Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls In For Live Interview On WBLS 107.5 FM’s “Caribbean Fever”

July 28, 2024

Dahved Levy: Here we go, Mayor Eric Adams. How are you doing, sir?

Mayor Eric Adams: Rocking you. Rocking you.

Levy: How are you doing, sir? How are you feeling? How is everything going with you?

Mayor Adams: Thinking about the family. My mom, she says don't climb to the top of the mountain and complain about the view. It be the greatest city on the globe. No matter what happens when I wake up, the last thing I do is complain. I'm able to improve lives of New Yorkers, and I'm focused in doing that, and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

Levy: Sir, you've announced the return of Rise Up New York City summer concert series. What do you want people to take away from this concert series, especially with a name like Rise Up? Do you only want them to take besides your music and a concert? What do you want them to walk away with this with?

Mayor Adams: I call it the Karate Kid moment. When you see the Karate Kid when he thought he was washing the car, but he was learning karate, that's what the Rise Up concert series is about. If you get there, you're going to get a show with entertainment. You're also going to learn about the resources that the city has available in between shows or while you're waiting for acts to come on.

We have a great deal of jobs at city. There are many people that are sitting in the concert or looking for employment. We're going to show you information about employment. We're going to show you information about signing up for child care, information about resources that the city has to offer. Because we're [inaudible] on the table. People are struggling without realizing there are things the city has available for them, and that's what we're going to use the concert series so people can rise up, not only at the show but in their personal lives.

Levy: Is there a concert in every borough? Now you are the mayor, so you're more than one, but you're the mayor of the whole of New York City, so is there a concert in every borough?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is. Not only in every borough, we partnered with other smaller venues and concerts so that they too can enjoy the whole process of being part of using the governmental services. Yes, there's a concert in every borough. Different style of concerts because we want to be inclusive of all New Yorkers [inaudible].

Levy: Your phone just went down a bit, mayor.

Mayor Adams: Yes. A concert in every borough because we needed to be inclusive for all New Yorkers.

Levy: Let's switch things a bit. Mayor, and your Commissioner Caban announced the results of the major illegal counterfeit bust, estimated maybe $1 million seized. Sir, how intense is it and how difficult is it to make sure and keep the legal places open, but stop the illegal places from taking away from the legal places?

Mayor Adams: First, you are $9 million short. It's about $10 million since I got [inaudible].

Levy: $10 million.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Levy: Okay, I apologize. $10 million.

Mayor Adams: No, it's all good. It is all good. One of the number one complaints here in the city is the illegal cannabis shops. There's a legal cannabis business in the city, but the illegal market has been absorbing the profits from legal markets. Many of the people in illegal markets were those who were [inaudible] incarcerated for a small amount of marijuana because of our draconian marijuana laws in the past, and we wanted to make it right. The communities have been reaching out to us and telling us about location of illegal markets. These tipsters has allowed us to identify the two locations we got in the Bronx.

One of them was a illegal social club that had about $10 million in illegal cannabis, mushrooms, different edibles that they're targeting children, and there was a shotgun inside the location as well. The second location was in a deli. When you walk into the deli, you believe it's just a regular deli. Once you go over to the rear, they had an entire operation. That was close to a little over a million dollars as well, but the community has been really helpful identifying these locations and the sheriff has been going and we have been shutting them down.

Levy: What do you say to residents who say, "Yes, you're shutting them down, but in two days or another day, they're reopened by the same people again?"

Mayor Adams: No, that's not happening. What we do, and the authority we got from the state is to allow the sheriffs to deputize the police department so that they can participate in the closure of the cannabis shop. We are now having a police person in a local precinct. When something is closed down, they go and do patrol to make sure it is closed because some places attempted to do just that. They attempted to reopen. 

We stayed on top of them, and we have a good system in place. We closed down over 700 locations, millions of dollars in fines, millions of dollars in confiscated cannabis. These [inaudible] an illegal shop is laced with all sorts of things. You don't know what you're smoking, it's extremely dangerous. We're encouraging New Yorkers, go to the locations if you looking to purchase cannabis.

Levy: Let's talk politics a bit. Mayor Adams, you endorsed Kamala Harris for her position despite criticizing the Biden administration border policies. Is there a thin line that you'll have to walk to do this kind of thing, sir?

Mayor Adams: No. It's just be authentic and be honest, even if it's in any type of relationship. If it's spouse relationship, if it's a friendship, if it's a partnership, if it's just a relationship of a neighbor, you don't have to agree with everything. [Inaudible] the totality of the person. I disagreed with not giving people the right to work at a faster pace in the country, but it doesn't mean I don't feel the Biden administration and the vice president's now potentially nominated for the Democratic Party, did not move our country in the right direction.

When I needed President Biden to come to our city to deal with a public safety, he came here and gave us the resources. Did the same thing to go after illegal guns, to navigate us out of COVID and the economy that we're in. Once you're not misinterpret the disagreement on Biden, on the totality of not only how he has handled this country, but also the vice president.

I want to remind people, back in 2020 when she ran for president and she was in the Democratic primary, I endorsed her. I saw her leadership skill, her talent, how she's able to balance public safety and [inaudible] together. She's brilliant, and we're going to see her brilliance on the campaign trail. I'm excited about having the first African American woman to be president with Indian background. I think this is a very historical moment for our country, and I'm looking forward to, and I'm asking everyone to join on board with us.

Levy: Sir, I'm a put one, and Jamaican background too.

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. Think about that for a moment. Only in America, brother, can you see, although she's Indian-Jamaican background, it's a symbol for the entire immigrant population. This country is what it is because of the immigrants who have come here and they have contributed and loved this country. 

Look at what happened during COVID, when I went into hospitals, I saw my Caribbean diaspora, my Indian diaspora, my South Central America, my African diaspora, as you look into the city, you see the government from the time you arrived here from the airport time you go see the sections that are being delivered in the city, you see the various immigrant populations that ensure that this runs and delivers services to everyday people. This is a proud moment for all of us.

Levy: Sir, what do you say to people who say that Mayor Adams wants to turn New York City into a cop city?

Mayor Adams: Well, this is an area of 8.3 million people with [35] million opinions, so no matter what you do, there's going to be someone saying– You have people right now that don't realize this is the greatest talk show, music show on the air during this evening. They're wrong. [Laughter.]

Everybody got an opinion just because [inaudible]. When you leave the Subway station or Union Station late at night, and you see that police officer walk through that station, you have a good feeling. You walk on your block coming home from doing an evening tour, and all of a sudden you turn the corner, and you see that cop at [inaudible], you have a good feeling. People want public safety. They don't want abusive behavior, and we don't allow that to happen. Don't let anyone kid you, I have not been in one community meeting, one block association, one town hall, where someone said, "I don't want a cop on my block."

Anyone who says that we want to turn this into a police city, don't realize public safety and justice that are prerequisites to our prosperity. We got to be safe, brother. When you look at what happened to that 13-year-old girl that was raped in Flushing Park, when you look at some of the shootings where families are losing loved ones to gun violence, then you understand why we have the gun detection on our subway system. You understand why we want school safety agents in our schools, because young people are calling for it. Our young people want to be safe, families want to be safe, and I went on a platform that this is going to continue to be the safest city in America.

We removes 70,000 illegal guns off our streets [inaudible] weekly to homicides, [inaudible] shooters. This city is [the safest] big city in America.

Levy: Sorry. Are you okay, sir?

Mayor Adams: Yes. I'm losing my voice for a moment, but it's okay.

Levy: Okay, sir. Sir, I give you the last say under on the show.

Mayor Adams: Well, people often ask because of what they read every day, when you take the worst thing that happens in this city, and you put it on the front pages, or you report it to define yourself by the worst thing that happens in the day and not the good things that happen. There are 4.1 million people in our subway every day, and you only have five felonies a day. We have more jobs in the city and the city is key. Our students are [inaudible] the state in reading and math. [Inaudible] residents have free high-speed broadband. We have over 100,000 summer youth being employed in our city. Our bond rating has increased. We developed more.

We paid for more affordable housing in the history of the city in one year, moving more people out of shelters into permanent housing in one year in the history of the city. We managed 250,000 migrants and asylum seekers that are not allowed to work in our city. I can't do anything to stop them from coming. The city is thriving and it's not coming back bad. We did it with the second African-American mayor, [inaudible] building on what the first one did 30 years ago. We can't allow people to do what they did to David Dinkins and turn the [inaudible] against the success that we've had. Let's move forward. We got this. No matter how challenging it may be, this is the greatest city on the globe because we have the greatest people on the globe. We call ourselves New Yorkers.

Levy: Sir, thank you very much. Have a great evening and take care of yourself.

Mayor Adams: Thank you, brother. Rocking you all the time.

Levy: Rocking you. Rocking you. Caribbean Fever 107.5 WBLS.