Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On PIX11’s “PIX11 Morning News”

April 12, 2024

Dan Mannarino: What was once an eyesore will become one of the newest neighborhoods in Queens complete with a brand new soccer stadium, affordable housing, and retail space. We're talking about Willets Point. 

Joining me now, Mayor Eric Adams and Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development [and Workforce] Maria Torres Springer to talk about both of this. 

So good morning to both of you. Thank you for being here and Mr. Mayor I want to begin with you here. 47 to 1 vote in favor of the new soccer stadium, right? Bringing this to Willets Point. When can we expect the stadium to be completed? That's the big million-dollar question. How many jobs will it create?

Mayor Eric Adams: Well the beauty here, and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer who delivered this for us has scored the goal will go into those details. But it just goes to show you with all the noise that happens in the city, trust me when I tell you the City Council, the Assembly, the Senate, when it comes down to just getting stuff done, we sit down and we move away at the personalities and the politics and this delivered big. 

2,500 units of housing, affordable housing, the largest housing project in over 40 years, and we have a stadium to boot and the deputy mayor will go over to all those particulars. 

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce: We're not going to waste any time. Let me tell you that when the mayor came into office, he made sure that we advanced this project as quickly as possible,

So we actually broke ground on the first phase of the affordable housing sites last year and with the approval of phase two that means 2,500 new affordable homes for New Yorkers. 

With the stadium, construction will start this year and it will be open in time for the 2027 MLS season, and just think about this, the year before the Finals for the World Cup will happen here in New York and New Jersey. 

And so what we're really seeing are big projects, big commitments, being delivered on by this administration. On jobs, it’s Willets Point. It's the new Climate Center on Governors Island. It's the new Life Sciences Center in Kips Bay, and of course affordable housing breaking records in terms of public financed housing, and a major new set of zoning proposals with the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, where we're really hoping to build a little bit of housing in every neighborhood for our housing crisis

Mannarino: Yes, it's really important stuff, all great work. But the big question here is the small businesses, right, those mechanics that will be forced out of the Willets Point area because of all the new development. And so they're the big question that we were hearing from some of them was where do they go? Is there a plan to keep them in operation?

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: We have to really understand the history of this site, it was bought in 1829 by Charles Willets. It then became a staging ground for troops deployed to the Civil War. Then it was an ash dump for many decades and became a symbol for urban neglect. 

And so what we're trying to do through this plan, which we're moving forward with as quickly as possible, is turn what has become a symbol of neglect to now a real beacon for opportunity. So whether it's small businesses or, by the way, the 14,000 construction jobs and the six billion dollars in economic output, this will be a boon for small businesses across Queens and across the city. 

Mannarino: Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer, great to have you here this morning. I have to get to the Mr. Mayor now on some other topics, but thank you and looking forward to this soccer stadium in the plan and talking about you in the future.

Mr. Mayor. I want to zero in on you now with some other off-topic questions right now and beginning with the City Council, approving these bills to give EMS workers body armor bulletproof and stab proof vests self-defense training, as assaults really rise on them right. So you will sign the bill if you get it there? Do you agree that this was needed?

Mayor Adams: We're definitely going to look over the bill and come to a determination. I know how not only difficult the job is as an EMS and EMT, but also how dangerous it is. I saw them as a police officer and the captain responding to these very difficult environments, dealing with people who are not only harmful to themselves, but harmful to others. So we will look over the bill and make a determination of how to move forward.

Mannarino: So you're not going to say you'll definitely sign it. 

Mayor Adams: We're definitely going to do everything that's possible to keep our EMTs and EMS employees are safe, but I have to look over the bill.There's a whole process to determine how we move forward, but it's my goal always to ensure my 300,000 plus of public servants are safe.

Mannarino: All right and while we're talking about the City Council, I want to get your take on this new policy that you want for the City Council to fill out a form in order to meet with your senior staff or agency commissioners. You say this is to streamline communications Mr. Mayor, which I know you like to do. But doesn't this, when you look at it, prevent city leaders from addressing concerns quicker picking up the phone and calling you. What's the purpose of the extra paperwork?

Mayor Adams: First let's get accurate on what it is. You can still pick up the phone and call a deputy mayor, commissioner. 

You can still do that, but when you talk about stepping in, stopping into seeing them and coordinating them coming into your districts [to] meet, we need to make sure that we're not being duplicative, and making sure that if there are other electeds in that area that want the same issue addressed, we bring everyone together. 

Think about this. You don't just walk into a council person's office. There has a there's a process that they have in place to meet with them. You don't walk into your doctor's office. There's a process to meet with them. We just created a process that can be more fluent and easier for everyone to do. 

I have been using this form, Dan, for 10 years. When people stop me on the street and say may I want to meet with you? I give them a link, they fill it out, we analyze it and we make sure that we coordinate the meeting within a two-week period of time. 

This is not new. I'm just expanding something that I saw successful as borough president and as mayor. 

Mannarino: Well the City Council seemed to think it was new. The City Council leader Adrienne Adams said that she heard this from a reporter Jeff Coltin. Not from City Hall about the paperwork, so she went on to say Mr. Mayor, that it was, surely not a way to, quote, “Get Stuff Done” which is obviously your slogan here. So what would you say to the speaker and are you at odds with her over this very issue?

Mayor Adams: No, we're not at odds. Anytime you do something new, this is New York City, who are we kidding? Anytime you do something new, there's going to be [a] response, and it's unfortunate that she heard through Jeff Coltin because we didn't roll it out. 

We were training our internal team and giving them the information. Someone leaked the information to Jeff and it's unfortunate, and based on that, that's how she heard it. Once we trained our internal team, then we were going to go to all the electeds. This is not a City Council Initiative, this is all of our elected officials so I could produce a product for them as well. 

This is what I've learned in my two years as mayor. I've learned that far too many electeds were not getting their calls returned on time And we're not getting the same attention that favorite electeds were receiving. That's just not fair. I'm about equality not only in how we produce a product and deliver service, but how we interact with all of my elected officials.

Mannarino: Okay Mr. Mayor, I want to get you on a big topic for parents right now. And that's of course New York City schools. There was this new report that came out which just suggested that there were reforms that need to be made. You called the report flawed, and there's this obviously a big hold up in Albany with the budget over mayoral control.

They're taking it out of the budget looking at it further. You say Albany's being Albany if you lose mayoral control I want to ask you this do you think that students will be hurt by that and how so?

Mayor Adams: Yes, let's just look at the clear numbers. There's no secret here. Pre-mayoral control we were experiencing a 50-something percent graduation rate. Post mayoral control, under Bloomberg. under de Blasio, and under Mayor Adams, we're witnessing an over 80 percent graduation rate. We are leading the state in reading and math, we have devised a new reading method under Chancellor Banks and now the state is embracing, and it may become a national model. 

We're doing everything from dyslexia screening to changing the food kids eat–

Mannarino: Right, but how would it affect the students if you lost control?

Mayor Adams: So it's more healthy… Dan, I just said, look what I just said…

Mannarino: Well I know those are the successes. I’m saying you don't think it'll continue if you lost it?

Mayor Adams: Well, do we want to go back to the days of the school boards, do you recall those days? I know you're a young guy, so you may not remember the days of the school boards, but I do. 

We saw everything from dysfunctionality to corruption, and look what we just had to do with 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers. Imagine going to each school board to get permission to get to get police them in their school system. We have an organized way to look at who's responsible for the school system, and that's the mayor. I want to be held accountable and responsible, but I need the power to do that

Mannarino: Understood Mr. Mayor. I'm a young guy, but I'm not that young. I do remember the days of school boards because mayoral control is relatively new. Appreciate your time this morning as always we're out of time. Next time I'll get you on this birth control for rats, I want to get your thoughts on that, but good to see you as always sir. 

Mayor Adams: All right take care.