Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds Virtual Media Briefing to Discuss Security Measurements Being Put in Place

October 12, 2023

Watch the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NNzkVjyMps

Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy, Communications: Good evening. My name is Fabien Levy, and I'm deputy mayor for Communications for the City of New York. This is been a difficult week for all of us, for our city, for our state and for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. But while the attacks we witnessed in Israel last weekend have shaken our conscience they have not shaken our resolve: we will not be intimidated.

And here in New York, neither our city nor our state will tolerate any form of bigotry, whether it be antisemitism, Islamophobia or any other kind of hate or discrimination. We are working closely with law enforcement officers, our state partners and other cities across the country to monitor for potential threats and keep people safe.

In anticipation of tomorrow's day of resistance that has been widely promoted in social media, the city has already had multiple meetings and calls with different Jewish and Muslim groups across the five boroughs throughout the day. But we wanted to speak to all New Yorkers tonight about the actions the city and the state are taking to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers.

To keep you informed about these efforts, we are joined today by New York City Mayor Eric Adams; New York Governor Kathy Hochul; NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban; New York State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Jackie Bray; multiple additional members of the NYPD; and, Schools Chancellor David Banks. First we will hear from Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. And I want I want to thank the governor for really her leadership and partnership as we ensure that all New York State residents are safe, and we're going to continue to coordinate together. We know the entire world is horrified by the attacks the terrorist organization Hamas has made on our brothers and sisters in Israel, and we are deeply disturbed by the message of hate urging violence in other communities in this region and around the world. It is not acceptable.

I want every New Yorker, especially our Jewish New Yorkers and other groups to know there are currently no credible or specific threats against our city. But with large‑scale protests planned for tomorrow, we must remain vigilant. New York City is the most diverse city in the world, and protecting our residents is the most sacred responsibility that we have. We have directed the NYPD to surge additional resources to schools and houses of worship to ensure that they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace.

We're also stepping up NYPD patrols in other key neighborhoods to help protect all of our city residents. New York City will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe; an if New Yorkers see something, we're saying to you, do something by reaching out to your local authorities. New York City rejects terrorism. We reject hate. We stand united. And we mourn the innocent lives taken in these attacks. Let us pray for the safe return of those captured and for all those on both sides suffering the horrors of wars. We will be united together. And again, I want to thank this team and I want to thank the governor of the State of New York for her leadership at this moment. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you, mayor. Next, we'll hear from Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul: Thank you, Mayor Adams; and once again, the two of us have been strong partners as we work to protect the public safety of all New Yorkers. And this past week has been one of unimaginable heartbreak. These attacks on innocent civilians — babies, children, grandmothers — have now unleashed a spiral of violence. We all watched in horror and anguish as we saw so many of our own residents affected deeply, some of whom are over there still in harm's way. And it's a fear even within our city limits and our state that people never experienced, expected to feel again so soon.

And I agree with the mayor: reports that Hamas has called for a day of action tomorrow calls for us together to address the concerns of New Yorkers as you receive this information. And I'm proud to work with you, mayor, and our Commissioner Caban as we update New Yorkers. What we first want to emphasize, something that is simple and it's non-negotiable: that the safety of New York's Jewish communities is not up for debate. We will stand in solidarity with our Jewish friends and neighbors today, tomorrow and every day. There is no call to violence that will shake that conviction, and there's no evil we are unwilling to confront.

Before I discuss the security measures we're adopting in the State of New York tomorrow, let me tell you what we've done briefly already to protect the citizens of our state. Immediately following the attacks on Israel Saturday morning, we directed the state police to work with local law enforcement, especially here with the NYPD, to up our local patrols and outreach. Yeshivas, synagogues, museums, cultural institutions — places that were deemed vulnerable in the city and throughout the state — constant communication with our federal partners, state intelligence experts as we monitor any potential security threats.

I physically visited our New York State Intelligence Center in Albany to get an in‑person briefing. Speaking regularly with the White House; and in fact, I have a call momentarily with the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State for the latest updates. And as the mayor has been doing, outreach to our community groups, religious organizations, the Muslim community, the Jewish community and also responding to any credible threats.

But we all have to be clear: there is currently no intelligence showing any active threats in New York — that is, the entire state of New York. 

But in a moment fraught like this, we will continue to exercise elevated vigilance and impose measures to deter any potential violence.

Let's talk about what we're planning to do in response to tomorrow's elevated threat. We fully activated our Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Counterterrorism. State police have been fully activated, we have a strong presence throughout the state as well as here in the city. We're prepared to support NYPD at our Joint Operations Center; and if we need them, we have the resources of the New York National Guard and our Joint Task Force Empire Shield ready to be activated.

The National Guard is already directed to patrol key transportation hubs. We've been in contact with the MTA, the Port Authority to ensure that they also have heightened their security measures. Our Hate Crime Task Force is on high alert, it will help investigate disturbing incidents as necessary.

We want to reiterate to New Yorkers: there's no reason to feel afraid. No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives or their routines; and indeed when we change our behavior without a serious credible threat, then we're letting the terrorists win. I want all New Yorkers to feel confident going to a synagogue, going to school, walking to the streets of New York and throughout our state over the next few days.

And those who seek to use Hamas as just...violence as justification for violence of their own, we have no tolerance for your hate. I condemn violence of every kind in New York. I want to be clear. When I say "every kind," that's exactly what I mean. I am outraged at reports of violence or threats against Jewish New Yorkers, including a reported incident where an Israeli student was assaulted on their very own college campus. And I have zero tolerance for hate directed towards Palestinian New Yorkers, a community that is also cherished and respected in our state. Last night's reported attack in Brooklyn of a Palestinian New Yorker is also completely unacceptable and reprehensible.

Public safety will always be my top priority. My commitment is to keeping New Yorkers safe. That is unwavering; and again, mayor, so proud to team up with you once again. We have the finest working with us. I thank your team, I thank my state team. And now I want to introduce New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Okay, we can come back to commissioner when we get him on; otherwise, we can take some questions from the press at this point.

Moderator: Great. We'll now take some on topic questions. As a reminder, please use the raise hand function. Our first question goes to Anthony DiLorenzo.

Question: It looks like, is there a rabbi on the dais that we can speak with?

Deputy Mayor Levy: There is not a rabbi on the dais. We have members of our Jewish leadership here at City Hall, but not a rabbi.

Mayor Adams: And just for note, Anthony. We had a meeting, two meetings today, one with our Yeshivas, the second with our Jewish leadership. And we just complete one with the Muslim leadership as well in the city.

Question: Okay. My question then would be, to any faith leaders, if there's any concerns specifically and how this call to action is being interpreted by members of the community or possible lone wolves, if there's been any concern from local congregants or people from the community expressing some safety concerns that they have going forward and possibly not wanting to attend Sabbath services tomorrow.

Deputy Mayor Levy: So, I would point to, Anthony, we had a meeting this morning with leaders from the Yeshiva community, we also had a call this afternoon with leaders of a wider group of the Jewish community. We were very clear to them that folks should continue to get their kids to school, that they should go to Yeshiva, that folks should feel comfortable going to their congregations and praying. The safest place for them are in schools...for our kids especially are the schools. We have Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Weiner here, might want to talk a little bit more about that.

Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Police Department: Absolutely. That's an important point. You know, I think what we are seeing in the digital universe which we do see is a lot of spin up and a lot of fear. And our message is very clear: New Yorkers and everybody visiting our city should certainly stay vigilant and stay aware — and we always urge that — but really you should also stay calm, and not alter your daily routines.

Out of an abundance of caution we have surged resources around the city, and people will see that tomorrow. That's important. It's important for deterrence, it's really important to reassure folks that we have the situation under control. And the points of these kinds of messages online, it's very easy from far away to instill fear, and we're not going to fall for that as a city. We're not falling for it as a department, and we are collectively going to work through this.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Commissioner Weiner and Commissioner Kinsella, one thing I think that was important that both of you said this morning is, you're both mothers and you're both going to be sending your kids to school tomorrow.

First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, Police Department: Absolutely. I'm a mother with two children and I plan on sending my kids, taking my kids to school like I would do any normal Friday, to school and dropping them off. And I urge New Yorkers to please feel safe in dropping your kids to school, because we're not going to let anyone fear us into not feeling safe in our own city.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you, commissioner.

Moderator: Thank you. Our next question will go to Chris Sommerfeldt. 

Question: Thank you for holding the briefing. Mr. Mayor, you mentioned that you'll be surging law enforcement resources to certain neighborhoods tomorrow. Just wondering if you can list off which neighborhoods that is in particular and what residents, you know, should expect to see on the streets tomorrow as a result of that. In addition, and maybe one of the law enforcement officials on the briefing can address this. There's a large scale protest planned in Times Square again tomorrow, if you can go into a little bit what security precautions for that area in particular looks like tomorrow, that'd be appreciated. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Yes. Chief Chell will go into the large‑scale protests, but the specific deployment that we're doing, we're not going to release that information. We want to make sure that people are not planning around our deployment. But we will have deployment that's visible and that is not visible. As our Intelligence commissioner, Commissioner Weiner clearly states all the time, it's about making sure that our eyes and our ears are not always predicted.

And so we're not going to release specific neighborhoods, but clearly we know where we have large Jewish populations in the city. But our deployment is also not only to our synagogues that are of high profile but also many of the mosques that are high profile because we do not want anyone that comes with an extremist mindset to attack any religious institution or house of worship as well as our Christian locations as well and others. Chief.

John Chell, Chief of Patrol, Police Department: So, for tomorrow we have our all‑out for the Police Department, every member of the New York City Police Department will be ready and in uniform tomorrow. In addition to what the mayor just spoke about, we're aware of the protests around Times Square. We are currently getting our resources together, and we'll be there — just like we've been there all week — to keep the peace and will not tolerate any hate, any acts of disorder. It will be quelled quickly, and we will be ready.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you, chief.

Moderator: Our next question will go to Craig McCarthy.

Question: ...did any of them speak to you about closing their schools tomorrow? And I know you said that that is the safest place for them, but I just wanted to see if they reached that concern level.

Mayor Adams: I have not received any communication from the heads of Yeshivas or any of our private schools or any other schools. The DOE will be open as well. As you know, we have a cross section of different groups. Chancellor Banks has made it clear that we're going to provide the necessary safety with coordination of school safety agents and the NYPD. But in our meeting today, no one indicated with the meeting with the Yeshivas that they would be closing their schools.

Moderator: Our final question will go to Katie Honan.

Question: I wanted to ask, it's a twofold question. The first is, is there any idea of how long the sort of elevated threat will go into? I know tomorrow is a specific day, but if it will last for the weekend or even further, not that New Yorkers should...I mean, they should always be vigilant. And secondly, if it goes into the weekend, are there any specifications or special details about how to communicate with communities that, you know, take part in the Sabbath and are not obviously on their phones or anything, I don't know what the plan is for that.

Mayor Adams: Commissioner?

Deputy Commissioner Weiner: So, you know, in terms of this elevated posture, we are very responsive to events overseas, we're very responsive to what we're seeing in the online universe and we're responsive to what our partners are sharing with us and you as the public. So, we will maintain the posture that we need to preserve the safety and security of this city. This is a dynamic situation.

But I also think it's really important to point out that these resources are operating not just today and tomorrow but every day of the week and of the year. This is a program and a priority for our public safety as a city, so we will continue to monitor for other threats that may emerge, just as we always have done ‑‑ again, responsive to the situation and environment as it changes.

Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you, commissioner. I would also point out, last weekend after the attacks on Saturday we were able to get on the phone on a Zoom call with members of the religious Jewish community to make sure they're aware of everything that was going on. Jewish law allows those who practice, that are shomer Shabbat to break the Sabbath if it is a life or death scenario.

And so if God forbid there is any kind of...while we see no threats at this time, if there is anything, you know, New Yorkers, Jewish New Yorkers are permitted breaking the Sabbath. The rabbi would, I'm sure, would approve of that. We are hopeful that doesn't become the case, but we have 8.3 million New Yorkers, and if you see something, please say something. We need the force multiplier for New Yorkers to help us out.

So, thank you very much for joining us today. We hope we answered all your questions, and thank you.

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