Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on FOX 5's "Good Day New York"

May 2, 2025

Curt Menefee: Well, Mayor Eric Adams unveiled his new 2026 executive budget, the $115 billion spending plan includes funding that affects several crucial election year issues, including public safety and increased access to child care and after-school programs.

Rosanna Scotto: Joining us right now from Gracie Mansion, Mayor Eric Adams, along with First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro. Nice to have you all with us this morning on Good Day.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Great to be on. 

Scotto: Mayor, I know you call this the “Best Budget Ever,” but the critics are out. They smell blood. They say you did not take into effect uncertainty with the economy. What is your reaction to the critics?

Mayor Adams: Think about this for a moment. We have $8.5 billion with a B in our savings, $8.5 billion. That's a record level. And at the same time, we have been able to navigate through two crises, the COVID crisis and the asylum seeker crisis and fiscal cliffs and union contracts, 99 percent we've settled. 

And now we're able to invest in children, children like that Bayside high school student that I was one day that we betrayed. We're now investing in them. So those critics are just being political. We are investing in people.

Scotto: But why didn't you allocate money for the rainy day fund?

First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro: Well, Rosanna, as the mayor said, $8.5 billion in reserves. That's the largest amount in city history. $2 million in a rainy day fund alone. That's the largest in city history. But we've had record revenue last year in our city and a very strong first quarter. And by managing the migrant crisis so well and reducing the migrant population that needed support down from over 230,000 down to less than 40,000 today, that's also a billions dollar savings in our city budget. 

That crisis blew a $7.5 billion hole in the past. Look, some people see the glass, the pessimists, the political opportunists. They see the glass, you know, half empty. They're rooting against New York for whatever reasons. We see the glass half full. We see a bright future. We see an opportunity to invest in our city's future, to invest in our kids' future. 

Public safety and crime, reduced by record proportions, lowest murder rates, lowest shooting rates, affordable housing produced at record levels. We see economic opportunity, 4.86 million New Yorkers, you know, with jobs the highest in city history. And we see a historic landmark investment in our children. 

They're our future. In universal after-school and in after-school and childhood development programs. This is an historic moment. It really is the Best Budget Ever. It's the best I've ever been involved in. And as you know, I did this job in the 90s and did a lot of budgets. We have the opportunity to invest in our future. We are. I could not be prouder of this administration and this mayor.

Menefee: You know, Mayor Adams, Randy Mastro is a great hype man for you. You both talk about the $8.5 billion dollars in reserves, and that's a fact. But a lot of the critics will say, “Well, that $8.5 billion is in reserve because of the federal budget money we got from the federal government, which is a billion dollars that they're not doing. 

The money that we've gotten from the state that we're still fighting to get and an oncoming recession that a lot of people expect, plus more budget cuts from the Trump administration. So is there enough room, even with that $8.5 billion dollars, if you're spending it in other places for it to be there in an emergency in the next year or so?

Mayor Adams: And that's you know, those are great questions you're asking. And next time you speak to those critics, [ask them], should we take away the universal after-school? Should we take away child care? Should we take away the investment in public safety? Should we take away the investment in revitalizing our infrastructure? 

Ask them where we should take the money from. They don't have the answers. We've had the answers. We've navigated this city out of two crises and shown that we could budget this city during crises. I really implore everyone to go see that Drop Dead New York documentary during the Beame years. We had no layoffs, no increase in taxes. 

In fact, we're proposing to cut taxes on low income New Yorkers. We have to start celebrating, guys. You know, New York is seeing a bright future in front of them because of how we manage and navigated this city. And we'll deal with those uncertainties. We have $8.5 billion dollars to deal with those uncertainties.

First Deputy Mayor Mastro: Kurt, I'm not hyping anything other than an historic budget. I'm a government professional who came back to help our city and to make progress in our city. And I'm so proud of this budget. Not a dollar of that reserve, not a dollar of that record reserve is being spent to pay for these additional programs. 

It's because our revenue has been so strong. It's because we were able to cut some of the spending in other areas like the many billions of dollars on the migrant crisis that we have the opportunity now to invest in our city's future. So those reserves are there. 

There is no one, I believe, in elected office in New York, no big city mayor who's better able to address the issues that may come up in Washington. We are mindful of them. We've planned for them. We have record reserves. And when we need to, Mayor Adams has sued, including to claw back migrant funding, the $80 million that Elon Musk clawed back from a wire transfer. We will do the right thing for New York. And we will use the skills of this administration to manage through any problems, as this administration has done in the past.

Menefee: One more question for me about the budget. Mayor Adams, as soon as you release the preliminary budget, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams agrees with you. The times that you two agree scares people, I think, because you usually don't agree on a whole lot right out of the gate. Is this politically prudent and fiscally responsible? And for people that say maybe it's not, this is because this is an election year for both of you running for mayor, what do you say to that?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that not only was I on the stage of that auditorium at Bayside High School, so too was the Speaker Adrienne Adams, two public school students. I went to CUNY College, a public school college. We know how important it is to invest in the future of our city. And we are going to debate on things that we disagree with, but we know what it is to move this city forward during extremely difficult times. 

And I just want to be consistent. I am not only going to fight to get money that I believe we [are owed] from Washington, but I'm going to do it in the state. You know, other electors are not talking about the fact that we didn't get a billion dollars from the state to deal with the migrant crisis. They're not talking about the $300 million that we're not getting from child care vouchers. 

That inconsistency should trouble New Yorkers. Parties do not matter to me, protecting the people of this city, and I will fight any party to protect the people of this city, and others should be consistent like that. We have not heard from one citywide elected to talk about the issues we're receiving in Albany, but I'm going to speak about them.

Scotto: Hey, mayor, you got a lot of fighting on your hands because the City Campaign Finance Board once again rejected your request for campaign matching funds. What are you going to do? How are you going to change that and continue running for office?

Mayor Adams: We still have millions of dollars to campaign on, and I have a record. Others are running from their records. I am running on my record, and I'm going to do what I do best, and I speak to working class people of this city. We still have billions of dollars, and I have a legal team that is going to continue to pursue the due process that we deserve to talk about why we should be receiving our campaign matching funds. 

Were there volunteers that did things that are inappropriate? Yes, and I apologize to New Yorkers. Some people I trusted I should not have trusted, but my campaign did nothing wrong. We broke no laws, and we're going to show that to the Campaign Finance Board, but at the same time, the lawyers will handle that. I'm going to handle running the city and speaking to voters. 
Scotto: Who shouldn't you have trusted? 

Mayor Adams: I don't need to go into names. The record will show who was involved in things that were inappropriate. Right now, the lawyers will handle my pursuit to get my dollars that I deserve, and I'm going to run the city like I've done successfully, and I'm going to be on the campaign trail, and I'm looking forward to that.

Menefee: Alright. The clock has struck midnight for us. We're out of time with you. Will you explain to Randy Mastro that being a hype man is not necessarily a bad thing? You do that, alright? Thank you very much, both of you. 

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