Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls in Live to 1010 WINS "Morning Drive"

May 16, 2023

Susan Richard: As you've been hearing on 1010 WINS, the migrant crisis is expected to get even worse in the city now that Title 42 has ended. We are joined live this morning by Mayor Adams to talk about what's going on. Good morning, sir.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. How are you?

Richard: Very good. Let's get right into it. Let's start with the city using school gymnasiums to house folks. There's a protest scheduled this morning outside P.S. 172 in Brooklyn. Parents are not happy. How is this plan going to impact school kids, how will their education possibly be impacted, and what will the city do to ensure their safety?

Mayor Adams: I'm not happy also, and I join the parents in not being happy. This is not something we want to do. We are at the end of our space availability, and I have been stating this in general throughout the last few months, and specifically on this station, we've talked about it. What we did was identify 20 standalone gyms. This is not every gym in every school, 20 standalone gyms as one of the potential locations as we have exhausted our hotels in other locations. That is what we are assessing because we have to be prepared as the migrants continue to flow into our city. We've reached 65,000 people, have come to this city. 4,200 last week alone, and we're expecting potentially 15 busloads coming in this weekend. This is a real concern and I have to be prepared as it continues to play itself out.

Richard: All right, so how will school kids be impacted directly, or will they be?

Mayor Adams: They will not be impacted directly. Hopefully, as part of our plan, we won't have to use the 20 standalone gyms. They're not going to be impacted. I'm never going to put our children in harm's way. We have coordination with school safety, the NYPD, our health and human services. In no way are these migrants, if we have to get to this level, will interact with our school-aged children.

Richard: You've been in conflict with the county executives in Orange and Rockland Counties. In fact, they've been going to court to stop the city from sending folks up there. You were on a call last week with several county executives, after which the Orange County Executive Stephen Neuhaus went on Facebook and he said this. I just want to play it. Here we go.
[Audio plays.]

Stephan Neuhaus: The mayor said that, when he was asked by a county executive, one of the county executives said, "You're the one that is in a sanctuary city. All these counties are not sanctuary counties, including Orange County. Why are you sending them here?" And he said, "First off, I didn't declare the city of New York a sanctuary city. My predecessor did." And he said, "I'm also talking about going to court to change that."
[Audio ends.]

Richard: Is that true?

Mayor Adams: No. Let me be very clear on what I stated. We have been a sanctuary city for over 40 years, and when you think about what the law that was put in place or what the agreement was put in place, no one anticipated having 4,200 people come in one week to the city. What we were going to court to deal with was the various executive orders that some of the county execs put in place to prevent us from having our entire state share this responsibility and burden. New York City's the economic engine of this state, and we're stating to everyone who benefits from our tax dollars that they should play a role during this crucial time as we manage this crisis. So we're not in court now for anything other than going after those executive orders that's trying to prevent us from doing a decompression strategy.

Richard: So either the Orange County executive misheard or is mischaracterizing what you may have said?

Mayor Adams: It's clearly mischaracterizing. I was on that call for over an hour speaking to the county executives and mayors and everyone else who is in elected leadership to explain to them exactly what we're dealing with and how we need their help as New York City has come to the help of their municipalities time and time again.

Richard: Do you think there's a crisis of communication here? Because the city sent a busload of folks to a hotel in Yonkers. The mayor there says Yonkers is going to welcome these people, but he also blasted what he called "the sheer lack of communication and planning from New York City" as unacceptable.

Mayor Adams: All of the municipality, the county executives, the mayors, no one should have to go through this. We have communicated with every municipality prior to the movement of personnel. Others have not done that to us. Just the opposite. New York has just basically learned that buses were in route or buses at the Port Authority, but this has gone beyond buses. Some are coming through the airports. We have attempted and continued to coordinate with the municipalities outside the state. It's a challenging time, because it's continuously evolving.
I don't know if people were actually hearing me these last few months as I constantly stated that this was a day that was going to come when we literally would run out of room. We woke up today and we're here at that day. We're out of room here in this city and we are doing everything possible to do a decompression strategy so that New Yorkers won't continue to be overburdened.

Richard: Axios put out a story this morning about your strained relationship with the White House after in a speech you had said the feds are failing New York City. How is the relationship with the White House and any word on any help?

Mayor Adams: Well, I made it clear that friends disagree on many occasions. I am a supporter of the president and I'm going to do everything possible in his reelection campaign, but I am a person that believes my ultimate responsibility is to New York City. The voters elected me to ensure that I can carry out what I believe is important, that the city functions, and we have been doing that. Everything from our bond ratings being increased to a AA to how we're driving down crime in this city. Shootings and homicides are decreasing. Many of our seven majors, too, really have the recovery of this city. Part of our recovery depends on not having the burden, the financial strain of what the migrant and asylum seeking crisis is having. It's up to the president to determine whose committee it's going to be. I think many people that were on the original list is not on the current list at this time. They said it was their first list, and it's up to them, but I'm going to continue to do what's possible to assist in his reelection.

Richard: All right. Mayor Adams, on a totally separate topic, actually something fun that's happening in the city today. You're doing a ribbon cutting, right?

Mayor Adams: Yes. I'm really [inaudible] about that ribbon cutting. This is a store that has been open for some time. Century 21 is going to take us into the next century with great items to purchase. It is going to be a large number of people that are hiring, and just a real indication that New York City's not coming back, it's back. Over 99 percent of the jobs we lost pre-pandemic are back online. We're seeing tourism increase. Broadway is up and operating. Even in the midst of this crisis, we're managing this complex city and delivering the goods and services to the residents of the city. That's what New Yorkers expect. They expect, during crises, their leaders should step up and lead. I've been in crisis so many times as a law enforcement officer, as a state senator, as a borough president, and so I'm happy to be here to help New Yorkers navigate what we are facing.

Richard: All right. Thank you so much for your time. Mayor Adams, live on 1010 WINS at 92.3 FM. 

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