Mayor Eric Adams: Such an important topic that we're covering today. Domestic violence as you know, this month is domestic violence awareness month. And I really want to thank the partners behind us as well as the district attorney and the police commissioner because, when you're dealing with the sensitivities around domestic violence, it takes a holistic approach to address the issues.
Families are involved and I know firsthand growing up in a household with domestic violence, it was almost normalized and it was treated differently back then. Oftentimes police officers would respond and tell the abuser just to walk around the block and walk it off, just for them to believe that there are no repercussions from when you deal with a domestic violence issue. And that is why we are going to take a full, frontal, and holistic approach to addressing this issue.
A long, historic issue of violence inside a household. And far too long, it is just downplayed as it's not a serious issue. And it is. It creates a cycle of violence. Many young children who witnessed the abuse grow up to be abusers. And that is why we know how important it is to not only have the law enforcement arm, the prosecution arm from the district attorney's office, and the law enforcement arm from the New York City Police Department. But also the various organizations and groups who have really focused on how to end domestic violence.
And we're clear, we've stated this over and over again, public safety is a prerequisite to our prosperity. And it’s more than what we do in our subway system and on our streets, but also what happens inside our household. That's why since day one, we have focused on any issue that impacts the safety of New Yorkers. And because of this work, we have witnessed seven straight quarters of crime declines in this city. That's almost two years of decrease in crime.
These reductions have really made this city the safe place that we could expect it to be. But public safety must go even further. Violence against women, domestic violence, gender-based violence continues to cause pain in our society, and we know we must do a better job of eradicating the violence that we are seeing in our households.
And it affects people of all races, social, economics, backgrounds, and education levels. It is prevalent, and you see it far too often. And it could happen anywhere in the city. Not only in the household, we witness it when people are out socializing. The impacts of domestic violence is something that is around us, and it no longer can be ignored.
And the truth is, far too many women do not feel safe at home, and children do not feel safe at home, and men. You see in same-sex relationships, the abuse that takes place. And so not feeling safe at home is something that domestic violence creates in a household. And the truth is, we could do more and we must do more.
Everyone deserves to be safe on the street, in their homes, and in their relationships. So today, we are making a promise to domestic violence victims that your city will do everything possible and in our power to break the cycle of violence. And with the creation of a new NYPD Domestic Violence Unit, we are going to do just that.
And some people may say, why now? Why are we doing it now? Public safety is a continuous evolution of protection, and the worst thing you could do is remain stagnant when you identify what changes could take place. And hats off to our commissioner for seeing that and instituting new methodologies to address the issue of violence in our household.
This new unit will handle the entire domestic violence process for victims. And it will have approximately 450 police investigators spread out in every patrol precinct in New York City, solely dedicated to addressing domestic violence. That means more resources to help victims and more cops to bring abusers to justice. New Yorkers can be reassured knowing the full force of the law is coming after those who perpetrate these crimes.
We also appointed a new domestic violence counsel who will develop best practices around policing, prosecuting and prioritizing the needs of survivors and a director of Prevention and Intervention who will formalize and enhance our domestic violence training program. Now, I'm not new to this fight. I know it well. I know it as a police officer and also growing up in a household where an abusive parent can exist.
I know we could do more. And domestic violence rips people apart. It impacts children, it impacts families, and it traumatizes those who are the victims. And last year, intimate partner violence was up a shocking 29 percent. 29 percent. And we know that marginalized and underserved communities are disproportionately impacted. Black women are 2.5 times more likely to be domestic violence homicide victims. 2.4 percent more likely.
But these are not just numbers, they're real lives, they're real people, they're real families. And abuses, intentionally narrow options for domestic violence survivors, often manipulate the partner's ability to earn money and create an environment where the victim will feel trapped. And to find a place to live, to find employment, and really to live a productive life is snatched away from the victim.
And we have a sacred duty to protect survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, and that's what this unit is all about, and that is what the goal is with our partners that are here, both the district attorney's office and some of the organizations who are behind us.
We've done much during the last three years in 10 months. We passed legislation that provides low barrier grants to support the housing and economic stability of survivors because we know that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in the city. As well as, we've codified our comprehensive resource guide, NYC HOPE, for domestic and gender-based violence individuals and survivors.
We have also invested $5.8 million to bring mental health services, including screenings, individual and group sessions, and medication management directly to adults and children in domestic violence situations. And the Mayor's Office [to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence], I really want to thank them.
The Mayor's Office [to End] Domestic and Gender-Based Violence continues to do incredible work providing support for survivors and their children, including by offering families stable housing, financial support, employment opportunities, and other legal and mental health services. And we all know what we've done around our gun violence prevention, getting guns out of the hands of those who are the abusers is part of our holistic approach to dealing with domestic violence.
And so today, this new unit, we rise as one city to say to our domestic violence survivors, we're here with you, and you are not alone. We will be here to eradicate domestic violence in our city. I'm going to now turn it over to the police commissioner of the City of New York, Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, sir, and good morning, everyone. In 2025, the NYPD has made historic progress fighting crime. In the first 10 months of the year, our city had the lowest number of shooting incidents in recorded history. We just had the safest third quarter ever in transit, excluding the pandemic years. Your NYPD cops have made our streets, our subways, and our housing developments significantly safer. But one crime has remained a troubling outlier, and that is domestic violence.
Since 2020, domestic violence incidents in New York City have increased by 41 percent, And that is based only on the survivors who came forward. We know that the true impact is far wider. In that same time period, domestic violence has remained a consistent driver of overall felony assaults, accounting for nearly 40 percent of these crimes citywide.
This issue is pervasive, and it harms people in every community across our nation. That's why, for the first time in more than 30 years, the NYPD is making a fundamental change to how we respond to, investigate, and follow through on domestic violence cases with the creation of our new domestic violence squads within the NYPD's Detective Bureau.
These cases are unique in so many ways. The intimate relationships involved, the complex reasons why survivors may be hesitant to come forward and cooperate with the police and prosecutors, the exploitative dynamics between aggressors and survivors. These incidents don't happen because someone was at the wrong place at the wrong time and they are not whodunits where our detectives are following leads and interrogating a list of suspects.
In over 98 percent of DV cases, we know exactly who the offender is and this violence happens at the hands of people the survivors know, love, and trust. That's why these investigations require a different set of skills. They require the police to innovate, to adapt, and to approach this issue with the care, compassion, and full attention that it demands.
So, effective next week, about 450 officers and detectives will be put into the Domestic Violence Unit housed within the Detective Bureau. We are creating the new title of domestic violence investigator and placing these DV squads in every precinct. And additional personnel will also be assigned within the warrants section to prioritize the arrests of DV offenders.
In the past, a handful of precincts and housing officers were designated to work on DV cases with certain standards and practices varying between commands. Detectives and local precinct squads, who are generalists and don't specialize in DV, were also assigned these same cases. And at several points, they duplicated the work of the patrol officers.
This was clearly inefficient, but it was more than that. It was re-traumatizing survivors by subjecting them to repeated interviews with officers who were working on the same case, but not necessarily in the same ways. And it was eroding the survivors' confidence in the process.
Now, from complaint through prosecution, one team of investigators will handle these cases and every step will be coordinated. This is a survivor-centric, trauma-informed approach with one goal, survivor safety. We are giving these specialized investigators the tools, the time, and the training that they need to do this work to the highest standard. And we are investing in them so that they can invest in these survivors.
In short, this new unit now gives DV cases the same focused attention as gun violence or hate crimes. There should be no scenario in which the NYPD has a computer crime squad in the Detective Bureau, but not a domestic violence squad in the Detective Bureau. This is just common sense, and it is long overdue.
And what's more, the centralization of this new division under the Detective Bureau recognizes the intersectionality of domestic violence with sex crimes and human trafficking, placing all facets of gender-based violence crimes under one umbrella.
This is something that advocates have been wanting for years because the separation of these investigations across bureaus meant that aspects of this work, from training to witness interviews to paperwork, was variable. Now we will have standardized, consistent policy and practices from start to finish.
A few more details on what's changing. Every domestic violence investigator will receive additional recurring training, including trauma-informed interviewing, predominant aggressor determination, working with children as witnesses, culturally specific dynamics of DV, and more. And their work will be coordinated with the warrant section through the creation of a DV Warrant Team in each borough. These teams will focus solely on DV cases and manage apprehensions citywide.
We are going to deepen our collaboration with outside agency partners and advocates, including our dedicated colleagues in the Crime Victim Assistance Program, making sure that survivors know exactly what resources and services are available to them during every step of this process. And this new unit also eliminates redundancies, ensuring that we aren't wasting time duplicating the same investigative steps in separate squads.
To support these efforts, both internally and externally, we have created two new civilian positions in the NYPD. The first is a domestic violence director of Prevention and Intervention who oversees training for all NYPD officers and civilians who work with domestic violence survivors. And the second is a dedicated domestic violence counsel who will work with our DAs to prioritize the needs of DV survivors, to build successful cases and prosecutions, and to ensure offender accountability.
I am a real believer that pairing civilians who are subject matter experts with the greatest detectives in the world truly brings the full capabilities of this department to bear, and that is very much the vision here. On top of that, the DV officers transferred into this new unit will now be put on track to earn their detective shields, giving them a well-deserved path toward advancing their own careers.
And finally, just as we do with all our strategic data-driven plans for crime fighting, the Domestic Violence Unit's work will be analyzed and evaluated through DomStat modeled after our weekly CompStat meetings at 1 PP.
And going forward, these DomStat sessions will be conducted through the lens of the new roles and responsibilities of the Domestic Violence Unit, meaning we won't just be focused on complaint and arrest statistics. We'll be looking at ultimate case resolutions, how a DV survivor's understanding of safety can inform our work and how we can be better at every stage of these investigations.
Our number one priority here and the constant driving force behind all of these moves is keeping people who are in these situations safe. It's about more than getting justice. It's about taking violent predators out of our neighborhoods and preventing the next incident before it's too late.
The survivors of domestic violence deserve our focused and our undivided attention. They deserve a police department that makes them a priority. And now, the NYPD's Domestic Violence Unit within the Detective Bureau will be there for them every step of the way. At this time, I'd like to introduce our next speaker, the vice president of Safe Horizon, Maureen Curtis.
Maureen Curtis, Vice President, Safe Horizons: Thank you, Commissioner Tisch, Mayor Adams, we are honored, Safe Horizon is honored to be here to speak and talk about the changes that are occurring in the NYPD. Safe Horizon has a long history of working with the NYPD. Since the 1980s, we have partnered with them to have advocates working in police precincts to respond to victims of domestic violence who have reported to the police.
I myself was an advocate in the 1980s in a precinct in the Bronx, the 5-2 precinct, and helped grow that program over the years where we expanded into almost 27 precincts citywide and all of the housing precincts. It was known as the Domestic Violence Police Program.
I wanna recognize the positive changes that the NYPD has made over the years. In the 1990s, creating domestic violence police officers city-wide, expanding CompStat to DomStat, and then inviting advocates to attend DomStat, which is critical because it shows the value of the work of advocates with NYPD, and advocates who sit in police precincts as well as advocates from the community.
And then, in 2016, once again, the Domestic Violence Police Program, Advocates in Precincts, expanded and became the Crime Victim Assistance Program, the program that Commissioner Tisch mentions. And I cannot say how proud I was to see that program go citywide. We now have advocates in every single police precinct, housing precinct, PSA, and Special Victims Division.
And I believe strongly, my whole career has been working within the criminal justice system, specifically with the NYPD, that the best response that you can have is when law enforcement works with advocates. Because no matter how good the officer is in their response, some survivors just want to speak to an advocate and not to a police officer. And that can make a big difference in whether or not that person, you know, after calling 911 wants to participate in an investigation or a prosecution. And once again, this would not have happened if the NYPD had not said, “Yes, you can have advocates in every single police precinct.” So once again, willingness to look at changes that can make a difference.
Survivors often hesitate to report, as Mayor Adams mentioned. And through our Crime Victim Assistance Program, trained advocates embedded in precincts provide the specialized, trusted help that works. The evidence is clear. When survivors are seen and supported, families and communities are safer. We follow up with survivors who file a police report. We speak to somebody who comes into the precinct and wants to know whether or not they want to file a police report.
And, just as important, we do home visits with police officers. We've done research over the years, and survivors have said that when an advocate is with a police officer on a home visit, it makes a difference in them opening up to that police officer. And just as important, police officers who we have surveyed over the years have said that having an advocate work alongside them makes a difference.
I wanna read something to you from a research that was just recently done in 2025, one of the findings in this research. It was a 2025 report entitled “Justice at a Crossroads in New York City: Reexamining Crime, Victimization, Enforcement, Incarceration, and Racial Disparities.”
In this, the authors state, “NCVS data indicates that among people victimized by serious violence, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault, use of victim services declined from the late 1990s to 2002, and gradually rose thereafter, reaching nearly 30 percent for the first time in 2020 and 2021. In those last two years measured reported use of services was seven times higher in New York City than other cities with a population over 1 million.”
I strongly believe and a subsequent article written by Susan Herman and Jeremy Travis supports that CVAP played a role in that, that the outreach that those CVAP advocates did alongside police officers made a difference in the survivor of any crime getting the support that they need.
Last year, we reached– CVAP advocates reached almost 50,000 victims of crime in one year. And more than 25 percent of those survivors were survivors of domestic or gender-based violence. 25,000 in one year. And sadly, because we know that domestic violence can be reoccurring, many of those survivors we spoke with multiple times within that year.
Safe Horizon believes that the move of the domestic violence officers to the Detective Unit is a positive move. It puts the domestic violence officer on a career path within the NYPD, raises their stature, and also recognizes the work they are already doing. Thus, leading to a higher level of satisfaction in their work. And we know that when people are satisfied in the work that they do, it makes a difference in how they do their work. So, we applaud the NYPD for looking at this.
The program that I mentioned that started in 1984, it was actually started by an NYPD retired sergeant. So, he, for many years, was talking about putting the domestic violence officer, because he knew how hard they worked, and he said they should have a career path.
We appreciate, also, that they're not just looking at more training, but specialized training. Training is critical, but what that training looks like, training that is trauma-focused and client-centered is critical, and we are excited and looking forward to doing that training with the NYPD.
And we're excited that the CVAP advocates continue their work with the domestic violence officers to support survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. And we look to strengthen our relationship with the squads, with the detective unit, because as was mentioned by Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams, there is no doubt that when you have advocates working with police, particularly when there is an investigation or an ongoing prosecution, it makes a difference, because we have the ability of complementing the work of that investigation.
That survivor may be more willing to move forward if they have housing, if they have childcare, if they have other concrete services that they need in order to help keep themselves safe. All of these efforts reinforce the important fact that safety is a human right.
We look forward to our continued partnership with Chief Corbisiero and congratulate him on his new position, continuing our partnership with Kathleen Baer and Chief Ortiz in the Special Victims Division, and are excited to work closely with Kathryn Falasca in her new role as counsel and director to the Domestic Violence Unit. As well as working closely with the new director of the Domestic Violence and Intervention Unit as they move forward in looking at making changes to training.
I'd like to now introduce our Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who also is a critical partner of Safe Horizon and many organizations working to help survivors of domestic violence. Thank you.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg: Thanks so much. We are honored to partner with Safe Horizon and so many other groups that are on the front line. I'm humbled to be here with all who are working so hard in this space on this very, very important issue. This is such an important announcement. I want to thank the mayor of the safest big city in the country and I want to thank our great police commissioner for focusing on this issue and driving this force. And of course, all of the officers who work in this space every day, and the advocates who help drive the work.
This is one of the most common offenses in the borough of Manhattan, in the City of New York, and the country. It demands innovative comprehensive solutions. And that's why I'm so happy to be here today, because that's exactly what this is. And I'll take a moment– our police commissioner has got deep experience in city government and I love that it's being brought to bear on this issue.
People sometimes, I always say, org charts and budgets reflect what an organization and what the work's about. And here, driving more resources to this important issue is so critical. And the way it's being done is so smart. We're so looking forward to partnering under this new initiative. Centralizing resources for domestic violence arrests and investigations. That's gonna help keep survivors safe and hold more people accountable.
Developing a track, that professional development, sounds like it's just about the officers, it's great for them, I commend that. It's gonna make survivors safe and hold more offenders accountable. Having a point person, a coordinator, great for efficiency, someone our office can reach out to. Most importantly, it's gonna make survivors safer and help us hold more offenders accountable. And so, I just wanna commend the police commissioner for rolling this out, commend the mayor, and of course, all of the senior leadership of the NYPD.
We're looking forward to working with [them]. We have a Survivors Victims Division in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office that is sort of organized in a similar way with all of this work under one house. And so, we're looking forward to partnering together to continue to make New York City and the borough safer, and in particular, to address the issue of domestic violence. Thank you.
Question: To what extent do you think that this program incentivizes arrests and prosecution where one would otherwise not only call for it– you're tying promotion to prosecution?
Police Commissioner Tisch: I wouldn't say it's specifically about tying promotion to arrest and prosecution. This definitely streamlines the NYPD's work with both survivors of domestic violence and on investigations.
So, historically, because we've had domestic violence officers in our patrol commands, and then separately our squads investigating the same cases, you would re-traumatize survivors by having multiple different members of the department interviewing them. Asking them the same questions, filling out a lot of the same paperwork. I think the streamlining here will both create efficiency within the department and also help further a trauma-centered approach.
Question: What benchmark do you use to promote police officers or to designate detectives in these sorts of cases?
Police Commissioner Tisch: So, when we have officers who work in our Detective Bureau, they get put on what we call a track. So, after 18 months of good service to the department, they can earn their detective shield. And that's the case if you work today in a squad. After 18 months of good work in the squad, you get promoted to detective. You're on track to be promoted. and that will be the same here with the specialized DV squads.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: So, domestic violence calls are probably some of the most unstable calls that an officer responds to, and we have seen where officers killed and injured. So, what about this training is going to change the way they respond to–
Police Commissioner Tisch: Well, the first thing that's going to happen is that our domestic violence investigators are going to get yearly, recurring training on lots of different topics centered and focused around survivors and investigations and response.
And again, this whole program is about streamlining our response when we are working both with prosecutors and with survivors. Patrol is still going to get the 911 call and be the first to show up on the scene but then they will pass that job over to a specific squad in the precinct that is mainly only solely focused on investigating domestic violence.
Mayor Adams: It’s important with what the commissioner just stated because the methodology used to ensure safety at the initial call is still the same. Domestic violence calls are one of the most dangerous calls a police officer can go on. And it's very sensitive. You arrive at the scene, you don't really know what you have. You have children that are involved. You have the emotion of even the victim. There are many cases where police will respond and go after apprehending the abuser, and you will have the victim that will join in and also assault the officers.
So, this is a very traumatic experience, and you need professionals to do it correctly. That's not changing. We will always train officers on how to respond to those emergency situations. But it's what happens after that we are really looking at to modify.
Question: Does anyone here know why domestic violence has increased unabated since 2019?
Curtis: I mean, I think that, you know, I think domestic violence is unabated. I think because as a society, we don't do enough. We can't depend on the police, the advocates, and the criminal justice and civil justice system if we're not doing our part. And we need to really step up, because so many survivors, and I think it was Commissioner Tisch who mentioned this, don't turn to the police. They turn to their family. They turn to their friends. They turn to their spiritual leaders. And we need to say that this is not okay.
And to also recognize that domestic violence is not just physical. It's not just sexual. It's emotional. It's coercive control. And if we start saying that this is not okay, where it's standing up and really taking a stand, I think we'll see a real difference. But until that time, I don't really think that we are going to see a difference.
Question: [Inaudible] based on the justice system?
Mayor Adams: Let's remember, sometimes [when] we think of domestic violence, we think husband and wife. We just had a young man who attempted to rob his mother with a gun. We had a victim in the Bronx where a young man pointed a gun at his mom and shot an innocent person. You're seeing the erosion of family values. And you're seeing many of the stresses coming after COVID, coming after the crises that people are experiencing every day.
The family unit needs more support all the way around. And when you don't give that support, oftentimes abusers turn on the family. And I think that what has been said is that not only do we need those who are behind us to deal with the issues after domestic violence happens, but we must be proactive. What are we doing in a proactive sense to remove the stresses that families are experiencing in raising children and families in the city?
And that's what we have tackled, and we know police can't do it alone, and we know responding after a domestic violence incident is not enough. We have to be proactive, and that's what this administration attempted to do.
Question: Are you concerned about the longevity of this program, considering there's going to be a new mayor in office in January, and the frontrunner has suggested a Department of Community Safety to handle a lot of crime? Are you worried that your good work could be undone?
Mayor Adams: All we could continue to do, as I say over and over again, I'm handing this city off in good shape, and whomever is going to follow, they must make a determination. The successes are there, from housing, to public safety, to cleanliness, to education. All of the indicators that state, do we have a healthy city, we are handing over. And what our transition team is going to do, we're going to show all of these initiatives.
And the next mayor will come in and then make a determination of what they want to continue and what they want to bring [to] the table. And so, if they believe working with these advocates, they shouldn't do it. If they believe advocates should not be in a room with police officers, if they believe police should not respond to these emergency situations, if they believe they should not have an office to end domestic and gender-based violence, if they believe domestic violence is not a serious issue, that's up to them.
We're going to turn over the city in good shape, with good initiatives and good programs, and the next administration will have to make a determination on what they're going to do with the excellent condition we're leaving the city in.
Question: I'm curious, twofold, is there data on which precincts or patrol boroughs have the highest number or is it kind of spread across the city? And then, additionally, will these officers be assigned to specific precincts or will they be housed at a patrol borough?
Police Commissioner Tisch: So, we can get the data to you, but what I think it will, what I'm confident it will reflect is a massive increase citywide in the past five years, but we can get you the borough-specific data after this press conference. And your second question, Katie?
Question: [Inaudible].
Police Commissioner Tisch: Yes, so the squads will be attached to precincts, so when you become a domestic violence investigator, you will be within a DV squad in a specific precinct, and that's where you'll stay.
Question: Are the precincts selected? Is it all the precincts?
Police Commissioner Tisch: All precincts citywide. Yes, all precincts citywide will now have a domestic violence squad attached to it within the Detective Bureau.
Question: And I know Matt had asked for more details on the stats you offered earlier, do you have that in mind?
Police Commissioner Tisch: On the tracking of how– Chief Kenny, can you talk about how tracking works in the Detective Bureau?
Chief Joseph Kenny, Chief of Detectives, New York City Police Department: Basically, when an officer demonstrates a good work ethic while they're on patrol, they'll get picked up into an investigative unit. They will be put on what we call on track and they'll earn their detective shield by doing a good job. During that 18-month period, they'll be evaluated at least two to three times and if they've demonstrated that they know the job and they're doing a good job, they will get their shield.
Question: [Inaudible].
Chief Kenny: Based on the ability to work with others, based on the ability to make arrests, based on the abilities to conduct good investigations.
Question: Prior to this unit, how many domestic violence officers are currently in the department?
Police Commissioner Tisch: So, we have had domestic violence officers, as I mentioned, assigned to every precinct and PSA citywide. What this is, is a streamlining of investigations around domestic violence. So instead of having domestic violence officers in precincts interviewing survivors and then separately, investigators in our detective squads interviewing those same survivors, we are creating special domestic violence squads within every precinct to be the single point of contact for both survivors and prosecutors.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: So, we're going to excuse everyone. Thank you so much for the work that you're doing, and let's continue to do a great job around this. So, I'm just going to answer two questions before I bounce. Got a lot to do today. No, I'm going to answer the question. And I will call on who I want to call on, okay?
First, there was a great deal of energy around what I'm doing next in life. I hope you guys didn't think I was just gonna disappear. I got some great offers by many parts. Many people are pleased at what we've done in this city. I want to go back to school, number one. I would like to get my doctorate.
And many people have witnessed what we've done here in this city. Many people want me to do things in other countries. Many of you know my love of travel. I'm looking forward to improving cities across the globe. And I'm looking forward to staying focused on this city as well to make sure that we do not abandon what we have accomplished here. And I don't want our city to slip into a state that we're witnessing in Europe and across the country. I think it's imperative to use my voice to continue to lift up what I believe is important around technology.
I would love for this city to become a city where language is no longer a barrier. We want to be rolling out how technology could assist other New Yorkers. And so, I have the ability now to take what I've learned here as the mayor of the most comprehensive city on the globe, and take it and help cities across the globe.
And so, and of course, you all know I want to do my book. I want to spend time focusing on my book and getting it done. And I have several attractive offers to do that, as well as a documentary. This has been a great experience, and I think that we should share what we have accomplished.
Second, the debates. The debates are taking place tonight. I'll catch it in the review because I have the Alfred E. Smith dinner, I have my Diwali event, and I have a bunch of other things to do, and I'm hoping that New Yorkers are focused on the candidates to make sure the right questions are asked so that we can see what the city is going to look like in the future, so we continue to move forward. No one can argue. By all indicators, this city is far better than what we inherited, and we have really moved the city in the right direction.
Third, endorsements. Everyone is asking me, “When are you gonna endorse, when are you gonna endorse, when are you gonna endorse?” When I'm ready to endorse. That's the best answer that I can give, and everyone that is giving their predictions, you must be inside my head, because I don't know what I'm going to do yet.
And so, we've witnessed the last seven months of you guys have had me in Saudi Arabia, you had me in HUD, you had me quitting, you had me doing this, you had me doing that. Listen, folks, report the facts and not the rumors. So, I hope I answered the questions that you have, and if I didn't, as a mayor that is moving forward, I can just bounce, okay?
Yes, yes. No, go ahead.
Question: [Inaudible] you staying local here, if you feel you can still contribute, and in what way, rather than travel the world or be assigned somewhere else?
Mayor Adams: No, I'm going to remain local here in local politics and local solutions. You can do a lot outside of government that you can't do in government. There's so much you can do. Let me give you a perfect example. There's a school here. There's an AI school where children are using– I just learned about this a couple of months ago, where they're using artificial intelligence to teach children on the individual level.
Trying to implement something like that in the bureaucracy of [the] government is a challenge. But, if the results are clear and it's successful and you don't have to deal with the bureaucracy and the special interests, you can actually finally deal with the issues of children learning individually.
There are new ways of running cities that are better and easier to do outside of government than it is in government. And I want to focus on how do we go after those historic problems that prevented communities in general from moving forward, but Black and brown communities.
There's no reason the reading and writing scores are continuously being at the level they are with the amount of money we're spending on our children. And bureaucracy, special interests, is preventing cities from running better. And I'm going to have the opportunity to go based on what's the best way to run cities, and I'm excited about doing that. Thank you.
###