Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls in for Live Interview on GMGT Live's "The Reset Talk Show"

March 19, 2025

J.R. Giddings: Welcome back to the Reset Talk Show, Mayor Adams. How are you this morning? 

Mayor Eric Adams: Good to see you all. As you see, I'm in transit, headed out to what's called a clubhouse. This is Mental Health Week for us. And a clubhouse is a place where people are able to be in an environment with community to address mental health issues. When you're dealing with mental health issues, they come on many different levels.  

Sometimes people just need to be around community people to help them over. And sometimes there's severe mental health issues that we are facing. So we're trying to touch on every level. And I'm on my way to one of the clubhouses in Bedford-Stuyvesant. 

Giddings: Well, mental health, it's real on so many levels, Mayor Adams. Mayor Adams, there's so much that we could talk about this morning. Okay, but the one question that I keep hearing, the one question that people keep asking me all the time, which is what I want to leave it because we're talking about New York City, is are you running for mayor this year? There's so much talk about [since] you don't have a manager in this race and funding is low. Are you running this year? 

Mayor Adams: First let me answer just off the top, yes. But I want to go back to something you said, you said there's so much going on. I want all of us to tell me what year, what month, what time, a lot of things [inaudible]. Something is always going on in life. And we, no matter what you see around us, we have a tendency to believe we're in a big space and time. When I first [started my administration], First Deputy Mayor Wright took us to a museum of the City of New York. And I encourage everyone to walk through that museum.  

Everything we're talking about right now has to do with the city of New York, migration, islands, housing. None of this stuff is new. And those of us who are able to work together, manage and navigate, that's the relationship we need to have. And look at the fact I navigated this through COVID, I navigated this through violence. 

Giddings: Mayor Adams, you're going in and out. The reception is really bad. 

Mayor Adams: Ok. Can you hear me?  

Giddings: Yeah, we're going to come back with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Donatella,  Dr. Giddings, can you come in for a minute? I know you guys didn't get a chance to speak with the public advocate, but at least you'll get a chance to talk to the mayor. We just want to make sure that he has a great signal so New Yorkers could hear everything that he has to say. What we'll do in the meantime, we'll take another commercial break and we'll come back with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

[Commercial Break.]  

Giddings: Welcome back, welcome back. This is the Reset Talk Show. Audience, tell a friend to tell a friend. We have New York City Mayor Eric Adams here with us. Welcome back in, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Yes, am I coming through better?  

Giddings: Yes, you are. 

Mayor Adams: Okay, great, great. I was sharing with you, J.R., you were indicating that a lot is going on and I was saying that, you know, there has never been a time when a lot has not been going on. You know, we went to the Museum of the City of New York when I first got elected and it was probably one of the smartest things my deputy mayor did because it allowed us to walk through the museum and to see the history of New York. And there's never been a time we weren't talking about immigration, there's never been a time we weren't talking about housing, displacement, violence.  

All of these things happen no matter what time period you're in and that's why you need leaders that can stand up for the moment and stay focused. You know, I navigated this city out of COVID-19, I navigated it out of the increase in violence when I got into office, I navigated it out of 230,000 migrants and asylum seekers. 190,000 are now taking the next step on their journey. And we did it with all the noise around us. And I stayed focused.  

Are you running for reelection? I have never been unclear. I'm running for reelection. I'm going to get reelected. And all those challenges that you've seen, if anyone has looked at the [inaudible] that I had to go through, leaders don't vote. They become bold in their leadership. And that's what I'm looking forward to. I'm looking forward to voters being able to vote for me. 

Giddings: Thank you for that, Mayor Adams. Before we bring in the rabbi, Donatella, Dr. Giddings. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is in the race, he is talking about public safety and he mentioned that once he is mayor, he wants to hire 5,000 more officers. How do you respond to that? 

Mayor Adams: Well, think about it for a moment. The issues of an officer in recruitment [is] how do you get them out? When are you going to get anything on the same trail? But when you look at the problems we are facing around public safety, it was born out of Albany. It was the laws that he passed and he wanted to see move forward. You know, you can't come back later and try to reinvent your life when you were in office already.  

The recidivism we're seeing in our city is because of laws that were passed by him. When you look at the homeless crisis that we're seeing, it was some of the programs that he shut down. When you look at what happened under COVID, a report is being released of the bickering that took place between him and the previous mayor that didn't allow New Yorkers to get the resources that they deserved. We look at the deaths in the nursing homes [inaudible].  

And so the crime in New York City, the decreased crime in New York City because of the partnership I have with the current governor is substantially lower than when he was governor.  

So you can't reinvent your record. My record is clear. 20,700 guns released off our streets. All the major crime categories [we are] looking at: Subway system, [inaudible] level safety.  

Back thriving in the city with breaking records. Unemployment and jobs. I'm looking forward to showing my record. Look at what I ran on and look at what I have accomplished. And you're going to see the record of what I achieved. Not what I'm promising to do, but what I've done. 

Giddings: Thank you for that, Mayor Adams. Could I bring in Rabbi Cohen for a minute? Welcome in Rabbi Cohen. How are you? Followed by Donatella. Rabbi Cohen, you have to be very brief, rabbi. 

Rabbi Cohen: Yeah, very quickly. First of all, I want to say that I do appreciate the mayor's command of all the statistics. He's very on top of things. Executive skill that is so important for this city. And I think in some ways policy comes second to just ability to govern. So in that way, 100 percent, I'm interested to switch gears out of the political for a second and to ask you about how you think the city budget is going to be affected by all the DOGE and all the other changes that are taking place in Washington with regards to budgets and programs. 

Mayor Adams: Yeah, and that's so important. Remember when I ran and I stated that we were going to do PEGs and that's to find efficiency in government. Listen, no one can deny the fact that government is filled with so much waste. And I said this when I ran for office that I was going to go in.  

We did something called PEGs program to eliminate the gap. We were able to find $7.2 billion, I believe, in efficiencies, and that allowed us to be ready for the crises that we were facing. So whatever one's opinion is about Elon Musk and DOGE, you could have any opinion that you want, but go to the average American and New Yorker and say, do we have waste in government? Billions and billions of dollars, if not trillions of dollars, are being wasted, and we need to be honest about that. And so no matter who is creating the mechanism to identify that waste, New Yorkers and Americans deserve their tax dollars going to efficiency in the service and the delivery of services. [Inaudible.] 

Cohen: Mayor, I think if you move a little closer to the microphone, we're going to hear you better. 

Mayor Adams: Okay, am I coming through? 

Cohen: Yeah, this is better now, yes. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. I stated that we're going to fight for any cuts that we believe we deserve, like we did for the FEMA cuts. We believe we deserve that much, and we're going to fight for that. But this is a scenario that goes between the state and goes between the federal government. This is nothing without fighting for what you believe the city deserves…Did I lose you, J.R.? 

Giddings: Yes, you did. Yes, you did. I don't know if you're at your location yet. I was wondering if when you get to your location and you stop, you could give us a shout back because we're trying to get the call-in number, but the call-in number is not working properly right now because your team is messaging me right now. So could you try once again? 

Mayor Adams: We actually pulled over so I could get a stable call-in. You said you need a call-in number. What number are you looking for? 

Giddings: No, no, not your number. We were looking for a call-in number in the studio. All right, so could you speak again? Oh, yes, you're breaking up. You're breaking up. All right, so let me talk to our engineer to see how we could solve this problem. Mayor Adams, let me talk to the engineer. 

Mayor Adams: I can hear you clearly. I don't know if it's on your end or my end, but I can hear you clearly. You're coming through clear on my end. 

Giddings: Now we're hearing you clearly. We weren't hearing you clearly before. Okay, Donatella, your question for the mayor. 

Donatella: Hi, good morning. My favorite New York City mayor. You know you have my vote. I wanted, and this is a little off-topic of what we're talking about. On Friday, it's my understanding that there was an executive order that was issued in relation to the CDFIs in New York and their funding. As you know, those CDFIs are the ones that control the grants and loans that are available for small businesses.  

[Are] there any words of confidence that you can give to our small business community about how you will help protect their interests where it is possible for you to do so? 

Mayor Adams: Yeah, great question. First of all, I'm a huge fan of CDFIs. What they have done with going after small businesses. Capital is the number one complaint I hear from small businesses. We have more small businesses that operate in the history of the city, as well as more jobs. And so we're going to fight like all hell to not only find out what we could do on our level with the CDFIs, but to look at how this EEO is going to impact them. I'm a fan of CDFIs. I've talked about it on the campaign trail.  

We've done some major initiatives with CDFIs while we were in City Hall, and we're going to continue to support the CDFIs. I think it's clearly important for folks to understand that their ability not only to give them access to capital to small businesses, but to give them the wraparound services and support they need to build the infrastructure is crucial. 

Donnatella Craig: Yeah, I wanted to just let JR know, you know, JR is making me a recipient of an award next month, which I’m so excited [about]. But that $3.9 million that I raised for the small businesses within New York, the majority of that funding outside of the SBA came from working with CDFIs. So I absolutely love the CDFIs. 

 And for people who don't understand what a CDFI is, mayor, would you like to explain to them? Because I think, you know, I'm from tech and sometimes we use acronyms and our constituents don't understand what a CDFI is. Do you mind telling them? 

Mayor Adams: I think what many people, when they think about CDFIs, they think about the access to capital, being able to give them resources for small businesses. But there's more than that. They are someone that is able to walk into a major bank and they have their own personal business. That's what a CDFI is called as an operator. They give them support, they give them information, they give them how to get access to their business and also how to strengthen their business at the local level. And they serve as just their own personal banker for small businesses, particularly in Black and brown communities. 

Craig: Absolutely. So just to close out my question, my statement, those are community development financial institutions. And I don't want the mayor to say one of the names because we don't want to make him show any favoritism. But I have worked a lot with TruFund. I've worked with Lendistry. So for those of you in the small business brand and community, [you] can know who he's talking about. And I am actually working on becoming a CDFI myself with my small business. 

Mayor Adams: Love it. Love it. Love it. And, you know, you mentioned some powerful names that have been around a long time. You're right. Many of them have their unsung heroes.  

[Inaudible] 

Craig: They are. And just to let you know, mayor, your audio in that last sentence where you talked about the unsung heroes, your verbiage was going in and out. So they did not get the last two sentences. I'm just not sure if you want to repeat them. 

[Inaudible.]  

Giddings: Your quick question for the mayor. 

Dr. Giddings: Good morning. Good morning, mayor. Good to see you again. You know, I'm really proud of all the stuff you've done for New York. But what's top of mind for me, especially this month since it's the National Health Observation of Nutrition. Your plant based diets in school is really one of my favorites.  

And, you know, I think Rabbi kind of asked you this question, but we didn't really hear the answer with the cuts. Will it impact SNAP and the lunch and the breakfast programs? Because, as you know, nutrition is really important for learning and focusing and academic progress. And with COVID sending us back a year in school, we don't want the kids to miss their breakfast and their lunch. And, you know, so that they can be academically ready to perform and excel in school.  

So I was wondering if these cuts and you mentioned the whole efficiency of government, et cetera, which everybody wants efficiency. But I think what everybody is upset about is the way he's doing it, you know, the process of it. You know, there's so many federal workers out, we're cutting the Department of [Education]. And, you know, I said last week I went to school on Pell Grants. So all of these things may be affected. And if I didn't have those grants, I don't think I could get through college, you know, on my own. So nutrition, Department of [Education], can you speak to that? 

Mayor Adams: Yeah. And you are so right. You know, I'm also a Pell Grant recipient. There's no way I would have been able to afford college without Pell and other programs, TAP and other programs that was in place. So these foundational programs play a major role in helping low and moderate income New Yorkers. And you have to you have to fight and justify the existence of these programs. Sometimes people don't understand the narrative and importance of them. And so when we talk about going after efficiency, in no way should it impact programs that give people the opportunity to move into middle class living in our city, in our country. 

I am who I am because of these programs. It would not have been possible. My parents could not afford to pay my college tuition. I went to school at night. I had to work during the day. And so they are important. And the nutritional programs that you're talking about are crucial. SNAP is crucial. All of these programs that are helping people have a well-balanced diet and have access to the support they need. We're going to continue to advocate for them. We're going to continue to fight for them. We're going to do it not only on the city level, in the state level. And this is all part of how do you move forward as new administrations come in?  

And here's the challenge. And I just really want to be candid with everyone on this area of challenge. You know, what I'm seeing is, you know, how people feel about leadership should not get in the way of how we continue to move these important [inaudible].  

You know, we could have many opinions on leaders. We could have opinions on the mayors. We could have opinions on the governors, the president. We got those opinions. But now it's time for professional focus and discipline to keep our personal opinions out of how do we ensure we fight on behalf of the City of New York. And that is what I'm going to do. I've done it under the previous administration. When I invited the president here and I talked to him about the $7 billion dollars that we were losing based on them not doing their job. I'm going to fight in this administration to get the resources for the city.  

We got to be consistent no matter who's the president. Because I say to my colleagues, folks, my colleagues who have been extremely vociferous about the current administration, where were they when we had to pick up a seven billion dollar price tag from the previous administration?  

Not one person criticized the previous administration for putting that price tag on the City of New York. That's not consistent. We have to be consistent in fighting for our city. So if it's wrong for this administration to cut eighty million dollars from FEMA funding, wasn't it wrong for the previous administration to cut seven billion dollars from funding?  

So that inconsistency is problematic to me. And I'm just going to be consistent no matter if it's Democrat or Republican. I'm [fighting] for the people of the city. And that's what you got in this, a consistent fighter for the people of the city. 

Dr. Giddings: Yes, we know that.  

Craig: Thank you. I appreciate that. 

Giddings: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We really appreciate your time this morning. We really appreciate you being very candid this morning. And we can't wait to have you back as we get ready for this election season. Thank you for your time. 

Mayor Adams: I look forward to it. Looking forward to being on the campaign trail. You know, take care. 

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