Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls In For Live Interview On 1010WINS’ “Morning Drive”

March 1, 2024

Susan Richard: We are joined live this morning by both Mayor Adams and city Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Thank you for being here this morning.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Great to be on with the commissioner as we do our morning trash talk.

Richard: Hmm, yeah, so you both have big news about garbage collection in the city specifically aimed at the effort to rid the city of rats, right?

Commissioner Tisch, Department of Sanitation: Yes. Today we are requiring all businesses in New York City put their trash in containers with lids rather than in trash bags directly on the sidewalks.

Mayor Adams: This is one of the number one concerns we hear from New Yorkers about the presence of rodents and unsightly trash conditions, and it was our plan not to do a five‑year rollout like many people projected. Two years and two months into this administration, Commissioner Tisch has been able to do it in cycles, and today all of our businesses will now be required to place their garbage in containers and bins with covers.

Richard: Okay. And so will this be extended at some point beyond businesses to like residential homes, to residential buildings?

Commissioner Tisch: Yes, absolutely. So, commercial trash, business trash represents about half of the 44 million pounds of trash we have in New York City. As of today, that all has to be containerized. But we have a plan in place to containerize all residential trash as well. This fall, one to nine‑unit buildings in New York City will be required to put their trash in WheelieBins, much like businesses are doing now. And then we also have plans that we've recently announced for containerizing the higher density trash from the 10‑unit buildings and up.

Richard: Okay. And is there a grace period for the businesses at this point and what's the punishment for not doing it?

Commissioner Tisch: Yes. As we've rolled this out in phases, we do a one‑month warning period with each phase. So, for the entire month of March, we will be giving out warnings. But come April, we will start issuing summons for failure to comply with the very basic rules we have around using containers for trash. And those start at $50 and they go up to $200.

Richard: So, in general, mayor, how's the rat war going?

Mayor Adams: We're doing well. You're seeing city‑wide with the combination of what Commissioner Tisch is doing and our rat czar, you're seeing in rat mitigation areas we're seeing a substantial decrease in rat complaints. And we're seeing it city‑wide as well. But this is going to really bolster our fight against rodents and the unsightliness of trash bags throughout our city. We're excited about these next steps and phases.

Richard: Mayor, we also want to ask you about some other things going on in the news. First of all, the FBI raided two homes belonging to one of your advisors, Winnie Greco, who's also a former fundraiser of yours. She is your third aide or former fundraiser to be the subject of a federal probe. So, what do you say to those who might try to connect the dots back to you?

Mayor Adams: Well, she was not a fundraiser, she was a volunteer. We had over 15,000 to 16,000 donors to our campaign, and we believe that the inquiry is going to take its course. It's imperative for me to stay focused, as all the mayors have told me previously that I communicated with.

Things come up during the time you're in the office. Stay focused, deal with trash, public safety and improving the city, and that's what I've got to do. The inquiry will run its course and will take its course.

Richard: Well, she's the third, though. Do you think that it's fair to say that maybe you should have done a better job of vetting people?

Mayor Adams: Oh, no. We did a great job of vetting. I had a compliance attorney that looked over every contribution that took place. Like I indicated, we had over 15,000 donors to our campaign, and we're going to continue to allow the inquiry to take its course.

And my job is to cooperate, and that's what we're going to continue to do. I spent my entire life in law enforcement and public safety, and I'm going to continue to go by one rule, follow the law, and that's what I do.

Richard: All right. Some higher‑ups in the NYPD have been taking heat for a tweet that identified the wrong judge in the case of a repeat offender who was released without bail. Your office initially defended the tweet before it was flagged as incorrect. Should these guys be posting these kind of tweets at all? I mean, doesn't that put judges in danger?

Mayor Adams: We looked at that, and we don't believe, and my communication with the commissioner, the goal is not to call out a judge for doing his job. And I know sometimes the human parts of policing, being out every day, seeing repeated violent offenders come back into our street to continue violence, it plays on the psyche and it plays in the humanistic aspect of public safety.

These guys are on the front line. They've done an amazing job of bringing down crime, shootings, homicides and some of the other major crime. It gets to you when you see those repeated offenders over and over again being released back out into the street. And you feel sometimes that the other arms of the criminal justice system is not hearing that everyday New Yorkers are the victims of these crimes.

And so could they have done it better? You know, one can say yay or nay, but I know they're dedicated to keeping this city safe like I'm dedicated to doing it.

Richard: Let's talk about the city's sanctuary city laws. You want to change those to more easily deport migrants who break the law. Now, just yesterday we had on the news, the City Council speaker has made it clear that she is not on board with that. So, where are you guys at? Is there any wiggle room for a compromise?

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, I want to be clear that the goal is not to deport someone who breaks the law. You just take an apple off an apple stand. That's breaking the law, no one is calling for them to be deported. I'm talking about violent, repeated offenders. Our job is to apprehend them, the prosecutor's job is to prosecute.

And I believe the federal government's job is to deport them after they serve their time here, because if you don't have them serve their time, they go back out and do the crimes again. It doesn't matter if you're a migrant or asylum seeker or you're long‑term New Yorkers. You should not victimize, violently, New Yorkers in the city.

And I stand by that, and we're going to look at what authority we have to do anything to look at those dangerous individuals who are really harming also migrants and asylum seekers. The overwhelming number of migrants and asylum seekers that are here are trying to take that next step on the journey in America, but there's a small number that are violent, and I don't believe they should have the right to stay in our city after they serve their time.

Richard: So, you're looking at what you can do via executive action without the City Council?

Mayor Adams: Our team is looking at what powers I have to make sure I get violent people off the streets. That's migrant and asylum seekers and that is everyday long‑term New Yorkers. I'm continuing to exercise whatever authority I have to protect the people of the city.

Richard: Okay. What about these black market rentals to migrants in the Bronx and Queens? This was apparently the same furniture store owner with both locations. But do you suspect this is a larger problem?

Mayor Adams: No, I don't. Even prior to the migrants and asylum seeker crisis, people were renting out spaces in an illegal fashion. That has always happened in the city, as long as I can remember, even as a child. But the reality is that we're created a desperate environment because of the failure of the national government. 177,000 people have entered this city without any real financial support or the ability to work.

This has created this crisis that we're facing, and people exploit desperate situations. This furniture store operator made over $300,000 a year from this exploitation. And it really points to the larger picture. We have a one percent vacancy rate in the City of New York. That's unimaginable.

We have to have actions from Albany. We have to have action from the City Council. We have to build more in the city because we're creating this crisis, and I think we could do a better job to prevent it.

Richard: One final question. Last time we had you on. you said you still wanted to tweak the law that requires cops to log Level 1 police stops. That takes effect in June, if I'm correct. The City Council overrode your veto, so it's going to happen. But is there any movement on getting it amended?

Mayor Adams: Our team has been in conversations to see what we can do. But again, when laws are passed, my job is to make sure that we comply with the law if we believe it's a just law. If we don't believe a law is a just law, then we take necessary actions in court. Right now, that law was passed, and we're going to carry that out. And if any communications can assist to tweaking that law, we're going to be constantly engaged to attempt to do so.

Richard: All right. Mayor Adams and city Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch, thank you so much for your time.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you, take care.