Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls in for Live Interview on Q104.3's "Jim Kerr Rock & Roll Morning Show"

March 18, 2024

Jim Kerr: Well, Mr. Mayor, good morning.

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning, Jim, how are you this morning?

Kerr: I’m doing fine, thank you. You know, I put on a white shirt and a tie and jacket and everything today. I don’t usually dress like that. 

Mayor Adams: And really congratulations to you. To be on the air for 50 years says a lot. Your listeners have a great deal of respect for you. And I look forward every year when I come down, since being mayor, on your show that you do on St. Patrick’s Day during the parade. And we’re giving you a proclamation today in acknowledgement of being the voice that people respect and love in this city.

Kerr: Oh, wow! My boss, Big E, is holding the proclamation up right now, Mayor Adams. I must ask you a question, though. This is very important to me. 

30 years ago, on my 20th anniversary show in New York, I asked then Governor Mario Cuomo if after 20 years in New York on the radio, could I finally call myself a New Yorker? And then he paused and he said, no. 

So it's been 50 years now, Mr. Mayor. Can I finally proudly proclaim to the world that I, Jim Kerr, am in fact a New Yorker? 

Mayor Eric Adams: Well, by the power vested in me, I hereby proclaim that you are an official New Yorker. 

Kerr: Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, and thank you for taking the time to call us up this morning. And thank you for visiting us at Connelly's every year for the St. Patrick's Day broadcast. 

And not only that, but Mr. Mayor, I met you before you were mayor because you would be at a lot of the charitable functions when you were Brooklyn borough president. And I know your commitment to the city and its people, and I just want you to know that I appreciate it, as others do as well. 

Of course, you're the mayor, which means you have to get used to being booed at sporting events and at parades, because that comes with the job.

Mayor Adams: Yes, it does. You know, it is like the rain and the showers, the liquid sunshine in Ireland, you know, that's how you get to seven shades of green. When I was there, I saw the beauty of that, and that's the beauty of New York. You know, this is a place where we're extremely opinionated. 8.3 million people, 35 million opinions, and that's the [inaudible] of opinion. 

Kerr: All right, well, thank you... 

Host: Well, before he goes, Jim. 

Kerr: Yes. 

Host: Jim, I'm reading the proclamation, and you know, it takes me a while to read, but I think the last line of this proclamation is the most important, I think, to Mayor Adams. If you want to say what Monday, March 18, 2024 day is in New York today. 

Mayor Adams: It is officially Jim Kerr's day in the City of New York. 

Host: They named the day after you, man! 

Shelli Sonstein: It's Jim Kerr Day in New York City. 

Host: For those who celebrate. 

Kerr: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Have a good day. 

Sonstein: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 

Mayor Adams: Okay. Take care.