Transcript: Mayor Adams Speaks on City’s Priorities in State Budget & Holds In-Person Media Availability

April 1, 2025

Watch video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYqbWL818E

Mayor Eric Adams: Always an indicator, you know, good to see some of you you know and I'm really excited to see the team here. Good morning and the team is here because we want to go over Albany, Tiffany, D.M. Raspberry has been in Albany with her team and everyone, matter of fact, is here. They have been up fighting for our Albany agenda and attempting to continue the progress of moving forward. So I really want to thank all the deputy mayors, the P.C., Brian, and the entire team for pushing forward a very clear agenda. 

We have been extremely successful, cannot thank our Albany partners enough, but we have been extremely successful in Albany for three years in a row, delivering on some of the major issues that are important. I want to thank the Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and at the center of it all, Governor Hochul, on all the items that we have pushed for. I think we have a sort of a 99 percent rate in Albany in bringing home those things that are important for New Yorkers. 
In those last three years, we look at some of the stuff that we passed. We saw a problem with the illegal cannabis shops. They adjusted the legislation and we have closed over 1,300 illegal shops. We expanded the earned income tax credit for working class people and put hundreds of millions of dollars back in the pockets of New Yorkers when we passed so many different incentives, including the major affordable housing incentives. And this is a few things that we were able to be successful with. Saving lives, making sure we make it easier for New Yorkers as we deal with the affordability crisis that the entire country is facing. 

And so last year, our team has been fighting for families in our city, and once again, we're doing so. The Albany agenda this year, Axe the Tax for the Working Class, we mentioned it yesterday. $63 million back into the pockets of more than 500,000 New Yorkers. We need it, and they need it the most, and we are pleased to see that both houses did a version of this in their one-house bills, and the governor's in support of this. You hear me say it over and over again, affordability is a crucial issue for us, and we're really pleased that the lawmakers and leaders there see the importance of this piece of legislation. 

We're also looking at common sense changes to the criminal justice system. Commissioner Tisch went up to meet with leaders to talk about the discovery [laws]. It's important that we do the modifications that are needed. The reforms passed in Albany in 2019 have had unintended consequences and now it's time to improve the law. There's nothing wrong with looking at a law after it's passed and going back making the right modifications for those things that you did not intend to have an impact on. 
And finally, we continue to urge our partners in Albany to increase funding for ACS childcare vouchers so that thousands of children and families will not lose their childcare care assistance. These vouchers are crucial, and they're critical for working families. This is how we were allowed to drop the cost of child care from $55 a week to less than $5 per week. 

150,000 children across our system just saw how important these childcare vouchers are. And we were asked by lawmakers to go out. This is something that came from Albany to extend the number of childcare, children using the vouchers. And we did just that. And we want to ensure that we can get to support Jacques Jiha and his team. They have been working with Albany and the governor's office so we can get this done. 

And just the entire team. I cannot thank you enough for going up and pushing these agendas forward. Some of the new deputy mayors, as soon as we tapped them, they entered the arena and went up to Albany and did what needed to be done. So we're gonna continue to do that. So if there are any questions for them while they're here, please ask on the Albany item and then I will let them get back to their work, so I could answer the other questions.

Question: I have a question for Commissioner Tisch. Commissioner, do you think there is a real possibility of some major change in the justice system that will, you know, help you do your job, as you always say, here with the police officers?

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: I certainly do hope so. The criminal justice reforms of 2019 created a revolving door, made a revolving door out of our criminal justice system. In New York City, we do not have a surging crime problem, but we do have a surging recidivism problem. 

If you compare 2018, the year before the reforms passed, to 2024, to last year, and you define recidivism as individuals who are committing three or more of the same crime in the same year, recidivism rates are up 146 percent for felony assault, 118 percent for auto theft, 83 percent for robbery, 64 percent for shoplifting, 71 percent for grand larceny and 61 percent for burglary. It's a travesty. 

And what we have asked our partners up in Albany to do is to look at those laws and to make necessary reforms that close some unintended loopholes that had been open since 2020. And it's quite important for New Yorkers that it be done. It's certainly quite important for the members of the NYPD in our work that it be done. 

Imagine how frustrating it is for our officers to go out, they work a case, they make an arrest. And sometimes before they end their shift that day, the perpetrator is back out on the streets again, coming to their precinct to collect their property. So we do hope that we will see some real progress, certainly on discovery in this session.

Question: With Commissioner Tisch. So what kind of reception were you getting? Were you getting a polite reception? Were you getting a receptive reception? Were they listening? Did you feel any movement?

Police Commissioner Tisch: My sense was that there is acknowledgment up in Albany that we have a real recidivism issue in New York City and that the discovery law in particular needs to be tweaked in order to address the recidivism crisis that we are facing. 

And I just also wanna be clear that the reforms that we are pushing, the language changes that we are pushing by no means retreat from the spirit of the 2019 reforms. I.e., we do not believe that people should be confronted with evidence at the 11th hour. We believe that defendants should see all of the evidence against them. What we are looking for is to close some loopholes that render the criminal justice system in New York City or in New York State, a revolving door for recidivists.

Question: I have a question for you, Mr. Mayor or Director Jiha. The governor has been pretty adamant that she's not gonna provide the $1 billion in migrant crisis aid that your administration requested based on her preliminary plan that leaves a $1 billion hole. What is this gonna look like in New York City? Are you gonna need to start implementing new PEGs? If so, where are those PEGs gonna happen?

Mayor Adams: We're still in negotiation, and as we say over and over again, we're going to land the plane.

Question: I have a question for Commissioner Tisch. I was wondering if you can give us an update as far as you see it on discovery. I think last week, the legislature hadn't seen language. They were waiting for the governor to provide specific language. And then I think there was some compromise offered, and now they're waiting to hear back from the governor again. Where do you see things standing?

Police Commissioner Tisch: So I think it's quite remarkable that you have the governor, the mayor, the police commissioner and all five district attorneys in New York City agreeing in the initial proposal on what the substantive changes to the discovery law should be. I think that that is a formidable and very powerful coalition. And my hope and expectation is that the changes that we put forward will move forward.

Question: Commissioner Tisch, if those changes of the justice are going to be made, when would be a reality if you see it again? The changes that you are trying to make on the justice criminal.

Police Commissioner Tisch: Yes.

Question: [Is it]going to be a reality because it takes time, so it will be this year, next year?

Police Commissioner Tisch: So we are obviously hoping that it goes in the state budget, and as to the effective date of when that would be. I don't know what that is.

Mayor Adams: The lawmakers are going to do that, but we're hoping it's right away. They determine the effective date, but we're hoping right away. 

Question: I have a question for First Deputy Mayor Mastro. 

Mayor Adams: Sounds like a plan, Liz. Let him get to the podium.

[Crosstalk].

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro: Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking. Yes, please.

Question: You're coming in on the home stretch of the Albany negotiations. I'm wondering, how are you getting up to speed? And what will your involvement be with the city's budget in negotiating with the City Council?

First Deputy Mayor Mastro: First, I've been working for free since my announcement. So with this great team, I've been fortunate to get up to speed, have input, and I may well go to Albany as well to join my colleagues and Tiffany in that effort, number one. 
Number two, on the City Council side, I believe we are going to have constructive working relationships. I know some of you have already reported that I had a very gracious and I think productive meeting with the City Council speaker yesterday afternoon. Very friendly, informal, not going to comment beyond that because those are private conversations. But I believe we will have a very constructive working relationship. There's so much more to get done, and there's so much more we can get done over this budget cycle and in the rest of this year. So I'm very confident.

Question: [Inaudible] is it anticipating federal budget cuts? What do you think the city should do?

First Deputy Mayor Mastro: I think that there are opportunities in any budget cycle. And working constructively with Albany, as we are doing, and with the City Council, I think you are going to see some historic things become part of this budget. But I'm going to say to you, stay tuned, because I think some great things are ahead. Thanks, Liz.

Mayor Adams: And we should, it does not go without notice that FDM comes with a great deal of experience on dealing with budgets and having him on the team as we deal with some of these uncertainties, it's just a real additive, and it's a real plus for us.

Question: Commissioner Tisch, there's a bill before the state legislature that would grant prosecutor's offices immediate access to the NYPD database–

[Crosstalk].

Question: You have your team assembled, I thought there was gonna be a drill instruction, but there's not. I just wanted to ask you, and maybe the budget director, as you go up to Albany, you're in uncharted territory. There's $80 million that the federal government took out and pulled back. There is the impoundment that's been happening ongoing, where funds that were granted to city agencies and state agencies were held up, and there's a pretty draconian budget that the House has worked through. 
So, both the state and the city are in a major challenge here in terms of these uncharted waters. Is there a conversation between the state and city about how you can work together to try to deal with the threat you both face?

Mayor Adams: Well, first, these are not uncharted waters. Remember, under the previous administration in D.C., we lost $7 billion. I don't know why people keep passing over that. We lost $7 billion and only City Hall was fighting to get it back. Everyone has found their voice now with a new administration, but they did not have their voice when we were watching $7 billion leave our city. So this is not uncharted. Jacques and his team had to constantly make changes and alterations. 

And when you ask, are we working together, I don't know of a governor and mayor in history that basically, we have shown how do we work together. We've been able to get some real things done around the subway safety plan, around school vouchers, choice, all of these items. We did it because we worked together, and we're going to continue to do that, and we're going to work together to deal with all the modifications that we're dealing with that's coming out of Washington, D.C. 
But if my math is correct, we're going to fight to get those dollars, but they're not near $7 billion, and I'm not going to let us get away with ignoring the fact that we lost $7 billion under the previous administration.

Question: Hi. This is for Commissioner Tisch. Commissioner, with regard to discovery reform, the changes that you're supporting, as I read them and I think as most people read them, would turn back the clock to a time when prosecutors aren't held responsible for evidence that the police haven't turned over to them, right? 

And so I think the concern among many people is that if there is no accountability for police failing to turn over evidence to prosecutors, if the worst thing that happens then is the case just gets continued and people continue to wait on Rikers for the police to get around to turning over evidence, we're back to a time that's very similar to when Kalief Browder died. And so I wonder, how do you respond to that concern? Why are you pushing for that particular piece of the reform?

Police Commissioner Tisch: So that's not how I see the reforms at all. Too often we are seeing repeat offenders, in many instances violent repeat offenders, let off the hook, their cases dismissed because of technicalities that would have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the ultimate outcome of the case. And so one of the main reforms that we are pushing is to give the judges discretion in that instance. 

If a piece of evidence has not been turned over before the end of the clock, to determine whether that evidence would have had an impact on the ultimate outcome of the case, and if it wouldn't, not to have the case dismissed as a result. The real problem we are seeing is that too often these cases are thrown out on technicalities that have no bearing on the ultimate outcome, and we are letting violent repeat offenders back out onto the streets.

Question: On public safety budget priorities, I hear the two pieces of policy, the discovery reform, the involuntary committals, but are you asking for dollars for any of your policing initiatives or public safety related mental health initiatives? Are you hoping for just cold, hard cash to execute any of those two public safety items?

Mayor Adams: Well, believe it or not, also the phone ban, a lot of people don't see it as a public safety issue, but it is. There are a lot of fights that stem from the phone bans. There are a lot of issues that come out of the use of phones in our school buildings. And the governor is going to look towards the phone ban, something that we support. But there's a dollar amount, there's a price tag attached to that. And right now, that price tag is not meeting what the real cost is. So we're looking towards that. 

And every time we go to Albany, we are asking for money to continue some of the public safety initiatives that we put in place. And that's part of the team. part of with D.M. Raspberry and her team, with Jacques, speaking with the budget director there. We look at the cost analysis that goes with everything that we're doing here in the city and in this in the state.

Question: So, just obviously our topic, back in discovery. So, you're proposing these changes to discovery, there's obviously a lot of pushback. So what are Albany lawmakers telling you as to why they don't wanna go ahead with this? They've obviously not doing it currently. 

And then just following, is there any middle ground here? Like, do you see any, you're only arguing over a few words here. So like, is there any middle ground, you know, bringing up like, is there any compromise to be made on access to some NYPD data to help speed that up? You know, where are we looking here?

Mayor Adams: So I'm gonna let the commissioner talk to that, speak on that. But, you know, and it's a good thing in government that there's a balance of beliefs and just some places they are just philosophical differences and beliefs. Particularly, I don't find that greater than in law enforcement. In law enforcement, people just have philosophical beliefs. And, you know, I am extremely pro-public safety and, you know, oftentimes lawmakers, you know, may have a different belief on the actual implementation of the concepts that they bring. 

You know, public safety is implementation is not just a philosophy. There are some practicalities that are associated with keeping people safe. And the commissioner gave very clear numbers of the recidivism. We have the recidivism issue on every level. You can't have 575 people arrested, close to 7,500 times, for just even shoplifting. Shoplifting is a public safety problem. Burglary, repeated offenders in burglary, grand larcenies, you know, these are repeated offenders, a small portion of people who have made up their minds, we're not going to stop carrying out these crimes. 

And there are those who are not on the ground that must carry out these public safety items that they just have a different view on what we believe we need to get this done. Commissioner, you wanna touch on it?

Police Commissioner Tisch: Sure. Craig, I believe we have a recidivism crisis in New York City. I think the numbers that I read out earlier show that the criminal justice laws in New York State, or some of them, are a real travesty, and that they are not focused or centered enough on victims. I do not believe that this is a time for window dressing or half measures. 

The reforms that we put forward I think are surgical, they're a scalpel approach. They do not upend the spirit of the criminal justice reforms of 2019. They're very specifically tailored to close loopholes that I believe were unintended. And my hope and expectation is that that is what we proceed with or what they proceed with up in Albany. I believe the access to NYPD systems that you referenced is window dressing. The fact of the matter is all DA's offices get the vast majority of NYPD data that's required from two systems, the body camera system and our case management system. And for both, we have DA portals established in those systems that the DAs access the information to. I think it's a distraction.

Question: You said philosophical differences when you're talking to these lawmakers. So when you bring these things, the commissioner goes out there and provides these statistics, or you provide them, or Deputy Mayor Raspberry provides it, what is the response? What do they think is going to fix it then?

Mayor Adams: We've been in conversation with lawmakers who don't believe we have a recidivism problem. And I mean, the numbers don't lie. We were in conversations with lawmakers. There's some lawmakers that have voiced their concern that, you know, people should not be held on gun charges. You know, they should not be. They voiced concerns that if you get let out on a serious crime, you should have to wear an ankle monitor. No, we don't believe people should have to wear ankle monitors. 
You know, the practice of public safety is different from the philosophy of public safety. I've said this a million and one times, idealism collides with realism. And sometimes people don't embrace idealism until they come home and they see a stranger inside their home, threatening their family members and loved ones. Then they realize that, okay, this is for real. You know, when you are removed from what everyday people are being impacted with, you have a different belief, you know? 

I remember when we were cleaning up encampments in the city and one of the most loudest voices was saying, this is draconian, it's unfair. And they came home and they saw a tent right in front of their house and they wanted to call the police. Can you get this tent from in front of our house? This is what we deal with in politics. Soundbites can't keep a city running in the direction that it ought to. And we know that. This is a complex place, 8.3 million people, and 35 million opinions. 

Why don't we get to the other topic?

[Crosstalk].

Mayor Adams: Marcia, in my book, I'm going to lay out so many of these hypocrisies that you are going to be surprised at the number of lawmakers who lead and rah, rah, rah from the front. How many times do you get a call when we open a shelter, Tiffany? It's the leading voices of, you know, “we need to open more shelters or we need to build more housing for people”. Okay, we're gonna build it in your district. “Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't say that.” You know, politics is hypocrisy at its highest level.

Okay, Marcia Kramer.

Question: Well, so my question sort of follows with that. You know, every day, if you read the newspapers or watch TV, there is another story about a person who's been let out because the judge gave him a technicality on discovery or whatever. And yet, the lawmakers in Albany who actually come from New York City seem to be immune to what's going on. 

So what makes you think, given the fact that you are all here because you want discovery, What makes you think that this year is gonna be any different? They refused to do it last year, they refused to do it the year before. What's changed to make them say, oh yeah, we have a recidivism problem. This hasn't changed since you became mayor. You have been talking about recidivism since January 1st, 2022. What's different on April 1st, 2025?

Mayor Adams: Well, I definitely believe we're gonna get it done now. April fools. Well, and you're right, and knowing Albany, it's amazing how long it takes for lawmakers to catch up to what is playing out on the ground. When we did the cannabis, I think you went up a couple of times D.M. Raspberry, and before we were able to get through them, we're not dismantling the cannabis law, we're hurting the illegal businesses. And finally we got the changes that we looked for and we were able to have those legal businesses thrive. 

We had to go back several times for bail reform. There was a lot of pushback on bail reform. Did we get 100 percent of what we want? Nope, we still need to look at that. And so you have to go back. It's a while before lawmakers realize that, wait a minute, people on the ground is different from where we are. 

And sometimes what happens in Albany, the advocates drive the agenda. And oftentimes the advocates come from communities that are not impacted. I was out on Roosevelt Avenue and this reporter interviewed me. There was a big protest of people telling us not to clean up the illegal prostitution that was taking place there. And she interviewed the protesters. None of them was from Corona. None of them were from the area. They lived in areas where there were no prostitutes. So you have advocates who you guys get quotes from all the time as though they're the voices of the people who are experiencing these problems.

When you talk to people who are dealing with these recidivism issues, who are being the victims of crime, they're not the same people who are running around saying, no, we should not do discovery changes. So we have allowed the advocates of these issues to hijack what the people on the ground want. I speak to the people on the ground. They support doing these reforms that we're talking about. 

Okay, yes, yes. Thank you all. So, I just want to do a few highlights before we go into off-topic. Just wanted to make sure we got that Albany stuff for you. Last week, we were really pleased last week on delivering on another State of the City promise, $5.5 million expansion of our free summer classes to reach 4,800 second graders. Swimming is not only a life skill, we're surrounded by water, but also when you look at those young people in the pool, second graders, it's a great socialization tool. So hats off to Parks Commissioner Donoghue and her team for making the classes happen. With the expansion, we will now reach 18,000 students with this program and saving families $1.3 million in the process. 

We were up in the Bronx last week as well, real great story, speaking with a young lady whose son had autism, looking at housing. We mentioned the importance of affordable housing, our affordable housing service program created last year to fast track the creation of permanent affordable homes for those living and shelters, and we're proud to say we now built 460 deeply affordable homes to put families in stable long-term housing. 

And on Thursday in the Bronx, we showed a site with 64 affordable homes for women-led households. The first affordable housing service site of its kind that specifically prioritizes renter units to women-led households. We have a, we all know we have a housing crisis, 1.4 percent vacancy rate. We said it over and over again. We have to build more and, you know, Commissioner Molly Park and her team in the last year helped more than 16,000 households, totaling 34,000 people move out of shelters into stable homes. And people keep talking about instead of building shelters, we need to build homes. That is what we're doing, and we're making that transition.

And so with these back-to-back years of the most homes produced for formerly homeless New Yorkers, the most supportive housing produced, and a record year of homes produced for seniors, we're just getting it done, and we know it's crucial. 
And so finally, an important PSA for all New Yorkers today, we celebrate the return of roadway dining in all five boroughs. Really hats off to Bill de Blasio, when he first put this in place, the former mayor, he understood that we had to save an industry and he made a tough call. There was a lot of pushback, but he leaned into and he got it done. 

Restaurants participating in Dining Out NYC can operate roadway dining set up starting today through November 29th. More than 2,400 locations are setting up today with more to come. And whomever wants information, they can go to diningoutnyc.info. The all part of our initiative to raise healthy children and families. 

Why don't we take some questions?

Question: Mr. Mayor, I have two questions. The first one has to do with politics. The political clock is ticking. You have until Thursday to file petitions to enter the Democratic mayoral primary. Will you be filing petitions to enter the Democratic mayoral primary?

Mayor Adams: As the process moves forward, you'll see our announcement as they go forward. 

Question: I have a second question. So far this year, five people have died in custody on Rikers Island. Can you talk about why this is going on and what you're doing to stop this?

Mayor Adams: And you know, I was speaking with D.M. Levy about this morning. We must be honest with ourselves. By the time many people reach Rikers Island, they're dealing with real health issues, substance abuse issues, and we want to always do an analysis. 

We know we have brought down violence on the island, but people are dealing with real health issues when they get to the island. And so an autopsy would determine what was the reason for this death. But let's not kid ourselves that people who come on Rikers don't come with the best care. 

We mourn the loss. We give them the best medical care we can do, the best emotional care we can do, but people enter Rikers with real health issues. And we have an amazing commissioner there that is really giving people the emotional and the medical attention that they deserve. So we're going to do an autopsy to determine what was the cause of death, but when you look at the last causes of death, they were medical-related deaths. 

Question: You have claimed, and you did yesterday quite publicly, that the other candidates want to be Eric-like. Yes. And one of the candidates who is not terribly Eric-like is Zohran Mamdani.

Mayor Adams: No. You're kidding me.

Question: Mamdani says that he wants to adopt a more community-based approach to policing. He wants to disband SRG. He does not call for more police officers. He says that your strategy with policing in the city is failing New Yorkers. What's your response to Mamdani?

Mayor Adams: Well, listen, I'm sorry, defund the police Mamdani believes all of a sudden he wants to talk about more community-based policing, something that many of you know, I cut my teeth on this, they're reinventing the wheel. Let's look at the facts. Numbers are down. We're getting ready to do a report tomorrow on our outcomes. So I don't know his definition of failing the police. The job of the police is to keep us safe. That's the job of the police. And so when you do an analysis, all of these candidates that are talking about our city is in chaos. Our city is not safe. Where are they getting the stats from? 

You can't use the highlights of what happens in a city of 8.3 million people and all of a sudden determine that's the story of the city. Subway crime is down. Shootings are down, double digits this quarter. Homicides are down, double digits this quarter. When you look at what we're doing [in] the Police Department, 20,800 guns removed off our streets. 

I think this year alone, we're up to about 1,500 guns that are removed off the streets. And then, you know, when you talk about, you're going to do this new form of policing that he's talking about, because I don't even know what it is. He needs to explain it and help us understand where he got this concept from. But when you talk about that, where are you gonna get the money from? 

Question: He says he wants to tax wealthy New Yorkers and corporations.

Mayor Adams: Okay, you continue hemorrhaging the high-income earners that pay into our tax base, you know. People must understand those who believe the answer to every problem is a tax. We have been able to navigate us out of crises after crises without any layoffs and without raising any income tax over and over again. 

For him to say that he wants a billion dollar tax on New Yorkers, you know, that hurts the economy. There's a reason that the bond raters continue to give us the bond rating that we deserve. They saw how I manage taxpayers' dollars. And so these pie-in-the-sky ideas that people are running prior to coming into the real work of running a city of this level of complexity, it's just unrealistic. 

How do you talk out both sides of your mouth? How do you talk about affordability? Then you talk about raising taxes. And then where does it stop? The goal is, look at the resources this city has and use them to manage the budget and manage the spending. We were not managing our budget in this city. I said that when I was on the campaign trail, I did my pegs, we were able to find $7.2 billion. Thank God we did, because we had a $7 billion crisis, so because we managed it correctly, we were able to get it done. So where he gets the money from, that's a good question.

Question: Good afternoon, Mayor Adams.

Mayor Adams: Good, how are you?

Question: My name's Julian Nazar, I'm with the New York Business Journal. Pleasure to ask you a question. Good to see you. I'm a friend of Skye's.

Mayor Adams: How are you? Good to see you. You got so much enthusiasm, you know that? We need you every week.

Question: Is there a significant real estate project happening in the city right now that no one's talking about or paying attention to?

Mayor Adams: I think what we're doing at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal is going to be huge for us. I think that when you look at some of the other plans, we're building City of Yes. When I'm walking, when I bump into developers all the time, they're saying, Eric, you're City of Yes. And what Daniel Garodnick and the team, Maria Torres-Springer, as others, was able to accomplish is going to change the game. 

A little more housing in every community in this city. The preliminary plans reached by the BMT Task Force is gonna upgrade our outdated port and activate our blue highways, build up to 8,000 homes. See huge, huge game-changer in that Sunset Park area. We did an initial $18 million investment. We're going to remove outdated cranes and install a brand new all electric crane to deal with the environmental issues over there. 

And for the last 50 years, the terminal was allowed to fall into disrepair. And those are the type of projects we want. And then just drive down towards Shea Stadium. I am blown away at how fast those buildings are going up. 2,400 units of 100 percent affordable housing, a new soccer stadium, privately funded, new school, new green spaces. You're really going to see a major, major development that's taking place. So it's not only these one large projects, Kips Bay project with Life Science, that we're going to build there. 

So it's not only the large projects, we are going to do housing and development throughout the entire city, the most comprehensive housing reform in the history of this city. And so those are some of the exciting things we have going on. 

Question: I have a couple of questions. On involuntary commitment, actually. Governor Cuomo, in his campaign, has said that there's no need to change any state laws in order to improve involuntary commitments, that it's just a question of management. I was wondering if you have any response to that. 

And my second question actually is about the casinos. Over the weekend, Steve Cohen announced that he has support now from State Senator John Liu to introduce this bill he needs for parkland alienation. Part of that deal they reached is that Steve Cohen says he's going to build a bridge over Flushing Creek. But the big catch there is that it's city property, and presumably he would need city permission and maybe funding. Have you been approached by Steve Cohen or his team about those permits or funding questions?

Mayor Adams: No, but go back to Andrew. What was Andrew [saying]?

Question: He said, if I'm not mistaken, that there's no need to change state law to get more involuntary commitments. That it's a question of, you know, management.

Mayor Adams: Management, okay. Manage, you mean the management that he did with the nursing homes? Or the management he did when he was not having all communities, particularly Black and brown communities, getting the vaccine? 

Or the management he did with arguing with Bill de Blasio that we didn't have a testing site up at Yankee Stadium, or the management he did when he put in, took a place the housing program that we saw homelessness spike in our city, or probably the management he did with the bail reform. Is that what you're talking about? That created the ruckus that we're facing? 

Good management? Good management is not PowerPoints and sitting behind a table acting like you are leading. I mean, how do you go to an editorial board meeting with a PowerPoint? They must've said, man, what is this guy doing? This is not a game, you know? This is not, let me stand behind a cocoon somewhere and no one can ask me a question, no one can approach me. You know, Curtis Lee used to do this skit on NY1 where he would put on the crown and say, you know, the royal highness, you know, the king, that he felt like. 

Hey folks, listen, mayor is not being governor. You can't just hide out in a mansion. You have to get among. Some of you go to my town halls. You know, people, New Yorkers, I say this all the time, New Yorkers have five fingers, but the one they love the most. You know, and so for him to state management and that you should not do, that we should not do involuntary removals. Ask him when was the last time he was on the subway alone. Ask him when did he walk up to a person with no shoes on, no shirt on, in the dead of winter, yelling and screaming, about to push someone on the tracks, and say, tell me how would he manage that. 

[Ask] him, how would you take that person inside if that person says, I'm going nowhere? What would he do? He'll manage it away? He'll do a PowerPoint? Come on. [inaudible] Yeah, it's going to be a process. We have a limited role. And all I know is I want a casino here in the city, union jobs. 

You could build up communities. I was the former chair of Racing [and] Gaming. I know that it's a great economic boost. As long as it's in the city, I think everyone should get a fair chance. 

Question: Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Yes. Juliet. How are you? 

Question: How are you doing? Two questions. The U. S. Attorney General is ordering prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione. Um, your thoughts on that? What message that sends?

Mayor Adams: I thought in the intentional, assassination of someone. This was a horrific crime. I've been clear on this. It's still in process. It's in the federal prosecutor's hand. You intentionally went in and you took someone's life. It was a horrific act. And whatever process they put in place, I respect that process. 

Question: You're waiting for the judge's decision in your case. What is preventing you from campaigning, not mayoral appearances. What is preventing you from campaigning? Why can't you campaign?

Mayor Adams: And it was mentioned last week that I sarcastically said, what is campaigning? That was an honest answer. Because I'm lost on everyone that's saying, okay, you're not campaigning. Like, what do you believe I would be doing differently that if I was, you know, campaigning and not? 

Campaigning is going out, visiting people, doing meetings, visiting houses of worship, having gatherings, all those things. That's my everyday life, you know, my everyday life. There's nothing I would be doing differently now or others. Remember, there's different from being an incumbent and an insurgent. You know, I'm going to do my mayoral duties, but it's about your appearance, you know? So it just happens that my mayoral duties is being present in the public, is doing off topics, is meeting you in the street. So I'm not sure what people, I think this is more of a belief than the reality. I think many of you feel as though, okay, he doesn't seem to be campaigning. 

Question: Like a rally. You can't have rallies as the mayor. Well, maybe you can, but not for a campaign. How is it different from a campaign rally?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, here's what the role is and what I found. New Yorkers need to hear from those who are running from office, and they need to be in close proximity to those who are running for office. That is what I do every day. I don't know if there has ever been a mayor that is in close proximity to people. My security details say all the time, you know, mayor, you stress us out, man. You know, you round up and just walking among people and you don't like to be in that cocoon. 

So I don't know what more one would expect to do. You know, now, I do agree that, I agree with the independent observer who stated that this case should be dismissed. I said I did nothing wrong. I said that over and over again. I don't want to put New Yorkers through this see-saw of up and down, up and down. You know, we would love to have a response one way or another so that New Yorkers could just know exactly what's happening with their mayor and what their mayor is doing. 

You know, I cannot apologize to New Yorkers enough for having to go through this. And I'm hoping that they saw, in spite of what I was going through, that they were my north star and I continued to deliver for the city. Look at the day of that indictment, you still saw the progress. I told New Yorkers, I'm not gonna allow this to distract me. I'm going to continue to do my job and I lived up to my job. 

Now there's other people who had accusations against them and a few days later, they abandoned their responsibilities. They left. You know? I didn't, I never abandoned my responsibilities. And so New Yorkers will know that no matter what happens, no matter what position I have in public life, I'm going to stay true to what I was elected to do.

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor, how you doing?

Mayor Adams: Good, how are you?

Question: I'm doing well, sir, thank you. So Staten Island has seen a number of protests the past few weeks about residents who are concerned, hotels being built in their neighborhood, and a future possibility that it might be turned into homeless shelters. Your administration obviously had the migrant crisis deal with open several hotel shelters on the island. I just want to get a sense of what your position is on housing the city's traditional homeless population in hotels.

Mayor Adams: Well, I spoke to Vito Fossella, the borough president, because it was a particular site that he thought was open to be a homeless shelter. And that was misinformation. That site was not. Listen, the housing issue falls into permanent housing. It falls into the shelters. It falls into temporary housing. It falls into all these categories. And, you know, Joe can say to you that I have yet to have one elected official that would raise their hand and say, hey, build it here, build it here. But the reality is we do have to build shelters. We need to find the right place to do so. And the goal is to get people into permanent housing as in the numbers that we just mentioned. There's no desire. You don't want to raise children in families in shelters. The numbers are clear. If a child is raised in a shelter, he's less likely to graduate from high school. 

Don't educate, you will incarcerate. We can't have a housing policies that's just shelters. It must be a, for those emergency needs, we have to put people in shelter. The woman we were with last week, she had to go in shelter for a short period of time, but she went out there and she got on the grind and she found permanent housing for her child. That's what we want. 

But folks, let's be clear. There's some people that are not ready to transition into permanent housing. They can't take care of themselves. They don't know if the stove is on or off. They don't know how to pay their bills. They don't know how to deal with the sanitary conditions that comes with it. 

So there's a population in our city that's going to need permanent care. [The] governor had a role in, Andrew had a role in, when we closed the psychiatric wards, and many of them should have been closed because of draconian practices, we did nothing with that population. We just put them in the street. And that is just not realistic. You're not a good manager if you do not handle those crises and can foresee what those crises are about. And so we know it's a challenge opening the shelter in the area, But we have to make sure that we do a balance of two.

Question: Okay, so to revisit the horrific tragedy in Midwood, Brooklyn, where a mother and two kids were killed, and the third child is clinging for his life, Obviously our hearts and our prayers go out to that family. But [the] person who is responsible for their lives, I think she definitely is irresponsible, a lot. Now with that said, there is a discussion about dropping the speed limit to 20 miles per hour. Do you think that's the answer?

Mayor Adams: Well, I was part of, a lot of people don't realize that I was part of the advocacy when I was in the State Senate that called for the decrease in speeding. People said it was not possible. You know, there are some videos out there of me doing that advocacy, going to Albany, dropping from 30 to 20. We saw that if that simple drop, 10 miles an hour drop, would have a major impact on saving lives, [the] difference between injuries and saving lives. And a lot of the advocates back there, we stood side by side and talked about how we should decrease the speed limits. 

Irresponsible, reckless people, particularly when you look at this scenario on Ocean Parkway, where they have speed cameras. There's so much that has been done for speed modification in that area. It appears as though the driver was driving at a high rate of speed. 

And people who disregard laws needs to be held accountable. And right now, it's in the hands of the district attorney to look over that. And I'm pretty sure they're going to do what needs to be done. And I mean, think about it. Those of you who have children and those of you who don't have children, to lose your wife and two children, and now you have a young child, a child, Philip, is in the hospital, currently getting care. Those are the parts of this job that people don't see. Sitting in that room with his dad and talking about what is happening, how he feels. Like, what do you say? What words do you find? 

There's not much you can say when you do that. So I think that our work is clear. [This] year, we quadrupled the number of red light cameras across the five boroughs to save lives. It's crucial because when people, Bill de Blasio used to say this all the time, once someone is given a summons, they're less likely to repeat that behavior, particularly in that area. And we also at least want to make sure those red light cameras are in the right places. And I want to point out that it looked like she was going at least double the speed limit and possibly ran a red light. 

So I keep digging into that reckless drivers will act in a reckless manner in a total disregard for the lives of innocent people. Three people died in that accident. You know, looking at that car on Ocean Parkway was just horrendous. And so when you see us doing these, deputy mayor now, Daughtry, when he was doing all of these speed roundups, catching people, you have these different meetups where you have a hundred cars meeting up to speed through the streets. 

This is why we've been proactive in doing this. When we look at those 80,000 vehicles we removed off our streets, 80,000 mopeds, scooters, dirt bikes, motorcycles, ghost cars, that is part of our proactive approach. So we don't just react when someone loses a life, we are proactive. And it's really commendable, God knows how many lives D.M. Daughtry saved by being proactive and moving those vehicles off the streets.

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