Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls In For Live Interview With 94.7 The Block’s “Jonesy In The Morning

March 6, 2024

Tarsha Jones: Ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams is on the line with us this morning. Good morning, sir. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning, and I'm joined by my amazing Chief of the Transit Police, Chief Kemper, as we just showing New Yorkers dealing with subway safety and how well he's doing there. 

Jones: Yes, good morning! 

Chief Michael Kemper, Transit, Police Department: Good morning, Ms. Jones. 

Jones: I'm so glad that you guys are here, because that was like top of my question about all of the crime that's happening like back-to-back. A woman got groped on the bus in the Bronx, last week I think it was. 30‑year‑old woman, and when she went to the bus driver to complain, the groper beat her up, dragged her back on the bus so she couldn't leave, and slashed her. And then the transit worker that was looking [at] the train to make sure the doors were closed got his neck slashed. 

What's going on, and when is it going to get better? What are you guys putting in place to make sure that it gets better? 

Mayor Adams: And you know, and it's so important. I just have a few points I want to share with your listeners this morning, and we were talking about it all morning. 

If you do an analysis, we have a recidivism problem in the city: 38 people that assaulted transit workers committed 1,126 crimes in our city. Just 38 people, yet they've been in and out of our criminal justice system. And so the good news is that crime is down 15 percent in February, during the month of February. 

But the reality is we have too many repeated offenders that are out there committing crimes over and over again, not only in the subway system, but also on the street. 542 people who were arrested for shoplifting, they were arrested 7,600 times in the city. 

So, we invested in putting a thousand more cops in our subway system, real omnipresence, going to 12‑hour tours; and because of that investment, we saw the decrease that we wanted during the month of February. Now we're going to do some more random bag checks and some other actions because our goal is to get rid of those six felony crimes we have average around a day so that we're down substantially in the violence in our system. 

Jones: How will we make sure that the random bag checks don't become biased? 

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt, you know, that's what I committed my life to with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. I was the one that led the leading voice on stop and frisk reform as well as testified in federal court. And the judge mentioned my name in her ruling against the Police Department based on my testimony. 

It's a random bag check based on the number of people coming through. So, if you are the 10th or the 7th or the 8th person, no matter what your ethnicity is, no matter how you dress, you are the person that's being checked. And if you don't want your bag checked, you can turn around and leave the subway system. 

Jones: I like that, because you're going to catch, you know, stop some things, but there's always going to be [inaudible] and not have a lucky day. Then, who determines the number? Like, how do we know it's not just...who's picking the number of the...like, I'm like everyone has it equally. 

Chief Kemper: Ms. Jones, it's Mike Kemper, the chief of transit, so I'll answer that question. That number is pre‑selected before the tour starts. So, again, so they could say number 10 like the mayor said, they'll stop every 10th person that comes through the into the subway system that's carrying a bag. They'll search their bag, they send them on their way. 

And like the mayor said, it's very important that people realize that we're doing this before they pay, and they see it, we have signs up, and they have every option if they want to either go through the bag check or leave without any consequences. 

And also while they're doing this, which is important, why do I say it's so much more value than just the bag check, while they're doing it, their presence is there. 

And their presence is welcome to all our riders that come into the subway system. They love to see uniformed cops when they come into the subway system, makes them feel safe. And it also sets the tone of law and order, you know, right when they walk into the subway system. This is all about public safety. 

Jones: For those of you just tuning in, we're talking to Mayor Eric Adams and you're...tell me your title. I know your last name is Kemper, so what's your title? 

Chief Kemper: I'm the Chief of Transit for the NYPD, my name is Michael Kemper. 

Jones: Michael Kemper, okay. And we're just, you know, getting your concerns before them with what we should do. 

I feel like there's no huge deterrent to committing the crimes, because you're back out in like 10 minutes. 

Mayor Adams: You know, let me tell you something, you are just hitting what the issue is. That's why I gave that number at the top of this conversation. When you have 38 people who have just assaulted transit workers who are arrested over a thousand times for crimes in our city, that says a lot. And the 542 shoplifters arrested 7,600 times in our city. 

It's not a crime surge, it's a recidivism surge. They don't believe they will be held accountable for acts of violence and acts of criminality, and it impacts everyday working class New Yorkers. We're going to do our job, but remember the criminal justice system falls into three components: police do arrests, prosecutors prosecute, and judges make the determination of the outcome if a person is going to go in or not while waiting for the crime they committed. 

Jones: Got it. We're going to take a quick break and come back with more with Mayor Eric Adams when we return. 

We are back. Okay, so we're talking about the deterrent and the people getting arrested for these crimes are being released moments later. Is that going to change? Can we do something to lock people up for a long time?  

Like I'm watching on social media, people walk into department stores and just take whatever they want and people are video taping them, and the robbers aren't like afraid of being videotaped. They're taking their time, they're stealing the Gucci bags, the coats, everything they want and just walking out. What the hell? 

Mayor Adams: And you know what? This was a phenomenon that has swept across the country. And you're right, imagine you're in that store and you're paying your hard‑earned dollars for that Gucci bag, for that toothpaste, for any item, and you see someone walks in and take it and leave. 

We can't normalize dysfunctional criminality in our city, and so it's imperative that when we make the apprehension, particularly those serial recidivists, they must be held accountable. We have some cases, Sister, where people are arrested over a hundred times for committing a crime, and they're back out on the street as fast as you can know. 

You can hear about it. Like that's the case with the person attacked the musician. Why don't you tell them about that, please? 

Chief Kemper: Ms. Jones, it's Chief Kemper again. It's so interesting, as you were mentioning the shoplifting and the mayor's talking about recidivism, and you know, I can't agree more with everything he's saying. He's so spot on with what I'm seeing on the ground. 

But there was a high‑profile incident, a very unfortunate incident a couple of weeks ago in Herald Square. Do you remember the incident with the cello player up in Herald Square? 

Jones: Yes, with the girl that busted him upside his head with the... And she had been mental, in mental, in and out of mental health institutions, I believe. 

Chief Kemper: Wait a minute, wait until you hear this story, and this speaks to everything we're talking about. 

So, she, unprovoked, hits this guy who's minding his own business. It's captured on video. Detectives get the case. They identify her and they arrest her, maybe a week or so later. She's got multiple prior arrests, and also she's got two active bench warrants. 

Those bench warrants were issued because she failed to return on court on open cases against the, you know, the prosecutor, to their credit, asked for bail to be set, and the judge released her on her own recognizance. How do you release someone that has proven themselves already that I don't report back to court on open cases? 

But it gets better, Ms. Jones. Guess what? She was arrested again yesterday for shoplifting in Nordstrom in Manhattan. Could you make that up? And again, that's just one example of many, many examples going on in New York City right now every day. 

Jones: So, other taxpayers, do we need to do something about the judges, or… I feel helpless. 

Mayor Adams: No, the beauty is you don't have to feel helpless because we have one of the best police departments this city and this country has ever seen. Crime is down in this city, shootings, homicides are down. But we know for those who are a victim of any form of a crime, that's not a real consolation. 

But we want New Yorkers to know that we're going to do our job, and New Yorkers should make sure that every aspect of criminal justice is doing their job appropriately. Dangerous people that repeatedly commit crimes must be held accountable. And you don't have to be heavy‑handed, we could have justice and safety, they go side by side. But you cannot have those who totally turn it back on our criminal justice system, continue to commit these crimes. 

As you stated, they don't care if they're videoed, they don't care what anybody states, they just made up their mind that they're not going to follow rules. 

Jones: We're talking to Mayor Eric Adams and Chief Kemper. And I appreciate y'all acknowledging, a lot of politicians are like, oh, it's not as bad as it seems. Thank you. Thank you for validating that we're all seeing and experiencing the same things. 

And I have just one last statement to make about the migrants. Like, can we do something about the migrants? I was driving the other day, they came over to my car, [inaudible] a box of candy. How you charging two dollars for gum? Like… 

Mayor Adams: And you know, when you think about it, Sister, this is a national problem that has been dropped in the laps of small cities, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, Houston. This should not be happening to us. We've managed it with over 180,000 migrants and asylum seekers. That's 1.5 the size of Albany dropped in our city. We managed it. You don't see people sleeping outside in encampments. 

But the fact is, we said it wasn't sustainable. We put in place some real programs, but we don't have the authorization, as I've shared with you before, to stop buses from coming in, from deporting anyone, from allowing people to work. All of those laws are outside of the scope of the role of the mayor. I have to take this crisis and I have to fix it, and that's what we're doing every day. 

Jones: Thank you. $2 for gum? 

Mayor Adams: [Laughter.] 

Jones: [Inaudible.] Thank you, Mayor Adams. 

Mayor Adams: All right, good talking to you. 

Jones: ...Chief Kemper, thank you for your time. 

Chief Kemper: Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. And next time I come on, we gotta play that song, Me and Mrs. Jones, got a thing going on. You know, that oldie. 

Jones: Oh, babe! Get out of here! Go, go, I'm done with you... 

Mayor Adams: [Laughter.] Take care. 

Jones: Have a good day, and thank you so much for your time, guys. 

Mayor Adams: Okay.