Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On FOX5’s “Good Day New York”

March 6, 2024

Rosanna Scotto: Mayor Adams says he's planning on resuming random bag searches at certain subway stations as well as adding more cops on trains and platforms. The move comes after several violent attacks and despite new data revealing that there's a drop in subway crime. So, what's really going on? Joining us from City Hall, Mayor Adams and NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper, nice to have you both here. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you so much. And as you indicated, we left 2023 with a decrease in subway crime, decrease in crime around the city. But in January we had a bad month. We saw a bump and so we had to adjust, and we invested a thousand more cops in our subway system as well as changing to 12‑hour tours to get that real omnipresence in our system. 

But Rosanna, something that you will appreciate that I've been talking about all morning is this poster that we have here. 38 people committed assaults on transit workers. Out of those 38 people, they committed 1,126 crimes in our city— recidivism crisis. And that's the same with when you look at shoplifters, 542 people committed over 7,600 crimes in our city. 

Our problem that we're facing, and I'm attempting to share with New Yorkers, we have a problem of bad people doing bad things to good people and they're back on our streets doing them again. 

Scotto: So, okay, mayor, let's just talk about this, because we know the guy who was a cellist playing in the subway, he got hit over the head, the DA let him out, let that person... 

Menefee: The woman. 

Scotto: ...the woman out. 

Menefee: Who had already been arrested like seven or eight times prior. 

Scotto: And by the way... 

Chief Michael Kemper, Transit, Police Department: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Rosanna... 

Scotto: ...got arrested again, right, Chief? 

Chief Kemper: Rosanna, Curt. 

Scotto: Yeah. 

Chief Kemper: Rosanna, Curt. Are you ready for this? 

Scotto: What?  

Chief Kemper: Yeah. The judge did let her out. She had two active bench warrants for her arrest, bench warrants issued for failing to return to court in open cases. But you want the kicker? You want the cherry?? 

Scotto: Sure. 

Menefee: Yes.  

Chief Kemper: She was arrested yesterday in Manhattan again. 

Menefee: Right. Okay. So, now what can you do? I mean, your police officers can arrest people, but if they get into this justice system and get let back out, then it causes a problem. What can you do to make New Yorkers more safe? 

[Laughter.] 

Chief? 

[ Laughter.] 

Chief Kemper: So, listen, as a police department, our cops are focused. We continue to do our jobs. We are engaging acts of lawlessness head on. We don't listen to the noise. We're not discouraged that these cases are sometimes downgraded or not prosecuted. 

And matter of fact, I have data to prove that. Arrests are up. This year, actually 2023, arrests were up at or near historic levels. And looking at this year already, the first nine weeks of 2024, subway cops have made over 3,000 arrests already in the New York City subway system, which is a 40‑plus percent increase from last year. So, again, our cops are focused and they're committed to public safety. 

Menefee: You know, it's a great job by the New York Police Department. And I'm going to ask you this, Mayor, because I spend a lot of time right here on the air telling Rosanna, I don't think crime's any worse than it has been in years in the subway. But the perception is it's totally different. 

The numbers can bear it out, but you know how people feel, Mayor. When they get on the subway, people don't feel safe. And every day we see different incidents, whether someone gets hit over the head with a hammer like happened yesterday or an MTA transit conductor gets slashed. When those things happen, it may be a small percentage, but the perception is still that crime is out of control there in the subway. 

Mayor Adams: No, without a doubt, Curt, you are so right. You know, we don't tell people that out of all the crime in the city, only two percent takes place in the subway system. And we don't talk about the fact that we have 4.1 or 4.2 million riders and we have an average of a little over six felony crimes a day on that system. 

We want people to not only be statistically safe, but they must feel safe. And how do you do that? Nothing encourages the feeling of safety more than having that uniformed officer present from the bag checks when you first come intod the system to watching them walk through the subway cars to the platforms. 

That visibility ‑‑ we call it omnipresence in policing ‑‑ is a crucial role. That's why we surged those 1,000 cops into our subway system because we know we can give stats as much as we want, but if you don't feel safe, then you are not going to enjoy your ridership. 

Scotto: So, right. So, Mayor, I know you're going to announce today with the governor, you're putting up metal detectors, you're going to start checking bags. How the heck are you going to do this? I mean, this sounds impossible. A lot of these subway stations have multiple entrances. How do you enforce something like this? 

Mayor Adams: Well, as you're looking where the data is, you look at where you see crime patterns. As odd as it may seem, many crimes take place in the same subway stations throughout the years, not only throughout the year, but throughout the years. We have a great in Chief @LiPetri. He's a good crime analysis person. That is how we've been able to bring down crime in this city. You want to put the police where the crime is, you want to have the omnipresence where the crime is. 

And the tactics that we have used allowed us not to be heavy handed, but to be successful. People can say what they want, we're the safest big city in America. Crime is down in this city, and we are going to continue to drive it down even more. 

Scotto: But Mayor, what we consider normal on the subways is not normal. I mean, we've had, some of our cameras go down there and take pictures of people laying all over the subway cars, defecating on the floors, smoking crack. 

This is the normal that doesn't get reported. It's not factored in on anything. I mean, we've talked about, you know, how you know, your administration was going to go there and try to get the mentally ill off the subway, but it doesn't look any different. 

Mayor Adams: No, I have to say it does look a lot different. I remember when I took office January 1st, 2022, and a person was sleeping under the stairs and it was normalized. And I said to New Yorkers, I'm going to remove all the encampments off our system within a matter of months. We did that. You don't see the encampments on our subway system you saw before and... 

Scotto: But there's still a lot of homeless people on the subway. 

Mayor Adams: Well, because think about this for a moment, Rosanna, and you're right. That is why I need help in Albany to pass, to give teeth to the Kendra's Law. Remember when I was talking about doing involuntary removals and what everyone said I was inhumane for wanting to do that in this administration? 

We know you cannot allow people that can't take care of themselves and they're in danger to themselves, they can't continue to be on our streets and our subway system. And that is what I've always stated. And we're going to continue to use our authority, but I need more teeth from what we are currently able to do. 

Menefee: You know, here's a mental health crisis going not only in America, but certainly here in New York City. We see a lot of them are homeless, they're on the subways, they're on the streets. 

But there's also a migrant crisis that's going on. I want to ask you a question about that while we have you, because of the report that the city has been allocated or has the right to $159 million from the Biden administration, but has only gotten $49 million because you failed to do the proper paperwork. I'd like to hear your response to that and find out, if so, why hasn't the paperwork been filed properly and will it be going forward? 

Mayor Adams: Think about this for a moment. We spend $4 billion, Curt, on a migrant and asylum seeker crisis. They're allocating to us about $150 million ‑‑ four billion, 150 million. So, the best way to detract from that is to say we did not put in our reimbursement paperwork. 

First of all, it is unbelievable that the response is only 150 million to a $4 billion national price tag that we were hit with. Then, when you look at what they want to reimburse us for, how about $13 for a hotel room. Where can you find a hotel room for $13 in this city? 

And when you start to dig into the labor‑intensive process of getting reimbursement that even the comptroller stated, we need to have a easier way to being reimbursed. Chicago stated, Massachusetts stated, everyone has stated this. 

So, don't be duped by "we are not putting in the money to get reimbursed." It is bureaucratic. It doesn't meet the real issue. And just to start from the top, how do you insult this city by saying, we are going to give you $150 million to a $4 billion crisis? 

Menefee: I think a lot of New Yorkers will agree that that's a very, very, very small amount, but there's still a hundred million dollars left on the table that even your budget guy admits. You know, why not get every penny you can if they're offering it? 

Mayor Adams: Yes, and that's so important, Curt. All the paperwork is submitted. And when you submit the paperwork, we submitted all the requirements. On their end, first of all, they're not reimbursing us to the rate that's suitable, but even on their end, they see some of the requirements that we must meet to get the money, they have indicated that we don't meet those requirements. 

Scotto: And you've got your hands full. I mean, Randall's Island, the shelter there is a problem. You've acknowledged that. You're going to put a curfew in place March 20th. Why wait until then? Why aren't all the shelters having curfews, but why wait until March 20th? 

Mayor Adams: Because you want to do proper notifications, you want to do proper setup, the procedures in place, you want to train the guards, you want to know how to close the place. Once it starts, once you put the curfew in place, you don't want to announce something then overnight, you cannot execute the plan properly. 

I went to Randall's Island and I saw the overwhelming number of migrants and asylum seekers who are there. They want to take their next step on the journey. Let's let them work. Let's do a decompression strategy throughout the entire country. 

There are things that we are doing here in the city like no other city has done, and New Yorkers should be commended for doing that. But this is not sustainable and unfair to New Yorkers. 

I'm not going to just define the problem, I have to fix the problem, because that's what I was elected to do. And no matter how hard this job may seem to people, every day I wake up and I'm committed to it, just as I was committed as a police officer to protect and serve the city. 

Scotto: How do you get the City Council to do what you want to do, because it seems like you say one thing, the next day they say something else. 

Mayor Adams: Well, that's, you know, that's the system of democracy and justice that we have. I need to be truthful and honest to New Yorkers and explain to them what we are facing, and then New Yorkers will make the determination. I'm just going to stay focused, no distractions and grind. 

Menefee: All right. To end on a good note, walking around we see fewer trash bags, so thank you for that. 

[Laughter.] 

All right. Thank you so much, Mayor Adams and NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper, for taking the time and joining us this morning. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care. 

Menefee: All right, thank you both. You know, there are so many issues to cover there and you never have enough time. 

Scotto: I know. 

Menefee: We appreciate them both coming in and responding to it and at least attempting to answer a lot of the questions that we had. 

Scotto: I know. And trying to do something. 

Menefee: Right. 

Scotto: Okay. 

Menefee: That's the key. All right.