Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live on PIX 11's "Morning News"

June 24, 2022

John Muller: The high court's ruling's something Mayor Eric Adams says kept him up at night. Mayor Adams joins us this morning here on PIX11. Good morning, Mayor Adams, we thank you for being here.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. Great to speak with both of you.

Muller: Great to speak with you. Yesterday's decision by the Supreme Court, it really ignores the gun violence epidemic we have gripping New York right now. What do you think can be done to maybe mitigate the impact of this ruling here in the city?

Mayor Adams: One thing's clear, New Yorkers and Americans are less safe because of this ruling. They looked at the historical past without taking in account the present day crisis that we are facing and it's endangering our future. We're now looking at areas that we can limit where people can carry firearms. We're examining the ruling to make declared determinations based on our legal advice. And I spoke with the governor yesterday, with other mayors across the city, so that we can put our legal minds together to really limit the impact of this ruling.

Kirstin Cole: I know that Governor Hochul has come out very strongly and said she too wants to do the same thing. But she's starting to whip together legislative rulings, as well, to protect New Yorkers. But is there going to be a time where there's a slack tide, where the new laws have not yet come into place but this new SCOTUS ruling is in effect and New Yorkers would feel that?

Mayor Adams: We must move swiftly after the Supreme Court's ruling. It’s returning to the lower court, so we have a window of opportunity. I, in my conversation with the governor yesterday, asked her can she call the lawmakers back to Albany so we can move swiftly to accomplish this task. Some people state, "Why can't someone carry a weapon when they are law abiding citizens?" I witnessed throughout my law enforcement career and my public life, even law abiding citizens that lose their temper are sometime elevate to a point of using a firearm when it's in their possession. And then a third of people who die from guns commit suicide. This is a real crisis. And as I say over and over again, this is not Dodge City. This is New York City with 8.8 million people.

Cole: Yeah, A lot of lives on the line.

Muller: Yeah. And I was going to ask you that, mayor, how many people with licensed firearms, who are licensed to carry them do cause crimes? But you mentioned it is pretty significant, the suicide issue as well. I wanted to ask you, just yesterday, some NYPD officers came under fire in Brooklyn. Do you know how they're doing this morning?

Mayor Adams: They're doing well. The officer, I believe, was released from the hospital. I visited him yesterday, both the officer and his partner, and they're doing well. Their spirits are high. And when you look at the video, one thing is clear. The officer, after being injured, immediately exited his vehicle and pursued the person who was causing the shooting. And in that room, that hospital room, was something else. It was his dad. His dad was a retired member of the New York City Police Department. So you see families are protecting families in this city. And I'm really proud of both those officers.

Cole: Of course. And we're always glad to hear that officers are doing well after a close call like this. It just continues to highlight everything that is happening in our ecosystem, in New York City. We know another big ruling's going to come down from the Supreme Court this morning, as well. We're expecting that – the Roe v. Wade. How is that going to impact the city as far as demonstrations, marches, women coming here so that they can safely receive reproductive healthcare?

Mayor Adams: Women’s right to choose is something that I believe in to the core, and our city and state believes in that. And I think the governor has made a clear statement that we are going to continue to protect the rights of women and their right to choose. Yes, it does open the door for demonstrations on both ends of the spectrum. But we have a professional Police Department and law enforcement apparatus, and they're going to ensure that people can peacefully demonstrate. We are not going to allow any disruptive actions or dangerous actions on our streets.

Muller: Mayor, let's talk about this one. Last week you unveiled your blueprint for affordable housing here in the city. And then, this week, we watched the Rent Guidelines Board vote to raise the rents on rent stabilized apartments by 3.5 to 5%. So where would these people go, if some of them can't afford the increases?

Mayor Adams: We are concerned about those everyday New Yorkers. The inflation, the cost of rental in our city is high. And you're seeing this across the entire country, when I speak with my colleagues across the country. And that is why during our budget cycle we focused in on how do we put money back in the pockets of everyday New Yorkers. Earned Income Tax Credit. It was increased for the first time in over 20 years. Reduced fare MetroCards, childcare vouchers. We looked at the areas where it's within our span of control. We also had to focus on those low, property owners, rentals that had a small number of units, because they also were hurting. So we had to try to find a combination. We knew 9% was too high. We saw that the Rent Guidelines Board heard the voices of people, reduced it, so it's both ends of the spectrum. Those small property owners and landlords were hit with inflation, high increase in water bills, fuel costs. This is why we must find relief on the federal and the state level.

Cole: I know that you constantly have to balance the needs of all New Yorkers and that's not an easy path to walk.

Mayor Adams: So true.

Cole: We also want to talk about pedestrian safety in the city. You have very much said that this is one of your top priorities, but of course, with so many people and so many cars, we continue to see issues where the two literally collide. We saw another horrific collision in Midtown on Monday. Do you feel that you're moving quickly enough to protect New Yorkers? Can things be rolled out faster to get that safety truly in place?

Mayor Adams: And that's a great question. When you do a case study of the incident that took place several days ago on Broadway, that is the challenge we are facing. Our streets are used differently. It appears as though a bicyclist ran a red light that caused the initial vehicle crash, that caused the driver to detour off the roadway, although we had barriers set up, although we had pedestrian strips separating the bike lanes. So we are continuing to move forward in street safety. We are going to redesign 1,000 streets. The DOT commissioner, Commissioner Rodriguez, is focused on this issue. I've been an advocate for so many years as a bike rider, as the advocate to pushing and reducing the speed limit. We've made great strides. We have more to do. And we have to ensure that everything from scooters to cars to skateboarders are all using our streets safely. That's why we crushed several hundred illegal ATVs and dirt bikes, because they're illegal in our streets, and we're not going to continue to allow this disruption in how we move throughout our city.

Muller: Mayor Adams, one more question. We talked about subway safety, another big problem in the city. We're now going to get some cameras on MTA trains underground. You've added second partner patrols or transit officers. Do you think this will do the trick?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I am extremely pleased on what we’re doing as a coordinated effort. Remember in the beginning of the year, I stated we were going to look at the encampments that add to the disruption and allow people to live in an undignified manner. We focused on that. First week, only 22 people took us up on our offer to go into safe haven beds. We're now up to close to 1,500 people who are now out of our subway system and they're living in safe havens, getting the wraparound services they deserve. You see our aspects of having solo patrol where offices are spread out, still in eye distance, to ensure safety but spread out to cover more of the system. Omnipresence is going to bring back the presence of passengers and riders to get back into our offices and our city to be covered from this economy.

Cole: Mayor Adams, thanks for sharing those numbers with us, from subway safety to gun safety, which is on top of all of our minds, to the rights of women to be able to access reproductive healthcare. We appreciate you covering all of these issues with us this morning.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care. Enjoy the rest of your day. Have a great weekend.

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