Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds Media Availability After Aama Conference’s Big Four Panel

April 22, 2023

Question: In your reference about being arrested and being let go, is that a reference to Fox?

Mayor Lori Lightfoot: I think it's in reference to what's happening across the country. We have these pendulum swings in criminal justice, where you see something that happens. Obviously, the murder of George Floyd was like a volcano erupting. It not only swept across the country, but it swept across the world. The response elatedly was, "We've got to do something about criminal justice reform," which, look, no one thinks that what happened with George Floyd or some of the other horrible cases involving police misconduct or police murder are appropriate, but we have to still bring peace and safety to our cities.

While some legislators will say, "Oh, we need to do this, we need to do this," meanwhile, people on the block need to be safe. When our officers are out there, literally risking life and limb, to bring people who are wreaking havoc to justice, working with the local prosecutors to put together the strongest possible case, only to see those people who have a long reaction. Mayor Adams is right. We're not talking about the one time person who makes a mistake. The people who are causing the greatest harm in our communities are habitual offenders who have long rep sheets, who have demonstrated in my view that they are a danger to the community.

To see those people charged with crimes of violence, with the exacting standards that our prosecutors now have, just to bring a probable cause case to have them back on the street 24 or 48 hours later, destroys the legitimacy and the credibility of the entire criminal justice systems. Particularly for those victims or witnesses that we are constantly trying to build confidence with, to build trust with, when they see something like that happen in that very person who shot at the neighborhood walking down the street the next day, that erodes all the progress that we have made.

We have got to say, I think as mayors, "We can't have this." Yes, of course, nobody believes that police should be acting with excessive force, or with a lack of constitutionality, or with no of building trust and relationship with community members. The other side of that spectrum is dangerous, violent, habitual offenders need to be locked up pre-trial. Otherwise, it sends a message to the other ones that there's no consequences for your criminal conduct.

Question: Following up on the….

Mayor Eric Adams: I want to… because this is so important what Mayor Lightfoot is saying, and we have witnessed this throughout history, from Rodney King, Cliffy Glover, Randolph Evans, Arthur Miller. These are cases of people who had negative encounters with police. You see this pendulum swing far to one end of the spectrum after these incidents, or you see a horrific crime and the pendulum swing far to the next level. As mayors, we're saying, "Let's stop this swinging and deal with the practical aspects of proper policing and public safety."

They can't coexist, but if you allow the extremes of both ends of the spectrum, you don't get that quality policing, you get a reactionary process. Knee-jerk reaction can't become a public safety reaction. We see that because we have to manage our police forces to make sure they're doing the right job. Then we have to manage the concerns of everyday citizens who are seeing these repeating offenders. Criminal justice reform is a great idea. I advocated for it as a police officer, as a state senator, as a borough president, and the overwhelming number of people who benefit from criminal justice reform is a real win.

Those numbers, particularly in New York, 2,000 extreme recidivists, you arrest them on one day, they're back out doing violent crimes the next day. That's just unacceptable. That is what we're seeing as mayors. We are in the cities where we're seeing the extreme measures on both ends of the spectrum being carried down.

Question: Yes. Could some one of you all talk about the historic nature of having the four largest cities in this country led by African Americans? Depending on what happens in Houston this year, this might not be the case next year. Could you talk about the historic nature of having that?

Mayor Sylvester Turner: Well, I think if you look back just on when things started, there were none. There are four today, but prior to December the 12th of last year, when Mayor Karen Bass came in, there was three. If you back up, there were none. I am the second African American mayor of the city of Houston and I'm the second… And Lee Brown, former police chief, became mayor. That was in 1997, '98, right around that time, so some years later. So I was the second. May I ask you…

Mayor Adams: Number two, too. 

Mayor Turner: Number two.

Mayor Lightfoot: I'm the first African American woman and the third African American mayor.

Mayor Turner: So it is historic. Then when you magnify that by the top largest four cities now being run by African Americans, and when you factor in the GDP that's under our management and the millions of people that are under, that is significant. Then don't lose sight of the fact that we are not African-American, we don't have African American majorities. It's not like these are four cities where the African-Americans are in the majority. These are cities that are highly, highly diverse, where African Americans are not in the majority, but we have stepped forward.

Then the other thing that I would add is that we've come forth at some difficult challenging times. That needs to be made very clear. We are now leading cities in some very challenging times, when the politics is so toxic. We are still called upon to manage effectively these cities that represent the economic engine and not only the cities, the states in which we reside, but the country, yes as well.

Mayor Adams: I think, Mayor Turner… Let's be clear, America is the most powerful country on the globe. We are representing the four biggest cities in the most powerful country on the globe. That cannot be understated. Not only are we the mayors in these four cities, but we are navigating and we have navigated these cities out of one of the most darkest periods in modern times, of the Covid pandemic devastating these cities. The economic engine of my city's Wall Street, we're having a terrible year. We were dealing with crime, over proliferation of guns. We were dealing with mental health crises that we've probably never seen before in this country.

Then to add on that, my bond rating was raised to a AA bond rating, because of how I was able to find efficiencies in my agencies. If you were to remove the $4.2 billion that have been dropped into my city because of a mismanaged asylum seeker issue, you would probably witness one of the greatest fiscal turnarounds in the history of New York City. The success of bringing back tourism, the success of recovering 99 percent of our jobs, the fastest recovery throughout the entire country. We're bringing on jobs at a pace that is leading the state and the city. You are seeing successful CEOs in the most powerful country on the globe is being held by four Black men and women.

I think there's something divine about the fact it's two and two. We're not good just because we are men. We're not good just because we're women. We're good because we are coming together, bringing our skills, but then doing analysis of who we are. You really start to unravel the story, unravel the story of living in public housing, unravel the stories of dealing with the hurdles that both Mayor Bass and Mayor Lightfoot had to go through. Unravel my journey. Then you'll really appreciate that we bring that holistic approach to governing during this complex time.

People criticize me for my spiritual connection, but I think this is a Esther 1:14 moment. God made us for such a time like this. That's why we here being the mayors of these cities during the time when America need this type of leadership.

Question: Speak about all the things that you've talked about, the priorities we talked about, and the strain that's being put on your cities by the asylum in question, and the people who are being or entering in your cities, what you'd want the president of the White House to hear about what it's that you're going through?

Mayor Lightfoot: Well, I'll start. No cities, I think, have been as challenged as New York City, but to the extent that we have in Chicago, Washington, D.C., where we are, Denver. This is a national problem that deserves and needs a national solution. We cannot be a welcoming country, welcoming cities without the resources to actually care for these folks who have come from traumatic, awful circumstances in their home countries. Whether it's economic, whether it's political, whether it's something else or a combination of the above.

Get to our borders, have folks paroled into our country legally, and then say, "Fend for yourself." That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable, frankly, that more wasn't done to stop Greg Abbott in Texas, to stop DeSantis in Florida, to stop Ducey in Arizona, from trying to politicize this problem. But importantly, absolutely failing to recognize the humanity, the people, who they were shipping around the country like freight. That is creating and manufacturing and exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. What we've been asking for is the resources to be able to help these folks, and I'm a broken record on this.

It is inhumane to allow people to come to this country legally and not expedite the process for getting the work permits. I could put every single one of the 2,400 folks, many of whom were adults, to work yesterday if we had work permits for these folks. It is a significant problem that we have all been very, very vocal about. I understand it's fraught politically and all of that, but we're dealing with human beings every single day. We are on the front lines. Like Mayor Adams, like Mayor Bowser, I'm here in Washington, D.C. I've sat with these folks who have come off these buses, seen the trauma that they have experienced, and the look of fear and trepidation in their eyes.

I have seen the women who literally can't get to a hospital soon enough and give birth in our shelters. Having people stacked up against each other, it's not right. We're doing the best that we can, but we have got to get additional resources from the federal government. We're all sitting with worry and fear about what's going to happen on May 11th when Title 42 goes away. This is a national problem that deserves a national solution, and not each city fending for itself and trying to solve it. We've developed great unity, partnership, but we've got to have help from the federal government, period.

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