Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on NY1's "News All Day" With Ruschell Boone

March 6, 2023

Ruschell Boone: All right, folks. When I was diagnosed, so many people were so kind to send me their thoughts and their prayers, and to my surprise, one of them was Mayor Eric Adams. It only felt right that on my first day back that I would invite him to join me for an update on the city. We're going to talk about business first and then we're going to get to the personal stuff. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for being here.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. It's good to be here and I feel like this is a Welcome Back, Kotter moment. That welcome back. I'm just so happy for you and your family. You're just a solid, solid person. My heart was just heavy when I heard, but God is good all the time.

Boone: All the time. All right. Let's get to the matter of the city and the business of the city. You made a big announcement last week about mental health. That's a huge focus for us here on this show and wellness in general. What are the things you want New Yorkers to take away from that, and when can we start to see the benefits of it?

Mayor Adams: I remember January 2nd of 2022, a woman came up to me and said, "Listen, you're doing nothing about mental health, nothing about potholes." I said, "Listen, this is two days in office." So we had to roll out a plan and we had to be disciplined. We started out in the beginning of the year, we went to the subway safety plan, 4,000 people that were living on our subway system. We no longer ignored them.
Then we went into a plan with mental health professionals who deal with those who are dealing with serious mental illnesses and couldn't take care of their basic needs and a danger to themselves. We told New Yorkers, "We got another phase of this." We did that with Dr. Vasan and his team where we are now going after three specific areas, young people, and their suicidal ideations. Their tendency to try to harm themselves right in the school using new methods such as telemedicine for mental health. We're going after substance abuse. We have a real fentanyl problem in this city that I'm really concerned about.

Boone: How bad is that problem?

Mayor Adams: Remember what happened in the seventies and sixties with heroin and the eighties and early nineties with crack cocaine? Put both of them together, that is what we are about to face and we have to address it.

Thirdly, those with serious mental health illness, wraparound services, clubhouses, giving them the support. Not just putting them in the system and leaving them. This is a comprehensive plan that the advocates asked for and we're delivering on.

Boone: There's some pushback on that part of the plan. Some people are concerned that people might be removed against their will.

Mayor Adams: No. Because it was the way it was reported. We said anyone with a mental... People were saying anyone with a mental health illness would be automatically forced to a hospital. That was not true. There's a small number of people who are at the place that they cannot take care of their basic needs, and they are in danger to themselves.

With those two combinations, it's about engaging them, convincing them to go get the care they need so they don't end up in the emergency room. This is so humane what we are doing, and this is the right thing to do for New Yorkers.

Boone: All right. You mentioned emergency room. Let's talk about hospitals because during the pandemic we saw that a lot of hospitals were just really overrun with patients. Elmhurst and Queens, for example. A lot of people talked about that.

But what they didn't talk about is that we lost a number of hospitals over the last 20 years. What is the plan going forward now to help people? I'm not even just talking about a pandemic, I'm talking about to help people with heart disease and diabetes. Where do you go to get treatment?

Mayor Adams: Oh, I'm an upstream believer. We have what I call sick care and not healthcare. We wait until people get sick and then we treat their ailments and we have them hooked on drugs for the rest of their lives. We have to go upstream and some of the partners that we are surrounding ourselves with now, everything from healthy food choices, mental health.

When I was running for office and I talked about food and the connectivity with mental health, people basically laughed me out of the place. Now, the studies are showing us, our bodies and our brains are not disconnected. They're all together. So if we eat bad food that hurts our heart, it's going to hurt your brain also. So we're taking a real holistic approach to women's health. We're doing a major conference this month around women's health that is often ignored. There must be an upstream approach to healthcare and that's what we're going to do.

Boone: Let me get to your comments about religion. I'm sure you've been asked this a lot of times now.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Boone: Because you made those comments and it caused quite a controversy.

Mayor Adams: That's good.

Boone: As soon as you sat down here, you said God is good all the time.

Mayor Adams: Yes. Yeah.

Boone: Can you clarify some of that, because some people are concerned about church and state.

Mayor Adams: Because something trends on Twitter doesn't mean it's real concern. The people who were in the room heard me, knew exactly what I was saying. It's unimaginable that we keep pretending that this is not a country of faith. Every president placed his hand on a religious book except for three. I ended my last comments when I was sworn into office so help me God. Every citizen that came to this country, when they took their oath, they said, "So help me God."

I mean, so why are we acting like we don't have God We Trust on our dollars? We can't have government going to churches and dictating churches, and we can't have churches, or mosque or synagogues going to government and dictate, but we should use our faith when we make policies. My humane policy on homelessness is based on my faith.

Boone: Let me ask you a quick question about that, and I have a few more questions for you. So I want to get to this really quickly. You said when they took prayers out of schools, the guns came in.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Boone: What did you mean by that?

Mayor Adams: It's a symbolism of what we're doing to our children. I don't know why we don't want to face what's happening to our children. Our children are leaving home, stopping at the local cannabis store, taking gummy bears that lace with drugs and sitting in classrooms.

We have young girls who are now going through how to get liposuction while they're teens. We have everything in school that we're talking about, but we don't want to talk about the faith of our children. That holistic approach, that's what we're doing, breathing in our schools.

So I'm not trying to be popular. I'm trying to do what's right. Our children are hurting. When you look at the number of attempted suicides, suicides that we're seeing, drug overdose, our children are in pain. As adults, we have a responsibility and as the mayor, I have an obligation to make sure I address it.

Boone: Let me ask you about Mayor Lori Lightfoot in Chicago. She lost her mayoral race.

Mayor Adams: Yes, she did.

Boone: A lot of Democrats are looking at this now thinking this could be a problem across the country. Is this something you're concerned about? Because crime was a big issue in that race.

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt and people often say, "Well, is this a warning sign for the Mayor of New York?" I say, "No, it's not." It's a warning sign for those that are not listening to their constituents. Who received the most number of votes in Chicago? The mayor who was talking public safety. I ran on a message of public safety and justice. They can go together.

I have been very clear from the beginning, even when people wanted to push back at going after those extreme recidivists that are causing harm, we have not put in place any real legislation that goes for people who are the victims of crime. We've done everything for those who commit crimes, but we have ignored people who are the victims of crime. So I think what happened in Chicago is a message for all over the country that people want to be safe and that is how you build a city.

Boone: What about the quality of life in this city? It is so hard to live in this city. It's expensive. There are some illegal activities happening. How do you turn that around?

Mayor Adams: We're doing that. We're doing that every day. You find ways within the powers of the mayor's office to bring back resources to those who are struggling, and we've done that. We've done that with Earned Income Tax Credit. We're running out these campaigns where people can give real money back in their pockets.

Childcare, parents were spending so much money on childcare. We were able to get billions to deal with that. What we're doing with foster care children. Then we have to build affordable housing. You can't advocate for affordable housing on Monday and then on Tuesday you say, "Don't build it in my district."
We got Innovation Queens done. We have the Bruckner project done. We have the project at Williams Point. We need to continue to build and I take my hat off to Borough President Levine, who identified places in his borough where we can build. We have to build affordable units and think differently about the process.

Boone: All right. Now that we've talked business, let's talk a little bit of some personal stuff, because I was very surprised when you called me in June of last year to wish me well.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Boone: You gave me a lot of guff about not having a plant-based diet, which I am trying to, but I'm Jamaican. We eat a lot of meat. But I want to thank you for that. That was very touching for me and you kept up with me too, to see how I was doing.

Mayor Adams: Yes. Well, you may not realize that you sit here on TV, but you don't know how much you inspire people. There's so much-

Boone: You know I grew up in the Boogie Down Bronx, and I spent a lot of years in Queens. All right.

Mayor Adams: You're an inspiration and I considered you to be more than a journalist. I considered you to be a friend. I'm happy today I'm going to meet your boo.

Boone: My husband. Yes. He's here too.

Mayor Adams: You are an anchor. I have been on this station from the first day when you guys opened. I'm excited about you being back and you bringing that radiant, bringing that energy.

Boone: Thank you.

Mayor Adams: When you think about pancreatic cancer, sister, people don't think the possible.

Boone: I know. I know.

Mayor Adams: That's the power of prayer.

Boone: I know. A lot of people thought I wouldn't be here, but you thought I'd make it. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for being with me today.

Mayor Adams: Good to see you back.