May 15, 2024 NYC Office of the Mayor
Shirley Chan: From what we understand, Mayor Adams is ready and he's to speak with us.
Kori Chambers: Yes, we were talking about this earlier. The mayor has a lot to talk about, a bunch of topics from violence in schools to violence on our streets. Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us tonight.
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, great to be with you this evening.
Chambers: All right, well look, we were talking earlier about what happened yesterday. A number of schools where students ended up slashed or stabbed, it really is pretty stunning what we reported.
Chan: Yes, three incidents in three different schools in three different boroughs. Now, is there a need for security, more security at the schools? Certainly the union representing school safety agents, they're calling for a citywide policy for metal detectors.
Mayor Adams: I strongly believe in using metal detectors at the right time when we believe there's a need for it. We currently have systems where we can move around metal detectors and it always amazes me when you have those who push back when you want to use these devices and technology to create safe environments. There are those who are challenging the thought of us using metal detectors to detect guns on our subway system. They push back when we want to use it in our school building.
That is why it's crucial for me to remain focused and as I always say, public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity and I agree with Gregory Floyd that wherever we can use these devices to protect our children, we're going to do so. Now listen, there are those who call for the removal of school safety agents from our schools. That is how some of this stuff just doesn't make sense and I'm just not going to listen to it.
Chambers: I know police are looking into one of the stabbings as being possibly gang-related. Are there gang issues that we should be looking at? Then I'm thinking about, here we are in May, next month, kids get out of school, a month after that into August. What do you think the summer's going to look like if this is what it looks like now?
Mayor Adams: Give them alternatives, give them things to do. Mommy used to say an idle mind is the devil's workshop. All of us have heard that. That is why we put the money into having full school program from the midnight basketball programs we have to our Summer Rising, over 110,000 last time, Summer Youth Employment, 100,000. Our young people need things to do and we want to make sure they have those various things they can do. We were successful last year and that's why we saw the decrease in crime and we're going to continue to do it this year. NYPD Community Affairs is also doing amazing things from teaching children how to fly to teaching them how to play golf to teaching them various things they can do. We have to give them alternatives.
Chan: Okay, mayor, staying on the topic of safety, there have been recent incidents of random attacks. We've certainly seen them on the subway and making headlines nationally. Actor Steve Buscemi randomly punched and also this week a mom was walking with her daughter, stabbed while walking on the street. What can be done to prevent these types of crimes and violent incidents?
Mayor Adams: It makes me extremely angry when you see someone carry out these random acts of violence and that is what has really overshadowed the success of what we have done in decreasing crime from homicides to shootings to the five of seven major crime categories. We have too much recidivists. As I often say, the person who shot Detective Diller, he was arrested over 20 times.
Then we have these random acts of violence, punching women in the face and then a severe mental health illness. Many times they align with the problems we're facing. We're going to do our job as a Police Department but we want to be extremely proactive and deal with the recidivism issue we have and those who are dealing with severe mental health illness.
Chambers: That doesn't sound like a solution. Again, big issues obviously require big things to solve them but the answer you just gave doesn't sound like something an immediate answer to this issue of, again, people being punched randomly on the street in Midtown, right? Is there something more immediate that the NYPD is going to do or that the city can do to help really address this issue?
Mayor Adams: Yes, you just pointed out, NYPD, those four letters. We have been extremely successful in this city in bringing down crime in the city. Double digit decrease in shootings and homicides. When we took office, we had a 40 percent spike in crime taking place. And having the omnipresence of our police and while they're policing to go after those random acts of violence, we also have to monitor 2,000 protests we've seen in this city, not only on our college campuses but on our streets. You have the finest Police Department on the globe of handling this situation.
Listen, there's no joy in telling someone when they're struck that crime is down in the city. We know that's a problem but we need to be specifically clear that this data is clear. This is the safest big city in America, the safest big city in America, and it's because we have the finest police department in America apprehending people who commit these random acts and having the omnipresence to give people the security that they desire.
Chan: Mr. Mayor, let's talk a little bit about Pride Month. It is a big deal in our city as is the parade. The FBI releasing a warning just this week that LGBTQ groups could be targeted. Do you have any more insight into how serious this threat is?
Mayor Adams: Anytime the FBI issues a threat of that magnitude, you have to take it serious. We have one of the best intelligence division that monitors the various communication networks from social media to intelligence that comes to us. We're going to be proactive. Just as we're proactive during other major events such as Ramadan or Hanukkah, we target those specific areas where we need reinforcement.
We're going to do that around the parades, around the various activities that are going to take place. The Police Department is going to be on top of this and we're going to communicate with our federal partners to see any leads of anything that looks like it's a specific threat. As of now, we have no specific threat to the city, but we're going to take notice of what the FBI stated.
Chambers: All right, that is obviously important information to put out there, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for that.
I want to ask about a comment that you made yesterday, made some news involving migrants. You might know which one I'm speaking about. I believe you suggested that migrants could help fill the city's lifeguard shortage and fill the gap because they're quote, excellent swimmers.
The response to that, but before you answer, the response to that, some people felt that might have even been racist. I want you to, did I, first of all, did I describe your comments correctly? Then are the comments racist and what do you mean? What did you mean?
Mayor Adams: Okay, and thank you for that. Listen, we are in the silliness state of our society now. The word police is constantly trying to say it, everything is attacking someone. If you look at the full scope of what I said, I said we have shortage of nurses and we have those who come from the healthcare profession. We have a shortage of food service workers. We have those who are migrants and asylums that can come and fill those jobs. I've been saying this constantly that we have a shortage of employees and we have able-bodied migrants and asylum seekers who want to do so, including swimming.
When I first thought of this lifeguard shortage issue, I'll go to these HERRCs where we have shelters and I ask, how many of you guys know how to swim? Hands go up. Why aren’t we allowing people to work? Instead of focusing on using politically correct terminology, we need to be focusing on we have 195,000 people who are here eligible to work for the most part. We need to be allowing them to work and I'm not going to be distracted because they are those who want to turn everything into a political ploy. Let's let people work and fill these jobs that we have available. Then we won't have to close beaches. Why are we closing beaches when we have able-bodied people who want to work in our city?
Chan: Mayor, there are some groups, immigrant advocates, who say they are offended. They're calling for you to apologize. Would you apologize for this?
Mayor Adams: Listen, if I offend someone, I'm not going to interpret someone's pain. If I offended someone, I never want to offend someone. But there was nothing I said that was racist or that was offensive. Asking people to work, to work as a nurse, to work as a food service worker, to work as a lifeguard, we're not going to get into the point that every time a sentence is made, the word police is going to try to make something offensive about it.
People know my record on immigration and they know my record of going to the Darién Gap, going to Ecuador, going to Colombia, going to Mexico, and West Africans who are coming to America, going to West Africa. I know what I'm doing on the ground to help my migrants and asylum seekers and that's what I'm going to live up to.
Chambers: All right, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Adams, railing against the word police as he joins us live tonight. Thank you so much for the time, as always.
Mayor Adams: Thank you, take care.
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