's unusually tall for his age. He would want to wear his cousin's jackets and hats and he wanted to fit in and look like everybody else. But he couldn't understand why I didn't want him going to the corner store. Why I didn't want him to wear their jackets. A lot of times kids do that. They get confused in their neighborhood with someone else who may have done some things or may have beef. And so I would almost incarcerate him in a certain kind of way. And he would say, Grandma, you never let me go outside. You don't let me go to the store.

But I understand the pain of mothers who fear for their sons because I had that fear for my grandson. 
 

Mayor Adams: You know what's interesting is how gun violence can alter your entire childhood. You know, there was a street in my community called New York Boulevard. And a young man named Clifford Glover was shot on 110th, I believe it was, in Guy R Boulevard by an officer, Shea. We were not allowed to go down that block. We were not allowed to cross over that boulevard. Because it has such a long-lasting impact. And so when our children have to be sort of modified their behavior out of our fear of violence, that impacts their childhood. And that's why we have our summer youth employment.  
 

That's why we have our Summer Rising employment. Because we want to make our children safe. We're doing that. But at the same time, we want to give them alternative things that they can do to develop their full personhood. So what do you say to the parents? I'm curious. What do you say to parents to that… When we come back off the break, I want you to talk about what do you say to parents that you have young children at home in general, but specifically young men, which often seem to be the victim of this violence. I want you to share some of the things that you're saying to parents, okay? When we come back from the break. 
 

Byrd: You're listening to Hear From The Mayor. And the mayor wants to hear from you. 212-545-1075. 212-545-1075. That's the number for you to call to speak to our mayor and a special guest. Right here on 107.5 WBLS.  
 

[Commercial Break.] 
 

Byrd: Gary Byrd on your radio, 107.5 WBLS. And with us, as many of you know, normally each and every second Sunday of the month, we welcome the 110th mayor of New York City. Second mayor of color and the first hip-hop mayor in the city's history, Brother Eric Adams. We're moving now into an extended schedule with our mayor. He's here right now. And he wants to hear from you at WBLS. 212-545-1075. Here's the mayor. 
 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, Brother. And for all of you who are out there listening, please call in if you have any questions. And we want to keep it tight so we can get as many callers as possible. We have a bunch on the line. And so we want to really dig into the questions. So first caller, you are in the air.  
 

Question: Yeah, I have a concern and a question concerning the new enforcement of the recycling program, specifically the composting aspect whereby whole [inaudible] are required to recycle their kitchen garbage. And along with the kitchen garbage, this also includes yard waste, like when you cut your lawn or you prune a tree.  
 

Now, I am concerned that you have to put this yard waste into a bag and put it in the compost bin. I am suggesting, Mr. Mayor, that yard waste, which is not going to attract any rats, the lawn, the grass, and the trees, those things I suggest, Mr. Mayor, could be put into a clear plastic bag. What do you think, Mr. Mayor? 
 

Mayor Adams: I like that idea, Brother. And now you know we announced this week that this is not going to be heavy-handed enforcement. It's about an educational period going to the end of the year, because this is a new adjustment.  
 

Even when we did the containerizing garbage, which is one of the number one ways to deal with rodents, I get those rodent calls and rodent complaints. And so I want to look at your suggestion, and I'm going to speak with the acting commissioner over at DSNY, because I'm a big believer that it's not only dollars and cents, it's common sense. And when good ideas come up, we should look at it, okay?

Thanks a lot for calling. Second caller, you're on the air. Let's keep it tight so we can make sure we get all the callers that are here. You're on the air.  
 

Question: Good morning. I am calling from New York, and I'm calling about two things. First and foremost, the issue with the Palestinian woman in Brooklyn who was attacked during a Jewish protest, and one officer luckily was able to help her out. I didn't hear any comments from you about that situation.  
 

And the second thing is with regards to transit police patrolling the subway. I called previously about this incident. They are still situated in one location stationary, and they don't move across the platform. And when they are on the train, they don't move through the trains. The last time I called, that's something you would look into. So if you can address both issues, the Palestinian woman being attacked, and I didn't hear any comments from you, and the subway police not moving from location to location. 
 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you so much, sister. First, let's deal with the Palestinian woman who was assaulted, and the police officer did his job of getting her out there. I'm being briefed this morning on exactly what happened. I saw her with the video that was sent to me. She was walking down the block. She had a face mask on. I don't know what led up to that. But no matter what happened, she should not have been assaulted, and arrests would be made.  
 

Those who assaulted her, those who were walking down the block with a video, taking videos of her, that's not a crime. But the person that I saw, one person strike her over the police officer's head. That cannot be accepted. Remember, peaceful protests on both sides of the spectrum must be respected. I have a long history of standing up from my Muslim brothers and sisters, Palestinian, Bangladeshi, from the days of when they were removed from community in Brooklyn. I stood up in front of the federal penitentiary calling for their release.  
 

So I have a long history of standing up for those who are the victim of hate crime. Both sides need to tone it down. That's what we got to be honest about. Both sides need to tone it down. You can protest without being dangerous, destroying property, and hurting people. So I'm saying to both sides, tone it down. Our city is not a city of violence and hate.  
 

With the police officers, we have over 30,000 cops. We're constantly in a state of reinforcement, of training. Having our inspection units going out there, making sure they're doing their job. Is everyone going to get the memo and change their behavior overnight? No, they're not. You have to constantly inspect what you expect or suspect.  
 

I'm out there on the subway constantly reinforcing the rules. My team is out there doing so. But you're never going to get 100 percent compliance unless you continue doing the re-instruction we're doing. Crime in the subway is at one of its lowest numbers. Lowest numbers. 4.6 million people ride a day. We have five felonies a day. So the officers are doing their job. Those who are not getting it right, we're going to stay on them until they get it right. Or this policing is not a place for them. Next caller, you're in the air. 
 

Question: How you doing, mayor? This is a street council from Newark, New Jersey. I'm just trying to concern about, you know, as I know, I'm a community activist within the tri-state area. When you speak in terms of gun violence, you know, I was on the forefront. I was on the forefront because I wrote the whole model for the Newark Community Street Team. And everything got acknowledged by the city, the mayor, and everybody else. I got a book out that just came out, We Do Time, They Do Business.  
 

What I want to just ask you real quick, man, is you failed to make a statement surrounding the Crown Heights incident that took place against the lady yesterday. She was a neighbor. They thought she was an Arab. And the Crown [inaudible] individuals from that neighborhood, the Jewish individuals, came out and attacked her, threw stuff at her while she was with the police officer. It was a brutal attack. They mistook her thinking that she was a part of anti-Israeli. It's ironic that no statement or anything was made by your office. Can you find a way to address this? This is a very, very big concern in the community. 
 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, brother. And I just answered that. I don't think you heard what I was speaking to the previous sister. My team is briefing me on exactly what happened to that, what arrest is going to be made. And we continuously respond to these incidents. And as I shared with the sister, I want to share with you, I'm watching these over 3,000 protests that took place in our city. And I'm saying this is a place of peaceful protest.  
 

But what I saw on that video is not acceptable, particularly to the person who assaulted her. People who were taking photos, walking down the block, hurling comments, it's inappropriate, but it's not illegal. That's not a crime. And if I start arresting everyone who's taking photos and hurling statements, you're going to see a whole lot of people [inaudible] out jails. So my message to those who are vociferous and compassionate about this, everyone needs to tone it down. They need to tone it down.  
 

I'm looking at these videos and these protests that are taking place. You can raise your right about something without having to be disrespectful to people who theoretically disagree with you. But we will be looking into the incident. And that person who assaulted her, we're going to identify them and they will be arrested.  
 

I hear the music coming on. That's the moment. That's saying we have to wrap. Thank you so much, folks, for joining us. And let's continue to air your concerns and your voice as we move forward in this great city, a city called New York. And I want to thank our guest, Iesha Sekou, for coming on and doing the work that you're doing, sister. Keep the work up. 
 

Sekou: Thank you for having me.    
 

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