Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live On CBS New York’s “CBS 2 News This Morning”

January 27, 2023

Mary Calvi: We've been talking about it all morning, Mayor Adams' ambitious new agenda for the city.

Chris Wragge: He just unveiled his second State of the City address and one of the biggest plans is to get repeat criminals off the street.

(Video begins.)

Mayor Eric Adams: It's only roughly 1,700 known offenders that are responsible for a disproportionate amount of violent crime in our cities. These are New Yorkers, they're most wanted by New Yorkers. We know who are and we need to get them off our streets.

(Video ends.)

Wragge: The plan also includes launching the country's largest streetside composting program, requiring all Uber and Lyft cars to go fully electric by 2030, building more open space, and providing free medical care.

Calvi: Mayor Adams is joining us now live. Good morning, mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you? Good morning. Good to speak with you this morning.

Calvi: We have so much to get to, the State of the City address, of course, we'll get to that in a moment. But first, we want to ask you about this developing story out of Memphis today.

Wragge: Yeah, five police officers charged with murder and other crimes in the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after a confrontation with officers. We're expecting to see the body cam video released later today, and we're also expecting to see protests across the country, possibly here in the city. First of all, your thoughts? And secondly, what is the city doing to prepare here?

Mayor Adams: Really concerning, alarming on several fronts. Number one, we really mobilized throughout the years to get African American officers on the force because we really strongly believe that the diversity of the force will help us ensure that we could get the fair policing that we're looking for. And to see anyone break the law is wrong.

And when a law enforcement officer participate in an unlawful act, that is extremely troubling. The criminal justice system now, they have the case and we're going to follow it as much as possible. But we're calling for the right for peaceful raising one's voice and we're going to ask New Yorkers to do that here in the city.

Calvi: We wanted to ask you as well about subway safety, and in fact, later this morning you'll be joined by Governor Hochul and the MTA chair to make a subway safety announcement. Can you tell us more about that?

Mayor Adams: Well, it's going to show that we are moving in the right direction. I stated it from the beginning in October when the governor and I stood together for the next phase of our Subway Safety Plan. And she's going to release information to show how that Subway Safety Plan is moving our system in the right direction.

And I always stated it was going to be a while before people go from what they felt to what they're feeling. As we deal with those average of six felonies a day that we receive in our subway system, those 3.9 million riders are getting a good product and they're going to continue to see that.

Wragge: As it relates on the crime front here, kind of in relation to that. In the State of the City, you talked about the following and I just want to show people at home some of the things that you did talk about here. An expanded focus on preventing shoplifting, more violence prevention programs, a most wanted list of the 1,700 criminals responsible for a disproportionate amount of the violent crime, more neighborhood safety teams to get guns off the street, and a push in Albany for criminal justice reforms.

Now, that's a lot to talk about, of course. I want to focus on just one of the elements here and that's that most wanted list. What is that going to look like and how is that going to work? Will it really make a difference, do you feel?

Mayor Adams: It is important. We drilled down the crime crisis that we were experiencing in February of last year, over 40 percent increases in many of our seven major crimes. We drilled down and did a real analysis. And I want to thank the police commissioner. And we identified 1,700 people who are repeated offenders. These are just bad people. They commit a crime, they're arrested, they come out, they commit another crime while out on trial or waiting to be sentencing. And so now it's time for us to drill down on them and make sure these dangerous people are off our streets.

Calvi: And let's put out some statistics for you. Overall, index crime in New York City, as you know, decreased for the second straight month in December, 2022, declining by 11.6 compared to December '21. Five of the seven major crime categories saw decreases: murder, grand larceny, rape, burglary, robbery. Those numbers may seem confusing to some people, and you even mentioned it that they don't necessarily feel safe. So why do you think there is this disparity?

Mayor Adams: Well, it's a combination of things. When you are hearing about the worst part of New York every day, you have a tendency to identify yourself through that. Like I stated, those 3.9 million people feel as though their subway system was out of control although we were having six felony crimes, a little over six felony crimes a day in comparison to 3.9 million riders.

So it was my responsibility not to dispute what people were feeling. That just can't happen. It was about showing them the visible presence of their police officers, remove those on our streets who are dealing with severe mental illness and they couldn't take care their basic needs. So it was a combination of just really clearing up the feeling of disorder in our city.

We got a long way to go. We have more to do, but I think the New Yorkers are going to be pleased when they start seeing the results that we will produce with our New York City Police Department and other agencies.

Wragge: So you're really putting criminals on notice right now, right?

Mayor Adams: Oh, that's what it is. That most wanted list is something that all of us are aware of. We know when people are considered dangerous to our city. We're not talking about individuals who commit a petty crime. We're talking about those who use firearms, who are extremely dangerous, assault, robberies, burglaries. These are repeated offenders that have made up their mind that they're going to prey on innocent New Yorkers, and that is just not going to happen in our city.

Wragge: I want to talk to you about the migrant crisis real quick. You just got back from Texas, you saw things firsthand at the border. Now, you've repeatedly asked the federal government for help. Are you getting that help yet? If not, what is the holdup?

Mayor Adams: Well, it's a combination and we have to really point to the source. The source of the matter is that we have a Congress, particularly the Republicans in Congress, that refuse to deal with real comprehensive immigration reform. That is a problem and must be addressed. There's no getting around that.

But I say all the time, if my house is burning, don't tell me about fire prevention, put out the fire. And right now, the fire is that we are receiving a disproportionate number of migrants in the city and it has really impacted the basic services of our city. And we need an immediate response by the federal government.

I want to thank the congressional delegation, New York delegation, Senator Schumer, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. We are going to receive money from the over $800 million that was passed in Washington, and we received $8 million from FEMA, but we need much more and we need a real decompression strategy.

Calvi: And mayor, we asked our viewers to send questions via social media and we received this one from Twitter. We'll read it here for you and we wanted to get your reaction. Born and raised New Yorkers being forced to leave their hometown because it's not affordable. What is the solution to that, mayor?

Mayor Adams: No, it's not affordable and we need to make it affordable, and that's what we are doing. We are going to do everything within our powers, such as we mentioned yesterday in the State of the City. Earned Income Tax Credit. One person who attempted to do his, file his taxes, he thought he was getting $1,400. We got him close to $15,000.

What we're doing with the NYCHA Land Trust, the billions we got in childcare to bring down the cost of childcare. My job is to look at all of the resources and assets that I have as the mayor and put money back into the pockets of everyday New Yorkers and then build affordable housing. Our projects out in Queens, Willets Point, 100 percent affordable units. The units we're doing in Bruckner, part of the Bronx, and what we're doing with Innovation QNS. I must be creative to deal with how do I put money back in the pockets of New Yorkers. And that's what we're doing and we're proud of that.

Wragge: Mr. Mayor, the city expected, and the state, expected to issue full gaming licenses to three locations. Would you want to see a casino in Times Square possibly?

Mayor Adams: We want to see it anywhere in New York City that the local electeds and representatives feel as though it's a good fit. That location is going to be up to the state to determine it. We do not weigh in and decide the location, but anywhere in New York City I think it's a good bet for New Yorkers and I think it's a financial stimulus for this city. Jobs, tourism, bringing people to the city to add to the 56 million we had in 2022 and close to 65 million we're expecting in 2023.

Calvi: Mayor, can we get your thoughts about Congressman George Santos being in office? What do you think should happen in this situation?

Mayor Adams: Real challenging when you talk about it. I'm always respectful of the decision of voters. I think it's very important to allow voters to make their determination. I believe personally that he should leave. I think he should resign. What you see is something that is unimaginable and I think it only gets in the way of what needs to be done in Congress this year.

My personal belief is that he should resign, but the voters voted him in. Unless his colleagues in Congress determine that there's some criminality or some strong ethics that they're going to bring up on internal review. I think the voters have to make that determination, but personally, I believe it's time for him to leave.

Wragge: Mr. Mayor, finally, we just want to end on a lighter note with you. CBS 2, as you probably know, is the Emmy station. The awards are nine days away. Some of the top nominees, Beyonce, Adele, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, even ABBA. I know you're a huge ABBA fan. They're nominated in some big categories. Any predictions?

Mayor Adams: Oh well, listen, I'm a Mary J. Blige guy. No Drama.

Calvi: All right, perfect.

Wragge: Safe bet.

Mayor Adams: No Drama, that's my favorite song.

Calvi: Great.

Wragge: Safe bet, Mr. Mayor, thanks so much. We do appreciate you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Calvi: All right, Mayor Adams, thank you.