Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on CBS News New York

March 6, 2023

Mary Calvi: There are many issues facing New Yorkers from crime to mental illness.

Chris Wragge: And to talk about some of those issues, Mayor Eric Adams joins us right now. Mr. Mayor, good morning and thank you for being with us.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. Great to be with you this morning.

Calvi: And mayor, the latest numbers from the NYPD shows overall crime down 5.5 percent in February compared to the same time last year, and major crimes down just over 9 percent in the subways. So, does this mean New Yorkers are safer?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it does. And it is the continuation from when I inherited a city that we saw an increase in violence, we saw an increase on our seven major crimes such as robbery, burglary, homicides. We have a double-digit decrease in shootings, double-digit decrease in homicides. Our subway, due to our subway safety plan, it's extremely safer. And we have work to do, we're not spiking the ball. I was clear that public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity in the city and we're going to continue to move in that direction.

Calvi: And smaller crimes like burglary, theft still happening around the city, what is being done about those crimes?

Mayor Adams: Zeroing in and my law enforcement officers are doing a great job. We're seeing highs across the board on apprehending violent people. At the heart of our problem is that we have a recidivism problem. Small number of people, approximately 2,000, are extreme recidivists. It's a catch release and repeat system. Too many cases are being dismissed in the thousands that we need to focus on, felony cases. And if we don't stop the extreme recidivism, it's going to make our job difficult, but we're going to continue to forge ahead.

Wragge: So, let's talk about this kind of bail reform because it continues to be a big issue. Staten Island district attorney for instance says drug dealers who sell fentanyl are back on the street within hours with no bail due to a loophole. So, what's your position on that and what can be done to change that?

Mayor Adams: Well, two things. Number one, I am extremely concerned with this thing we call fentanyl. Many families don't realize the impact of it. We went through the heroin era of the '60s and early '70s, the crack era of the '90s. I believe fentanyl is the combination of both of them, and if we don't grapple with this on a national level to stop the flow from China and from some of our southern borders, this could have a major impact on our country. But when you deal specifically with our calls for reform, it's more than just bail. I say this over and over again, we have to look at the discovery, both the defense attorneys and prosecutors are concerned about the large volume of information that they have and the shortage of district attorneys across our entire city and state, prosecutors and lawyers. There's a real shortage in the bottlenecking of our system, and that's what we're hoping we could partner with our lawmakers in Albany to correct.

Wragge: But it's got to be frustrating though, when you see and you hear stories like this over and over again about people selling the worst drug imaginable out there as you just mentioned, and they're back out on the streets doing it again hours after being arrested.

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is. It's extremely frustrating and our reforms of public safety and ensuring we are finding that balance with justice and safety cannot be tilted far in one way or the other. We cannot be heavy-handed in law enforcement, but we cannot be too lax on those who are creating the violence that we're seeing in our streets. And that balance is possible and I'm hoping to accomplish that with the leaders in Albany this year.

Calvi: Mayor, the city is paying millions of dollars to protestors who were boxed in during the George Floyd protest. Will we see a change in practices by the NYPD during protests?

Mayor Adams: I think we learned a lot from the period of time during the Floyd protests. We learned a lot. Those are unprecedented numbers in our street, and we cannot dismiss the fact that there were a group of people who came to this city that had one thing in mind and that was not to protest for valid concerns, but to disrupt our city. There were some dangerous people here that threw fire bombs at police vehicles, frozen water bottles and bricks and stones. And I think that sometimes when you have that toxic mix of dangerous people and you have those who wanted to peacefully protest, it became something that was out of control. We got to do better, we will do better, and I'm sure we're going to move forward and learn from here.

Wragge: Yeah, Mr. Mayor, if I could just ask you about last Wednesday, the City Council had an oversight hearing regarding the NYPD Strategic Response Group, but no one from the unit showed up. Any comment on that?

Mayor Adams: There were some issues in the NYPD's Legal Bureau with an understanding of how they could have a public discourse of public conversation around this issue. We always participated in the hearings. You can see the number of hearings our agencies have participated in throughout last year, and we'll continue to do so. We respect the body of the City Council. I think the SRG unit, which they call it, I think it's an appropriate tool used effectively just as we use our other agency apparatus to keep bringing down these numbers. That's where these numbers come from. Proper policing, not heavy-handed policing, is moving us in the right direction.

Calvi: And mayor, you just recently unveiled a new phase in your plan to combat mental illness? Do you believe those efforts have also helped bring down crime?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it's a combination. When you look at some of the most horrific high profile cases we experienced last year, the young Michelle Go being pushed to the subway tracks and lost her life. Speaking with her parents, I knew how impactful it was. When you look at some of these cases, it's dealing with people who have reached a point of severe mental illness where they can't take care of their basic needs and they're a danger to themselves. We had our first layer of our plan to deal with this issue involve mental health professionals combined with law enforcement when needed. And we saw a great success when we moved it into the subway system with our subway safety plan. But it's a combination. Public safety is a holistic approach dealing with those who are a danger to themselves and those who bring about intentional danger. And we're not leaving one stone unturned and addressing the issue.

Wragge: Mr. Mayor, I want to talk about some of these fires that have been caused by lithium ion batteries. A scooter caught fire over the weekend. It was a huge fire spreading to a shopping complex. Now, this comes just after the City Council passed a ban on unregulated lithium ion batteries. While it's still unclear if the battery in this fire was unregulated. Is there more that the city is going to have to do to prevent more of these fires? This seems to be a weekly occurrence, if not more.

Mayor Adams: And hats off to Commissioner Kavanagh. I was not aware of what these batteries actually carried out and what happened until I saw the first video of one of the batteries exploding. You look at this small device and you think it's almost harmless, but these are dangerous items, particularly when they are illegally made. 

The investigation is still underway to determine that the battery in the Bronx that caused the six-alarm fire was an illegal battery. But here's the problem, you come in with your scooter from being a delivery person or recreation, and you place it at your door. When you look at the video, what happened? It explodes.
It blocks your egress, it catches fire to everything in the house. It's not easy to put out just by using water. 

These are extremely dangerous and I am really calling our national government to look at how we restrict the sales of these batteries. And we are going to do education here to allow our delivery personnel, people that use these devices for recreational purposes, and make sure they're not sold here illegally. But this is a real concern and it can impact and harm many people's lives and property.

Wragge: Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for taking the time to join us this morning. We appreciate it.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Enjoy your day.

Wragge: Good to see you. Okay.