Transcript: Mayor Adams Celebrates 140th Anniversary of Brooklyn Bridge and Opens New Public Space

May 24, 2023

Video available at: https://youtu.be/XyAEsyrD4i4

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Good morning. Happy birthday, Brooklyn Bridge. I'm Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for Operations. That's everything, infrastructure, our services and our foundation. And today, we celebrate to the day, the completion 140 years ago of the bridge that connected Brooklyn and Manhattan. Today, we also celebrate the reopening of the many worlds and crossroads of many worlds, the arches underneath this amazing infrastructure between Chinatown, Two Bridges, the Seaport, hospitals, Murry Bergtraum, Pace University, adjacent to 21 acres of Smith Houses, the backyard for City Hall, the courthouses, 1 Police Plaza and our municipal buildings. Home to bench sitters, students, police officers, city workers of every civil service title, basketball and handball players, cards, dice, chest strollers, Tai Chi, al fresco lunch, and of course its Banks, which became the mecca for skateboarders around the city and beyond.

There's no place in the world you could possibly have so much diversity and life in one small spot. None of it planned, all of it part of New York City's spontaneous and illogical magic. And then in 2010, it closed. The bridge needed repairs. And in more than a decade since, these overlapping communities banded together and continuously advocated for its reopening. It worked. We heard you and couldn't agree more. And I want to thank those frontline workers who made this day possible. Number one, our mayor, Eric Adams.

The men and women led by New York City DOT Commissioner Rodriguez, our Manhattan borough commissioner, Ed Pincar, our deputy commissioner for bridges, Paul Schwartz. It's their operational creativity that led us to being able to bring this portion of the arches back to the public a year and a half ahead of schedule. I also want to thank my senior advisor, James Archer, and our chief of public realm, Ya-Ting Liu. Their excitement about open space is infectious and effective. We have a few other people I'd like to acknowledge that have been critical to this day.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Council Member Chris Marte. He's got his skateboard with him. Community Boards 1 and 3. NYCHA Smith Houses, Rosa Chang and Steve Rodriguez, Ben Bashein, executive director of Skate Park Project, Ray Tsang, president of Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Wellington Chen, executive director of Chinatown Partnership, Victoria Lee, founder of Welcome to Chinatown, Marvin Krislov, president of Pace University, Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, Jackson Chabot, director of advocacy and organizing for Open Plans, a leader in one of our sister parks, Noreen Doyle, Hudson River Park, members of the Transportation Alternatives community that I know are here today, and of course our vast and diverse skateboard community, both old and new. Thank you. This is just the beginning. As bridge work is completed, we will quickly continue to turn portions of underneath and adjacent properties to the bridge back to you. Please stay tuned and be in contact. We need your input. We're going to continue to do improvements around the park and our first open public session to get your input is on June 8th.

It will be virtual, so there's no excuse not to join. And I want to thank, again, Mayor Adams. This is one piece of the Adams administration's commitment to make this our city, really our city one improved public space at a time. Thank you, mayor.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, Meera. And I just wanted that sign to be here. More please. Turn the other side. That other side I like also. New York City working together, we can do hard things. We can do hard things. And I just believe that. And for the last few months, people often walk up to me and they say, Mayor I know you're doing, you're really managing all these crises from Covid to asylum seekers to our budget and this job is hard. And let me tell you something, they say that this is the second-hardest job in politics to be the mayor of the City of New York.

My response to that is when does the hard part start? I get up every day saying, thank God I'm able to be the mayor and help people in this city. And being the mayor comes with jeers. It comes with cheers. It comes with good days, hard days. But I am just excited about the opportunities that we can do. When Rosa came in with her team and she did a presentation of this landscape and just to realize that, wow, I can actually move this forward and make it happen. How could you wake up depressed when you can actually change the quality of the lives of New Yorkers?

I could never complain. There's not one day I can complain when I know that what we can do is going to impact this city for years to come. And so when you see me standing at the podium dealing with Michael Gartland and Chris Sommerfeldt, and you may say to yourself, why are they beating up the mayor? They're not beating me up. I love helping the people of this city. This is the city that I wore a bulletproof vest for 22 years to protect children and families. And I'm blessed now to wear a blue suit to make sure the failures I saw as a cop is going to be fixed as the mayor, and this is one of them.

A decade of closing off this community, the skateboarders. And I was a skateboarder. I knew how to do a few tricks. I'm going to brush up on them and come out and use this park. But this bridge represents something. This is another 1883 moment when this bridge opened and there was fear when this bridge opened. Many people don't know the history that when this bridge opened, people were afraid and at one time they thought it was going to collapse and it was almost a stampede. But people went through their fear and they had the opportunity to see that it connected these two mass bodies, Brooklyn, that was once a city of its own, and Manhattan.

When you see the extension of the Brooklyn Bridge and how Roebling's wife continued the project after his bedside, it shows the power of women. And that's why we have a major women leader in Deputy Mayor Joshi, who's leading our major infrastructure projects that are taking place in this city. The allocation of the resources, using this space again, looking how to use Park Row, speaking with the councilman to come down and have the community decide the use of Park Row, opening back up the Chinatown, Lower Manhattan opening back up all of these communities, looking at how our communities are divided by infrastructure and reuniting our communities.

This is a great moment and it's a symbol of what Commissioner Rodriguez is doing at DOT of how do we use our open spaces. Those spaces historically have been traditionally used in certain communities and not used in all communities. Everyone need open space. We witnessed that during Covid on how people needed those spaces to come and sit down and enjoy the recreation that's attached to it. So this is an exciting moment. I am just so pleased that this is being done on our administration. What we're doing on Fifth Avenue, what we're doing on Broadway, the projects that Deputy Mayor Joshi is doing in all five boroughs.

You are going to see a transformative moment that's continuing. Let's not get it mixed up. This is not only the vision of this administration. Mayor Bloomberg started this years ago. He understood it with the planting of a million trees. He understood purchasing, I mean, to get control of Governors Island, Roosevelt Island. He understood how we had to have a real coordinated effort. Mayor de Blasio continued that with some nice planning with organizations like Families for Safe Streets, Transportation Alternatives and others. And we are just continuing and we're hoping whomever follows will continue to finally make a city that is for all New Yorkers to live in, to enjoy, and to really cross-pollinate ideas and cultures together so we can make the city that we enjoy and like. And so, I want to thank everyone who's behind us, from those who thought about it, those who took the dream and turned it into a reality. 

Those community advocates that sat down and communicated with us, really a great job in doing so and bring this to our attention. And the real coordination between borough president, because borough presidents have an awesome responsibility to have a vision of what they want their borough to look like, and that is what Borough President Levine did. So, congratulations. We have more to do. Those advocates who are out there and have community organizations and spots, please bring it to our attention. We need to find the space to create open space that we can all enjoy what this city has to offer. Job well done, deputy mayor.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you so much, mayor. Now I'd like to introduce another woman behind this project who is a force of nature and a mean cupcake maker, Rosa Chang, who's the president and founder of Brooklyn Bridge.

Rosa Chang, Co-Founder & President, Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan: Okay. Okay. I'm going to put this a little lower. Thank you very much. Every single… I feel like my life just walked through the door. Every single one of you are here today because you helped make this possible for ourselves, for our neighbors, our next generation, our community, and what a gloriously diverse group we are. Our diversity is our superpower, and we are New York.We are building transformative things is really, really hard. It takes vision and determination and an open heart. And we are fortunate in New York City to have inspired leaders like Mayor Eric Adams, Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu, Senior Policy Advisor James Archer, Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, and the DOT. Our NYPD, who are here in force, thank you so much for your support, who are all deeply committed to doing the hard work required to deliver transformative public space for all New Yorkers. 

To Robert and Roman, the loves of my life. Thank you for supporting me as I dove headfirst into this passion project. To my co-founders, Steve Rodriguez and Rob Magliaro, to Elizabeth Lewinsohn, Nancy Kong, Vic Lee. I'm sorry I have to go through the list of names, but every single human is so important here because this is a group. Bret Collazzi, Benjamin Bashein, Megan Brosterman, Steven Shimamoto, Alec Beck, Jonathan Becker, our conciliares, you know who you all are. Two years is lightning speed for an infrastructural park project. Please know that it is a Herculean effort and it is only possible because we stand on the shoulders of giants. Tony Hawk's The Skatepark Project. And Benjamin, you are a valued member, mentor, and an essential sounding board.

Community First Fund's Lizzie and Jonathan Lewinsohn, Welcome to Chinatown, Friends of the High Line, Community Board 1 and 3. Thank you to Vans Skateboarding who has shown deep commitment to help us bring back the Banks. Our community partners, Park Row Alliance, Alfred E. Smith Houses, and the incredible Aixa Torres, I love you. I do. Murry Bergtraum High School and the Urban Assembly Maker Academy. NYPD and especially Counterterrorism Division. I don't know Sergeant Marty Wingert if you are here, but you have been incredible. Pace University, Marvin, thank you. And Southbridge Towers and so many more organizations that I wish I could name, but I'm going to get kicked off soon.

Governor Kathy Hochul, thank you for the Chinatown DRI $4 million award, that meant a lot to us. Senator Brian Kavanagh, who is our fierce, fierce advocate and Assembly Member Grace Lee, who supported us and connected us up with helpers. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, you are incredible and we literally love everything that you love. It's a little crazy. And our devoted and hardworking district leaders, you are the heart of our communities, thank you. Our age and inexperience, our infirmities, our race, our language, our religion, our income, our sex, and our orientation do not define us. Our daring heart defines us.

We are strong and together everything is possible, and we stand in the shadow of this iconic Brooklyn Bridge. It is a legacy and a challenge to dream big, to dream strong, and to never give up. So happy birthday, happy 140th birthday, Brooklyn Bridge, and happy first birthday to the Arches. And Mayor Adams, you have made so many dreams come true today and from the bottom of our hearts, I thank you. By unlocking this park, you have unlocked our dreams.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you. Hard to top, but go for it. Steve Rodriguez, co-founder of Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan.

Steve Rodriguez, Co-Founder, Brooklyn Bridge Manhattan: How's everybody doing today? Beautiful day here in New York City. So the last time I stood in this exact spot was so long ago that since then, I've gotten glasses. It's been so long, so I need my glasses today. Rosa pretty much said it all, but I still have my list and a couple of things to say. So I definitely…Mayor Adams to my left, this man has made it possible for something impossible to happen here in New York City. So huge round of applause to Mayor Adams. His acknowledgement and investment in this great historic space that we know of the Brooklyn Banks is amazing. I want to thank my ever supporting wife, Hiroko and my son, Shiki.

Apologies for all the missed dinners and late nights working on this project. I want to thank my mom and dad for always telling me that where there's a will, there's a way to make something happen. Definitely my co-founder in Gotham Park, Rosa Chang. Huge applause for Rosa, please. And the rest of the Gotham Park board, what a group of passionate people that made this happen. The amount of dedication and time was unreal. I want… Huge thanks to Tony Hawk. Make some noise for Tony Hawk right now. Come on guys.

Tony Hawk, Benjamin Bashein, Alec Beck and the rest of the Skatepark Project crew whose dedication to the New York City skateboarding started over 10 years ago with the donation they made for the LES Skatepark. From there, it's come full circle here today at the Brooklyn Banks. I can't stress how important the Skatepark Project was to making this happen. Huge round of applause to them. Thank you, Benjamin. Megan Brosterman, vice president of Gotham Park. Huge, huge advocate and someone who definitely helped along the way. Community Boards 1 and 3, I've sat through many community board meetings and they definitely... They listen, they made a difference and they helped make this possible.

Jonathan Becker, the person who started the petition. He was huge in making a big push to make this happen. Steve Shimamoto, Jay Maldonado, Alex Corporan, the original 5Boro crew and the rest of the New York City skateboard and BMX community. There are too many people to thank, but you all know who you are and all the advocates in New York City for skateboarding helping make things like this happen. Special shout-out to NYC legend Harry Jumonji, who couldn't be here today, who unknowingly brought me to the Banks in 1985. I actually followed him from SoHo Skates.

I stayed a couple blocks behind just to see where he was going, and he led me to the Banks. He opened up a world that changed my life forever. John Cornette and my crew at EP+Co. And last but definitely not least, all the brands within the skateboard industry who've supported and continued to support the NYC scene and culture. As soon as the possibility of the Brooklyn Banks coming back was a reality, Vans Skateboarding shared our commitment to reach this day and our vision for the Brooklyn Banks.

So huge, huge shout out to Vans Skateboarding. The Brooklyn Banks has always been about community, connectivity, and the freedom of open public space for everyone. I'm excited for what's to come at the Banks, and I look forward to enjoying what has opened so far with the community. I also look forward to the next stages and all the memories, connections, and lessons that will be learned here. Thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you. Next we'll hear from Borough President Mark Levine. Thank you, Mark.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine: Thank you. Thank you so much. Proud to play Mariano Rivera in this lineup. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Joshi for believing in this project. To former Borough President Adams, I mean, Mayor Adams. Once a BP, always a BP.

Mayor Adams: That's right.

Borough President Levine: Thank you for believing in this. I want you to know that your Department of Transportation has been amazing on this project. Mi hermano, Ydanis Alejandro Rodriguez was on board from the first meeting. To the best dressed man in New York City Government, no offense, Ed Pinker, Manhattan commissioner, you have been amazing. If you believe in the power of citizen activism, you need to know what has happened here. You need to get to know Rosa Chang and the incredible team. Steve, Brett, all of you have been phenomenal. Nancy, the whole team. Every single elected official or administration leader who has taken the tour has come away fanatically devoted to this project. They are so inspirational, they are so compelling that a mere two years later, we're already celebrating the first victory here.

It is incredible. Give a big round of applause for these activists. You probably know this, Mr. Mayor, but there's a secret force, a secret power in this city. It is the skating community. Oh my God. A major force. We're here because of you, because of the Skatepark Project, and all the leaders. Can all the skaters here make some noise? I don't know if you heard the council member cheering right now, but he's got moves and he's going to be giving a demonstration afterwards. I want to see a flip right there. All right? Thank you, Council member, for your advocacy for this project. We are at the epicenter of downtown. You got four public schools within two blocks of here. You got one of the largest public housing developments in New York City, Smith Houses, right beyond the way. Shout out to Aixa Torres, president of Smith Houses. You got some major housing complexes.

We got Chatham Towers. We got Chatham Park. Sorry, Chatham Green. We got Southbridge Towers right here. We got Pace University. We got the office of the Manhattan borough president. It's all right here within two blocks. This is going to be one of the most heavily used public spaces from the moment it opens. We are just beginning. We are just beginning. It's my job to fight for Manhattan, so I love that Brooklyn Bridge Park has 86 acres. It's great. But I think we can get at least nine acres on this side of the river. I think we can do that. This is going to be the hottest new public space in New York City. As that sign says, we're going to get you more. Please, let's do this. Congratulations everybody.

Question: Would you like to see private cars in the back or what would you like to see?

Mayor Adams: I would like to see whatever the community decides. I believe in June, they're going to be a series of community conversations led by the elected leaders here, and they will come up with a final analysis. Next question. One question. I answered it. Now we're moving to a next question. Go to the next one. Go to the next one.

Question: Can somebody just give a basic sense for what is opening now and what will open later? Just so we have kind of an idea of the total scope.

Mayor Adams: DM or…

Deputy Mayor Joshi: So we have this section open now and I'll confer with DOT Commissioner Rodriguez for accuracy. Across the way we've got handball courts, pickleball courts, and basketball courts. The end of this year, right? They're open now, open now as well. Then the next section is the end of 2024. What I could do is make sure that the press has a map so you see exactly which section will be open at the end of 2024.

Question: There's like a ramp coming off the bridge here that's gone totally unused by the police cars, parking lots empty. Is there any idea what's this plan for that? Could it be a park? Could it be some kind of open space?

Mayor Adams: Well, that's going to be taken into our analysis and see how we can appropriately make sure NYPD can have their vehicles, but also utilize all of this space.

Question: The status of the small banks.

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, the status of what?

Question: The small banks over there and the big banks over there. The skate spots.

Mayor Adams: All of this is under analysis. This is phase one. We're all on the same place where the bar president indicated it's going to be one of the greatest open spaces we could utilize and every inch is going to be utilized as much as possible for the community. Let's do a few of your topics. I'm not hearing. No, we are not trying to send a message. We already sent a message after 70,000 migrant asylum seekers have gone through our system. Right now we're looking at almost 108 percent increase of when this law was put in place. 2,500 people were in our shelter system. Look at the numbers. So we're not trying to send a message. The message has been clear. New York has done its share and we want to go in court and have clarity. That's what we're asking for. I'm not. Did you? Unlike other municipalities that I had visited such as El Paso, my time in other municipalities, you don't see people sleeping on the streets. That is never our goal.

Our goal is to do what's best for New Yorkers and for the people who arrive to our city. That is our goal. Sometimes I'm amazed that when you look at what New York City has done that we are still hearing a few number of people saying that we have not managed this crisis. That is just amazing that... I forgot the terms that are used. Lack of management. I think people need to go on a field trip and see what other municipalities are doing. New York City has managed to handle 45,000 people were in our care in January 1st, 2022. From April until now, we have witnessed a 108 percent increase. No one's sleeping on the streets, people are being taken care of. Anyone who has managed crises before will look at this and state this is a remarkable handling of a crisis. Those who have not managed crises are sitting on the sideline and talking about what should be done while we are on the field doing it. We are now seeking clarity from the courts to really deal with this issue that is a national problem.

Question: Legal Aid put out a statement last night saying they're going to vigorously oppose this [inaudible]. What's your response to some of the other criticism that's come from  City Council and the comptroller?

Mayor Adams: Well, when others were fighting against Legal Aid and defense attorneys and others from getting the money they needed to do their services, I was a leading voice for them. The mere fact I disagree with them, I see the role that they play. We need both sides of the legal apparatus of the city, and I strongly support it. I disagree with them. The courts will make the decision. New Yorkers every day are clear, and they have shared with me when I'm on the ground, "We have done our share. It's up to the national government to take on this national crisis." And I agree. And that's where New Yorkers are, and I speak on behalf of New Yorkers.

Question: Mayor, just trying to get some clarity. Would this suspension of the right to shelter law apply only to asylum seekers, all New Yorkers and asylum seekers? And if this was to be suspended, do you think there should be some sort of guard rail in place to make sure that people aren't staying on the streets like this law [inaudible]?

Mayor Adams: That's all going to be played out in the court. The judge will make the decision on how we move forward. That would be decided by what the court sees when we look at this opportunity to go back in court.

Question: Do you think there should be some sort of guard rail in place?

Mayor Adams: When things are in court, I allow the court and our legal team to do that. Placing my opinions on something that's in court is not appropriate. It's in court, the courts will decide how we move forward. And our legal team is going to make the determination through the corporation counsel.

Question: Mayor, [inaudible] the other day you mentioned that you had been arrested on Canal Street [inaudible] gold chains down there. And I'm wondering if you could tell us a little more about that because we had never heard that from you. Was that the reason you were sent to Spofford?

Mayor Adams: No, no. When I go through my journals that I've been keeping for a long time, I look at a whole lot of things that have not been told. All I can tell you is that you're looking at a perfectly imperfect mayor that has gone through a lot, and I'm qualified to help people who are going through a lot. And when I was arrested and went to Spofford, I had in my possession fake gold chains that we used to sell to tourists. And the counselor spoke with me and basically shared with me that just as you sold fake gold chains, you were duped into where people predicted you were going to be in life. I changed course. And that changed course allowed me now to be the mayor of the City of New York.

Question: I hope you made money off that.

Mayor Adams: Bernadette, what you doing? You normally in the front row. Y'all got to reserve a seat for Bernadette in the front row. How did you let Chris get the front row and not Bernadette?

Question: Mr. Mayor, yesterday your budget director said $4.3 billion estimate for two years is likely an underestimate. I'm wondering how much more-

Mayor Adams: You said what?

Question: It’s likely an underestimate [inaudible].

Mayor Adams: Right.

Question: I'm wondering how much more money, how much higher do you think that number will go? And what other services are you assessing right now that should be cut before the budget is passed?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that even Brad Lander stated that the number is lower than what's projected. I believe he even stated that. We projected a number based on a number of asylum seekers that we thought were coming in. When you look at the numbers, when you get 4,200 in a week, when you get 900 in a day, we have to continue to shift this number because this is going beyond our expectation. And some people are counting who comes through the bus terminal.

People have figured out a different way of getting to New York, through cars, through airports, through all other mechanism, and so the once practice of just looking at what happened at the Port Authority is no longer the play. Just about every border state, they have one plan of dealing with the migrant asylum seekers in their state, send them to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington. We're getting the bulk of them, and so we have to make sure the numbers that we are allocating is going to fit that.

And like I said, even Brad Lander agrees. I don't know where others are seeing that this is not a financial crisis that our city's facing. We've been transparent with the numbers. We've been showing the numbers. Why are people still saying that these numbers are not real? It's baffling me.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: Every agency is going to be impacted in our city.

Question: Back on the right to shelter front, like you mentioned, a lot of other US cities that have been impacted by the asylum seeking crisis have people sleeping on streets, in tents and campaments. They do not have right to shelter. If the court acts on your request, should New Yorkers expect to start seeing people sleeping on the streets since you want to do away with right to shelter? That's the first part of my question. Second part, both Mayor Bloomberg and Giuliani tried to do what you're doing now. They both failed. The court upheld the mandate. Why do you think you're going to have another outcome?

Mayor Adams: Okay, let's be clear. Let's be clear. No mayor in the history of New York had to deal with the number of people in our shelter system like me, no mayor in the history of New York. So to say that other mayors tried to do something, no one had to deal with what I am dealing with right now. And because of that, no mayor in the history had to try the different things I am going to try to resolve this humanitarian crisis, and the courts will decide. We're going to court to bring the clarity and to lay out our case and the court will decide what we have to do.

But I'm sure all of you agree, either publicly or privately, New York has done their share. Our shelter system is buckling. We are trying to prevent it from collapsing. And we all know that it's a real issue so we need to stop pretending like it's not. And we all know that this administration has managed this humanitarian crisis, and we all know this is unfair to New York City. Let's stop acting like we don't. It's unfair to our city. It is taking away resources and New York City should not be handling a national crisis. And the courts will decide. We're presenting our case in front of the court.

Question: That's part of my first part of my question. Should New Yorkers start expecting to see people sleeping on the streets, migrants sleeping on the streets as we see in other US cities?

Mayor Adams: Right. Thank you.

Question: I’m curious about that. Is that, what do you think…

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you.

Question: To suspend this right to shelter, when the city runs out of capacity or resources, you've shown by opening respite centers that you can kind of create infinite capacity, or you keep opening up new respite centers. How do you think a judge is going to determine that you've run out of both of those things?

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, I'm not a judge and I don't think for judges. My team is going to court, lay out our cases. And you could monitor the case as it moved forward. We are responding to a humanitarian crisis where we brought in over 70,000 people that went through our system, 108 percent increase. I don't know how I can make it any clearer. I am leaving no stone unturned of dealing with a humanitarian crisis that will prevent us from providing services to those who are in our care and those who are coming to our city. That is what I'm doing. This is one of the most responsible things any leader can do when they realize the system is buckling and we want to prevent it from collapsing.