Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls in to 94.7 the Block's "Jonesy in the Morning"

February 5, 2025

Tarsha Jones: Hey, how you doing, better? 

Mayor Eric Adams: Much better.  

Jones: You had the flu? RSV? Let me not get all in your HIPAA privacy. 

Mayor Adams: I was having some discomfort in my side, and the doctor wanted me to do a few tests, and they all came out negative. So I just wanted to, you know, take time. My son said, dad, listen, just take some days, and just, you know, get yourself together, and take these tests, make sure everything is fine, so you can fight the battles you have to fight.  

Jones: I love your son for that. He's a good man. 

Mayor Adams: Yes he is, yes he is. 

Jones: You got you a good young man Savannah. No because you know what really we take it for granted but if you don't have your health, you won't have anything at all. 

Mayor Adams: Well I always use the story of flying on the plane and the during emergency the captain says to place the mask on yourself first before you all your travel companions before you place it on them. Because you gotta take care of yourself. And if you don't, you can't take care of others. 

Jones: That's a fact. But you seem to have that covered because I'm hearing that the crime rates are going down, have gone down significantly, do tell. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, no, so true. And really hats off to not only the Police Department, but the crisis management teams, everyday public. And I know people see some of the high-profile crimes that take place in the city. They think the city is out of control with a lot of violence, but it's just not true. And December and January show back-to-back significant results in crimes, particularly in shootings and in homicides, we're seeing substantial decreases. But it's about keeping the city safe. I always say the prerequisite to prosperity is public safety, you gotta be safe. 

Jones: And people have to, it has to be consistent. Like, we just can't have this record this month, and then it goes back to crazy, or else this is not gonna matter. Are we seeing any of this being attributed to more police presence on the train, you think? 

Mayor Adams: I think the combination, believe it or not, Jonesy, we have 4.6 million people that use our subway every day, and people think we have hundreds of crimes every day. We don't. We have an average of six felonies a day, six, out of those 4.6 million. And so what happens is that when you have a high-profile crime, like someone being burnt on the subway or shoved to the subway track, it plays on the psyches of people. So those officers that we place on the subway it's to really, number one, to fight crime, but number two, the omnipresence of seeing that uniform makes people feel safer. 

Wayne Mayo: Mr. Mayor, you know, I take the trains every day at about 4:30 in the morning and I've seen more cops and psychologically it makes me feel good. 

Jones: Yeah, okay. That's good. Yeah, they might be playing Tetris on their phone, but in your mind you are protected. We're talking to Mayor Eric Adams people, we'll be back with more of him when we return. 

[Commercial Break.]  

Jones: We're back with the mayor of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams. I had a question. I saw something on social media where Erica Ford, she's like a public advocate, she does a lot of good work in the community, and her offices were being raided. I didn't like it, and I didn't like the nastiness of the officer being disrespectful. What we gonna do? 

Mayor Adams: Well, we're looking into it. Her office was not actually being raided, and hats off to those crisis management members who responded accordingly. There was a warrant to look at video of, there were some young people who were involved in a shooting, and those young people were in the office, and the detectives went and got a warrant from the court so that they can look at the video to see exactly, to try to piece together what happened in that shooting. And so we're going to reach out to Erica and the entire team so that we can resolve exactly what took place. So it wasn't a raid. It was nothing that the crisis management team members were being accused of. It was some young people who were in their office earlier that were involved in the shooting. 

Jones: And the cops, the way they were talking to her, they could have de-escalated it, but they get crazy. Like, you got to talk to them, because either you're going to talk to them or I'm going to talk to them. And if I talk, I'm going to talk every day, and they're not going to like the slander because there is a way you have to be trained to know how to de-escalate. And just because a woman is Black and you think that we're tough and that we can just withstand anything, even a dog deserves respect, and I do not like how they were talking to Erica Ford that day. 

Mayor Adams: And we believe that you gotta be professional, but I think de-escalation of the issue comes with everyone involved. And part of the trademark of the crisis management team members is their ability to de-escalate a situation. I looked at that video several times, and I think there's some lessons on all sides. That's why we want to make sure that we bring all the team members in, so that we could use those de-escalation tactics. 

Jones: Please, please. And then let them take a video of that, so that people can see that it can be done. 

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt, I agree it can be done. Level headedness must prevail under stressful situations. That's what you call social emotional intelligence. How do you manage your emotions during a stressful situation? I think all of us from time to time, we lose it and we look back. You'll be with a loved one, a family member and we look back and say “you know what, I let the anger get to me and I didn’t handle this the way I wanted.” 

Jones: Yeah, but it takes a lot of— you have to be emotionally mature but you also have to stay guarded up. But again, if you do the video of showing how it could have been better then at least people have something to pattern after when they're catching themselves in that moment of anger, they can recall your fix-it video. And then real quick, are we getting the money from Albany or do I gotta put hands on this []? Just let me know. Just let me know.  

Mayor Adams: We gotta let you go up there and do your thing. 

Jones: Come on. I'm ready to throw it all away for you. Are they gonna get up off their cash? Or we gotta run up in their house, up in their mouth? Like what we doing? 

Mayor Adams: They have been very supportive throughout the years. We've gotten just about everything we’ve asked from Albany, from housing, to earned income tax, a level [inaudible] increase. And so we're looking forward to doing the same this year. And so we're excited to be up there. 

Jones: Alright. 

Mayor Adams: Alright. 

Jones: I'm going to leave it right there. I don't want to mess it up. 

Mayor Adams: Alright, take care. 

Jones: Thank you. Hopefully we're going to see you in person soon, please. 

Mayor Adams: I'm coming to the studio. 

Jones: Alright, good. Alright, bye thanks. 

###