Dan Bowens: We want to talk about this new data from the NYPD that was released and it reveals a record low number of shooting incidents and shooting victims for the first eight months of this year. But the crime stats for August were not all positive.
Rosanna Scotto: Murder increased 33 percent last month compared to August of 2024. Rape was up 24 percent during that same time period. Shooting incidents increased 4 percent in August, one area on the decline. Transit crime that dropped 22 percent from the same time last year. Joining us now from City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, nice to have you both on Good Day New York.
Mayor, I know you're doing whatever you possibly can to get those numbers down, but you know, August was not exactly so great. We heard about the Crown Heights shooting. There were shootings at the parade last weekend, despite having extra police there. What's going on?
Mayor Eric Adams: Well, clearly, August has always been a tough month across the country, and when you look at Chicago, over 50 shootings in Chicago. But when you look here in the city, we continue to see crime moving in the right direction. Everything from shoplifting to our subway system, to our housing and public housing, and as well as overall for the last eight months, the commissioner and her team, they're doing a good job, and we know we always want to see crime drive down even further, but we have really taken a bite out of crime in the city.
Scotto: Police commissioner, I know that you are concerned about what's going on in the Bronx and that you are deploying a thousand more police officers there. Has that started yet?
Police Commissioner Tisch: Oh yeah, that started about a week ago, as soon as we saw some multi-injury shooting incidents. We got our cops right out on the streets there. And I just want to put in context, Rosanna, yes, we've had some bad incidents in the Bronx this August, but shootings in the Bronx for August are actually down 20 percent compared to last year, which continues the overall citywide trend, where we've seen record low numbers of shooting incidents and shooting victims for the first eight months of the year, on top of having the safest August in history, besides the two pandemic months in our transit system.
Bowens: Those are obviously very positive numbers. Mr. Mayor, I do want to stay in the Bronx though, because even though we've seen some of these numbers that the commissioner just spoke about in the last week alone, they did have nine shootings. We went out there and we spoke to some residents, just random people we saw in the street. I wanted to read you a quote. One woman said, “Numbers don't tell everything. They can't show you the bigger picture. It feels like crime is up.” What do you say to people like that who still feel this fear in their neighborhoods?
Mayor Adams: And we understand that. And I spent time in the Bronx over the weekend also. I went to the park where the shooting took place and I walked through several communities in the Bronx and actually [went] to two houses of worship up in the area. Because I know how it feels when you hear about multiple people being shot and we're not going to dismiss their concerns. We're going to actually address them.
That is what those officers are doing. They're doing foot patrol. They're interacting with the public and we're putting the resources there to make sure people not only see the dropping crime numbers, but feel safe. And that's part of our Q-teams of making sure that we go out and deal with those quality of life issues. We understand how they feel and we responded to it directly. And I'm on the ground in the borough of the Bronx.
Police Commissioner Tisch: And I would just add to what the mayor said, three different pieces. We're going after guns in the Bronx. We're going after gangs in the Bronx because we know that a lot of this violence there is gang related. And we are putting cops on foot posts in big numbers on the streets and at the times where we know crime historically has occurred. There is a plan and it is being executed.
Bowens: And Mr. Mayor, we know that you will be inviting some of those gang leaders, so to speak, to Gracie Mansion to try and settle the beef in some way. But commissioner, how bad is the gang problem here? I mean, you have one group shooting at another one, a retaliation here over here, people getting caught in the crossfire. This seems like it's a bigger problem than what's been reported so far.
Police Commissioner Tisch: 60 percent of our shootings citywide in New York City are gang related shootings. [Getting] rid of the gangs and the shootings in New York City will absolutely plummet. And that is why our strategy has been to focus so heavily on gang members. We have the most gang takedowns this year than we've ever had in any year on record.
And so taking down these gangs is a huge part of what has led to some of the success that we have seen. We talk about the City Council trying to get rid of our criminal group database. That's the database we use to track gang members. It's patently absurd in that context.
Scotto: So let me ask you about the gang violence. I mean, I know we've had gang violence before, certainly out on Long Island. Are we seeing more gang violence since we had more migration here in the last few years?
Police Commissioner Tisch: We've certainly seen some new gangs show up in New York City. I think there's been a lot of talk about TDA in New York City, and we've had a number of major case takedowns associated with getting TDA out of New York City.
Mayor Adams: And we're seeing shooters becoming younger and younger. We're seeing the direct results of some of the laws that we have passed, some of the actions both in Albany and in the City Council. Raise the Age is a real issue. Bail reform is a real issue. And not allowing police the how many stop bills, those are real issues. Lawmakers can't get in the way of law enforcement, and that's what we want to focus on.
Bowens: It's certainly in the incident at the shooting at the basketball court a couple of weeks ago, it was a 16 and a 17 year old who were involved with that one, who were among those who were arrested. Mr. Mayor, you know, you spoke about Chicago before, and President Trump is now threatening to send National Guard troops into Chicago. What makes you think that if you get headlines like this, that the president won't threaten to do the same thing here in New York City?
Mayor Adams: Our communication. We know the police commissioner met with the attorney general and shared what we're doing here on the ground. And again, these high profile cases, when you see fourteen people shot, when you see four innocent people shot in an office building, or what happened in the park. We know when people pick up the papers and read the stories, you ask what's going on in the city.
But when we're able to communicate, we're actually able to show exactly what's going on in the city. And we do collaborate with federal authorities now. Every morning we meet in what's called HIDTA, with our state, federal and city law enforcement officers to coordinate to go after the shooters and violent offenders.
Scotto: Mayor, before you go, we know you were in Florida yesterday. Lots of talk today that by the end of the week that you are going to step aside [from] running for re-election. Would you like to comment on that?
Mayor Adams: Yes. You know, having the warm weather of Florida is always good to do. There's always talk around me. You know that. It hasn't stopped. For the last six months, people were saying what I was going to do. Whenever I make a move, I make an announcement. I'm in this race to win. And if anything changes, trust me, I'll be on channel five speaking to you.
Bowens: But did you meet with any Trump officials while you were down in the Florida area? Did you meet with anybody within the administration?
Mayor Adams: I met with several elected officials. My good friend, the mayor of Florida, I met with some of his team. I met with several elected officials. And again, if there's any changes in this race, I will announce that. Right now, we're moving straight ahead to do, number one, serve this city as we're currently doing, doing a darn good job. And we're looking forward to re-election.
Scotto: But at this point, you're in it to win it.
Mayor Adams: Yes. I could not have said it better.
Scotto: And police commissioner, there's a lot of talk that if Mr. Mamdani wins the election, he would keep you on as police commissioner. And there are reports that you said that you would like to continue. Is that true?
Police Commissioner Tisch: As I've said many times, it is not appropriate for the police commissioner to be directly involved or to seem to be involved in electoral politics.
Bowens: And just before we go here, obviously, city schools are back tomorrow. [A] million students all across the city. Parents may be worried about safety. They see some of these headlines. What's your message to those parents out there, Mr. Mayor?
Police Commissioner Tisch: Oh, I'll just add, we're rolling out our school plan today in New York City, which really involves hundreds of cops at the time students are going to school and coming home from school along the corridors that kids travel. Keeping our kids safe is our real priority this school year.
Scotto: Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mayor Eric Adams, thank you so much for being on Good Day New York. We appreciate it.
Mayor Adams: Good speaking with you. Take care.
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