7:06 AM – Appears Live on ABC’s Good Morning America
George Stephanopoulos: Thanks much. We're going to bring in the mayor right now. New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mayor Adams, thanks for joining us. What's the latest on the manhunt?
Mayor Adams: It's still active. I was briefed early this morning by our team. We're still actively pursuing the person of interest and we're asking all New Yorkers, if they see something, not only say something, but do something and that's notify the local authorities or call our TIP hotline.
Stephanopoulos: Frank James is linked to the U-Haul. He's linked to the fireworks. We've all seen the videos. Any doubt he did this?
Mayor Adams: Still up to the Police Department to make the final determination. We have not upgraded yet. It's still at a person-of-interest status. Probably more evidence is going to allow to do so.
Mayor Adams: We want to be extremely careful here because not only must we do an apprehension, but we have to prosecute and things that happened at the beginning of the case can actually get in the way of the prosecution and we don't want this person to get away.
Stephanopoulos: Do you believe the shooter acted alone?
Mayor Adams: As of this time, we don't have any evidence that will tell that anyone participated with him. So at this time, based on the preliminary investigation, we believe he was alone.
Stephanopoulos: We heard Amy talk about that suggestion for metal detectors in the subway? Is that inevitable?
Mayor Adams: Yeah. It's not the traditional metal detectors that you see at airports. Technology has advanced so much and when you think about it, George, we have not advanced with technology for cities, when it comes down to protecting citizens better, and I'm open to all technologies.
Mayor Adams: I send my deputy mayor of public information to go to several conventions that look at the various new technologies and there's a new method that can detect weapons that are not the traditional metal detectors that you see at airports. You don't even realize it's there and we're going to look and explore these measures.
Stephanopoulos: You've already doubled the number of police officers patrolling the subways. What more can you do?
Mayor Adams: Well, there's a number of things. I say over and over again, there are many rivers that feed the sea of violence and we have to dam each one. I think of big cities all across America that are witnessing these increasing guns, violence, and the over proliferation of guns.
Mayor Adams: George, we've removed 1,800 guns off the street during my time as mayor, in a little over three months, yet they continue to flow and this is what we're seeing all across our country. We have to dam that river. We need to bring on a new ATF head that the president announced two days ago. We must outlaw ghost guns. We saw a young 16-year-old child was killed by a ghost gun here in the Bronx, New York. And so it's about damming each river to stop the flow of violence, the sea of violence in our cities and in our country.
Stephanopoulos: More than two dozen people injured in that terrifying rampage. Have you had any contact with the victims?
Mayor Adams: I reached out yesterday at the hospital. There was only four remaining in the hospital. I'm going to speak with them this morning. It was late once I finished up and I didn't want to interrupt them. They were resting, but I will be communicating with the victims this morning.
Stephanopoulos: Thank goodness only four remaining in the hospital. But as you know, Mr. Mayor, the entire city is on edge right now. We've seen that scare in Times Square the other night. We saw the rampage in the subway yesterday. What's your message for New Yorkers?
Mayor Adams: Well, listen, we believe that we have started building the foundation to deal with the historical issues, that number one feeds violence in our city. We have failed so many ways, so many generations. And just listen to that video, you hear someone saying that his age he was angry and that anger is being played out. It was amplified after COVID. Many people are dealing with the state of despair.
Mayor Adams: This is a moment of healing and New York is good at doing that. As you alluded to, during the time when this incident took place, New York has stepped up and assisted each other; our first responders, our firefighters, our health officials.
Mayor Adams: This is a moment New Yorkers are going to come together and we're going to zero in on these acts of violence and make this city, the safe city that we know it could become.
Stephanopoulos: Mayor Adams, thanks for your time.
7:06 AM – Appears on the NBC’s Today Show
Savannah Guthrie: Mr. Mayor, good morning to you. It's good to see you.
Mayor Adams: Good morning. Good seeing you as well.
Guthrie: I'm sure you've been updated through the night by the NYPD on its investigation. Are there any developments? Is there any further information you can share with our viewers this morning?
Mayor Adams: No, not at this time. I received a briefing earlier this morning around 6:00 AM, but there's nothing new. We still are zeroing in on the person of interest and we are sure we are going to apprehend him.
Guthrie: New Yorkers who are waking up, many need to take the subway. A lot of people say if the subway doesn't work, the city doesn't work. Is it safe for them?
Mayor Adams: And you're right, the subways are the life flood of our city and we're saying to New Yorkers, we want you to be vigilant. We're going to have the patrol strength out there to make sure uniform presence is there, and New Yorkers are extremely vigilant. As we saw yesterday after the incident, New Yorkers were helping their fellow New Yorkers and I cannot thank the first responders and everyday New Yorkers enough for their bravery and their courage to deal with this crisis we were facing.
Guthrie: Let's talk about the person of interest in this case. Police say they're looking into social media posts. Someone by the same name talks about homelessness, talks about New York City, talks about you. Have you had a chance to look at any of these or been given a briefing on these? What do you make of this information that's surfacing through these social media posts?
Mayor Adams: Well, I was briefed by the Police Department on some of his social media posts. I think that when you look at people who have engaged in social media all day make these posts, he appears to be all over the place according to the briefing and I just think that we need to focus on his apprehension at this time. And the Police Department are going to use those posts and all the evidence that we are gathering, not only to apprehend him. We also much make sure that he's prosecuted and that is why we are extremely delicate about the information and the evidence that we're releasing at this time.
Guthrie: Officials have beefed up your security in light of what this person of interest said on social media. Do you have any concerns about your personal safety?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think that the police commissioner, out of an overabundance of caution... From time to time, we receive a level of threats but you have a person that carried out a very sick action to harm innocent people in our system. So I think the police commissioner, out of an overabundance of caution, is taking the necessary steps until this person is apprehended, this person of interest is brought in.
Guthrie: As you know, the camera at this particular train station was not working at the time, there were no uniformed officers at the time and the New York Times reports a witness as saying even a police officer who responded to the scene, his radio wasn't working so he had to ask others to call 911 for help. How frustrating is this for you, and how do you explain those failures?
Mayor Adams: Well, the MTA controls the camera system. We have been cooperating with the MTA to find out what went wrong, if it was a feed problem or what was the problem. And they have been extremely cooperative. We want to zero in on what the problems are because it's imperative for cameras to operate. The transit system is a very complicated system when it comes down to use of technology. We just upgraded to having wi-fi a few years ago with some of the stations, but because of the thick walls, because it's underground, from time to time, there is a malfunction, but it doesn't happen often. I was a former transit cop. During the days when I was a transit cop, it was well known that your radio didn't operate, but we have gotten much better and I'm a little surprised to find out that we had a radio that was inoperative and we would look into that, but we always want to improve the technology so that we can respond to these emergencies.
Guthrie: And finally, Mr. Mayor, the crime rate in this city in March was up over 37% from a year ago, shootings are up 16%. We've seen brutal crimes. I think of the girl, the young lady who was pushed into the oncoming train in the subway station. You've made this a priority, improving public safety, but level with New Yorkers, how long before they actually start seeing these policies work and the crime rate come down?
Mayor Adams: This is crucial for me. It's so important. As I say, public safety and justice, they are the prerequisite to prosperity. I say over and over again, I'm a hard grader on myself. I think we could get an “I” for in progress. There are some serious things we are doing, number one, to stop the feeders of crime. These are generational problems that actually are starting to materialize across the country, but watching the increase of gun violence and other violence all across the country, I think big city mayors have been seeking the help that they need. We're going to do our job.
Mayor Adams: We removed 1,800 guns off the streets of the City of New York since I've been the mayor. We have to really think about that. Why do we have this continuous flow? 10% of those guns were ghost guns and so we are going to do our job on the ground, we're going to stop the feeders of the failure in our foster care system, dyslexia screening, those are some of the feeders that we have failed. And then we're going to zero in on those things that are happening now and with these dangerous gangs and some of the actions that we're witnessing.
Guthrie: All right. Mayor Adams, you have your work cut out for you. I know you're recovering from COVID. I hope you're feeling better. Thank you for your time this morning.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
7:16 AM – Appears Live on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
Willie Geist: Joining us now is the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams. He, of course, previously served as Brooklyn borough president, and spent time as a transit officer with the NYPD. Mr. Mayor, it's good to have you with us this morning. What is the latest on the search for this man?
Mayor Adams: I was updated this morning by my law enforcement officials. No new information. As you know, a national search is for him. He's a person of interest. And we are going to continue to close the loop around him, and bring him in, and continue investigation into this horrific act against innocent New Yorkers.
Geist: Do you know of any connection this morning, Mr. Mayor, to New York City? We know he has addresses in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but nothing directly, except for some of these videos he posted to YouTube, in some cases, speaking directly to you, Mr. Mayor. What do we know about his connection to New York? And may that lead you to some kind of motive here?
Mayor Adams: No, there is no additional information that is showing that connection at this time. We believe that, as you indicated, he purchased the van in Philadelphia, and brought the van here, and started the subway system, and took just a terrible, terrible action against innocent New Yorkers. And I just want to take my hat up to those New Yorkers that responded and helped each other, including the first responders, our firefighters, police, and our healthcare professionals. And I believe they saved lives.
Geist: Do you believe, Mr. Mayor, that he would acted alone, that he was a so-called lone wolf, or was this connected to anything else? Should New Yorkers be concerned on the subway morning?
Mayor Adams: Well, there's no evidence that indicates, at this time, that there was an accomplice. It appears as though he was operating alone. And we're going to have police enforcement on our subway system. We'll have the real omnipresence, and we're asking New Yorkers to be vigilant. We know how to do this. We've been here before during such devastating attacks against our city. And we're asking New Yorkers, if they see something, say something and do something. Notify the local officials there. We're going to have uniform presence throughout the entire system.
Geist: I'm sure, Mr. Mayor, you've seen some of these videos that have been unearthed over the last 24 hours of this man online. In one of them, he speaks directly to you and says, "Mr. Mayor, I'm a victim of your mental health program." Can you make any sense of that? Do you know what he's talking about there?
Mayor Adams: No, not at all. Many people look at the mental health system and they question some of the things that have happened throughout the generations. Our goal is to fix our mental health system. But it's clear that this individual wanted to create terror and violence. We don't know his motivation to make a classification if this was a terrorist act or not. But even without that designation, we know that he wanted to bring terror. To come on the system with a gas mask, with a gun, several clips, as well as throwing a smoke bomb, is clear that he wanted to bring terror to our system. And we're going to bring him to justice, and have him prosecuted for his actions.
Joe Scarborough: So Mr. Mayor, you ran to make New York City a safer place again, and to address quality of life issues. You continue trying to do that. As former Commissioner Bratton said, you're facing severe resistance in the city, in the state legislature. Yesterday, though, the governor of New York State held a press conference, and said that she would do everything she could to make New York a safer place. What can she do to help you in your ongoing mission to make New York City the safest big city again in the world? What more does she need to do to help you and help New Yorkers get safe?
Mayor Adams: Well, the governor has been a real partner, and I'm going to continue to fight with her as we continue to move forward. We must deal with the over proliferation of guns. It's amazing. We have removed over 1,800 guns off our streets in the last three and a half months. Just think about that for a moment. The streets of New York, 10% of those guns were ghost guns. You heard me say over and over again, there are many rivers that feed the sea of violence. We have a damaged river. And it's not one river being damaged, all of them. We want to do our job on the street.
Mayor Adams: I nstituted our anti-gun unit, we're dealing with some of those feeders of crime, such as not giving our young people the opportunity they deserve, but there's immediate need right now to open our courts. Too many dangerous people are not going through the judicial system to serve their time. There's a revolving door to our criminal justice system in the city, in this country, and has to stop. Many of these people are repeated offenders, and it's time for us to zero in and get serious about putting dangerous people in jail and not on our streets.
Scarborough: And a lot of people who talked about how important the subway system is to New York City. I've always believed it's a leading indicator. My parents would bring me to New York in the 70s, and it was dangerous in the 70s and the 80s, even into the early 90s. I remember coming back in the mid 90s and being shocked by how clean, how safe and how efficient the subway system was running by the mid late 90s. I know you wanted to get back to that point. How does what happened over the past 24 hours change your mission moving forward? Do you think it'll drive home to your opponents who are trying to get in your way, the importance of you doing what you need to do to make New York City subway safe again?
Mayor Adams: That's a great question because during those periods of time that you mentioned, the mid 80s, I became a transit police officer. And I recall those stations. I recall the graffiti. I recall the violence and uncertainty in our system. And you're right. It's the life blood of our city. It is a great equalizer that allows the Wall Street executive and the everyday New Yorker who's trying to eke out a living to get to and from their place of employment or school. We must have a safe, reliable, dependable subway system. And there's many naysayers as we attempt to clean up the encampments, get those who are homeless into our wraparound services, and zero in on crime. They are a small, numerical minority who are the loudest, who want to push back on our attempts to make sure our city is a safe, clean city. And we're not going to succumb to their theory. And we're not going to succumb to their loud noise.
Mayor Adams: This city is going to be a safe city. And our subway system is going to be a safe subway system. You have my commitment on that, and we won't be distracted by this issue. We know that this hurts the mindset of many New Yorkers who are afraid of what happened, but we are a resilient city. We've been here before. We're going through some horrific issues. As a big city as New York City, we are often a target for bad acting people, but this city has always shown that level of resiliency. And we're going to show it now for this entire country to know that we won't succumb to those who want to bring fear to our city.
Jonathan Lemire: Mayor Adams, let me just follow-up briefly on the idea of making the subway safer. A lot of police officers were surged into the system last night in the wake of the shooting. Is there any consideration of more permanent, larger police presence in the subways? And also, yesterday, you mentioned the idea of installing, perhaps, metal detectors in the subway system, an idea that previously had been discounted for not being logistically feasible. Can you elaborate? Is that something that's under consideration?
Mayor Adams: Yes. Let me peel back your questions one at a time. First, these surge of police officers, since January 6th, we have conducted over 265,000 inspections of our subway system. We have moved away from a traditional model. And not only do we have the police, the transit police personnel there, those officers assigned to the transit bureau, but we've also used our patrol borough, people who are above ground. We've had them park their vehicles into the system and do inspections. We're going to continue to compliment that and evaluate that. With the gun detection devices, oftentimes, when people hear of metal detectors, they immediately think of the airport model. Those are not the only models that are available. They're new models that are being used at ballgames, ballparks, hospitals, where you're not stopping to go through your belongings. You're simply walking through a device.
Mayor Adams: I sent my deputy mayor public safety to several conventions to look at the new technology out there. We are going to explore new technology to make New Yorkers safe. And we believe we have a technology that we could use in the subway system that many passengers are not even going to be aware that they're walking past a device that could detect weapons. And we're excited about the possibilities. And I'm not going to leave any legal technology off the table when it comes down to keeping New Yorkers safe.
Mika Brzezinski: All right. Mayor Eric Adams, thank you very much for being on the show this morning.
7:32 AM – Appears Live on Fox 5’s Good Day New York
Rosanna Scotto: This right now. Mayor Eric Adams from his home in Gracie Mansion. Mayor, nice to have you back on Good Day York.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Good morning, good to see you.
Scotto: All right. So let's talk about this manhunting. I know you have a lot of people on the case looking for Mr. James. He does not look like he is a marathon runner. How close are you to finding him?
Mayor Adams: We are going to find him. It is clear that it is going to decrease and to help the New Yorkers. If anyone sees him, we're asking them to report to the Police Department immediately. You're going to see a complement of police officers in our subway system as well today. But the goal is... This person clearly brought a level of violence and terror into our subway system. That was his intention. And when we apprehend him, we'll find out the exact cause behind this to make a proper classification.
Scotto: Can we talk about the cameras, I think a lot of people are very upset that the cameras were not working in the subway, inexcusable. How long were they out and how many cameras were not working?
Mayor Adams: And that's the question that we're seeking as well of the New York City Police Department. We do not control the cameras. They're controlled by the MTA and they have been extremely cooperative and we want to dig into exactly how long they were out and how many cameras out throughout the entire system. They're doing that analysis. The purpose of those cameras is to assist us in cases like these. And so we are concerned that the cameras were out and we are also asking for answers to those questions.
Scotto: I mean, they get a ton of money, the MTA, and they've taken a lot of our tax dollars and want more. I mean, we should at least know that security is up and running in the subways.
Mayor Adams: I'm sure that the MTA has been cooperating with the NYPD. We don't know if it was the feed or the lack of recording, but I'm sure by the morning hours we'll have a full understanding of what took place there.
Bianca Peters: I think you will just want to know that someone will be held accountable for those cameras, not being in a working condition. So maybe that's something that you could oversee that someone may have to lose their job for that within the MTA.
Mayor Adams: You know, oftentimes that's one of the parts of being the mayor of this city. Although the system runs through our territory. It is really a creature of the state, and New York City, our tax dollars may go to it, but we don't have any real oversight on what happens out within our subway system.
Peters: Well, I want to ask you then when you work closely in step with Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. Yesterday the first press conference, she said that this was not an act of terrorism. You came on camera, after that saying, "this was an act of terror,” that someone did terrorize our system. I just want to know what is the definition of terrorism nowadays, especially when it applies to here in New York City, it seems like we may have differing definitions of this.
Mayor Adams: I know the police commissioner and I, we have the same definition. And as I stated, the individual created terror, an official designation of terrorism is when we apprehend him and we are able to find out his motive in cause we know he brought terror. He was intentionally using a smoke bomb type device. He put on a gas mask, he discharged over 30 rounds of ammunition. That is intentional terror, premeditated terror. And when she was stating she wanted to be extremely cautious. And if to properly identify something as terrorism, without having all of her evidence and I commend her for the job she has done thus far. This is good old-fashioned detective work, to piece together all the pieces to find the van. We were really concerned about the van, to get his identification, to bring together the city, state and the federal agencies. She has done an amazing job in zooming in on this individual, in such a short period of time.
Scotto: And meanwhile, this guy has you supposedly reportedly on his radar, are you happy that you have to be in isolation right now?
Mayor Adams: No, I'm not. You know me. I want to be on the ground. I would be on the subway system today if I was not quarantining. It was very difficult for me not to be at 36th street and at some of our command centers, but I have to listen to the orders from our healthcare professionals. But trust me, on Saturday, I will be back and I will be riding those trains. Talking to our passengers because part of leadership is not only will we do actually, but it's symbolic as well. And I'm going to lead from the front, our city added these dangerous environment that we see it and it's over proliferation of guns. We took 1,800 guns off our streets in the last few months. That is just unacceptable that the continuous flow of guns and ghost guns, like the ghost gun that killed this 16-year-old baby in the Bronx. These are the rivers that I keep talking about damning and why I have this level of urgency and fighting against the violence. We're seeing in our city.
Scotto: Yeah. Well we wish you luck mayor because it seems like it's never ending.
Mayor Adams: Yes. Thank you for having me this morning.
7:46 AM – Calls in Live to 1010 WINS
Bridget Quinn: We are joined live by Mayor Adams. Thank you so much for being here, sir.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Good morning.
Quinn: Good morning. Well, one of the main questions at this point, why weren't the subway cameras working at that station? Did officials know? How long were they out? Who's responsible?
Mayor Adams: That is the question we are seeking as well. I know people see the subway system run through New York, but the mayor of the city and the electeds are not in charge of the system. That is a state entity. We have been communicating with the MTA. They have been extremely cooperative and we would like to have the answers as well, to see what other stations were having problems with cameras, because part of the cameras play a crucial role in identifying crimes like these and that was their purpose. And so we are looking into it as well and we have been communicating with the MTA.
Quinn: All right. Another question that’s maybe for the MTA, but we want your take on it. What about the fact that the doors between subway cars are locked? I mean, that meant that people were trapped in a smoke-filled car with a gunman. Does the MTA need to change that?
Mayor Adams: I know that it was put in place for safety measures and I think that we are going to sit down with the leadership there and get analysis on, is this best practice of keeping the doors locked? It was used to prevent people from riding between the cars. There were a large number of what was called "man under" where people were falling through the cars and we were losing lives that way. I want to get a clear understanding and being trapped in a one separate car can be extremely dangerous.
Mayor Adams: As a former transit cop, I know how dangerous people feel if they're trapped within one car and we're going to explore that.
Quinn: Okay. So how did this guy manage to get in the subway with a gun, a hatchet, smoke grenades and gasoline. I mean, do we need to go back to police doing backpack checks, metal detectors, stop and frisk? What do we need to do?
Mayor Adams: You know, when it comes down to a person that has a desire to bring about terror on innocent passengers, we have so many subway stations and if someone wants to bring about something as deadly as that, preventing them from entering the system is a real challenge because of how wide and vast our system actually is. But the goal is to identify them immediately, when they're on the system. And you're right, it's the combination of periodic bag checks. It's looking at these new technology that I talk about that can detect guns. There's actually technology out there right now that is used in ballparks and other professional arenas, hospitals, that can detect a gun and we need to incorporate that out into our system. This is not the traditional metal detector used at airports, but it's a higher level of technology. I've been sending my deputy mayor of public safety across the country to find what new technologies are out there to keep New Yorkers safe.
Quinn: Okay. So what is stopping us from deploying that technology? Is it money? What is it?
Mayor Adams: Well, it was number one, it was getting Eric elected. You know, we've been a little over three months in office. Immediately in January, I had my offices, my deputy mayor, look at the new technology and now we're going through the process of testing. We tested it about two weeks ago with the Police Department. They were impressed with the outcomes and now we're going to start doing a pilot project as soon as we can.
Quinn: Okay. So let's talk a little bit more about the fact that this is all unfolding, just as you've taken office. I have to tell you, as a lifelong native New Yorker, born and raised in Rego Park, Queens, yesterday was the first time in my life that I chose not to get in the subway in New York because I was afraid, mayor. I was really flipped out and I didn't feel that way in the eighties or after 9/11. A total of 25 people were shot in New York City yesterday.
Quinn: So here's my question. How did we get here? Some say it's the policies of the previous administration? Do you agree?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think it's generations of neglect and failure. Generations. I continue to talk about this, over and over again, the many rivers that feed to a sea of violence. It's generations of neglect. Everything from abandonment of foster care children, to having 30% of our prison population in this country are dyslexic because we don't catch dyslexia early. The mental health crises that this city is facing, to the 65% of Black and brown children not being educated in a 38 billion dollar school system.
Mayor Adams: When you start adding this up of the failure of children, turns into failure of adults, and you'll see the over proliferation of guns. It's important what the President Biden just announced. Let's get a head to the ATF, put in place right away and then we have to go after these ghost guns. That's a real challenge for our country that people can actually put together a gun in their home, so we no longer only dealing with manufacturing.
Mayor Adams: When you look at each river, they have to dam each river, and dam it, we're not willing to do that at this time. Too many people are in an alternate reality, that are not identifying that cities across America are losing their children and families because of too many guns in this culture and fixation with guns.
Quinn: Should people get in the subway today?
Mayor Adams: Yes, they should. And we're going to have an additional complement of police officers there and we need to find this guy and we are going to find him. I'm asking New Yorkers if they see something, say something. Do something. Tell a local uniform officer there. They don't have to approach this person. The more pieces to the puzzle that we're able to put together, we will get the arrest and prosecution and that's what's very important here. We not only want to arrest him, but we want to be strategic in the information we release, so we can prosecute him and not allow this person to get away with this terrible act on innocent New Yorkers.
Quinn: All right. Mayor Adams, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
8:04 AM – Appears Live on CNN’s New Day
John Berman: Joining us now is the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. Can you bring us up to speed on the latest in this manhunt this morning?
Mayor Adams: Yes. I could. But I also want to lean into what I believe Jonathan just stated and why it is so important. We are watching signs around us of those who are leaning toward violent actions and we are ignoring them. I cannot play a song on a social media channel that belongs to someone else without them identifying that. Why aren't we identifying these dangerous threats? Why aren't we being more proactive? Instead of waiting for this to happen. And there is some responsibility, I think our social media industries and companies are, must lean into while we are watching these postings and these threats every day. And no one is given an early warning sign to law enforcement. Now, talking about where we are now, I was briefed this morning by our team. We are still following up on leads. I want to thank the public for the calls that are coming in. We're going to catch this person and we're going to bring him to justice and hold him responsible for this horrific act on innocent people that are utilizing our subway system.
Berman: Now, you mentioned that you think there may have been clues that were missed here, and I want to be very careful with the language I choose. There is a person of interest, that person of interest is named Frank James, 62 years old. Law enforcement put out a picture. They want information. If anyone has it, please call the number, the tips number that they provided. We've also learned overnight that this person of interest appears to have posted videos where he used violent language. What more can you tell us about these videos and what clues you think they provide?
Mayor Adams: Well, we're dealing with the duality right now that we have to be very sensitive about, not only must be apprehend of the person of interest, but we must prosecute him and in the eagerness to give as much information as possible to the public, you could jeopardize the long term case and nothing would be more detrimental to taking this dangerous person off the street. If we release information about the Police Department is aware that can prejudice a case. And so there's a lot of discipline that we're showing right now. All of the information will come out over time, but we're sensitive about what we release right now. We have a person of interest, name, his face, of where he reside and some of his actions and some of the weapons that he carried. But we are methodically releasing only the information that were never in danger, the outcome of this case, but because he must be prosecuted.
Berman: Look, I get that. But you mentioned videos in social media companies paying closer attention to things that are posted. Were there things posted by this person of interest that to you should have set off red flags?
Mayor Adams: I believe so. And that will come out during an investigation or even just look at not only this case, we have cases of looking at some of the violent drill music where you hear people state they're going to shoot someone, that should be a warning sign. And you look at how we use social media right now to put threats out there, carry out dangerous actions. And there are clear correlations between what's being posted and what's being carried out in our streets, in this case and in many other cases.
Berman: Mr. Mayor, this person on video posted messages about you, how threatened do you feel this morning?
Mayor Adams: The part of the job is receiving threats. I get threats from time to time, not only in the role as the mayor, as a state Senator, as the borough president, even as a police officer. I have a great deal of confidence in the law enforcement officers that are around me. They have a job to do, and I have a job to do to continue to lead this city. They go to take the appropriate actions.
Berman: So whoever opened fire on the subway station behind me, 33 shots fired, 10 people hit, whoever did that is still on the loose this morning. So what threat does that person pose to the people of your city?
Mayor Adams: Any time you have an armed person who has intent to hurt innocent people, that is a threat. And that is why we are going to catch him. We're going to arrest him. He's a person of interest now, and we are going to prosecute whoever's responsible for this crime. Yes, it is a threat. And we are telling New York, we want you to be vigilant. If you see him, notify your authorities, but be extremely vigilant as you move around your day to day, we want this person apprehended.
Berman: Do you have any reason to believe that whatever plans there may have been, and obviously it does appear there were plans just based on the arsenal that was discovered there, any reason to believe that the plans included more than just the attack on the subway?
Mayor Adams: There's no information we have available at this time that will indicate that there's nothing that is part of the preliminary investigation that determines that there's something else. We would definitely notify the public if we were aware of that.
Berman: There is a discrepancy. Again, we're dealing with very specific language here. Person of interest, Frank James, who I believe listed on his driver's license is what like six-two, where we were told yesterday that law enforcement looking for someone who may have been a suspect who was much shorter than that five, five. How do you explain the discrepancy in height?
Mayor Adams: This is something that is known in law enforcement circles, that oftentimes when people are going through a crisis, their description can be different from what they actually had witnessed in front of them. And so it is known to have discrepancy of that magnitude. It has happened oftentimes during the investigation, someone will give you a description and it's not the correct description and that's expected, but it's about piecing together all the pieces of the evidence to zero in on a potential particular suspect.
Berman: So whoever did this, again, walked onto a subway with a gun, with a lot of ammunition, with fireworks, with a hatchet, with gasoline. How does someone get onto in New York City subway with all of that? And how do you stop that?
Mayor Adams: Well, remember the vastness of our system, our system is extremely vast. One of the most vast subway systems on the globe. There are so many stations you can enter to actually enter the system. And the Police Department, they do an amazing job with periodic bag checks, but we want to enhance our level of security. And that's why I'm talking about examining some of the technology out there, not the technology of detecting devices when you walk through the airports, but there are newer versions that are used at ballparks and other places that you can actually detect if someone is carrying a gun. I sent my deputy mayor of public safety to investigate and look into some of these new technologies. And we're going to see pilot projects to continue enhance the safety on our subway system. But it is extremely challenging to identify every person that enters the subway system because of the vastness of our system. But we must be there to identify them before they carry out a dangerous act.
Berman: Are you talking about metal detectors to get in the subway?
Mayor Adams: It's not as simple as a metal detector. It's more complicated and it's more modern than that. These devices, you do not even know they're there. And there are ways where you don't have to stop your flow. It's not like what you said, in the airport where the person has to stop. They empty their pockets. No. There are new technologies out there and I'm going to examine all of them to keep New York safe, particularly underground in our subway system.
Berman: Mr. Mayor, what direction is this city headed in terms of public safety as you sit here this morning, the morning after a mass shooting, is it really getting better?
Mayor Adams: We are going to get better. This is going to be a safe city. And we've been here before. 1984, when I started my policing career, this was a city that was filled with violence. Our subway systems were unsafe, but we had the right energy and spirit to turn that around and we want to do it again, but let's be clear. We're dealing with historical inequalities, historical abandonments and failures. And as I stated, there are many rivers that will continue to feed the sea of violence if we don't damn each river. We have an over proliferation of guns in our city and in our country. The New York Police Department took 1,800 guns off the street in the three and a half months that I have been the mayor. We need to think about that for a moment, why they continue to flow into our city.
Mayor Adams: All across America, big cities are dealing with this level of violence. And so that's why the president was right to put in place or attempt to appoint a new head of the ATF and nominee for the ATF. We need to stop the flow of guns, including ghost guns. That's a real crisis that we are facing. If we want to solve this problem, it's about all of us getting on board, not those who are living in an alternate reality of what's taking place in reality, or in our streets every day.
Berman: Mayor Eric Adams, I appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you for your time. I know you positive for COVID so we wish you a speedy recovery on that as well. Thank you so much.
Mayor Adams: Thank you very much.
8:18 AM – Appears Live on PIX 11’s Morning Show
Dan Mannarino: With Mayor Adams joining us now from Gracie Mansion. So Mr. Mayor, thanks for being here, hopefully you're feeling much better. Good to have you.
Mayor Adams: Good morning. Thank you.
Mannarino: So, Mr. Mayor, we're at the height of the morning rush as we speak, right? I know you don't want to hinder any kind of investigation, but what is the latest right now on the search for a suspect? Do you believe that the individual acted alone and is still here in New York City?
Mayor Adams: I was briefed this morning by our law enforcement team. There is no evidence that indicates that he was participating with another person or individual. It appears as though he acted alone thus far. We continue to ask New Yorkers to assist us. If you see something, say something and, as we say, do something, notify your local authority. We don't want people to approach this individual, but if you do identify or see him or have any information about his whereabouts, please notify your local authorities.
Hazel Sanchez: Yeah. Can we talk a little bit more about this person of interest in the case, 62-year-old Frank James. He actually posted a video on YouTube last month where he criticized you and your decision to clear out the homeless from the subways as part of your public safety plan. Do we have any more information about him, where he's from, and what is his connection to New York?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think what's interesting here is how people utilize social media and utilize their thoughts on not only criticize or critiquing, but turning their thoughts in processing into violence. This is unacceptable. There's one thing to critique the actions of any government official, but to take an automatic weapon, unload 33 rounds into a subway system, wearing a gas mask, using a smoke bomb to carry out a deadly action is not acceptable, and we are going to apprehend him, prosecute him, and I'm sure the courts would determine the final outcome, but we are not going to accept people who disagree with any policies in government to use violence of this nature.
Mannarino: Understood, Mr. Mayor. And you know, like we said, this is the height of the morning rush, right? And you had said yesterday that you were doubling the number of police officers within the subway system because of that. Some people were saying maybe police are the answer to this on the modern commute, but you're also talking about new technology. There's been a lot of discussion around metal detectors, whether or not they would work. What is this technology you are speaking of? And is the MTA on board with this being tested in the system?
Mayor Adams: Well, what we're looking at, Dan, is that in January I sent my deputy mayor of public safety. I told him I wanted him to really go across the entire globe and look at what technologies are being used to keep individuals safe not only here in this country, but across the globe. We have identified some new technology. Not the traditional metal detectors that you see at airports, you have to empty your pockets. But no, we are now able to detect if someone is carrying a gun, and it's been used in various locations throughout the country. We are going to explore the use of that in our subway system. It's not going to get in the way of movement. It is very easily mobile, that you could move around. And so we are going to use every method to keep New Yorkers safe.
Mannarino: But you spoke to the MTA about that?
Mayor Adams: I'm sorry?
Mannarino: Is the MTA on board with that?
Mayor Adams: Well, it's part of the conversations that we're going to have. First we have to find the technology. Then we sit down and let them see and explore it. The Police Department looked at some of the technology that we presented and then we would sit down with the MTA and I'm sure that they'd join me in wanting to keep our subway system safe.
Sanchez: Yeah. One of the things that clearly could have helped and could help in finding this suspect is if those surveillance cameras inside the subway station were actually working, but apparently the ones in that station malfunctioned. Are you now requiring the MTA to check all the cameras in the system to make sure that they are working properly now?
Mayor Adams: Oftentimes when people talk about the subway system that I use often, they think that the mayor is in control of it. And we are not. The state is in control of the subway system. We police this subway system and we have been extremely cooperative with the MTA in discovering what has taken place with those cameras. And we should do an analysis of all the cameras. If there's a malfunction, we should do whatever is needed to immediately repair them because these cameras play a vital role in apprehending and laying out actual incidents, such as this.
Mannarino: Mayor Adams, I know that you are tight on time this morning so we are simply out of time. I appreciate you being here and speedy recovery to get you back out there out of Gracie Mansion.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.
8:35 AM – Calls in Live to WNYC’s Morning Edition
Michael Hill: Mayor Adams joins us now live to give us the latest. Mr. Mayor, good morning.
Mayor Adams: Good morning. How are you?
Hill: I'm doing well. How are you, sir?
Mayor Adams: Great. I was just recently briefed by our team. We have now upgraded the person of interest to being a suspect.
Hill: What changed, sir?
Mayor Adams: Based on new information that has become available to the team.
Hill: Mr. Mayor, how close are police to locating suspect Frank James? Why is it seeming to take so long? It's 24 hours after this incident.
Mayor Adams: Well, number one, we should take our hats off to the Police Department, the state, the federal agencies that have come together to help us in apprehending this person. This was good, old fashioned police work. Being able to identify the van, being able to identify his social media channels, using all the pieces together to this puzzle. This is actually an amazing turnaround with the lack of information that we had. It shows the cooperation, together. We're going to find this person and hold him accountable for his actions.
Hill: Now, police officials said that James appeared to post videos on YouTube in which he mentions homelessness, New York City, and you, specifically. Have you watched these videos? Do you have a sense of this person's motive?
Mayor Adams: No. I was briefed by the team. We know one of his motives was to create terror in our system. We will know once he's apprehended and we continue to do investigation to determine how this is going to be classified, but there was a clear desire to create terror. When you bring a smoke bomb, when you bring an automatic weapon, wear a gas mask, in a very methodical way, injure and attempt to harm innocent New Yorkers, that is terror. We are going to call it as we see it. We will go and find out from a very thorough investigation as we put this case together, because the goal is not only to apprehend him, but to have a successful prosecution.
Hill: Now, Mr. Mayor, we're told that either the cameras within this subway system were not working, or that the NYPD doesn't monitor these MTA cameras. What is your understanding about the state of surveillance cameras within the subway system? Is the NYPD responsible for monitoring these cameras?
Mayor Adams: Oftentimes, when people talk about this subway system, they automatically believe it's under the control of the mayor, it's not. It's under the control of the state. The camera system is controlled by the MTA. They are cooperating with us, to assist us in finding out what happened at the train station. We don't have a full understanding of that as of this moment, but that is the control of the MTA. They have been extremely cooperative. We thank them for that. We want to also fully understand what happened at the 36th street train station, because part of closing this investigation, identifying incidents like this, the video technology and the information that could come from it is extremely important.
Hill: Mr. Mayor, shouldn't these cameras then be under the surveillance or the system for the NYPD, since you're sending NYPD officers into the subway system?
Mayor Adams: That is something that only the governor can make a determination of, or the MTA board. Anytime you have an incident like this and review, you look at what are the best practices and what we can do better. We need to learn from any issue of this magnitude. We will determine later that would be something that would be brought up to a part of our review and what we could do better in incidents like this.
Hill: On other news programs this morning, you've mentioned too, and to hint that the subway might install some new gun technology, gun detecting technology used in ballparks to detect guns, of course. Would you tell us more about that?
Mayor Adams: There's new technology. In January when I took office, it was my desire to send my deputy mayor of public safety throughout the globe and find out what new technologies are available that can help keep people equal safe during this new climate of over proliferation of guns, of people using guns to go into schools, ballparks, and other areas. We have identified several new technologies that are not like the metal detectors that are used at airports, where you have to empty your pockets and go through a long line to get in. No, you just walk normally through the system. It is not even detectable that the devices are there. We think there's some great promise in this technology. We are going to continue to explore that. We're not at the place of full implementation, but we are excited about what we have witnessed thus far. We are going to be looking to do a few pilot projects to see the full use of it.
Hill: Mr. Mayor, how do we avoid something like this happening, say even tomorrow? What do you say about safety on the subway to the people who rely on this every day to go back and forth to work?
Mayor Adams: Well, I'm one of them. I use the subway system often. I believe it plays a vital role in our city. It is crucial to the recovery of this city. My advice and instructions to the New Yorkers, today that need the subway system; number one, let's be vigilant. Let's stay alert. If anyone happens to see this person or anyone acting suspicious, notify your local authorities. We are going to make sure we have the omnipresence that's needed so people can feel the confidence of using our system. It's imperative that we assist in all the pieces of this puzzle to bring this person to justice. This is traumatizing to experience this, to read about it. We understand that. We need our subway system and New Yorkers have been here before. I was on the subway when the September 11th attacks took place and that was traumatizing, but this is a resilient city. We understand the resiliency of our city. We are not going to allow a fear and anyone who wants to bring a terror action to our city to stop this city from its recovery.
Hill: Mayor Eric Adams naming Frank James a suspect on WNYC this morning. Mr. Mayor, thank you for your time. Please come back and see us again.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
8:49 AM – Appears on Appears on Bloomberg Surveillance on Bloomberg TV
Tom Keene: Mayor, right to it on this day after this horror, it's very simple, on WNYC in the recent minutes, you perhaps shifted from calling a person of special interest to now a formal suspect. You know that distinction. Is Mr. James a suspect?
Mayor Adams: Yes, he is. He is a suspect. Based on the briefing from my law enforcement officials and based on the evidence that we were able to accumulate, he has now been upgraded to a suspect, and we're asking all New Yorkers to assist us in his apprehension. Please do not approach him. If you see him or if you know his whereabouts, please notify law enforcement.
Keene: Well mayor, through the Bloomberg abilities we have that ABC has just announced, and let me quote exactly, Mr. Mayor, "New York City subway shooting suspect Frank James in custody." That according to ABC. Can you tell us what you and all of your staff have learned about Mr. James in the last six or seven hours?
Mayor Adams: Well, this is moving and is extremely fluid. There's a host of evidence that we have been recovering of the NYPD, the FBI, as well as our state law enforcement entities have all collaborated together. I cannot say enough about the fast work that you are witnessing. They had to piece together this case from the van arrival here to the city, to the devices, to the things that we collected. They're doing a great job in bringing this person to justice.
Keene: Mayor, I want to talk here about what we're going to do as Governor Hochul said about crime. You know the numbers in Chicago, you know the numbers here. I would say that you are arguably the most qualified politician in the nation with your experience from Bushwick years ago, out to where you are now to talk about this. First, on cameras, in amendments and civil liberties and all that, London is covered with cameras after terror events. Is this the tipping point where New York City, one fifth of the cameras of London, begins to monitor the public like London?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think that I have been talking about this since the time I took office in January. I sent my deputy mayor of public safety across the globe to find out how are we protecting human beings throughout the entire globe. And we are not going to sit back and allow this technology to exist and not protect the people of the city, and we are going to continue to explore it.
Kailey Leinz: Mayor Adams, you also had put more police forces into subway stations to protect the people of the city. Given that this is just one in a series of events that have unfolded over the last year during the pandemic, even, in subway stations, acts of violence, clearly that failed yesterday. I know you've said you've given yourself an incomplete on crime in the first 100 days of your campaign. Is that incomplete looking more like a failure, less like anything of semblance of a passing grade?
Mayor Adams: Well, we should be clear, we've been here before as New Yorkers. I often talk about my mid 80s when I started in the transit police, ironically, and I'm aware of what it takes to turn around generational poverty, generational crises that feed violence in our cities. And then we cannot ignore the over-proliferation of guns. No, NYPD, my administration, has not failed. We have removed 1,800 guns off the streets of our cities since being elected. Just think about that for a moment.
Keene: And mayor, I don't mean to interrupt, but I know you have to go to an incredibly important day, and of course the announcement of ABC that Mr. James is in some form of custody. One final question, Mayor Adams, you are an expert at the study of gangs. On January 4th, you stated, you showed up at a press conference and said, "We got to do something about gangs. These kids. Three dead in the last 24 hours. Not the headlines like Brooklyn, but three dead on Gates Avenue, on Etna Avenue, on Laconia Avenue." What are we going to do about the gangs that pull these kids into crime and violence?
Mayor Adams: At a zero end it's called precision policing, not just throwing out a wide net, but having a precision approach to those who are trigger pullers and violent gangs. That is at the heart of our crisis.
Leinz: Mayor Adams, finally, as we've been mentioning the reports from ABC that Frank James, the suspect in the shooting is now in custody. Can you confirm that for us?
Mayor Adams: Well, I'm here on the air with you right now, and I'm pretty sure that apprehension had to have taken place by the time I sat down in his chair. We would make that confirmation once my NYPD officials let me know.
Keene: Mayor Adams. Thank you so much. Greatly appreciate it today. Eric Adams.
9:05 AM – Appears Live on FOX News’ America Reports
Bill Hemmer: The mayor of New York City Eric Adams joins us now. Thank you for your time and your first Fox News interview. It is good to have you here this morning, especially on this topic today. Can you say sir, that an arrest is imminent?
Mayor Adams: The NYPD and federal and state agencies are all collaborating together. I am confident that we are going to bring the suspect to justice and we want to make sure that we do it as expectation as late as possible so he will not cause any harm on fellow New Yorkers.
Hemmer: He is not in custody now is that correct?
Mayor Adams: My last update from the NYPD, we have not made an arrest at this time.
Hemmer: Okay. Did he have help with this attack yesterday?
Mayor Adams: The preliminary investigation does not reveal any additional persons.
Hemmer: S peak to us, mayor, have you seen the video that he posted online and what might that say about his state of mind? Understand how he says he is a target of your mental health initiative, do we know, has he been in New York for a while?
Mayor Adams: No, we are not aware of that here. We are still looking through and looking at all of his postings. We are conducting a very thorough investigation. The goal here is not only the arrest but also the prosecution, so our detectives are doing their job. We really have to take our hats off, this is good, finding the van, finding the key, looking at the identification. piecing together the various pieces of this puzzle. I cannot thank my first responders and my detectives for the job that they carried out.
Hemmer: Several of these videos mention you. You seem to be a recurring theme. So too does the New York City subway system. So too with his state of mental health. What can you add to that, based on what your investigators have watched online?
Mayor Adams: They are still sifting through the information, but let's be clear, we have a broken mental health system, decades in the making. We are meeting it head on and we are not going to continue to allow people to live in the undignified manner in which they live in them. We need to deal with a lot of the mental health crises that came out of COVID that have been ignored. We are going to meet it head on. But no matter what an individual is feeling, there is no excuse for taking an automatic weapon with a smoke bomb and a gas mask and discharge 33 rounds in our subway system. This person will be brought to justice.
Hemmer: On that, mayor, what does it say about his motives?
Mayor Adams: We don't know his motives yet. We continue to peel back the layers of the investigation to come to a thorough understanding of what motivated him. I do know this. He wanted to bring terror into our system. He wanted to intentionally terrorize those passengers and that is clear he committed a serious crime. He will be apprehended and he will be brought to justice.
Dana Perino: You mentioned COVID, and in the last couple of years the transit authority was given $12 billion in COVID relief, that was last march. I think a lot of New Yorkers are vacant today. How is it possible that the transit authority had all of this money and the cameras in the station weren't working?
Mayor Adams: That is what we are communicating with transit officials now. We want to know if there was any particular reason, if it was a [inaudible] problem, we have been speaking with MTA officials. They have been cooperative. Our goal is to find out if there are any other stations where we have problems with cameras because the cameras play a vital role.
Hemmer: Sir, you are at the mayor's mansion and you are suffering from COVID. How are you doing? How many days and is it for you?
Mayor Adams: I'm doing fine. No fevers, no body aches, no runny nose. I just have a tickle in my throat. No real effects. I thank God for modern science. We were able to take the vaccine and get boosted. Those are the only two answers I have that allow me to have no real symptoms. Saturday, I will be back doing what I do, leading the city from the front. I will be in the subway station communicating with passengers.
Perino: Did you consider breaking COVID protocols in this extraordinary situation where the city is looking to you? A city that is so worried about the train, parts of it, the subway system being a part of it. Families cannot afford to take ubers everywhere. Did you consider breaking protocols to be out there with the people?
Mayor Adams: Yes I did. Those who know me are well aware that I want to be on the ground. I want to lead the city from the front. That is symbolic, some of the symbolism. I would have been on the train today and I would have been on the train yesterday. But speaking with my health care officials, they clearly stated that during this emergency, there are ways that this could have been done but I said let me comply with the rules because it's important to send the right message. But I was very tempted. I did not like having to be in Gracie mansion while this city was going through this.
Hemmer: But you're saying you have to quarantine until Saturday? Four days from now?
Mayor Adams: After the doctors told me I was diagnosed on Sunday, they told me five days after taking the medicine. Then I can go back out after the fifth day and just wear my mask for the entire time that I am out.
Hemmer: Let's come back to COVID in a moment. You are 100 days on the job, little more than that. You made subway security one of the principal tenets of your campaign. How big of a setback is this for you and the rest of the city?
Mayor Adams: It's really, it's a concern for all of those New Yorkers. I use the subways a lot. I've been on the subway two or three in the morning speaking with passengers, speaking with my law enforcement officers and of course, all recoveries depended on people feeling safe. Reliable. We must make sure that an incident like this is not a setback. I know this city. I know New Yorkers. We’re resilient. I was on the subway system when we had a terrorist attack down at Ground Zero. I took the subway downtown after [inaudible] that day. I know how we respond to a crisis. We saw on the video, during the crisis, New Yorkers came together. They helped each other. Our first responders, everything from our 9/11 operators et cetera. This is what we do as a city. We lead from the front. We are a resilient group of New Yorkers.
Perino: During the campaign you talked about crime a lot. This city certainly feels that way. I saw a young woman here, she works in the building, not for Fox News, she works in food service at one of the local restaurants. She takes that very same train every day to work, which she says that she does feel for you. She never expected things to get better overnight. but that she never expected crime to get so much worse in the first parts of this year. How would you respond to her?
Mayor Adams: I feel for her as well. We are in this together. When I speak with communities on the train, they tell me all the time, “Mayor, you get it. You have been sending this message across the city that we have to stop the spread of violence for New Yorkers now.” I've been talking about this. They know that we need help from our federal, state, and local governments to assist us. Did you know we removed 1,800 guns off of our streets in this city? Just think about that. In the last three and a half months. They’ll keep coming if we don't dam all the rivers that are causing this flow of violence in all the big cities across America. We have a real crisis on our hands and we must be serious about it.
Hemmer: You are exactly right about that. You are exactly right. Crime has been a big push. But you've got a progressive D.A. that's allowing criminals to be arrested on one day and allowed back on the streets the next. How are you going to stand up to the legal system in New York City that will make sure that those who commit crimes do the time that's necessary in order to advance to a more safe and secure town?
Mayor Adams: It's a combination of things. Number one we need to make sure that the laws are clearly stated that dangerous people won't be part of the revolving door justice system. Number two, we need to uncrowd our courts. To me cases with dangerous people are not going through our judicial system to serve a time for the crimes they committed already. It is crucial. We will do our job as law enforcement, as I indicated. We are taking the guns off the streets. We are taking the dangerous people off the streets. The other arms of our government entities have to also be active.
Hemmer: You can also understand how people can see prosecutors going easy on criminals can't you?
Mayor Adams: It's imperative that every arm of our criminal justice system is operated at its optimum.
Perino: The other thing is, the criminal aspect, then we also have an incredible homeless problem. Yesterday, a vagrant, I was told by my friend, walking with her young daughter, he had his pants unbuttoned, came up to them, scared them to death. They ran into a random building where there was a doorman thankfully able to help and protect them. I think of that as part of the frame and decay of the city that people are worried about as well, crime certainly, but also just this situation we have people that are not well. They are out in the streets. Of course we feel for them too. But at some point, what can be done to get them off the street, into the shelters so that people can actually live their lives in this city?
Mayor Adams: That is so important, what you just laid out. It's called quality of life. We have witnessed complete erosion of the quality of life we expect in our cities. I say no to that. That's why we put in place encampment removal. There's nothing dignified about allowing someone to live in a tent, living in their own human waste, having drug paraphernalia inside the tent. No access to showers, no access to mental health support. but we are going to put people in a dignified place that they can get the service they deserve.
Perino: When will people see those results?
Mayor Adams: They are seeing them now believe it or not.
Hemmer: So many people in New York feel that they can understand the point that Dana is making here. Pre-covid, this was not a factor in New York City. Why has it become?
Mayor Adams: It was effective. We have had a homeless problem for generations. It's just that we did not have such a small number of people off our streets because many people were sheltering in place. There's always been a homeless crisis in the city. It has been ignored and tolerated. We have normalized that level of dysfunctionality. I say no. I'm not going to normalize that. I'm not walking past these cardboard boxes, allowing people to live inside of tunnels. That normalization ended on January 1st.
Hemmer: Back to COVID. You are not wearing a mask at the super-spreader event in Washington, D.C.. yet there are children in New York as young as two-years-old required to wear a mask. How does that policy make sense?
Mayor Adams: I know it is enticing to engage in the COVID conversation but right now I'm focused on catching a dangerous person and I look forward to coming back and laying out all of our COVID plans.
Hemmer: I feel he just went back to mandating indoor masks. Is that coming back to New York you think?
Mayor Adams: Again as I stated, my focus today is catching a person that attempted to kill New Yorkers. We can always come back and engage in a conversation about COVID. My immediate threat is the gunman that I have to apprehend.
Hemmer: We would welcome that.
Perino: Please do come back sir.
Mayor Adams: I look forward to it. I enjoy being on Fox.
Perino: Thank you for your time. We look forward to continuing this conversation. Just one more thing. Philadelphia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, that's where the suspect has been tied to. Has he been in New York City before? And you say that that is happening?
Mayor Adams: The NYPD is doing a thorough investigation. We have dual roles or I should say, they apprehend him, we have to prosecute him. NYPD is extremely sensitive about the information that we are releasing so that it does not impede any prosecution that has taken place as information becomes available we will be releasing it on a need-to-know basis.
Perino: Understood. Sir, we hope that you recover from COVID.
Mayor Adams: Thank you very much.
5:10 PM – Appears on NY1 News
Ruschell Boone: Mayor Eric Adams, thank you for joining us here on NY1.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
Boone: First of all, I know you are very, very happy, you are welcome, very, very happy that the suspect was apprehended in this case. I want to get your reaction to that and then I want to ask you about the overall crime situation here in the city. But first, your reaction to this suspect being arrested.
Mayor Adams: Well, it's clear that the New York City Police Department, the federal agencies, the state agencies, all came together. This is a symbol of what I have been talking about, about information sharing, cross collaboration, sitting down with JTTF—the Joint Terrorist Task Force, and the other initiatives where we meet to talk about how we do information sharing. Number one.
Mayor Adams: Number two, we cannot say enough about everyday New Yorkers who came together, the tip that led to his whereabouts, those New Yorkers who assisted the passengers on the train, those professionals, everything from 911 operators, those PCTs that they're called and others who came together to ensure that New Yorkers were not going to allow this dangerous person to move throughout our city and because of that, I cannot say the best but to the city that we got him, and we're going to make sure that he's prosecuted. And if all goes well, he would never exit a prison cell again because of the actions he inflicted on innocent New Yorkers. But this is only symbolic of what we are facing. That is why we need to confirm the ATF head. We need to fund ATF properly. We need to go after the over-proliferation of guns in our cities across America and that includes ghost guns.
Boone: Let's talk about some of the crime here in this city. As the NYPD was searching for the suspect in the subway shooting yesterday, there were more than a dozen shootings in the city last night, and not to mention the shootings that we've seen recently of young, innocent people, some older as well, being shot on the streets of New York. How do you get a handle on this crime in this city, Mr. Mayor?
Mayor Adams: By being consistent with our message. Here's my question that I put out to the city. Hey, I thought Black lives matter. Where are all those who stated Black lives matter? Then go do an analysis of who was killed or shot last night. I was up all night speaking to my commanders in the Bronx, in Brooklyn, the victims were black. Many of the shooters were Black. So I asked a question they was asking me when I was a child. It's 10:00 AM, 10:00 PM. Do you know where your children are? Why are 16, 17, and 18 year olds out in our streets armed with guns, 12, one o'clock at night? When are we going to start asking these serious questions? If Black lives matters, then the thousands of people I saw on the street when Floyd was murdered should be on the street right now stating that the lives of these black children that are dying every night matters. We can't be hypocrites.
Boone: And to that point, Mr. Mayor, is there anything that city officials, including yourself, can do to help these children stay off the streets, get in better programs, find a path to something more successful than what is happening right now?
Mayor Adams: It amazes me that I put out a complete document that only one part of that document people continue to lean into and that is my call for bail reform. That was not my blueprint to end gun violence. My blueprint to end gun violence indicated what we need to do around foster children like I announced a few weeks ago at Kingsborough Community College. It talked about summer youth employment, a hundred thousand jobs, unprecedented, never done before in our city. It talked about properly funding crisis management teams. It talks about having paid internship programs for our children, keeping our schools open throughout the summer months, the summarized program that we're doing. If people will read my blueprint to end gun violence, you'll see that it's not just a police approach, but we're not going to ignore the police approach. That's why we removed 1,800 guns off our streets since I've been the mayor of the City of New York. And I put in place an anti-gun unit that some will say we shouldn't have it.
Mayor Adams: Why are we living in this alternate reality that people don't realize what's playing out on our streets every day? I refuse to allow our city to continue to live in this violence, both intervention, the long term programs we're doing, prevention, and intervention, what we need to be doing right now to stop every night one, two o'clock in the morning, I'm receiving calls of another child or innocent bystander being shot like that 16 year old baby. We need to meet our anger and frustration with what we're seeing playing out in our streets every day. We have to stop the flow of guns in the cities across America
Boone: Mr. Mayor, I took up a lot of your time. We just have a couple more questions, one from Anthony Pascale and one from Dean Meminger.
Anthony Pascale: Mayor, you mentioned yesterday you made some news for saying that it may be time for metal detectors in the subways. That made a lot of news because a lot of people spoke about how that wasn't really practical considering the number of subway stations we have. Then we got some clarification from your office that you don't mean metal detectors like you see in airports, but is that something that you are seriously looking into as new technology becomes available?
Mayor Adams: Well, first everyone could have gotten clarification, but see, we are in the middle of who can tweet the fastest instead of communicating. Let's start communicating again. My office is accessible, I'm accessible. So all one has to do is pick up the phone and say, "What are you trying to roll out to help save the safety in our city?" We have become professional tweeters and critics instead of professional communicators. There's technology available right now where you can use a device that's mobile, just as we do bag checks at subway stations to stop terrorism, which we had a terror act yesterday, just as we move those devices from place to place, you do not have to interfere with the flow of traffic. It can easily identify if someone is carrying a gun.
Mayor Adams: I gave the charge to my deputy mayor of public safety in the beginning of my administration to go throughout the globe and find what technology is available that we can use to detect guns and other dangerous instrument in our city. We found some. And we are going to do pilot projects that's not going to be like the airport where you're going in one at a time, technology has evolved. Why aren't we willing to use that technology to ensure New York is safe? And you move it around because it's mobile. You go to the areas where you have high gun violence or high traffic so you could identify those who are carrying guns on our transportation system.
Dean Meminger: Mr. Mayor, Dean... So I know you have to leave so I want to ask you this question, Dean Meminger here. Your reaction to the social media videos and YouTube from Frank James where he said these programs that you have out there don't work. They didn't work for him. And he was very angry saying some people in your administration worked years ago in these programs and they failed him and he was very angry about that. Your reaction.
Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, being angry does not give you the right to enter our subway system, discharge 33 rounds striking 10 people, injuring 16 because of your actions. You don't have that right. And I am not going to succumb to any person who believes they can attempt to harm New Yorkers because they are angry. The failure of those with mental health, homelessness, the failure of our educational system did not start January 2022.
Mayor Adams: We have abandoned and betrayed New Yorkers for years. That betrayal is going to stop and I'm committed to doing so. And so I'm not accepting his YouTube videos. I'm not accepting his behavior. New Yorkers do not do that. And we are going to hold him accountable. And I stated it yesterday, we will find him, prosecute him and jail him. And we accomplished that task today. And hats off to New Yorkers who participated in that apprehension.
Boone: Mayor Eric Adams, thank you for your time today.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
5:25 PM – Calls in to 1010 WINS
Larry Mullins: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and how are you feeling, first of all sir, in the wake of this quarantine?
Mayor Adams: I feel fine, thank you. I have two words, vaccine booster. Because of that, I only had a tickle in my throat, no other symptoms, no sweat, no fevers, no runny nose, no sore throat.
Mullins: All right.
Mayor Adams: So it's really about the vaccination and the booster shot.
Mullins: All right, and it gave you enough energy to make that announcement today. Briefly walk us through this thing if you will, from the time it went down and the escape from the train, and who took the lead in flushing out this guy, Mr. Mayor, up until the time he was arrested today?
Mayor Adams: Our detectors did an amazing job under the leadership of our police commissioner, and it really leads into what we have been talking about for some time, collaboration with federal, state, and city agencies, similar to what we did to deal with the 9/11 terrorist attack. We know the way to get guns off our streets is to empower the ATF and our federal agencies to do information sharing. You saw a textbook case of that. That's why it's imperative that Washington, D.C. confirms the president appointee for ATF, fund it properly, and we could pursue these guns in our cities.
Mayor Adams: Today, we received a notification from a tip. We put out the tip call for New Yorkers. A New Yorker responded. Police officers arrived at the scene. The person was not at the exact location, but when they canvassed the area, they were able to locate him and place him under arrest without any form of incident, and it was a collaboration between our law enforcement officers, but we cannot say enough about the citizens of this city. The citizens of this city, we're resilient. New Yorkers are fighters. We stand up, and the citizens of this city reported a number of tips to us. We followed the leads, and this was just good old-fashioned police work of piecing together the puzzle to take a dangerous person off our streets.
Mullins: Okay. One tip in particular, Mr. Mayor. We're hearing talk that this guy may have actually called the tip line on himself. What are you hearing about that, sir?
Mayor Adams: That has not come out as part of our investigation. He didn't have to call the tip line. He could have walked into a precinct and turned himself in. He knows his action was clearly a violation of the individuals who were on that train, and to put New Yorkers in that harm's way is something that he will be held accountable for.
Mullins: Okay. One other thing too, and I mentioned it to Janno Lieber yesterday with the MTA. Talk about the cameras down there, because it seemed to take quite a bit of time before any actually MTA cameras showed video of this guy. Who's responsible for the cameras down in the subways, the city, or MTA, or the state, or whom?
Mayor Adams: That's a great question, because people believe because the trains run through New York City, that it is the responsibility of the mayor or city agency. It is not. The MTA is a state agency. It is in charge. The state is in charge of that. We utilize the information from the cameras. We collaborate with them. For some reason, there was a problem with the feed. It seems to have been electrical problems. The MTA has been very cooperative, and we're going to do everything as possible to, any time you have an incident like this, to turn it into a teaching moment. How can we do better? How can we respond better? That's what we're going to continue to do.
Mullins: Okay. I know you're limited on time. I have one more question. This guy said during his rant on a video we have, is that Mayor Adams can't, quote, "do blank" about stopping crime and racism down in the subways. He seemed to even offer a threat to you as well. How concerned are you about that threat, or is he just blowing smoke about the city's chances of stopping the madness down in the tubes?
Mayor Adams: Well, all I can say to him, watch us while we do it, while we have one criminal like him off our streets.
Mullins: Okay. Mayor Eric Adams, always a pleasure sir, and you're always welcome here. Appreciate your call.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
5:32 PM – Appears on Fox 5 News
Steve Lacy: Joining us now is Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor, thank you for being with us once again.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. And let's be clear, he can rail from jail, and I am happy he's there, and we should all hope he never sees the light of day again. He was dangerous, and I'm happy that New Yorkers came together with a combination of law enforcement and everyday New Yorkers to send the right message that we won't tolerate violence in our city.
Lacy: Yeah. No, it makes sense. For sure. I think this is obviously a happy moment. We are all happy that this whole nightmare is behind us, a little over 24 hours. There are going to be a lot of questions, I think, after this settles into what happened here about the malfunctioning cameras in the subway station, the fact that he was walking around East Village and called the police on himself. What do you think the biggest takeaways we're going to have to really look into are in the weeks and months ahead as a result of this incident?
Mayor Adams: Every crisis is a moment who use it as a teaching moment. We are going to evaluate the media notification when cameras are out that are controlled by the MTA, not controlled by the city. We need to be clear on that. Second, we are going to really... He called on himself, if he did or not, we're not sure. But the reality was that as the police commissioner stated, we closed in on him. It was clear, once good old-fashioned police work and collaboration, we were able to piece together the puzzle, one piece at a time, and the New York City Police Department, the FBI, our state police, and countless number of citizens allowed us to apprehend him. He didn't surrender. He didn't give up. He knew he had no other choice.
Teresa Priolo: But mayor, it almost seemed as if he was in some ways taunting police. He literally called on himself. And a lot of New Yorkers are asking this morning, in a city like New York... Not only this morning, but the entire day, in a city like New York, where we are a number one terror target, where gun violence is on the rise, where subway crime is on the rise, how in the world is a man like this able to just simply use mass transit and roam our streets? How did he slip through the cracks?
Mayor Adams: It's called 8.8 million people. And there are even three times as many places that you can try to conceal yourself until police do an excellent job of, number one, using our social media outlets, using our television outlets, our newspapers, posting information, using tips. He turned himself in, if he turned himself in, because he knew he had no other choice. And let's be clear on that. 33 shots. It took 30 hours to find him. Some mass killers last for years. The Police Department, the federal agencies, the state agencies, and the people of the city did an excellent job of bringing a dangerous person to justice. And let's not underrate that, and I'm not going to allow that to be underrated. They did an amazing job with the little information they had.
Lacy: Indeed. And last night, Mr. Mayor, you spoke about the issue of gun violence and how it's something that is a nationwide problem. The solution needs to come from outside of New York. It's not something we can just deal with on her own. The reality of the case is right now, the Supreme Court has a case in front of it that could actually weaken gun laws further here in New York, as early as this spring. Big picture, what's the plan for getting this violence under wraps? We've got ghost guns. It seems like the problem just keeps getting worse and worse. And I agree, in ways that we don't have full control over, but what can we do here in the city?
Mayor Adams: And I want to be clear on this. I said we need help. I'm not saying we are going to throw up our hands here in the city. That is not going to happen. I mentioned the other night, 1,800 guns in three and a half months. People need to really think about that number. 1,800 illegal guns in three and a half months being in office. We're doing our job. Look at these cases after cases, we are solving. Young girl shot in Burger King, we solved that case. The young boy that was shot in Brooklyn, we solved that case. You look at the cases, we are taking dangerous people off the streets, but you know what we're finding when we take them off the street? They have long records of violence. That is a serious problem. And then when you add that to the fact, the easy accessibility of guns, including ghost guns, it creates this perfect storm of violence that we are going to continue to push back on, but it's an endless flow.
Mayor Adams: So we need the ATF appointment done right away. We need to cross collaboration that we saw and witnessed to continue to go after these guns. Need to zero in on those small number of gun manufacturers that are allowing illegal guns to go into big cities all across America. And that is how we are going to accomplish this. That is why my gun task force is in place. We're going to zero in on gangs. There's a close correlation to the shootings we saw in the Bronx last night. It's connected to gangs' behavior. The shooting we saw in Brooklyn, gang behavior. The street gangs think they're going to take over our city, and we are not going to allow that to happen.
Priolo: Mayor, before we let you go, are you concerned, heading into the summer season? That's traditionally when we see the uptick in a lot of this violence, and yet it's only the spring, and we're already seeing it.
Mayor Adams: Yes, and you're right. And so what must we do? Number one, that's why we are doing an unprecedented 100,000 summer youth employments to give our young people options. We have our Summer Rising program taking place. We're going to utilize our public school system to give our children safe havens. We're going to zero in on the gangs in our city. And it's time to collaborate with our district attorneys, particularly the work that D.A. Gonzalez has done in Brooklyn. We took down gang crews, and you saw shootings drop when you take down these crews. There's a small number of violent people in our city that we need to zero in on and get them off our streets and free up our court system. Too many people are waiting to have trial that are dangerous shooters, but they're still on our streets, and we need to have them serve their time in prison like they should be.
Lacy: Indeed. All right. Well, Mr. Mayor, we appreciate your time. And again, we'll take the W today, that we got the alleged gunner from yesterday's subway shooting in custody, as we speak. Thank you.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.