The Breakfast ClubBest Of 2024 Full Interview: Mayor Eric Adams Speaks On The Migrant Crisis, Safety In New York, Policing, Homelessness + More
Best of 2024 - Recorded March 2024 - Mayor Eric Adams Speaks On The Migrant Crisis, Safety In New York, Policing, Homelessness. Listen For More!
Wake that ass up in the morning breakfast club.
Yeah, and we got a special guest in the building today, ladies and gentlemen, the mayor Eric Adams.
And we also have lawyer and political commentator Ola Yamy right here. Good morning, Good morning, man.
Good good.
You know, you know, even before we get into the conversation, I was with Jordan the other day, my son, and uh, somehow your name came up and there was a group of young people in the room talking about politics. It's amazing how so many people are into politics now.
And they came up with.
Saying something about there were people saying that how you were trying to push Trump, push Trump, push Trump. So Jordan pulled up this video one of your shows, or when you broke down each time you were talking about what was wrong about his race, and just broke it down piece by piece, and Jordan said that, you know what, truth doesn't matter anymore, No, folks, people don't care about truth, about the fact facts no longer exist.
I've never put Trump actually do the opposite exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, but we are in a generation where everyone gets up in the morning, look on social media and whatever's on there. They identified as the facts, the headlines exactly.
No one goes into the body of the story.
Everybody's just well, you know what, this is what the headline said, and that's the reality of it. And so it was like an eye opener for him of how I said, Jordan, for over and over again, that one moment took away all those years of me saying, have your own facts. Don't let anybody define for you. You define for yourself. That's you know, that's the power of this microphone, that's the power of media putting those facts out.
If we don't control the message, the message will control us.
We got a lot to talk about today your city. So today we reported earlier about congestion, pricing, right, what's your what's your thoughts on that.
I think it's gonna it's gonna cripple New York City.
You got a lot of people. The bridges already, the tolls already high. It's seventeen dollars I think for George Washington eleven dollars for the Midtown tunnels. Parking is extremely high. Uh, And now getting into the city it's gonna be even it's gonna hurt a lot of people even drive in the city, and people are scared of the subways.
You know what everything's been going on.
People getting you know, pushed into the train station's crime, and people are scared of New York City.
That's a lot, let's.
A lot hold on. But let's let's break it down for a moment. Let's break it down in pieces so we can really understand it. First, let's deal with the stuff about people are scared of the subways. When I became mayor, no one wanted to be on the subway. We got over four million daily riders. I talked to one of my guys, I was talking to your sisty the other day and she said, you know, you have about two three hundred crimes happening on the subway system. We have six felonies a day on our subway system out of four million riders. Look at those numbers. Our subway system is a safe system. And we put it in a different ditional thousand offices to do the high visibility to deal with the reality because it's not only felt is perceived.
So if those six felonies we got to get rid of, we're clear on that. But people are.
Back on our subway system. But when you deal with specifically congesting prices. A lot of people don't realize these are the city streets. But we had no authority on it. Aubany passed the law and turn it over to the MTA. This is the MTA's baby. They should have allowed the city to be able to control how congesting pricing was done.
So that fifteen dollars.
We were able to fight to get one hundred million dollars to deal with the environmental impact in the Bronx. We were able to fight to get those who are shift brocused get a discount, those who make less than fifty thousand dollars to get a discount. But this was a bill that came out of Albany.
So you don't agree with it, or do you agree with it?
No? I agree. We got to deal with something with the congestion in our city.
But you don't pass on the course of that on low income New Yorkers or those who have to come to Manhattan. You may have to go into your chemother, and this is the doctor you have to go to. You should not be hit over there because.
People that live in the area.
They're saying that that people that actually live in the area when they drive, if they got to drive uptown to the doctor.
They got to drive. They get charged too.
Yich.
But I'm not feeling people that live in the area central Manhattan east up south of sixtieth Street as the best transportation system on the globe. You got Crosstown trains, you have South and North trains, you have buses that go across town. There's no place else on the globe that you have the greatest access to public transportation than people south of sixtieth Street. So I'm not feeling them if they're saying that, you know, we don't have to we don't want to pay you know what, you need to get on the train.
I take the train, you know, so you could get on the train.
I'm talking about low income New Yorkers should not have to carry the burden of that, and we ask to have more and a greater input and the shaping of that, but we don't. People don't often realize we're creatures of Aubany. Albany passed the laws. We have to implement the laws that are down here.
Yeah, I think you're right. There is a difference between perception and fact and how people feel about safety and the way people feel about the subways, And I think it's your own rhetoric about the subways that has a lot to do with why people feel scared, despite the fact that millions of people ride the subway every day without incident. But you've continued to fare monger about crime in the subways. You've added two thousand police officers, despite the fact that you've acknowledged that the subways are not that dangerous. And I think there is your right poor New Yorker should not be the ones who bear the brunt of this, but they will if they already have the subway being turned into a place that they have to fare, that there's a National Guard, that there's a hyper visibility of police, that they're trying to stop people with certain records from even using them, and now you have this congestion price. So how do you reconcile that?
Well, let's go before.
First of all, I would love to give me give me the quotes on my rhetoric, because I'm lost in that.
Can you give me the.
Question that you fairmonger about the subways. Oh, you've consistently done that since the day one of your administration. One of the first things you did was add a thousand officers to the subway because you clained that the subways are unrideable. You at Hoko did this and said how dangerous it is, and you recently did that when you deployed the National Guard.
But that's how that wasn't my question my questions. What was my fear mongerment? What did I say?
You continuously say. I could point to a number of videos and quotes and everything from you, but you've said repeatedly that the subways are dangerous, that New York is dangerous. You complain about crime relentlessly. So what I'm saying to you is if you are saying that New York is the safest city, it's one of the safest big cities in this country, which is true, and you're recognizing that the subway stations are in fact not half as dangerous as they're presented to be. I'm saying, how do you reconcile how your rhetoric has played into people's fair and not even just rhetic.
I would say the actions, because she's right, if you tell us which define the safe, it is different, but it's the same thing. Though you put a thousand police officers in the subway, two thousand in the subway.
That don't make us feel saying we think something's wrong.
If you don't let me let me.
First, let me peel back again, because you always peel back this stuff, you know, because of oftentimes how you're depict in the media. That I don't control is how people interpret you. I didn't put the National Guards in the subway. The governor did.
I know. But I know what you said. But you said Eric, you you stood with Governor cafee Hoche and you co signed that decision. You did. And I'm not saying that as someone who's fall on social media. I'm saying that as an attorney in the city and an activist who follows everything that you do.
If you I'm glad you do, and then you realize how I turned the city around.
If you follow everything I do.
You realize that I would say no, but we could get to that.
Maxis your time, man, A long day, listen, and I enjoy every moment, you know, cause this is what I do. You know when you when you come with a serious history, if you follow everything you do, I do.
You know how long I've been doing this and you know what my record is.
So let's peel back what you just stated when people fear is perceived and felt, that's what fear is. So no matter as I shared that we have six felony crimes a day with four million riders, if people feel unsafe when we get in the subway system. I ride the subway system and I talk to commuters and I say, what are you feeling and how do I help you with that fear? They said, we see more visible uniform offices in our subway system, We're going to feel safe.
We got we got it. Oh, let me.
You can talk, you can feel it back.
We we so we got it. That the numbers are down, We got it that we're back on the subway system post COVID. But when we see this is what the public is saying, When we see the visible presence of a uniform officer, we feel safer. Now, you may say, Eric, I don't want to see a visible president of a uniform officers, and that's cool, but that's not what the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are saying.
And I'm saying to you. The New York City Comptroller Bradlander recently put out a report finding that fifty percent of the city is disappointed and does not feel safe based on your rhetoric about the subways and your over police presence.
Okay, since first of all, that's not what this says based on Eric's rhetoric, that's.
Not you kids, No, no, no, no. Did they say based on Eric's you want to talk about based on your specific system, going back.
To what you said, because you attorney, they have fact, they say.
Based they have the city is there are they have multiple reports in New York Times. The Gothamins, the city controller and the federal monitor who reports, who reports, who's tasked with making sure the NYPD and wrikers are in compliance with the law, have both submitted reports saying that since you became there's been a return of stopping for us, that there have been over fifteen thousand stops, ninety seven percent of whom have been on black and Hispanic people. A fourth of those stops and searches have been unconstitutional and they've yielded very few results.
Let's peel it back.
Eric Adams, one hundred blacks and law enforcement testified in federal court that the federal court judge stated, based on Eric's testify testimony, we are going to rule against the police department. We were dealing with a million stops a year when I was with one hundred blacks and law force fere My advocacy is what turned it around from that million stops a year. Look at the numbers right right now. My advocacy and showing how to do policing correctly, because it's not that you want to eradicate proper police practices.
You must make sure they do them right.
And that is what I have been able to accomplish in the city, taking over thirteen thousand guns off the streets of the City.
Of New York, who the victims of black and brown people.
When I go to community meetings and talk to community any residents, they don't tell me, Eric, we don't want want police, they said, Eric, we want our police doing their jobs correctly.
And that is what I'm doing.
The Federal Manitor, the Federal monitor who was tasked with ensuring that NYPD is following the law, conducted conducted an analysis, conducted an analysis that having eight years ago, but they're still hair monitoring what you're doing. And they said that you have brought back stopping first policies that are worse than they saw even doing the Bloomberg era. But More importantly, they analyzed the neighborhood. I could show the report is available, and I know it's been available to you because your spokesperson is commented on it. They did an analysis of over ten percent ten different precincts. There is factual there's a federal monitor reporting to judged. He swain on it and present. They said that, yes, listen, let me finish so you can feel it back. They conducted an analysis of ten different precincts, and every of the stops of ten different precincts, they found that ninety seven percent of them, by the way of the neighborhood safety teams that were disbanded in twenty twenty because of their disproportionate abuse against black and Hispanic people that you revived. They analyzed ten of those different neighborhood safety teams and found that they're conductings ninety seven percent of their stops on black and brown people, and a quarter of them are on constitutional That's what the federal monitor said, not me.
And at the same time, let's let's be clear on this because what you're what you're given the perception of this is a federal monitor that came in long before I was mayor agree.
Right.
Number two, I have been the mayor for two years and three months. We've had a tradition of over policing for generations, and that's now that you're there, that I fought for. We had issues of over policing for generations that I fought for.
We acknowledge what my history is in this place. So two years in.
Three months, we are turning around not only over policing, but we're turning around the crime.
Because when I came to this city, we had a forty.
Increase in crime, and most of that crime black and brown communities.
You became mayor after are a global pandemic in which there was record unemployment, business laws, homelessness. And you're not drawing that connection. You're making no, no, But what I'm saying is crime has a crime is connected to what is happening in the city and the experiences of people. This is the most expensive city in the world. We had a global pandemic where business is closed of work. So if you saw time, it was connected to that, but also jobs come on. Also, you're saying that you've turned it around and yb the's abuses, But just last year we paid out one hundred and fifty million dollars in settling police misconducts from and I was double the number. That's double the number and police misconduct since you became married.
You.
I noticed something. I noticed how much passion and commitments you have.
It's one of your constituents.
Yeah, and I'm one of my constituents STUDENTWS. You know what I'm saying. And I grew up in this city. I love it.
I noticed, And this is what I hear often of those who articulate when a person in the blue uniform commits an inappropriate act, balance that with what we're doing to take the violence out of our commutes. Because I know what I hear when I go to these community meetings. I know what I hear when I go speak to these mothers who lost their children to violence.
I know what I hear. You're not even talking about that at all.
You know, I was a public defender.
But that's what you said. That's what you said.
And my original question was about how you relate to that.
You said that New Yorkers don't feel safe. So there was a poe that came out with last week. Yeah, right, right, And in that poll that came out by the CBC. It stated that the priorities of Mayor Adams is moving the city in the right direction. My priority now, remember two years, three months, brother, two years three months.
I inherited a pandemic.
I inherited one hundred and eighty thousand micros and asylum seekers that can't work, that we have to house them every day. I inherit You called for a lot of them too, though no we didn't brother it was a sanctuary city.
You told them, okay, let's let's see.
That's why I say, that's why it's important to have this conversation because sanctuary city and the micasine asylum seekers are two different issues. Sanctuvy City, if you're undocumented, we can't turn you over to Ice or authority. Micaels and asylum seekers were parolled into here. They here legally, they were parolled into. But what the federal government did and Governor Abbot did, they said, we're gonna send them up to Chicago, New York, Boston. And the federal government is saying, Eric, you can't allow them to work. You gotta give them housing. You can't stop the buses from coming in, you cannot turn them over to Ice.
All of that is illegal. If I do that, were breaking law.
So when people look at the Migaans that are here, we didn't call people to come here. They were sent here by Governor Abbot, and the failure to secure our borders is allowing us to continue. And we're not getting any funny, any money from We got about one hundred million dollars out of a four billion dollar price tag. Look at Chicago right now. Look what's happened in Chicago right now? My brother Mayor Johnson over there, what's happening with him? Look has happened in Boston. Look what's happening in Houston, Los Angeles. And then do a comparative analysis of what's happening on our streets here. Wow, we dealt with that crisis, turn around our economy, outpacent the state and reading.
The math of our young people.
I've been on Rykers Island more than any mayor in the history of the city, talking with inmates and correction officers to turn around what's happening.
In twenty twenty two, and there were three deaths back to Bath because corrections officers left their posts and allowed it to happen. You went to Rikers to express your support for the corrections officer to Rikers what I do want you to do, Adam.
But you keep you keep giving out misinformation. I was on Rikers Island this week. This week with a group of twelve young brothers who recommitted themselves to Christ. I went to see them in the morning.
We prayed together because they.
Said, this is not the first time you've been here. You've been here over and over, visiting us, talking to us, nurturing us. You know, because I know what it's like to be locked up because I was locked up as a child, So I know what it's like to be treated unfairly because I'm dyslexic. When you're doing analysis of the number of young brothers and sisters who are in Rikers are in jail, they're dealing with learning disabilities because it was never given to the support that they have. That's why I have dyslexia screening, so we could catch people who are thrown overboard before they get thrown overboard. So we have a philosophical disagreement.
No, I do, like I'm glad feelings towards.
Your feelings towards police is different from this.
Is not about my feelings that this is about the actual statistics that I presented from the federal monitoring about her statistics. He's a federal monitor. Do you are you disputing with the federal monitor and the actual and the.
Controller talking about this moment control of brad Lander. Okay, please, but we're gonna throw people in names on who we are are independent sources.
He should not be one of them. Think about this federal monitor, the.
One that was independently elected by the people.
Of New York.
But I was independent elected also and he and I'm addressing you, so think about this for my moment. The federal monitor wants to take over Rykers. Okay, Rykers has been dysfunctional for generations. I came in decreased violence, putting real incentive programs for young people there. But I didn't do it from a distance. I went to Rikers and walked the halls and talk with inmates. We're doing workshops and support groups with inmates and find out.
What do you need to be here.
We instituted real turnaround programs there with the sisters that's now in the correction officer. I mean that's the Commission of Corrections there. So I didn't do like other mayors. I didn't sit back and say, let me just turn my back on what's rikers. I said to those Rikers inmates when I got elected, I'm coming here. I'm going to see what you're going through, and I want to make sure you leave here better than how you got here in the first place. And we started instituting programs to do so. So that same federal monitor go look at the federal prisons. You that federal monitor wanted to take over our prisons after I had it only two years in three months.
No, they wanted to take over my first year.
Although crime was going violence was going, violence was going down, and people say, well, ever, you know people are people are dying on rykers.
Look at how they died.
People are coming into rykers and terrible medical conditions.
And not getting their medical appointments.
It's not that they were dying because correction officers were killing them. People were coming in with heart problems, but overdosing on drugs.
When people a right to feel that, because I know I got people that are in Rikers right now serving time and.
They hate it. They think it's discussion.
Is they're trying to who like sales brother, who.
Likes respectfully, Mary Adams, fundamentally, the things that you were saying is untrue. You actually cut seventeen million dollars of are used for classes for people at Rikos Rykers to re enter society.
Those were cut in the programs.
Those were cut under your those were cut on your administration.
We were spending millions of dollars.
Thirty one people have died at Rikers since Eric Adams mayor millions.
Of dollars for these professional folks to do these programs, reinjury programs, millions of dollars, seven people sitting inside the class. When I came into office, I said, why are we spending so much money on programs but our people are still in these bad conditions. People have profetized poverty. That making so much money off of black and brown people because it's a lucrative business to come up with all these different programs, all these different ways.
And then when you go to them.
And say, let me say the results of the programs that we're paying you millions of dollars for, and then you look and see what who's in charge of these programs, they don't look like us.
Moments ago you said you instituted programs and when I brought up the fact that you actually cut programs now your anti program, Okay, thirty one at least at least thirty one people have died at Wrikers since you became mayor.
That's why I'm for no more program. Fatherless No More. This was the This was the brother the pastor. Fatherless No More is called the program, and I would encourage you to come and check it out. This brother here, instead of saying, pay me millions of dollars to do a program to turn around the lives of our young brothers in Rankers, he doesn't want money. He's committed to the cause. But you have these professional programs that were in place.
And when I went to them and.
Say, show me the results of what you've done in these programs. Show me what we produce for our millions of dollars as in many of these programs in the city that I'm saying, we're no longer paying y'all.
To just play us year after year.
So Fatherless No More is turning around the lives of people not being paid millions of dollars for it. If we're really true to what we said we want to do, why do we have to pay your millions of dollars to do it. You know, why don't you come on rankers like I do and volunteer. Why don't you come in and really be committed, Because people are not committed to us. Brother, They've been playing us. You know, this is a street hustle that have been going on for years, and people have eaten off of the dysfunctionality of watching us stay in these permanent states of being.
A lot of people are upset to it.
They feel like the prison reform is bad for New York City. They're saying people do crimes, they get out immediately, and then they commit the crimes.
We just see an.
Officer that passed away a couple of days ago, rest in peace to him and always healing energy to his family. But they say that individual was arrested for a gun and has a record the size of we don't know what, And they're saying that people are doing crimes and they're getting back out. Officers don't want to arrest people. A lot of officers don't even want to be officers anymore because the people that they' arresting get out so fast.
So what do you say to that?
And brother, let me tell you something. I say this term all the time.
Idealism collides with realism, this far leftist mindset that believes we should not have a criminal justice system in place, We're gonna look like some of these other cities that you're seeing with a lack of a criminal justice system in place. We're losing correction offices. We're losing district attorneys, we're losing police officers, we're losing probation offices, we're losing school safety agents. Every piece of our public safety apparatus that the every day working class person wants, we're seeing it all of a sudden erode, and we're going to lose the foundation of our prosperity, and that's public safety.
So when you look at these cases, we have three.
Problems in this city that if you dig into it, you'll see how they continue to intersection between each other. We have one, we have a Recipi thiss problem. It's a revolving door. Thirty eight people that assaulted transit workers well were arrested eleven hundred times. Five hundred and forty five people that were arrested for shoplifting were arrested seventy five seven thousand, five hundred times.
The person who.
Shot that police officer, his driver was just arrested for having a gun in April of last year. Now he's back doing the same thing all over again. These guys are arrested ten fifteen times. It's a small population of people that are repeated offenders.
The second problem that we have in.
The city is a severe mental health I'm not talking about just somebody that's the pressed, someone that's going through a bad day.
I'm talking about a severe mental health problem.
Go look at these cases of assaulting passengers, pushing people on the subway track, the cat that pushed the person on the subway tract the other day, in and out of the system.
And so when I came.
Into office, I said, we can't keep just walking by these people that are dealing with severe mental health issues. We need to give them wrapping around services and care. The far left pushed against me, You're in humane, you just want to take people off the streets. No, I said, no, in this city, people are not gonna live. People are not gonna live in encampments. They're gonna live in tents. Go look at Los Angeles, Go look at Oregon, Go look at all these other cities. When you see tent city San Francisco, you see tent cities people. When I went out in January February, when I got elected in twenty twenty two, I went out without my security team and started visiting people in intents and encampments and started talking to them bipolar, schizophrenic, human waste, drug power, fernalia, stale food.
They didn't even realize they were in that state. One cat was an.
Ex police officer that I spoke with, didn't even realize started seeing and talking to himself. I said, I'm not going to do this. My city is not going to be like San Francisco. It's not going to be like these other cities where you're watching people living on streets in tens intents. You don't see that in New York City. Third problem we have is random, random acts of violence. Those random acts of violence are being highlighted.
If you have if you.
Have twenty four hours in a day, and something that happens to you in an hour and the day you set to define yourself as that entire day. Those random acts of violence are plastered on social media. They're plastic, They're plastered on everything. People begin to believe that Oh, I'm living in the city that's out of control.
We are not.
She made good people New York.
If NYPD is reposting that kind of stuff, what are we supposed to think.
A phone brother, No, No, this recently been there somuch so that they're arguing with journalists on there's IPD on their own Twitter pages that are posting and sensationalizing crime. And I said this at the beginning. You said that there's a difference between perception and reality, how people feel afraid versus how safe New York actually is. And I agree with you, but I said that it's your own rhetoric and NYPD's rhetoric that plays into that, and you did it just now. Because the reality is a condition of release for everybody for every crime, whether it be non bail eligible or bail eligible, is that if you commit a crime and you're rearrested, that you that you bail can and will be set on you. So that's the first thing. Second of all, they have conducted multiple studies, but the Brendans that are literally just put out one less than two percent of anybody in New York City that's released on bail is re arrested for any violent crime. More importantly, in the same in the same breath that we want in the same breath that you want to sensationalize, we want to highlight and point out, Oh, an officer was killed the other day, which is a rare occurrence across the United States, but let alone in New York. New York police officers have killed at least seven people this year, including a nineteen year old officer kill.
I'm not going to dismiss the loss of the life of an innocent person that weighs a uniform you.
Of the people, and the nineteen year old.
I feel like I don't want to take you out of contents, and I do want people to all of a sudden criticize that you're being dismissive.
Of a.
It's not going to work on me.
I'm not trying to broak anything on you. I lost a member of the police department. The same way I go to see the mother of eleven year old baby that was eleven month old baby that was shot in the head. When I first became man, I sat in the hospital with her.
The same way I.
Go visit these mothers who lose their children to gun violence. I go see them just as I go, just as I go to see the family member of a slain police officer, I go visit those parents that lose their.
Loved visiting the family that first of all, yesterday and I held a writer, I represented her.
You went to visit You went to visit the family members of a slain officer.
Not the slain officer, of course, But what about the nineteen year old that was killed yesterday by NYPD and Queen's when he called for help? Have you said anything about that? Are you visiting them?
The first of all, that's New York safer or not. I'm sorry, it is New York safer or not.
Okay, we just showed the graph that we that we put up. Right, there's there's a graph that shows how many people murders based one hundred thousand people. It shows a graph each city the large cities in America. New York is the least. New York is the safest big city in America.
Should we say crime is down or should we say it's safe? Because I think it's crime. Saying something is safe insane?
Well, random and.
Thirty pounds and I lose thirty I'm still.
Fat, right, you know?
But random acts, And that's why, that's why, what what I must do with New York is is give them the facts, not give them what people are spewing out there.
The facts facts are clear.
As I've always stated, we are the safest big city in America. And as people talk about reporting these the reports that come out and reporting how things are done, no one wants to report the fact that everyone is saying across the globe New York is the safest big city in America?
Are we trend in the right way?
I think the New York I don't dispute the New York is safe. What I dispute is how Mayor adams own rhetoric is the reason why people don't feel safe. I would reread that New York Is don't feel safe because of the way the NYPD, the Post, and Mayor Adams go about sensationalizing prime. And I'm acting you to talk about it differently and listen.
And you have a right to your opinion and your belief. We you and not have a philosophical disagreement you.
That's many. It's not many people on the fall left disagree with me.
You know, many people on the far left, they said, Eric, people should be allowed to sleep on the streets no matter what. They should be allowed to sit on your stoop and inject themselves with drugs. They should be allowed to go in stores and still whatever they want. They shouldn't have to pay on the subway system. They should be allowed to carry a gun and be able to come out the next day.
Like people disagree with earlier rhetoric. Earlier you asked me to point out specifically what you say. It's a fair mongrel about So I just would like to say exhibit a like what you literally just did. You continue to say in this that New York is the safest big city while simultaneously you are the one sensationalizing rights, which.
Is a max.
All I know is when I came in office and I stated that I wanted to take I'm not allowing people to sleep in tents on our streets.
They're gonna get the care that they deserve.
The far left attack, No, you made it so that people could be involuntarily committed people.
Yes, listen, if I'm sitting down with you, brother, and I'm in a tent with you on encampment and I'm seeing human waste in the corner, I'm seeing stale food, I'm seeing drug power f nail, and I'm hearing you talking about you only hear until the spaceship comes to take you to your next planet.
You need to be involuntary committed.
Didn't I just say about sensational going to happen?
This is what I saw. This is what I saw.
Aund because the activists that were actually there at the encampments you were torn down. You weren't there, but they were there when they were being arrested.
People are also upset that they feel like too much money is going to my rents, and you're cutting too many programs right, They're saying you're cutting the PREKI. They're saying that you're cutting so many different funding.
For the people of this question. Brother.
So people people are saying, people are feeling like, you know, they never have money for us, but when as soon as migrants come in the country, they find money.
And listen, people have a right to be angry. You know who's even more angry than they are.
I am.
I've been to Washington ten times, ten times to talk about this subject. So people got a right to be pissed off of what they're doing.
To New York.
Can we finish that where these like I mean, we cut.
A lot of product.
One day's kids couldn't go to school because migrants to go over to school.
Now that's not that wasn't that wasn't accurate. Okay, let's let's let's let's let's first, let's deal with that. We always utilize our school buildings during the time of crisis. And if we're saying to ourselves, if there's some amazing when we had to major fire when I first became mayor and we saw that fire in the Bronx, you know, we had to take a school to take care of those people who lived in the building. Temporarily, when we have major storms, we take us school to use. The temporary schools is part of the resources of the city. And thank god we had something called remote learning where people still let young people are still able to go on to learn. But we can't say we can't say we can't say that we will use a school building during an emergency, but we're not going to do it for children that are migrants.
And assimum seecrets in public learning and remote worth. Here's here's the.
Here are the things that are crucial about the migrant Asimum secrets that we need to We need to put the rest that people don't realize. Number One, I don't have the legal authority to stop the buses from coming in. That's against law. I don't have the authority to allow them to work, which they want to do.
That's against the law. I don't have the authority.
To say I'm not going to house you and give you three meals a day.
It's against the law for me do it.
I don't have the authority to deport someone that commits a crime here in this city and turn them over the ice. That's against the law. So what we had to do was figure out how do we house people? And so some people say, whatever you're giving them morning, what you've given us. Go to the Hurk centers where they are the shelters, the restrooms are outside, the showers are outside. They're sleeping on cots. They get three basic meals a day. And when I go visit them, they said, we don't want any of this from you. All we want to do is have the right to work so we can provide for ourselves.
And less than thirty days.
Migrants won't be allowed to work for federal guidelines, and they won't be allowed to be housed in nyc ano y any wants the where would they go after that?
They finding a way out.
Of the one hundred and eighty four thousand, sixty percent of them found their way like many of us have done.
You notice you don't hear about them the way.
They're gonna get housing in thirty days, though.
Many of them, we're giving them intense care.
We're not just telling you come here, hang out for thirty days, and we're not gonna help you know, in.
Those thirty days, and if you're a young person, you get sixty days.
But in those thirty days or sixty days, we're giving you intense care. We're showing you how to find your way in our city. We're showing you how to go about applying for housing, to go about applying for the services that you need. And some people are saying, we never wanted to come to New York at all. We wanted to come to another city, but Governor I said, no, We're sending you to New York. Think about this for a moment. We got thousands of Ukrainian migrants, thousands.
Do you hear about them?
No work, just Mexican and Africans.
Can you take a work?
They have the right to work, so so we wouldn't even be having this conversation if we gave them the authority to work.
Ain't know the real irony of this.
We need workers, I need lifeguards, I need food service workers. Many of these micros from violence Venezuela are nurses and other professionals. I need people to backstretch workers. Other states are telling me Eric, we will take the micrants and asylum seekers if they just allowed them to work. We're not gonna take them and just have them sit around every day. If they allowed to work, we would take them. They're national government.
She agreed with a lot of stuff.
No, I trust you that I she's on that train. I'm sitting here, may Adam, He's going to be First of all, I ride the subway every day. I've worked as a public defender in this city and represented thousands of people.
Do you think more police make people feel safe, especially black and brown?
No, they don't know black and brown people.
Yes, brother, I god, I go to I just had a town hall. I just had a town hall yesterday. All these black and brown folks inside that town hall. Number one issue they came up. We want to feel safer. We want more cops.
Want people want to feel safe. It doesn't mean they want more cops. And if they did, New York City as the most police in the country, want to be the largest police department in the country. How many want police? Do you want?
May Adams go do an analysis across the city and communities of color and ask them, do you want us to take your police away? Or do you want more police? I guarantee you you would be lost to find someone.
When you had resources to that list. Do you want your resources to get the root of these this sho That's what.
People think about resources we've done. Think about check out what we've done. Check out what we've done. Advocates the far left, they have been calling for of summer youth employment for years. We gave them a hundred thousand never been done before in history. Never They've been calling for investment in Nicha. We putting Nischa as our top program. When I was doing during COVID, I was knocking on doors handling our mask to night your residents because the city refused to do so, and people were saying, why are you giving masks of those people? When I was knock on the doors. I would ask the residents, how are your children doing the school? They said, Eric, we don't even have high speed broadband. I said, when I get elected, we're gonna change that. Now nights your residents all have free high speed broadbands so they children can have access like other children. We're doing the Nights of Land Trust. No one was able to do it. We put more people in affordable housing using the Value Your system than the history of the program. We've transitioned more people out of shelter into housing in the in one.
Year in the history of the city.
When I went to do an analysis with all of my gang members and I asked them the question, you know, how many of you haven't learned disabilities? How many of your dyslexic?
All of your gang?
That's what characterizing with people who you are you with the gang, No, I mean regularly with people who you met up with some drug dealers at Burger came.
I'm glad you broughte that up. Oh, let me just finish this one piece, because this is important.
We noticed when we did the analysis across the country, not only in New York, across the country, thirty to forty of the inmates in jail and in prison have a learning disability.
So when I sat down, I went the chances.
I said, listen, we can't wait until people thank you, until people break the law.
We did dyslexure.
Screening in our schools and we were able to now catch and give them the wrap around services they need. So I want to talk about Burger King. So I'm sitting at home and I look at the paper. They say there's drug dealers selling drugs and for the Burger King. So I call up the priests and commander and I said, what is this man? We're not having open drug markets, he says, He says, Maya. We did a complete operation buying bus went to see you know what drugs are they selling?
Who's selling drugs? He said, these guys are not selling drugs.
These guys are homeless and they just come to feel as though they could be around others. So when I went on Sunday, I went down and did what other people don't do.
I spoke with them.
I said, brothers, can we sit down and talk. Let me find out how you know what's going on in your life. We sat in Burger King, had a conversation shop brothers.
They weren't even drug dealing.
No, okay, they were not drug dealers.
They were just homeless brothers that just wanted to be a place where people they.
Could communicate among others like.
Other folks do when people have dog parks and people sit on the steps of a museum.
And so we sat there and.
Had a conversation and we were able to identify what services and what I learned from them. You could have all the services you want, but if people don't know the entry remp to those services, then what good is it. So now we're going to devise the program that they're gonna help me devise on how to reach out to those services. Then I want those brothers to become recruiters to go inside the shelters. But you're not gonna do that if you are afraid to get on the ground and have these one on one conversations. I've been here, man, you know. I know what it is to buy a nickel bag and make a joints so mommy can feed herself.
I know what it is to run numbers. I know what those should do. All those things. So I'm comfortable among my folks.
And the problem that a lot of people don't understand is they don't know how authentic I am about this work. But they're gonna look back over it and said, we had a mayor that came from us and delivered for us. Even the billions of dollars that I'm putting into mwbe's that we've never had before. People gonna look back over these years and say, this brother was real about what he's doing.
Because that's why I'm doing this.
Your people were rapping about. I have two more questions. How do debit cards.
For migrants compare to New city welfare benefits.
I like that that's a good question because that was one of the biggest myths. And I think the daily news you see the piece today of saying why this makes sense.
So here's what happened. We were paying.
People because we by lawd we got to feed them three meals a day.
We got to feed the migrants three meals a day.
When I told the team we spent we got to bring down the cost of this by thirty percent because it was costing us too much money twelve billion dollars over three years, four billion dollars.
Already.
One of the places was food. We were seeing that we were having a ten percent food waste. People were getting food that didn't want and he just card it. So my team came together First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, first black.
Woman to be a first deputy man.
She came up with a team called Multifi, a MWe black roduct. They said that we can give people food cards where they can only purchase food and baby supplies.
You would save.
Six hundred thousand dollars a month. In course, people would buy the food that they want and not giving it to.
Them from someone from some large conglamorate.
Then they will have to spend the cards in the bodegas, the supermarkets, the local stores.
So the money stays inside.
The community and the program is run by a person of a person of color. With saving over seven million dollars a year, where no more food waste, could people a buying what they want. It's a black owned company, so we put money back into a black businesses like I said I was going to do, and you cannot buy anything but food or baby supplies. It's a complete win. But people heard it and it was sensationalized. Oh you're giving money to Mike. They only get thirteen dollars a day for them three meals.
It's a winning program.
It's not that I have a problem it said again, the sensationalism has a lot to do with the fact that you got up and declared that we have this migrant crisis. And I thought it was interesting your earlier point about the difference between how Ukrainian migrants are being received versus migrants Black and Latino migrants, because again, you gave a town hall where you were the one who gave this speech and incent like you incentivized New Yorkers to feel this way, feel which way, Just feel like there is a migrant crisis where the migrants are being treated differently than them, where they're getting resources, that the migrants are getting resources that are not being given to them, because you were the one who presented it to the city that you had to cut budgets across because of the migrant crisis, even though recently you decided that you all actually do have the money to handle the migrant issue, that just wasn't publicized as much. So this goes back to my originals discussion.
So you an attorney and you I'm amazed, I think your art is I'm just going to throw it out there and make people.
Finish before you say there's an entire council, council that knows your left.
I mean, let me let me. We still don't have the money for the migrants. We spent it.
Twelve billion dollars in three years, all billion dollars already. What I said to New York is at that town hall, this issue will bankrupt will destroy our city.
This issue.
You called specific countries. I remember you calling the countries. They weren't any I migrants. You weren't talking about them.
So what happens when.
We don't have sister, I did not call the countries what they were front from.
I went to the video, I went to Mary Adam.
I went to Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico to get a full understanding of the flow. I went to the southern border, just as I went to those brothers in Burker King, I went to the southern border to understand the problem.
I remember you started that tour before you were going to go to go d C. And when you were going to go to d C to Biden to talk to Joe Biden about the migrant crisis. But you were stopped because they had the FBI had to take your phones.
Could lords you just make up stuff and.
Didn't make that up? That's reported that I didn't see your phone. Yeah, I didn't see your phones. No, they didn't investigate. That's not happening.
What did you just say?
You?
I said, I remember that you went on when you were going to the border, when you when I come back.
I came back because somebody had to take because it stopped.
I said, I remember on the day up, I remember it because you got you got amnesia and the media.
This is this is important, This is important. I want you to understand. I want you to understand the hypocrisy of people. When the law enforcement does something every day, it's bad.
But when they do something against Eric Adams, Oh it's good.
I said, what happened. I didn't say that it was good. I don't think I get for a legal campaigns.
I don't think that's I came back because of not that they had to take my phones.
That is that is not true.
And you I said it happened that day.
No, it did not happen that day.
I said, it was reported before you were going where your phone? Did they search your tompa day? Did they search the home of some for several people. Okay, yes, that's what I said. And I didn't say that was a good thing. I don't think it's good that.
So what happens when New York City doesn't have the money for migrants and then you know the migrants are in this city and they probably have to do what most poor people have to do, which is sometimes resort the crime.
How is that gonna make the city say?
Right?
Right? And that's and that's part of the problem.
Imagine having a group of people eighteen to twenty four years old, and it's being told you can't do anything all day when you go when you go to these hurks and you're seeing these young people, and I walk in and I talk with them, some of them coming from West Africa, South America, Central America. All they saying is, man, we just want to work. We don't want to sit around here all day and not do anything. That is why the real focus should be on our national government. That's saying, why you're doing this to New York While you check out what they're doing. They're doing it to New York, They're doing it to Chicago, they're doing it to Los Angeles, they're doing it to Houston. What is the same in all those cities, all black mans, all black mens. And so we're saying same thing that I'm going through here. My brother Johnson is going through, my sister Bass is going through, my brother Turner is going through. So our folks are what they wanted to happen, Governor Appy wanted to happen.
We're gonna turn these of cities against their mayors.
We're gonna create this environment where they're all going to go against their mayors. Go google what they doing to my brother in Chicago, Go google what they doing to sister Bass. So the cities have now turned against these black mayors that are making real change for the first time. And and they're using this to say, Okay, these black mans are not competent. They can't run their cities. They're getting everything to the miners and asimum seekers. This was a perfectly executed plan that we are buying into mans look better exactly, and when when we're doing just the opposite, we we.
I inherited a city that was in this array.
This array, you know, and no matter how much you do your analysis, you gotta walk away with this. Brother got more private sector jobs in the history of the city. We reached that point, this brother had his bond rated increased forty percent, increasing crime, and I came in with now, drop those crimes, thirteen thousand guns. We moved off our city, outpacing the state and reading and writing for our children in the public school school system. Sixty two million tourists are back here. More housing vouchers. You go down the list, invest in Nintu. You go down the list. You're seeing a brother that managed the city that people said was unmanageable, and.
We did it in two years, in three months.
It's my last question.
Do you believe the Biden administration's border policies have fueled the worst border crisis in US history?
In New York you said New York history, or in American American history New York. I think it definitely impacts us, But I think it's an accumulation of what the White House is failing to do, and the Republican led Congresses failing to do, and other administrations. People don't want to deal with the fact that we need real immigration reform. Now, let me tell you what this shit looked like. Do you know right here in our country where we are decreasing in population in many cities. We're hurting for people in many cities. When people come across the border, the national government to say, you're gonna go to this city where we need populations, stay there for three years, and then you could go anywhere you want in the country. We need to use this crisis as an opportunity. Our cities are hurting. In Kentucky, they're hurting for backstretch workers in the racing industry. We should be saying you want to come here, You're gonna go to Kentucky. You're gonna say for three years, you're gonna learn how to be in the country and work. That's how we should do it instead of just saying go whatever you want and allowing this to be politicized by the by the governor of Texas and saying we're gonna now, we're gonna hurt Chicago, hurt New York, hurt Los Angeles, hurt Philadelphia. We just got a sister who's there, was the elected. The day she was being sworn in, a plane of migaans was coming there. None was coming before. No, no Michaels was going to Los Angeles until Bass became mayor. When I when I'm when in the first female black man became mayor, when she became here, they said, let's start sending them, sending them to Los Angeles. They playing us, man, they playing us.
You know that I respect any elected official who can come have this conversation.
Uh, because these are the tough questions.
Yeah, without a doubt, without doubt.
You know what can y'all do to work together?
We should? You're you're because no matter, both don't care. Yeah, without a doubt.
You know what's not an interesting You said that because when I was when I was in you know, I'm in rooms with folks, and I walk out of those rooms and I said, you know what.
We both disagreed, but we both loved the city and love our people.
We have to separate the ten percent of disagreement and focus on the ninety percent that we agree with.
You agree that our children should be educated. Agree read that those brothers when they give.
But sisters when they get out of reichers, should come out better than what they went in.
You agree that we should be saved.
You agree that no mother should have to lose their child to over policing or to someone who is discharging the gun. We agree on many things. The tempercent that we don't agree on, then listen, let's debate that. But this ninety percent of the stuff we agree that black women should be able to go through their school system and get into some of these employments like first man in history that have five women, Deputy mayor, first man in history Dominican, Filipino, African American, Trinidadian.
You know, first man history that has a person of color.
That's the police commissioner, correction commissioner, first man history that have done so many things. I know retrospectfully, I'm gonna be appreciated as a mayor that lived up to what I said I was going to do.
I'm not gonna do that now.
You know, people always crap on the when we in the ring, but when my when my gloves are hung up, people gonna look at Listen, that was an authentic, ball headed, earring wearing brother that did his thing as the mayor of the City of New York, the most important city on the globe is being run by a person who is dyslexic, arrested, rejected.
And now I'm elected be the mayor of the city.
Mayor Eric Adams O Yimmy Oh Laurence.
It's the Breakfast Club.
Good morning, wake that ass up in the morning.
The Breakfast Club
