Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On NY1’s “Mornings On 1”

July 18, 2024

Pat Kiernan: It feels like we have seen the peak of the illegal weed shops in New York City. More and more often, I walk by one that had been there for months, and the gates are padlocked, whether by the landlord, whether by the owner, or whether by the city.

Another massive bust by the Sheriff's Department and the NYPD this week. They seized about a million dollars worth of illegal cannabis products in the Bronx. It was the latest shutdown as the city continues with Operation Padlock to Protect. Joining me now to discuss this, Mayor Adams and New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda. Good morning to both of you. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. Good to speak with you, Pat. 

Kiernan: Mr. Mayor, let's talk about this particular shop. We were struck yesterday, we had a crew out in front live. You look at the front of it and it looks like a regular bodega, but there was a big warehouse area in the back. 

Mayor Adams: Yes. I received a call from the team, the sheriff's team, that they were able to locate a location. It seemed like it was a distributorship. It distributed to these other locations in the area.

You're right. This is what makes this job so challenging because no one is advertising that this is a cannabis location. It looked like a normal deli or bodega just to find out it was just a front. We were able to partner with the community to identify the location. Hats off to the sheriff's team for going in and finding this stash. 

Kiernan: Sheriff Miranda, we've talked about this several times in the past. I think your hope is that by shutting down a distribution location like this, maybe you cut off the supply to 10 or 20 or 30 or more smaller shops. Do you have any sense of what the relationship between this location is and other illegal vendors? 

Sheriff Anthony Miranda: Again, we seized over $3 million worth of product at this location. We also found a warehouse that they store additional product at. This is the purpose. When you shut down this type of location, actually distribution is a network that they're distributing to other locations, not just in the Bronx, but in other parts of the city as well. 

Kiernan: Mayor Adams, as this effort goes on, do you believe that you now have the legal tools that can shut down some of these shops and really put the focus back on those shops that have gone through the state licensing process? 

Mayor Adams: A great question, Pat. As you implement the plan, what other tools you need to go further, because these are very cunning and smart individuals who want to always stay one step ahead of us. We have to stay one step ahead of them.

Our lawmakers, both the governor and the majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie, they have been real partners in this initiative with Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, who pushed for the legislative change as well. Right now, over 600 shops have been closed. When you look at the fines, close to $51 million in fines, we want to hit them in the pockets. Again, as you stated, we want to go after the source. I believe there's some very well-financed individuals behind this entire operation. 

Kiernan: Sheriff Miranda, you're out there talking to people as you go through these various operations. Is there public support for this? Because clearly, illegal or not, some of these neighborhood shops have customers that are not happy to see them locked up. 

Sheriff Miranda: Again, I think the community is very supportive. Not only the community that wants to participate in the market, because nobody wants to get sick from the product. Nobody wants to take a chance on their health. These are unregulated products that are being mixed with things that they have no idea about. It is a health and safety issue, what we're focusing on. Even the people who want to participate in the market should be and want to look for the legal locations.

The community residents and everybody else has been upset about all these illegal shops that have opened. They're our partners in this fight. It's their voices that are being heard. It's their information that allows us to do the investigation that we've been doing. 

Mayor Adams: They're magnets for violence, Pat. The number of robberies, shootings, just the quality of life. That's what the community, what they have been looking at. These shops are magnets for violence. The legal shops are now starting to see their profits increase because we have been targeting the illegal locations. 

Kiernan: Mayor Adams, I want to ask you about a couple other topics while we have time here. I've got to say this is a strange moment. We'll show the video here of the protest in Brooklyn yesterday. City Councilwoman Susan Zhuang in a clash with a police officer there. One of several protesters clashing with police officers. This ended with her accused of biting an officer. Mayor Adams, this is someone who has generally been supportive of the NYPD. What happened here? 

Mayor Adams: I like Susan. I'm going to reach out to her. I thank God the police officer is okay. It's an unfortunate situation. These issues are so emotional as I move around the city. This was dealing with a homeless shelter. No one wants to see a homeless shelter open in their community.

That community, they do not have a homeless shelter. You can't have 13, 14 homeless shelters in one area in one councilman’s district and none in others. Everyone must share in this homeless crisis and the migrant asylum seeker crisis. She is extremely supportive of law enforcement. This is just an unfortunate situation that we hope can come to a resolution. 

Kiernan: Do you think there were extenuating circumstances? If those were her teeth on the officer's arm, how is that acceptable under any circumstances? 

Mayor Adams: I don't think there ever could be an acceptable moment where you bite or assault a police officer. I'm going to a funeral this morning of a recruit that we lost while training and I've been to a number of funerals throughout my time as the mayor and as a police officer.

We must allow police officers to do their job. It's imperative that during these emotional situations that we protest peacefully. That is the right we have in this country. Violence is never acceptable, particularly on a man or woman in the law enforcement community. 

Kiernan: Mayor Adams, I'm going to try to explain this as quickly as I can to the viewers, because the City Council is going to submit its question today on advice and consent. That goes to the Board of Elections, which means it could end up on the ballot in November. It would give the council more power to decide who you appoint to the various commissioner jobs.

You simultaneously have got this Charter Revision Commission, which could end up bumping the Council question off the ballot in November. How do you see this playing out? 

Mayor Adams: I'm glad you said that, Pat. You want to explain this as best as possible, because these are the different movements in our process. Listen, the architects of our democracy made sure we had a balance of power, that the legislative and the executive have to balance their power and there are methods to do so. The Council can override vetoes. I can put different policies in place and it works well. We have been extremely successful in doing so.

What I believe that the appointment powers of my commissioners is something that I should have the authority to do so, because that's who the people in the city elected. They feel as though they should have, we should get advice and consent, I think that is just something that should not happen. It will play itself out, but it will be fine. This is the greatest city on the globe and we're going to continue to operate and see the successes that the speaker of the Council and I have been able to accomplish. 

Kiernan: Will you encourage the Charter Revision Commission to put something on the ballot which would do the end run-around the City Council? 

Mayor Adams: No, I'm not going to tell them how to do their job. I'm going to encourage them to remain independent and come up with the suggested topics that should be on the ballot and move forward from there.

Former State Senator Diane Savino has done an amazing job of making sure that we're on time, allowing people to come in and speak. We're going to continue to do that. I'm not going to put my finger on the scale. 

Kiernan: My conversation with Mayor Adams, along with City Sheriff Anthony Miranda. Thank you both for spending some time with me this morning.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Sheriff Miranda: Thank you.