12/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/17/2024 06:55
December 16, 2024
Mayor Eric Adams: Good afternoon. It's great to see some of you. Another day in the Big Apple. We had to move our regularly scheduled Tuesday because of a scheduling conflict and we wanted to make sure that we can get into some off topics before that conflict is resolved and we'd rather move it back than move it up.
And we had a great week last week, a historic week of making the city more affordable for working class people, something that's just so important to me and we will continue to do that and safe. Public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity. We have a town hall tonight of public safety on the Upper West Side. We look forward to speaking with the residents to talk about those issues they are facing. And public safety and justice is what we wanted to focus on last week.
We advanced and announced several public safety proposals. Deputy Mayor Chauncey Parker, he announced this morning 800 straight days, 800 days of meetings with the task force, the HIDTA task force to deal with gun crimes today was the 800th meeting and he just continues to pick up from what Deputy Mayor Phil Banks was doing as the deputy mayor of Public Safety. We cannot thank him enough. And I always stated our bench was deep. We had a lot of players that were there to continue to address the issues we were facing.
We announced the opening of the first indoor baseball center in Washington Heights. Unbelievable place. And the favorite four-letter word of New York is free. Those young people are going to be able to have year-round instructions on baseball. I want to thank PAL. They have been around for so many years bridging the gap between police and communities and I'm really excited about the Saturday Night Lights program extension with this free baseball center. [Inaudible] the first pitch, did not reach the plate. Just got to warm up my arms some more. The young people will be there and enjoy it.
But we also did the Every Block Counts to Community Link. We announced in the Bronx and we announced in Times Square to really go after those quality of life issues joined by the Times Square Alliance and others. And as you know, our announcement of 73,000 ghost cars, ghost vehicles we removed off our streets that include cars, three-wheelers, mopeds, all of these items that have terrorized New Yorkers, NYPD and DSNY, a real partnership to not only go after those who are coming through our toll booth, but those who have been parked on our streets and ignored for quite some time.
And whenever I go to town halls, I hear about them over and over again. Well, we're not only talking about it, we're doing something about it. And then affordability, really excited about creating equitable access to affordable transportation. Yes, we reduced the MetroCard, but many people did not have access to the city bikes.
And last week we expanded city bikes access in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens beginning next fall. Citi Bikes will be available from Norwood and Riverdale in the Bronx to Brownsville, East New York, Kensington, Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, and even out in Forest Hills as well. We added more docks and this expansion will add more than 250 new stations and 2,900 new bikes, Citi Bikes to service more than 900,000 additional New Yorkers. Now 64 percent of New Yorkers will live within five minute walk of a Citi Bike. That is going to encompass 5.6 million people. And we're looking to continue to expand and get people out of cars and onto bikes. The exercise is needed for all of us.
And lastly, we're happy to announce our drought warning has been downgraded to a drought watch due to the precipitation and melting snowfall upstate in addition to our decision to pause the Delaware Aqueduct Repair Project. We're in a much better place, really excited. And if conditions continue, we hope that in the coming weeks we'll be able to rescind the watch as well.
And so I wanted to, you know, before we open the floor to off topics, I wanted to just talk about the departure of just my longtime friend and sister, Ingrid P. Lewis Martin. You know, whenever I walked on stage to do a State of the City, go to a debate, no matter what I did, she would walk in the room, ask everyone to leave, and she would grab my hands and she would pray for me to give me the strength and courage to move forward as I try to communicate with New Yorkers.
This morning I did it for her. I lifted her up in prayer. She's not only has been constantly by my side throughout this entire journey. She's not only a friend, but she's my sister, and I love her so much. And I just really ask God to give her strength in the days to come. And admired and loved by so many New Yorkers, her ability to detangle government and just help the downtrodden for over 30-something years on the federal, from her days with Major Owens to the state, as someone who helped me in the state senate, and as now the mayor of the City of New York, it's going to be hard to believe I walk out my office and she's not going to be in the office next to me.
And I also want to touch on the Campaign Finance Board ruling. I'm pretty sure you have some questions on that. You know, I'm sure that just as I and the seven other candidates who were denied campaigns funding at this time, we're going to continue to work with CFB to answer any questions that they have so that we can continue to get the funding.
Even without the funding, we have outraged substantially everyone else that's in the race. And no matter what the hurdles are, you know, when I was running the last time, they changed the rules in the middle of the game, and I had to turn back $750,000 because of a proposal, a law that went through the City Council.
And so there's always been hurdles for me in this business. But as you know, New Yorkers who are watching, you know I do not sit back and complain about hurdles. I get off those hurdles. Whatever people tell me what I can't do, I continue to show that we can do. And I got that can-do energy and spirit. We're going to have enough money to put on a good campaign and get my message out and continue to lead in this area. We're excited about that. And so I want to open up the floor to a few questions.
Question: Yes, good afternoon, sir.
Mayor Adams: How are you doing, N.J.?
Question: Doing well, sir. Thank you.
Mayor Adams: Good, good.
Question: Ingrid Lewis Martin's attorney-
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: You guys know how I am about when you're dealing with any form of investigation. She has an attorney. I'm not going to touch on Ingrid's next steps dealing with her. She has an attorney, and I'm not going to do anything to get in the way of her counsel. She has a counsel, and it's not difficult to find Arthur, so you should reach out to Arthur for any questions concerning that.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Señor alcalde, buenas tardes. In our last conversation, you said that God acts in mysterious ways. Today, the President-elect Donald Trump is willing to review your case, and he said that he's considering to pardon your corruption federal case. Do you think this is a way that God is showing you right now to go?
Mayor Adams: Listen, sometimes you have to let go and let God. I have been clear on that from day one, being in office, what my religious belief and God has navigated my life. I tell people it's GPS. That's my God-positioning satellite. I got to do my job. And I have an attorney that is going to look at every avenue to ensure I get justice. I did nothing wrong. I should not have been charged. And I just think, you know, God has a way of showing the irony of life.
You know, I'm just saying the same thing that President Biden said. President Biden stated his Justice Department has been politicized. President Trump stated that. I stated that. Family members who find themselves on the FBI list because they're advocating for their family members. And I just started looking at these cases over and over again. No American should be going through what I'm going through.
And what my attorney decides to do, I'm going to follow the direction of my attorney. And one thing he says, "Listen, Eric, I know that you are this guy that wants to fight and constantly defend yourself. I need you to have discipline right now." And I'm going to follow his direction. He's a great attorney, probably one of the best in the country. And he gave me my instruction. I'm going to follow my instructions or whatever pathway he see fit. That is what I'm going to do.
Question: How do you feel about him saying that?
Mayor Adams: My attorney will tell you how I feel.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: The only thing we talk about is improving the city. The city that I love, the city that he loves, and the city that the New Yorkers love. That's the only conversation we have. How we improve the city.
Question: Have you spoken to him recently at all?
Mayor Adams: No, not since the Madison Square Garden.
Question: Trump today said that he would consider a pardon for you. How do you feel about that?
[Crosstalk.]
Question: This is a different question because it's about Trump's comments today.
[Crosstalk.]
Okay my second question is, Aidala said today that Ingrid's case, he believes, is targeted at her because the investigators want her to flip on you. Do you agree with that sentiment?
Mayor Adams: The Trump question, see my attorney. The Ingrid question, see her attorney.
Question: Do you plan to accept contributions over the public matching funds limit now that you've been denied funds for that?
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: The most important part of what CFB stated is that at this time, and we're going to work with Vito Pitta, who's my long-term attorney in compliance, we're going to work with CFB to answer any questions they have.
And as they stated, if I've read correctly, I didn't have time to read it completely, that it is not unusual at this time for people to be denied, just as those other sevens were denied, funds. So we're going to continue. No matter what happens, we're going to overcome whatever hurdle to get our message out. And that is what I'm going to continue to say.
And when you do an analysis at the numbers, our resources are more than everyone else that's running, more than anyone else that's running. We have more resources on hand than any of our opponents, and we're confident we're going to have what's needed. As I stated before, many people don't know, the former Speaker Cory changed the rule in the middle of the game after we raised a great deal of money. They changed the rule. I had to return $700,000 and get back to running. And that's what we're going to do, no matter what the obstacles are. I can't make it any clearer. I don't sit down and say, woe is me. I say, why not me? I overcome obstacles. Like every day New Yorkers do.
Question: Do you have any comments on How Many Stops Act at the oversight hearing that's happening today?
Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, How Many Stop Acts?
Question: Do you have any comments on what's happening today at the City Council hearing?
Mayor Adams: How many stop acts? What are they doing? Are they doing something today on it?
Question: NYPD said they have $1.4 million over time due to how many stops.
Mayor Adams: That's a lot of money. We said it from the beginning. Our police officers should be out stopping bad guys, not stopping to fill out forms. But the decision was made. The law was passed. And so now we have to do what the law requires us to do. And I think sometimes we don't really understand the impact of some of the laws that we pass. But it's going to cost money to do that. And so that's what we have to do.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Mayor Adams, since you've become mayor, the uptick in deadly police chases, it's increased exponentially. Thirteen New Yorkers have been killed or sustained serious injuries that eventually killed them in the course of police pursuits. I've asked you about this before, but it continues. They continue to be deadly.
You know, you are so concerned about the safety of New Yorkers. Do you think this is just sort of what happens in the role of policing, that you could just be, you know, get caught up in a deadly police chase? And do you think that there should be some changes to the way that the NYPD is issuing and allowing these police chases because so many New Yorkers have been killed because of it under your term as mayor?
Mayor Adams: Yeah, under our term as mayor, my term as mayor, we made a complete shift to stop letting dangerous, bad people think they can commit an act, shoot someone, commit a violent crime, and just flee.
And we have used a great deal of caution, a great deal of training. We have the supervisors that are on the ground, make the determination to call off a chase or not. But let's be clear. We have far too many people who are extremely dangerous that have become comfortable that if they flee the police, it has become a culture.
You flee the police, you add it with the fact that you have a ghost vehicle where your plates are not really your plates. You add it with the fact that, in many cases, we're finding guns in the cars. And some of these people are patterned criminals that have created many crimes that's connected to a pattern. So, the officers I've been instructed look at weather conditions, look at the density of the population, and make that determination should they pursue or continue. And it's monitored. You know, the supervisors are on the ground. I want to empower them to continue to make that call should they terminate a pursuit or they shouldn't terminate a pursuit.
And so, we are proactive. Everything from removing the 70,000 ghost vehicles, these were ignored. We created a culture in this city where law enforcement was a mockery. And any and everything goes. And I just refuse to allow that to continue. And we don't want one life lost. But it's not being lost because the police are saying, well, we want to go chase someone. It's being lost because a bad person decides they're going to flee the police and have a total disregard of the safety of the people that's here.
Question: Do you think minor burglaries or in some cases traffic infractions, do you think that's a justifiable police chase? And I know there was a memo released in August of the precincts to no longer do this, but they continue.
Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, they do?
Question: They continue. And obviously, there's continued to be an uptick in these, even though there was an issue for mandating to stop them to some degree.
Mayor Adams: It is very clear that that supervisor on the scene should make that determination should the pursuit terminate. For me to stay here in the sterilized environment of City Hall and say you should never do a pursuit or you should never pursue someone, that is not good public safety. That supervisor that's on the ground, he's doing an assessment. What are the weather conditions? What is the density? What is the person wanted for? They can make that call. And I trust my supervisors that are on the ground.
Question: So, two questions. The first one is going to be a winding question. So, if you could just hang in with me for a second. So, you know, Arthur Aidala had said earlier today that the Justice Department has been politicized. I know you've said that in the past as well.
Do you feel like President-elect Donald Trump is going to change the justice system? Do you think he will make it less political when he takes office?
And then just quickly, a second question for you. Tom Homan allegedly told the New York Post that you've done a 180 on your stance on the migrant issue. So, just wondering if that's a fair assessment of where you're at with the migrant issue, especially with sanctuary laws, or do you feel like you've been pretty consistent?
Mayor Adams: Yeah. First of all, I think that what President-elect Trump has gone through is allowing him to see that if the Justice Department is doing what President Biden stated, such as it's being politicized, I believe he owes it to Americans to make sure that's not the case. I think that is very important. And I believe that knowing his experience with the Justice Department, knowing President Biden's experience with the Justice Department, knowing my experience, knowing other Americans' experience, and I really request that you folks look at some of these experiences.
And there was some cases out there that I read that really you should look into this. Justice is important to this country. And the right of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, I think we need to make sure that every avenue is done that is not politicized in any way. And I'm hoping that he does an analysis of that based on his experience, based on President Biden's experience, based on my experience, and based on other experiences. Your second question was?
Question: Tom Homan told the New York Post-
Mayor Adams: Yeah. Yeah. What I think is happening, which is interesting, that people are finally starting to hear me. Those of you who have covered me for the last two years on this issue, you've heard me say this over and over again.
And sometimes the message gets skewed. But now people are starting to get in the room, and they're sitting down, and they're hearing me. And so I had a great conversation with the border czar in the area of public safety. We are aligned on we have to deal with those who are committing serious violent acts. And our legal team is going to meet with his legal team, and we're going to accomplish that goal.
No one should be the victim of a crime from anyone in general, but specifically for those who come to the country and get in the way of other migrants, other New Yorkers, other immigrants, documented or undocumented, pursuing the American dream. And I've said this over and over again, and I'm surprised that many of you are even saying, well, okay, Eric, you sound different. Go back and look at the tapes. I talked about this over and over again.
People have a right to be safe in this city. And those who commit these crimes are violating that right. And, again, I gave you an example. That young girl that was murdered, raped and killed, the person was here in this city. That could have been any of our daughters. That could have been any of our daughters. And we should not wait until we have a personal tragedy before we realize that, as the American people have communicated, our border is a problem. We need to secure our border, and we need to make sure dangerous people are not placed on our streets.
Question: Are you seeking an invitation to Trump's inauguration? That's my first question. My second question is about the Charter Review Commission. The speaker was on PIX11 last week talking about this, and she says that she believes that you're weaponizing the Charter Revision Commission to take away power from the council. Can you respond to that and also say exactly what you would like the Charter Commission to do? Would you consider changing ULURP in a way that would take away power from the council?
Mayor Adams: First, there are methods to request attending anywhere or to receive invitations. No one from this office was authorized to reach out in any way and request participating in the inauguration or any other actions.
If that determination is made, there's a clear process on how we do that. And so, those who have been excited about, you know, the incoming administration and would like for me to attend, they're going to reach out. You know, people have relationships, but that did not come from City Hall.
Question: [Inaudible.]
Mayor Adams: No, it did not. No, it did not. There are a host of people who are around me that may have just reached out and said that, hey, you know, what are the possibilities of the mayors coming? What are the methodologies? But all that goes through a complete system on how it is carried out and done that has not been done at all. You know, the speaker's comment. This is like the weirdest thing for me.
When I veto a bill and they override that veto, you never hear me complain. That's the power they have. That's the balance that we have. And so, the Charter's Commission's-my Charter Commission's ability to override any City Council Charter Commission, that's not Eric's law. That law was in place under the previous mayors. And they did it. Many of them did it.
And so, to all of a sudden say that, you know, we are-you know, Eric is misusing his power. And Liz Krueger talking about, you know, misusing the power. Liz was up in Albany for God knows how long. If it was a problem under previous mayors, why didn't she change it then? Why you wait for the Eric rule? I'm using the powers that I had. The City Council just passed the City of Yes initiative because, for the most part, they agree that housing is a problem.
So, what did we do? We went out and got-I don't know a better person to chair this commission than Rich Buery. And Rich Buery is heading the commission. We're going to look at how do we deal with housing, make it easier to do so. And, you know, I got to agree with the Daily News Editorial Board on how important it is for us to take up this initiative.
So, I'm just not understanding those who are saying Eric is misusing the power that-that's like me saying they're misusing the power of overriding my veto. I never said that. That's the power they have. They're utilizing their power to do checks and balances. I'm utilizing my power. So, I don't know why she feels that way. I'm not breaking the law. It's not against the law. In fact, it is in alignment with the law. And those in Albany who felt as though this shouldn't be the law, they were in Albany under previous mayors. Why didn't they change it then? And if they changed it then, then I will follow that.
Question: Do you think the council has too much power in land use decisions?
Mayor Adams: You know what? I think the commission is going to sit down, bring people in and hear their interviews, and they're going to make the determination on what alterations they are. Like we did this time.
A lot of people complained about the Charter Commission the last time. Yet what happened? Five out of six were passed by the people. So, if you don't want to give the people the power to sit down, give their testimonies, and then make the determination on voting, then that's just-you know, that's not democracy.
And so, we got a 1.4 percent vacancy rate. City Council knows that. The public is aware of that. I'm aware of that. That's why we passed the City of Yes. That's why we continue to lean into housing. We're doing what's right to build more housing in the city. And I'm looking forward to hearing from all the people involved. But I think the key here is that-to continuously state that I'm weaponizing what's in the law, that they are aware it's in the law. It's just-it's just not true.
Question: Regarding involuntary removals, I'm told that your teams are performing about 130 per week. This is a system that has often been described as a revolving door that sends the severely mentally ill back onto the streets. Two questions. The first, do you believe that there's a need for more indefinite stay beds statewide? And B, how do you solve the problem of following up with people who are released after a 72-hour hold when they need their meds and they are scattered throughout the system?
Mayor Adams: Yeah, no, so true. And what is interesting is that oftentimes we sometimes don't leave our opinions and philosophies at the door of our profession. There are many in the healthcare system that don't believe in involuntary removals. You know, they believe people should come in and get their medication. Once they stabilize, they should be returned to the streets. And that is just not right.
You know, the mere fact that you get your medication and you stabilize, we need to look at the history of treatment. We need to look at and make sure they're handed off to an appropriate place. We need to look at how often they also not only are dealing with the medication for some of the mental health issues like bipolar, schizophrenia, and other, but how many are using drugs. That is what we're seeing that's a real problem when the drug use is crossed with the use of the medication.
And so what we need to do, we made a big mistake years ago, when the advocates were complaining about closing down our psychiatric wards and facilities like the Creedmoors and the Kings Counties and others. There was a big push. We closed it down and many people went to the streets. There was nothing for them. We need to get back into thinking about long-term care. There's some people who may never be able to live on their own. And we have to be honest about that.
And if I think we could do it and learn from the draconian measures that were used previously, and we could create a healthy environment for those people who are in need, that's why I'm calling for the four jails that we're building. One of them should be a state-of-the-art psychiatric facility where we could give people long-term care, short-term care, and middle-term care.
You know, you can't have 51 percent of the people on Rikers dealing with mental health and 18 to 20 percent are dealing with severe mental health. So what if you build four more smaller Rikers? That's just not making sense. And that is not where taxpayer dollars should go. And so a major piece of our Supportive Intervention Act is for a hospital to hold and hold people longer than 72 hours. Make sure this person is stable and make sure we do the right handoff to who's going to give them the support that he needs or her that's what they need.
Question: I wanted to go back to that meeting with Tom Homan. In the pictures that your office put out, there was some people noticeably missing that have helped with the migrant crisis here in the city, including Manny Castro, who's the head of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, and then some of the other deputy mayors that have helped out. Is there a reason that they weren't included in that conversation, but the ICE Regional Director was?
And then I wanted to go back to the Charter Revision Commission. Do you feel like this could create some conflict going into next year, especially during the budget cycle? You announced the Charter Revision Commission right after that deal on the City of Yes. Why not put something in there instead of having to do the Charter Revision Commission?
Mayor Adams: I'm sorry. You said why not put something in there?
Question: Why start the Charter Revision Commission when you've already passed such a historic housing deal with the City Council instead of having this conflict now that seems to be starting?
Mayor Adams: Got it. The meeting with the border czar was to sit down and establish communications. The next step is for the teams to get together in communication. But the first meeting was to sit down and establish communication. I wanted a top-line message of, okay, border czar, what are you attempting to accomplish here? I wanted to get that top-line message in there. And I thought it was very helpful to have a member of the current Biden administration in the room that's in charge of this area and ICE to get his understanding so we can have a good, healthy conversation.
Now we're moving to the next step of getting our experts in the room. That includes Manny. That includes my chief of staff. That includes our legal team. So you start out having a conversation that we should both be able to talk about and then we move from there. And when you look at, we have a housing crisis, 1.4 percent vacancy rate.
Doing City of Yes was crucial. Yes, we know it's the most comprehensive housing reform in the history of the city. We know that. We know we're going to target 80,000 units of housing. Now every neighborhood is going to play their role instead of 10 out of the 59 community boards that are doing so. We got that. But we need more. We have a housing crisis.
And so, City of Yes is putting us on a pathway of now doing a Charter Commission to see what else we need to do so that we can build more housing for the people of this city. And so we need more, and we're going to do that. And that is-we know we have a generational housing crisis.
And I would think everyone would say, keep doing whatever we can to get people in their homes. Too many people are not in their homes. Too many people are housing insecure. Too many people are growing up in shelters. We need to do more. And we may do this charter commission, and then finally we have to do something else. We have to go up to Albany and get something else done. So it's a continuous flow on what we need to do.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: No, not at all. I'm using the laws that are in front of me. And I'm just really blown away that people believe that I'm weaponizing the system by losing the laws in front of me. We… my vetoes were over-they were overwritten a couple of times.
And not once did you hear me say anybody was weaponizing the system. Not once. You heard me say that's the balance of power. And I respect the balance of power. So if one has the power to override a veto, and when you write these stories, you say, hey, they have override power. You know, they have enough vote to override the mayor. You never hear me complain about it. I say that's the balance of power.
Our forefathers said everyone needs to be checked. No one should walk away with extreme powers. So other mayors-we need to be clear on this, because I'm not sure if everybody's aware of this, but other mayors have used the Charter Commission to make sure that the city's not going in the wrong direction on a particular topic. Other mayors have done it. This is not the Eric Adams use of the law. Other mayors have done this.
Question: [Inaudible.]
Mayor Adams: On a particular- I said particular issue. Charter commission will tell us.
Question: So the FBI says that it contacted the NYPD on December 5th with the name of the alleged CEO shooter, but four days later when he was caught, the NYPD said that that name wasn't on their radar. Do you know what the NYPD did with that tip, if it was investigated?
Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, who gave them the tip?
Question: The FBI says-I think they got it from San Francisco PD. The FBI contacted the NYPD. They said they gave that name on December 5th.
Mayor Adams: I got a different version of that story, and I think that you should communicate with the police commissioner or Rebecca Weiner, our intelligence commissioner, and see if their version is the same version. I got a different version of that story. So I want to be accurate in the proper version getting out there, but you should speak with them. I don't want to do anything that's going to impede the pending extradition or the pending investigation, but I got a different version of that.
Question: And then just sort of related, I'm curious what your thoughts are on the outpouring of support. [Inaudible] he's kind of a folk hero… [inaudible]. And then also any update you can give us on the drone sightings… [inaudible]?
Mayor Adams: First, the outpouring of support. You know, people are hurting, you know? They're hurting, and hurt people hurt themselves, and they hurt others. And, you know, people who have dealt with insurance industries and either had their claims denied or slow payments and all the other things, you know, they are showing, you know, their anger over this.
But no matter how angry we are, you cannot take a weapon, a ghost gun, put a silencer on it, target someone, and shoot them. That's the bottom line. You know, there are systems to mobilize and organize. I always think of those young people who were angry and hurting after there were shootings in our schools. Those children mobilize. They force Congress to come up with new laws. You know, that's the methodology of what we need to do. You know, and we need to be clear on that, you know, because if my pain can cause me to do what was done, then is that how we settle all of our pain?
Because there's a lot of reasons to be angry and upset. And so, when I see a dance party on social media, social media should be, you know, more responsible. And I said this also, I think it was last year. Think about this. Think about the shooter. Ivy League, grew up in an affluent household. His manifesto clearly is showing some signs of hating. Our children are being radicalized. I said this over and over again. Everybody's like, you know, what are you talking about, Eric? You know, our children are being radicalized to hate America, to hate the country that put them where they are.
This person had all that one wants to have, but he hated everything, to the point of shooting someone. And we better deal with the radicalization of our young people. And, you know, people could, you know, they could complain that I'm saying it, but I'm seeing it. I'm seeing our bench is hating the team. And we better start acknowledging and focusing on that. And so, having dance parties celebrating the death of someone, I don't support that.
Question: You think it's the radical left that's doing this?
Mayor Adams: No, no. I think the extremes on both ends are radicalizing our children. Extreme mindsets and thoughts is a problem. And that is not where the majority of America is. America wants to wake up, provide for their family, ensure that their children can have a pathway to the middle class, if not beyond. And that's why we focus on working-class people. Everything we do is about giving children and families of this city a pathway for a better tomorrow and a better future.
Now, the drones spoke with the NYPD leadership this morning and yesterday, so that we could collaborate with New Jersey, Long Island, and other parts of the city and country where these drones are being witnessed, and see how do we have a cross-collaboration from everything. How do we take one down if we think it's dangerous, if it's over a sensitive location? The worst thing we can do is to say, don't worry about it. You know, it's no big issue. No, it is a big issue.
If a bird strikes the engine of a plane, it could take down that plane. Same thing with a drone. If you are not aware of the pathways that you-where the drones are flying and where airplanes are flying, that's a problem. Now, according to Deputy Commissioner Weiner, there are no safety threats that we're seeing in New York City, in New York City. But we are focused. We're taking this serious. This is very serious to us, and we want to make sure our skies are protected, and we don't want anyone using drones that's going to be harmful to a sensitive location and the safety of New Yorkers.
Question: I have a question about-back in early October, the city moved forward with a plan for McGuinness Boulevard, a street redesign, which has gone back and forth several times.
Mayor Adams: McGuinness Boulevard?
Question: McGuinness in North Brooklyn, gone back through several iterations. Was there any connection between that decision by the city and Ingrid Lewis-Martin's phones getting seized and raided, or was that pure coincidence?
Mayor Adams: I have no knowledge of that. I know that she did an amazing job of bringing people to the table to-you know, to the table of settling that entire initiative.
Question: First of all, I want to say that I'm questioning your decision-making because those shoes are white and it is raining outside, so I wonder about that. [Laughter.] The actual question has to do with campaign strategy.
Quinnipiac and Statistica have both been monitoring your numbers in terms of public opinion for months now, and as it relates to the campaign, those numbers have been on the decline. And, of course, you always mention that you are concerned about the policy. You are 100 percent focused on the safety and the well-being of New York people, so you're going to stay focused on that. But is there a shift that's necessary optically for-of course, for this upcoming election for you and your team? Is there something different that needs to be done, something that's missing, something that you're doing that you shouldn't? Can you speak on that?
Mayor Adams: Yeah. Listen. People are and were angry about the portrayal of what we were doing with-particularly the migrants and asylum seekers. When you looked at some of the reporting, it felt as though we were putting those who came into the country through asylums and migrants over everyday New Yorkers. And New Yorkers were angry, and I was angry. And, you know, when you looked at the fact that many people thought that crime was not decreasing in the city, they thought our subways were not as safe as they are, that we were not removing gun violence, that we were not dealing with the quality of life issues.
When you wake up every day and the front pages are leading with the worst things that could happen in the city, it shapes your opinion and your thoughts. And my job now-and that's why we did over 30-something town halls and we continue to speak directly to the people-is that I must show them how this city turned around. And being behind in the polls is not new for me. I was 13 points-I think it was 13 or 12 points behind Andrew Yang. And people just said, you know, Eric could never be mayor. He could never be mayor. And so, being behind, having obstacles, fighting, you know, for changes, you know, that's just who I am, man.
You know, being the underdog is my life story. You know, people always told me what I couldn't do, but I just keep doing it. And so, I'm looking forward-what I enjoy the most is going out and campaigning and doing the things that I love, speaking to New Yorkers and selling my product. New Yorkers made it clear in my 2024 election, public safety. Everybody told me. All my consultants said, I don't know if you could run on public safety. I said, when I'm out in the streets, you know, I don't know what the polling is saying, but I know what the streets are telling me. You know, they want to be safe. And I ran on that. And, you know, we're going to continue. That's still-campaign after campaign after campaign-that still is the issue. So, those who want to bounce, you can bounce.
But I have an Eric Adams moment. Okay? Because I'm looking at you. You know, I want to share just a thought. You've been commenting on my relationship with the press. You know, you've been writing a couple of pieces that gave the impression that it is- or you may tweet them-antagonistic. We've been antagonistic.
The press is the only occupation listed in the Constitution, no other the occupation-engineers, doctors, whomever-no other occupation. But the press is mentioned in the Constitution, because the forefathers knew how important it was for the press to be able to report without harassment, without violence. And they knew that. And if the press is working right, it is a foundation to our democracy. But if the press is not working right, then it can be destructive to our democracy.
And so, when I was in policing, police officers would say, why are they questioning us? I said, because you have the power to take away life and liberty. And you should be questioning. And I was a reformer in the police department, because we had to be held to a higher standard. That's what you, ladies and gentlemen, are. We need to be questioning you to check the integrity of your stories. You should be keeping-holding our feet to the fire. But for you to believe that anytime I question you, I am-you know, who am I to question you? Then who should question you?
Who should hold the press accountable for the status that it has, that you can decide? And you're human beings. And human beings have opinions. Human beings can be biased. Human beings can like. Human beings can dislike. You are human beings. And so, my job, as I did as a police officer, as I did as a state senator, as a borough president, is to look at those who have power and to question them. And so, it's not that I'm antagonistic. I don't dislike your stories, your stories, your stories, your stories. You write some good stories. You cover some good things. You unveil great things in government and out of government. But don't sit here and act like you don't have biases. Don't sit here and act like there are sometimes where you don't go beyond just reporting the stories. That is what I must check. And every New Yorker should check.
And people-you know, there's a reason that we're seeing a decline in many of our television stations. There's a reason we're seeing a decline in many of our papers. Alternate methods, because they no longer-just like they don't have trust in government anymore, people no longer have trust in the press anymore. And all of us need to regain trust. So, I'm not-I'm questioning the methodologies that I'm seeing by some of you. That's what it's about.
[Crosstalk.]
Yeah, but you call my method of expressing myself as combative. This is my style of expressing myself. Everyone [has] their ways of expressing themselves. It's not combative to me, because I don't dislike anyone that is doing their job. But I'm going to stand up for the rights that I believe I deserve and that others deserve. And so, for example, when we first did the solitary confinement, when I was first in office, I stood at a press conference when I first did my appointment, and I said, I'm not-I don't believe in solitary confinement.
The next day, the paper said, you know, Eric supports solitary confinement. That's not quoting me correctly. That's misquoting me. Or if you sit here every day, and everything we roll out, you want to find a creative way to crap on it and just act like it doesn't exist, you have to ask yourself, what is your agenda? Is your agenda to report the news? Or is your agenda to say, we're going to try to be personally attacking this administration?
There's a publication in the city that did four exposés, 10,000, 30,000 word exposé of the same thing over and over again. And one of them was released right before my campaign. Right before my campaign, right before the election day, it was released. You see the personal. We should stick to-just as I should be held accountable, my police officers should be held accountable, you are mentioned in the Constitution. You should be held accountable. And there's a saying in politics, don't criticize people who buy ink by the barrel because they will get you. I refuse to do that. I've disputed and fought against people who carry guns for a living. And I'll be darned if I'm not going to do it to those who carry ink by the barrel. We all need to check ourselves. And that includes the press.
Question: Can you win re-election without matching funds?
Mayor Adams: Yes, yes, yes. There are different mechanisms. And as I was sharing with you, N.J., the last election, we raised a substantial amount of money and they had me turn back. They changed the rules in the middle of the game. City Council passed a law in the middle of the game. I had to turn back $700,000. I was like, this is not fair.
And so, you know, the name of the game is, are you willing to do what you have to do? Get back out there. Do what you have to do. So, yes, we believe we should get matching funds. I keep saying I did nothing wrong. But if the determination is not made, I'm not going to sit home and say how unfair it is for me.
No, Eric, get your ass out there and do what you do. Do what you do. I'm going to outwork everyone that's running for mayor. No one is going to outwork me. And I'm going to get my message out to the people and allow them to hear directly from me. So, you know, the seven other candidates who were denied at this time, I was denied at this time. We're going to work with the CFB and make sure that whatever answers or questions they have, that we answer it. But, you know, no one can outwork me. I'm in control of that.
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