Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton”

November 26, 2023

Reverend Al Sharpton: Switching gears now. Joining me is New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mayor Adams, thank you for coming on the show. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. 

Reverend Sharpton: I want to get into the migrant situation and budget challenges, but I wanted to have you also to discuss a number of issues facing the city. But first, though, I have to ask you about several items in the news related to you and to your administration. 

On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed against you by a woman who says you sexually assaulted her while you both were working for the city in 1993. You said Thursday you don't recall even ever meeting the accuser. What more can you tell us about this case, if anything, and why it's being brought, if as you say, you don't even know the person. 

Mayor Adams: I don't know that. And I want to be clear: the law that was passed that allowed a look back period of any form of action like this, I support the law. I think it should be used and not abused. I have no idea, you know, why this was brought forth. I don't recall ever meeting this person, over 30 years ago this was stated took place. 

And you know, people like you who know me, I have always fought on behalf of not only women specifically but in general uplifting people and in protecting people. I protected people for 22 years as a police officer, and I know what it is to make sure that people should always see the protection that they deserve. 

And we don't know the full scope of what this allegation is, but it's going to follow… It's the process, and I'm going to continue to do what I have to do to make sure the city navigates out of some challenging time. 

Reverend Sharpton: Now, there's also the FBI campaign finance investigation. Federal authorities have this month raided the homes of your chief fundraiser as well as another aide and seized several of your electronic devices. The probe was reportedly looking at whether a Turkish consulate building may have been approved improperly. You said you are cooperating with investigators and haven't been accused of any wrongdoing. 

But for city residents who are concerned about corruption and who have read stories about your past trips to Turkey and have questions, what is your message to them right now, Mr. Mayor? 

Mayor Adams: Well, I've been consistent with one thing, Reverend Sharpton, to my team. Number one, we participate in all investigations and we follow the law. We follow the rules. You know, as I stated, as a former law enforcement person, I know what it is to follow the rules and follow the law, and I'm telling my team to do that. 

We want the same thing that the SDNY — the Southern District — wants, is to find out exactly what took place. And people point to the number of trips to Turkey. I traveled to Africa seven or eight times, South America, Central America, to China. New York City's an international city and we have some of the largest population of the various diasporas of all of these various groups. And I try to make it clear that we're a welcoming city and we want to have these international relationships. 

The United Nations sits off the East River of this city, and that's the role I have as the mayor of the City of New York. So, we're going to be as cooperative as possible to give any information that is needed. I continue to tell my team to cooperate and follow the rules and the law, and that's what we're doing. 

Reverend Sharpton: Now, switching gears. I was honored to have you join us on Thursday at National Action Network's House of Justice in Harlem to serve Thanksgiving meals to the needy. And you've been there just about every year of National Action Network, about 31 years, and you've certainly been there and on Christmas since you've been mayor. 

But the thing that was different this year, number of migrants refugees seeking shelter in our city right now. And you've been very vocal about the dire situation that large U.S. cities face as temperatures drop and shelters are full. Many of these migrants are coming from climates that they're certainly not ready for a winter here or in Chicago or other places. What needs to happen right now to address this issue, Mr. Mayor? 

Mayor Adams: And you know, you're right, as I joined the National Action Network and others on Thanksgiving day, throughout the week on Wednesdays I'm out giving out food every Wednesday just about, on 34th Street. But we also travel throughout the city. And your analysis is a correct one. As I saw the faces of people, I saw different groups, people coming from West Africa, from South and Central America, Russian speaking locations all coming through our southern border and n making their way to New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and other municipalities; and, you're seeing what's playing out in Massachusetts right now where they basically stated they have no more room. 

We've opened over 210 what we call Humanitarian Relief Centers, several different various shelter systems, even opened a large HERRC on Floyd Bennett Field. This is going to cost us $5 billion during this fiscal year, $7 billion we need to find in January. And it's economically not sustainable and the place is not sustainable. 

In other cities people are sleeping in precincts, in hospitals, sleeping on the streets. We must come up with a real decompression strategy and ensure that we can use the 108,000 different cities, towns, villages and municipalities to spread this problem across the entire country and not just in certain cities. It is not sustainable. It is unfair to the migrants and it's unfair to New Yorkers, taxpayers in the city. 

Reverend Sharpton: Yes, I saw an article in The New York Times just the last couple of days that there's been thousands of migrants coming in from China that come through South America. So, it's not just as easy as just trying to hit at one nationality, as some people are, for their own biased reasons, want to do. 

But you're taking heat, as other mayors are, for budget cuts that you have to propose earlier, you did earlier this month cutting spending at every city agency and even closing libraries on Sundays. You've talked about the cost of caring for migrants and the need for more federal help. But what do you say to critics who argue your cuts to social spending in particular will only make it worse for the problems of homelessness and crime that you're trying to address? Could the cuts be done differently than what you've laid out, and what could the federal government to help you and other mayors? 

Mayor Adams: And I join them. I know New Yorkers are angry, I know migrants are angry. They want to work. They have called us with the opportunity to work in our city and our state and country where we have a large number of jobs that are available. This is not the type of budget I want. I want a budget where I am investing in children and families and clean streets and making sure we continue to get the success that we're seeing. 

A decrease in crime in the city: homicides and shootings are down in double digit, and our transit system, you're seeing four million riders peaking out back on our system. This is not the budget I want, and I respect the fact that New Yorkers are angry. But by law I have to balance the budget two years out, and the November plan that was a readjustment was the realization that the numbers we put in place at the beginning of the year last year was not really fitting what the costs were actually going to be. 

And so, by law, I'm required to balance the budget, and when you're looking at roughly $33 billion is really what we have discretion on, the money has to come from somewhere. 

So, we're seeing a perfect storm. We're seeing the sunsetting of the Covid dollars that we received. We're seeing union contracts that had to be settled, many union members were going without contracts. And then we're seeing a migrant crisis, and we're recovering financially as fast as we want. So, the team is doing a great job of trying to minimize the pain, but this is the reality that we'll face if we don't get the help from the national government that we deserve. 

Reverend Sharpton: Mayor Eric Adams, thank you for being on PoliticsNation with me tonight. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you very much.