Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on FOX5's "Good Day New York"

February 13, 2024

Curt Menefee: You know, bottom line is, if you don't need to go out, don't. If you do, city officials are actually encouraging everyone to use public transportation as much as possible. Meanwhile, because of the weather, public schools have already shifted to remote learning for the day. 

Rosanna Scotto: And as snow continues to blanket the city, the Department of Sanitation has deployed its full fleet of snowplows, salt spreaders using new technology to track snow removal. Joining us right now from City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams. Nice to see you, mayor. 

Mayor Eric Adams: As well. Both you and Curt. Good to see you, guys. 

Scotto: And the Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Nice to have you back this morning. 

Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Department of Sanitation: Good morning. 

Scotto: All right. So, BladeRunner 2.0, new technology. How is it enacted today? 

Mayor Adams: All yours, Jessica. 

Commissioner Tisch: BladeRunner 2.0 is a new GPS tracking system that we use to track the progress of our salt spreaders and our plows. And we can see from headquarters, from a supervisor's phone out in the field where every truck is, what streets have been plowed, what streets haven't been plowed, and we can use it to surgically move equipment where it's needed. 

Mayor Adams: And, you know, it's something, Rosanna, it's something that I can remember even as a child, we would say, wait a minute, why isn't my block plowed? This technology is going to allow the leadership remotely to ensure we have plow and equity so all of our streets are plowed, and that is what we believe this new technology is going to assist us with. 

Scotto: All right. It's those tertiary roads. I love that word, by the way. It drives me crazy every time it snows. So, right now, you're not plowing anything, are you? What time do you anticipate doing that? 

Commissioner Tisch: We're not plowing. We can't plow until we get two inches of snow. In northern parts of the city that could be around 10, 11 o'clock this morning, especially because the heavier bands are coming in now. 

Menefee: Mayor Adams, I want to ask you, you decided to call the modern version of a snow day, if you will, have remote learning. Kids are out of school, but they're expected to sign on. First of all, why do that instead of just a normal snow day and how do you ensure that kids are actually going to sign on? 

Mayor Adams: Well, it is so important and many people forgot that after Covid, we had some severe learning loss, particularly in math, and we have to keep pace. We are only allowed...we must have, I should say 180 school days a year, by law. And because of this tool of remote learning, we're allowed to have a remote instructional day and at the same time keep the pace of the success we've been experiencing. 

We are outpacing the state in reading and math because of ensuring our children are in school. This is the right thing to do and this is a great teaching moment for our children. Those days of just saying it's snowing heavy, we're staying home doing nothing and doing snowman, you could do it after school classes over remotely. 

Menefee: Hopefully you can get enough kids to actually show up and do it. And actually, hopefully enough of them have access. I want to ask you one other thing about the Floyd Bennett Field, and, you know, during the heavy rains, we saw that a lot of the migrants that were intense there had to be moved to a different location. What do you expect with the snow coming? 

Mayor Adams: Great question, Curt. A different type of weather emergency we are experiencing right now, that was rain and wind gusts that we could have potentially reached 40 to 50 miles an hour of wind, something that could be questionable for the tents at the time. 

We're not experiencing that now. We're going to have visibility issues and potential coastal flooding, but it's just a different scenario. The pitch of the roofs are allowing the snow to just continue to fall off, and so we're not looking at that as a problem at this time. 

Scotto: So, mayor, how do you keep an eye on that? You know, because you got Floyd Bennett Field, you got Randall's Island, which is also another tent structure. How do you monitor that at this point? 

Mayor Adams: Well, as Jay‑Z would say, 99 problems, but dealing with Floyd Bennett Field is not one of them. 

Menefee: Thank you for keeping it clean, mayor. 

Mayor Adams: We feel extremely comfortable. 

Scotto: Okay, so good. Commissioner, you know, I know that you said your plows are ready to start plowing when there's two inches on the ground. What about the sidewalks? That's what? Everybody's responsibility to get the sidewalks cleaned? 

Commissioner Tisch: Yes. Thank you for asking that, Rosanna. We need New Yorkers to do their part. In particular, we need property owners, four hours after the last flakes fall, to clear a four‑foot path in front of the sidewalk in front of their property. 

It's a safety issue. Remember, all New Yorkers use the sidewalks every day, lots of them children, lots of them seniors. We have to get rid of the snow and ice on the sidewalks and make them passible. 

Mayor Adams: We've been extremely, extremely fortunate. We have not had heavy snowfall in a long time. And so getting reacclimated to the system is what this reminder is. 

Menefee: Yes, I was wondering if you actually remember how to do this and all the employees remember how to do this. It's been a couple of years since a big snowfall like this. The question for me, commissioner, the last one for me at least, what's the situation with the garbage pickup in the city? 

Commissioner Tisch: So, the garbage pickup today is delayed. We have to put all our resources right now on spreading salt and then getting in the plows and fighting snow. But as soon as the roads are fully safe and passable, which hopefully will be later tonight, we are coming after that trash. We're coming after it aggressively. We've gone into split shifts and we'll keep our workforce on split shifts until we've caught up on all the trash. 

Mayor Adams: And, Curt, remember those days when it was snow and next thing you know you would have garbage on the streets for weeks after? We moved away from that. Immediately after plowing and putting down the salt and doing those things, we go right after the garbage because we have one thing in common, we both hate rats. 

Scotto: Yes, we all do. 

Menefee: Amen to that. 

Scotto: Hey, Mayor, before you go, are you holding your breath that this is not much ado about nothing? I mean, you never know with the weather you're anticipating eight inches and what happens if it's just a little rain thing? 

Mayor Adams: Well, you know what to do, all new should go after the weatherman. We listen to them so they better get it right. We have to get it right in being prepared. And so if they give us misinformation, I want New Yorkers to point to them. We blame the mayor for a lot, but this one is on the weatherman. 

Menefee: We'd rather over prepare, I think, anyway. 

Scotto: I think so. 

Menefee: Thank you so much, Mayor Adams… 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. 

Menefee: ...and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. 

Commissioner Tisch: Thank you. 

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