Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On PIX11’s “PIX11 Morning News”

March 6, 2024

Hazel Sanchez: Safety screenings are coming to a train station near you. This is in response to the recent spike in attacks taking place on the subways.

Dan Mannarino: Commuters can expect to see more NYPD officers patrolling stations as well as checkpoints for baggage screenings. Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper joining us this morning with more details on the enhanced subway measures. Good morning to both of you. Thanks for joining us.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. It's good to speak with you.

Mannarino: Let's get into this, Mr. Mayor and Chief Kemper. What's your message to New Yorkers right now? They're preparing to ride the subways, they're getting out there this morning for their morning commute.

And there's this perception, right, that the subways are just not a good place to be. Violent crimes in the subway up more than 13 percent from the same time last year, and that's despite additional resources and those cameras. So, what is your message this morning?

Mayor Adams: Well, I want to start with the top news today is also the weather. We're asking the commuters to really be careful, heavy rains, we may have flooding. And I just want people to be conscious of that.

Dan, we have been talking about this over and over again, and we should start with the good news. Crime in the subway system is down 15 percent during the month of February. We adjusted from the month of January. There will be bumps from time to time, but we're focused, our four million riders plus, we want them to know it's a safe system.

But the problem we're having— as I keep sharing in the city— we're having, as this poster board will show, that when we're having, we're having a recidivist fight. 38 people arrested for assaulting just transit workers committed 1,126 crimes in our city.

And not only in the subway, but on the surface also. 542 people that were arrested for shoplifting committed over 7,600 crimes in our city. We have a recidivist problem. As many times the police make the arrest of a small number of people that are dangerous in our city, we find them back out on the street.

Sanchez: Why do you say that's happening then?

Mayor Adams: Well, it's a combination of things. You know, we have a role as the police officers to do our job. The prosecutor's role is to prosecute, the judge's role is to make sure dangerous people stay in jail until their time is served or until it's determined if they're guilty or innocent based on that; or, put bail in place when it is suitable.

We are doing our job. We need to do an analysis of the entire criminal justice system to make sure every aspect of it is doing a job. You can't have 38 people that committed 1,126 crimes in our city back on our streets again.

Mannarino: So, are you saying that the things in Albany need to change? Because the governor is making an announcement today that she's going to send in some state resources. Do you think things in Albany need to change in terms of laws; and, what's your communication with the governor on this?

Mayor Adams: The governor has been an amazing partner, Dan, and she understands from the days that we put in place the Subway Safety Plan at the beginning of this administration to address this issue. And I said then we have a recidivism problem, same people committing crimes over and over again. And she's been making an announcement today about some of the resources that she's going to assist in this issue.

But remember, over four million riders. And I'm down there, I speak with them, I communicate with them. They have practiced situational awareness, they're moving back from the train tracks, they're being conscious of the people that are around them. That is part of the partnership of public safety that we want to continue to see.

Sanchez: Okay, but as a rider I'm sure they all want to know, well, what's going to be done today, because the cameras they get put on trains, they say may not be really a deterrent but only a way of catching the guys afterwards. So, what are you going to do? You're putting these bag checks, but is that really enough?

Mayor Adams: Well, we're doing a combination of things. And you know, from the numbers that we saw in January, and trust me, in law enforcement, numbers go up and down. We have to be clear of that, and we have to be honest with New Yorkers.

We put 1,000 uniformed members in the subway system after we saw the spike going in the month of January. We saw results of that: crime down in the subway system 15 percent. And when you looked at the month of January— because we're in a state of analysis— it was grand larceny that we were witnessing, which you call slush workers, people sleep on the train, they get their pockets cut with a razor, people steal their property.

And so those grand larcenies is what we as part of our situational awareness campaign, that we want people to be conscious of what's around them while they're riding the system.

Mannarino: Okay. Chief Kemper...

Chief Michael Kemper, Transit, Police Department: If I may talk about, let me talk about the cameras, because you know, those cameras hold tremendous value, and they're all throughout the subway system, literally thousands of cameras.

Those cameras are a deterrent. If people know there's cameras out there— which they should, and a lot of people do— they're probably less prone to commit a crime. And the value, the investigative value that they offer us or our detectives is tremendous.

What are our cops doing? Our cops are visible. They're riding trains. They're standing the platforms. They're at the turnstiles. I want to remind people also that we have plain clothes cops all throughout the subway system in every borough 24 hours a day.

So, the person you're sitting on a train with or the person you're walking past in the mezzanine area, well, that might be a cop. And they're not just standing there, they're working, they're engaging acts of lawlessness head on every single day.

I want to say this, just how hard our cops are working, how focused they are. If you look at arrests year to date, they are up dramatically. If you look at the summonses that we're issuing for quality life offenses, the exact offenses that weigh heavily on our riders' minds and the exact offenses that create that fear and perception, What am I talking about? I'm talking about open fare evasion.

Mannarino: Chief.

Chief Kemper: Well, they are up dramatically also. So, again, our cops are focused. I just want to, you know, thank the police commissioner and the mayor for this tremendous investment. And again, it's paying dividends in February, and we're looking to take this momentum moving forward.

Mannarino: Yes, I'm up against the clock here, I only have about 45 seconds up. But I want to get to the bag checks and the metal detectors, right? How many stations are going to get them, and what exactly does it look like in terms of how it's going to change somebody's commute for a bag check? And metal detectors? Are they the big ones we're used to or is this new technology?

Chief Kemper: So, talking about the bag checks, you're going to see, you're going to really continue to see multiple bag check locations throughout the day in all the boroughs that the New York City subway system serves. And again, that just adds another layer of presence and security.

Mayor Adams: And when you look at the technology around medical detectors, we put that out in the universe at the beginning of this administration. And you have a real leap forward in technology, but we've got to get it right. I'm looking for those detections that can catch guns and knives and razors; and once we're able to find some that passes our smell test, we're going to institute it in the system.

Mannarino: Those bag checks are random?

Mayor Adams: Yes, they are. We're not profiling, we're random based on the count, a number. And people who don't want their bag checks can turn around and not enter the system. You don't have to come through and do the bag checks, but they are random.

Sanchez: All right. Mayor Adams, the Chief Kemper, thanks again for your time this morning. Appreciate it.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.

Sanchez: You, too.