Rita Cosby:
And breaking news here on Cats & Cosby. We have the mayor of the City of New York, Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor. So great to have you here. Fill us in on all the flooding, because it is a disaster.
Mayor Eric Adams:
Yes, no, so true. As we were heavily hit, but I do want to update us to know that we're no longer in a flash flood warning. We're now in the flash flood watch, which is almost like a downgrade, and real hats off to first responders, hats off to civil servants in New Yorkers who made the decision to either, if they didn't need to, they didn't go out, and we were able to really watch this water secede. We were hit with a lot of rain and a lot of water. But we're New Yorkers. We're resilient and you know the sun will come out tomorrow.
John Catsimatidis:
I heard that song someplace.
Cosby:
You know, what is the big concern with the commute home now? Because, of course, a lot of people listening to the show, we have millions who are listening literally all over the country, but especially in the tri‑state area and especially in New York City. What's the big issue for them with the commute home, and how are the subways, Mr. Mayor?
Mayor Adams:
Well, you know, we had water condition. When you get rain this heavy, remember our subways are underground. The MTA did an amazing job, Janno Lieber and the whole team over there. So we are saying it's going to be a slower commute. Let's be honest about this. When you get this level of rain, that's going to impact us, impact us, those who are four or five stops away, and you can putting your sneakers in your boots and, you know, get in your steps.
You know, this is all about adjusting to the conditions we're in. And look, listen to this. We saw the heavy rainfall, zero reported death so far, three people stuck in basements. They were rescued by FDNY, no reported serious injuries so far. You are just watching the city that went through bad storms [inaudible] and adjusting to them.
Catsimatidis:
Mr. Mayor, I got the 42nd President, Bill Clinton, on Sunday morning show, and he mentioned that he supports you 100 percent in getting the New York City fixed?
Mayor Adams:
Of two people who have been in office that I really lean on a lot, and one is Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor, and Bill ‑‑ and Hillary Clinton, they have just been real true New Yorkers and their advice. They've gone through some major crises from September 11th to fiscal crisis to other major incidents, and they just love this city. I'm sure you're going to have a great talk. He's one of the smartest guys I know, you know, no matter what the topic is.
Catsimatidis:
He is one of the smartest guys I know too, and I got a lot of training from him.
Mayor Adams:
Yes. No, no. So, I mean, I will definitely tune in and hear the show.
Catsimatidis:
Thank you. And tell us the migrant crisis. Is there any relief coming?
Mayor Adams:
That's a great question. I don't see it, you know, when you think about 10,000 a month, 10,000 a month, I just really need New Yorkers to wrap their heads around that number. Almost 25 to 2,900 a week of, and we are just really saying that we have to really have a real decompression strategy at the border, decompression strategy in the state, and New York City taxpayers should not be picking up the cost of a national problem. I've been extremely clear on this, and I'm just... I'm happy that we were able to get some form of release, but it's nowhere near what we need with the TPS status for Venezuelans here before July 31st, but we need much, much more help.
Catsimatidis:
And I had… In the studio here with us, we had Governor Abbott on a couple days ago, and he says he doesn't really want to send any immigrants to New York. He'd rather send him to Washington because Washington is the place where the problem has originated and has started while he was... I urged him to call you. Did he call... Did Governor Abbott try to call you?
Mayor Adams:
No, he didn't. And we tried to reach out to him back when this first happened because I made it clear, John, this should not happen to any municipality. I don't want to displace my problem onto another municipality. That's just wrong and it's unfair. And when you have over 108,000 city villages and towns in this country, we can all play a role in making sure we have a real decompression strategy.
And I don't want this to be in Texas, Houston Mayor Turner, and Denver, we dipped the Denver Mayor, Los Angeles, Chicago, all of these cities are cycling out of the impact of Covid. And now to have to have the weight of this on our cities when we're already dealing with our economic challenges and those who are struggling in our city, it's just not right, it's not fair and it's not sustainable.
Catsimatidis:
And if I could put a call together between the two of you, maybe we'll send them to Washington instead of sending them to New York?
Mayor Adams:
Listen, the mayor in Washington, Mayor Bowser, is not only, I think, a good administrator, she's a good friend. And I don't want to displace a problem that is taking place in any part of the country onto one city. It's just not right for those living in Washington.
Catsimatidis:
But we're not blaming her. We're not blaming her. We're blaming the President of the United States.
Mayor Adams:
Yes. But you know, what happens? You know, the mayors are those who everyone look at when things are not going right in their cities. I don't care what it is. You look at your mayor, and there is a unification of support for each other, because we know what it is to be a mayor. We're the closest to the problem, so we have to be closer to the solution.
Catsimatidis:
The other situation we have, Rite Aid has closed almost all their stores in New York. CVS has announced they're going to close 900. Target is closing stores. What can we do to help? And the retail workers, members of the Retail Workers Union working in our stores, and they're afraid for their lives, what can we do to make their lives better?
Mayor Adams:
And, you know, and I'm so glad you said that, but you know, first I want to zero in on the Target. Target is not leaving New York. They actually are expanding. They're doing a store in Lower Manhattan and opening another store on 125th Street in Harlem. And so there was a combination of their economic model from what we've learned, and they were also concerned about the shoplifting. Deputy Mayor Banks has a real plan of actions that we're doing to really clamp down. But we must go after the habitual offenders who have 30, 40 shoplifting arrest under their belt.
Catsimatidis:
100 percent. You're a hundred percent correct, mayor, because it's only about a couple of hundred of them that create the problem.
Mayor Adams:
Well, so true. And what you said at the beginning of this question is so important. When I talk about targeting those habitual abusers, they say, Eric, you're trying to criminalize the poor. No. Destroying those low‑wage workers who are going to lose their jobs.
When you lose the Rite Aid, you lose Duane Reade, you see Target close, those are the individuals we should be concerned about, middle class, working class people in this city. That's always going to be the top of my agenda. I have a working people agenda and keeping these businesses in the store in the city means a lot. If grandma must walk an additional 10 blocks or take the bus to get her a prescription or her medicine because the store was closed down, we are hurting her and we're hurting the families that use these retail outlets.
Catsimatidis:
Mr. Mayor, in five weeks we have 51 City Council seats coming up. How can we get more common sense Democrats and common sense Republicans elected? All we want is common sense. It's it?
Mayor Adams:
I say that over and over again. It's not only about dollars and cents, it's about common sense. And I like to believe that this is the common sense administration and what we are doing it just makes sense, that good old fashioned mom and dad sense that they gave us. And so it's imperative.
I want people not to sit on the sidelines and complain about who's not doing the right things when they are elected. I want them to get out and get engaged and read up on your candidates, see what they stand for, see what their position may be on those who are carrying guns and going back into our street, those who are stealing from our stores, those who are committing grand larceny, and see the positions where people are on these important issues and then make the decision on voting for the right candidates in office.
Catsimatidis:
And President Clinton did say common sense has to prevail for our civilization to endure.
Cosby:
Absolutely.
Mayor Adams:
And it's right. It's an important, I believe, sentence of, you know, I just remember some of the sayings that I was given from my mom that still stands true today, and it's just a common sense approach to life.
Cosby:
And Mr. Mayor, I want to ask you a quick question. Also, getting back to the migrants, because there was that win in Staten Island for the folks who didn't want the shelter there. And the judge came out and basically said that the right to shelter doesn't extend to the migrants. And there was a notice to appeal by the city. Will you appeal? Are you planning to appeal that?
Mayor Adams:
Well, we have to look at the… Corporation counsel makes the ultimate decision. They are the attorneys for the City of New York, and we have to look at the ruling that he gave. He didn't stop there of saying that the right to shelter issue.
I've always stated that this is a humanitarian crisis. It's not treated as the conversation of what we do for every everyday New Yorkers. There's a big difference from dealing with a crisis.
But the judge went a little too far, in my opinion, stated that I don't have the authorization during emergencies to put in place emergency procedures. We are in an emergency. Anyone who states that we're not in an emergency in a crisis, when we get 10,000 people coming into the city that can't work and we're responsible for everything that they need, that is an emergency. There's over 60,000, 10,000 continue to come in. This can hit numbers that is beyond imagination, and his ruling went into that area that attempted to take away my emergency powers, and I don't think that was the right decision.
Catsimatidis:
Well, if it's in the Constitution and you have it, you have it. Mr. Mayor, we got a minute left. What would you like to tell all New Yorkers and all Americans?
Cosby:
Other than this is your favorite radio show.
Mayor Adams:
We've been through tough times before, and it's the moment when we must all come together to get through this. And we don't get through this by being disrespectful of being undignified towards our, not only our fellow New Yorkers, but those who are here, and we need to make sure we put the right call and the support that we need. This is a national problem that we're facing on many levels. The national government must step up. It's wrong for any city in this country to be experiencing what I'm experiencing and these other cities are experiencing at this time.
Catsimatidis:
Mayor Eric Adams, thank you so much for coming on with the Cats & Cosby Show. And God bless you. God bless New York, because we need God's blessing, and God bless America. Thank you so much.
Cosby:
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Adams:
Thank you.
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