Transcript: Mayor Adams Briefs Media on NYPD Officers Attacked in Times Square With NYPD Commissioner Tisch and Holds In-Person Media Availability

May 6, 2025

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

Mayor Eric Adams: Good to see some of you, but another day in this great city we call New York. I'm joined by men and women of the New York City Police Department [who] are here to go over the Times Square incident. I asked the commissioner, we were speaking over the weekend about this incident and she's going to go through it. And just a couple of high points. 

It's horrific enough to be a victim of a crime, but when someone openly assaults a police officer, you are attacking our symbol of safety, and it cannot be tolerated. And I heard throughout the weekend, as I engaged with New Yorkers, they said, "These were children. They were young." I hear that often. 

Tell that to the victim. Tell it to the victim of a shooting, a stabbing. Tell it to the victim of being surrounded and how fearful they are. You give them that understanding. People who prey on innocent people must be held accountable. They must be brought to justice. We have programs to deal with young people from engaging in criminal behavior. 

We've invested a substantial amount of resources from after-school programs to Summer Youth Employment to justice-involved young people. We're doing that. But I'm not going to accept if you are fifteen years old and you decide you're going to stab someone, I don't want to hear people tell me it's a young person. 

We're going to give them the service and the justice, we're going to treat them fairly in the criminal justice system, but when you're a victim of a crime, the last thing you're thinking about is the age of the person. You're thinking [that] you're being victimized and no one should be victimized in this city. So I want to turn this over to the commissioner so she can go through this incident that happened this weekend. 

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, sir. Good morning. Last week we saw a troubling incident in the heart of Times Square where NYPD officers came under attack. On Friday, at approximately 7:30 p.m., cops assigned to footpost in the area of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, and just a block away from a highly anticipated boxing match, noticed a group of about 10 to 12 individuals beginning to surround three others. 

The officers engaged the group and attempted to break up what appeared to be a wolfpack-style robbery. Instead, they were ambushed, pelted with scooters, basketballs, and other makeshift weapons. This was a targeted attack, planned, deliberate, and carried out with intent. And it will not be tolerated. 

Luckily, our officers are okay, and the investigation that followed was fast, focused, and effective. Our detectives got right to work and within hours identified members of a violent group known as Los Diablos de la 42, a subset of Tren de Aragua. Several of them are listed in our gang database, and that's one of the reasons that we caught many of them so quickly. 

This database is one of the most critical tools that we have to protect our cops and to protect our communities. It helped us identify who they were, who they ran with, and what they were tied to fast. You can't fight organized violence with blindfolds on, and without this tool, we'd lose the edge that keeps our city safe. That's why it absolutely defies common sense that our City Council is looking to abolish this database.

We need our City Council to stop legislating against our cops and to start legislating for public safety. So far, we've apprehended five individuals connected to this incident. Three were arrested the next day, all repeat offenders and all previously tied to citywide robbery patterns. A fourth turned himself in on Sunday and just this morning we arrested a fifth, a sixteen year old recidivist. 

They face serious charges including attempted felony assault, inciting riot and reckless endangerment. More arrests are coming. We've identified several additional individuals involved, and we are certainly not done yet. Make no mistake, this is not low-level crime, it's organized violence carried out by gang members that we've already taken off the streets for preying on New Yorkers. 

And now they're back, ambushing cops in the middle of Times Square. It's not a fluke, it's a system failure. It's what happens when repeat offenders are allowed to cycle through arrest after arrest without meaningful accountability. It's what happens when there are no real consequences. Criminals push the line further, and innocent people pay the price. 

We are also aware that ICE was present at one of our precincts on Sunday morning. And while we are looking into how they got there, I want to stress that our officers followed the procedure outlined in our January directive. They did exactly what we asked of them. We will, of course, continue to work with our federal partners on criminal enforcement.

But I will say it once again, the NYPD does not engage in civil immigration enforcement, period. Finally, I want to thank our detectives for their outstanding work on this case. This was lightning-fast, disciplined, high-quality work, the kind of investigation that reflects the very best of this department.

From identification to arrest in under twenty four hours, that kind of turnaround takes skill, urgency, and relentless focus. The NYPD will not be intimidated. An attack on our officers is an affront to public safety, and we will use every resource available to hold these individuals accountable. This remains an active investigation and we will continue to provide updates as they come. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: This is the car and five arrested around the victim. The picture on the subway. Victim is sitting down, surrounded, robbery, [and] four arrested. And what I need New Yorkers to understand, when you're surrounded like this, you're traumatized. You're traumatized. You're being robbed, and often, in many cases, there are young people who are being robbed. 

And so when people talk about the young people who are robbed, how about the young people who are being robbed? Do we forget that? Do we forget that this [traumatizes] individuals after the videos that I'm seeing of individuals who are being arrested repeatedly. The shooting that we did of our police officer last week, the person who shot our police officer last week off-duty officer, each one of them were arrested over ten times. 

The person who shot the woman, the grandmother in Harlem, just stabbed two people last year for a robbery. This is what the commissioner is talking about. And so what I need for New Yorkers to do, and all those who want to take away our gang database, and mind you, they're not on the train. What I want them to do is put themselves in that seat. 

You just going to school, going to work, going to visit your loved one, and all of a sudden you have a group of people who have become professionals at preying on innocent people with these wolf-pack type robbers. That's what we're fighting against when we fight to change these laws up in Albany and in City Council. 

And so we're gonna open to a few questions but I do want to highlight Chief Savino. The work he has done around these gangs and targeting and using the information around these gangs is just impressive. With the commissioner and this team up here, what we've been able to do that many people don't understand, we have been able to stop them from taking a foothold in our city like they've taken a foothold in other cities. 

These gangs, when I was in Ecuador, people did not want to leave Ecuador. They fled Ecuador because the gangs took over. And when they came to New York and they started to see the tattoos and started to see the gangs, they said, "This is what we ran from." And they're preying on other immigrants and migrants. 

That's why we said we can't allow them to take a foothold. Can you imagine being in Central Park and having twenty people surround you? Or you're sitting on the subway station, on the train, and having thirteen people surround you. How intimidating that is. These guys are shooting, they're robbing, they're committing crimes, and they have a total disregard for law enforcement. 

That's why they attacked our cops on Times Square. It's not going to happen in the city, folks. We're not going to allow it to happen. And we have stopped them from taking a foothold in the City of New York. And we're not going to allow them to carry out those dangerous actions that they carried out in other countries. They're not happening here. So why don't we take a few questions before we go to your off topics.

Question: Will you be releasing the video from what you were describing, the Times Square incidents in the broader public? And you made this point, I wanted to see if you could please elaborate on about when NYPD collaborates with Homeland Security Investigations. 

What is that threshold trigger that says this is something the NYPD can help with and what is civil? And then just lastly, why were you surprised or do not know the answer of why ICE was at a precinct?

Commissioner Tisch: Okay, let me take them one at a time. I believe DCPI will be releasing more video later in the day as part of our request for media attention. Second question?

Question: What is the threshold for when NYPD under the law can collaborate with Homeland Security Investigations?

Commissioner Tisch: The NYPD collaborates routinely. This is going back decades with Homeland Security Investigations, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security on criminal investigations. We have NYPD detectives assigned as TFOs assigned to work with Homeland Security Investigations on this task force. 

Just as we do with task forces led by the DEA, the FBI, it's a fairly common thing. And so those task forces focus on criminal investigations. Deportation is a civil process. We do not work with ICE or the Department of Homeland Security on civil immigration enforcement, meaning enforcement that results in a deportation hearing.

Question: Why are you surprised ICE was at a precinct? Why do you not know the answer of how they figured it out?

Commissioner Tisch: I was surprised that ICE was at a precinct because ICE shows up to do civil immigration enforcement. And the NYPD does not participate in civil immigration enforcement. And our officers did a tremendous job. 

They followed a procedure that we had put out in early January, an operations order, that explains exactly what steps they should take in a scenario such as that. And they did not turn over the person that was in custody to those ICE agents at that time.

Mayor Adams: Two things, one, this is a big city, as many of you have tips and leaks that can come from anywhere. I know you find it surprising that people leak information, but they do. And we follow procedures. There is no coordination that the NYPD, City Hall, or anyone did that is associated with an arrest. We have the rules very clear, and we say it over and over again. 

We don't participate in civil enforcement. If some witness out there saw these officers being attacked, and all of a sudden they decide to do their tips, we have nothing to do with that. We don't coordinate on civil enforcement. I want to be clear on that. 

Number two, I said it before, I'm going to say it again. ICE is not a criminal organization. It is a law enforcement organization. Some people want to criminalize them. Those men and women are committed to public safety, like every other federal partner, and we are happy to coordinate with them for criminal investigation. 

We're not going to limit what we do for criminal investigation. ICE is not a criminal organization. It is not an illegal organization. And all of this atmosphere and energy [all] of a sudden taking ICE and making it appear as though those men and women who are dedicated to public safety, they're involved in some criminal action. They are not. 

We collaborate with ICE for criminal investigations. And we're going to continue to do that, like we do with HSI, FBI, and all of our partners on the state and city and federal level. That's what we're going to do. So those who want to take ICE and put them in this category of we should not be collaborating with them on criminal investigation, not in this administration. 

They're not the enemy. They have a role to play in keeping New Yorkers safe and we're going to collaborate with them to do so. But as the commissioner stated, we're not going to do civil enforcement because that's what the law states that we can't do. 

Question: I would like to ask, you said that actions have consequences. What can be the real consequences for these people? They are young people. I don't know if you can confirm the age of the youngest of them, but they're kids. What are the real consequences that law allows in New York City for them? And do you expect the federal government to get involved in this procedure?

Mayor Adams: That's the federal government's decision on what we're going to do. Our job is to apprehend the criminal justice court system to make the determination on what the penalties are and how it's going to be handled. Our job is not to be the judge and jury. Our job is to apprehend. We did that. 

These detectives that are here and the chiefs that are here, they did their job. Now it's up to, number one, the judges and the criminal justice system to operate, but it's also up to our council people, as the commissioner stated, to look at how legislatively we are impacting the public safety of citizens of this city. And so we did what we're supposed to do. Now it's up to the other arms of criminal justice to do what they're supposed to do.

Question: But Mr. Mayor, you know that underage criminals, felons, they usually go back on the streets. And it's not only about this particular instance. There's many other attacks on people done by young people. They just go back to school or go back on the street. So, what would be your expectation of that law to change?

Mayor Adams: I expect my lawmakers, my judges, and everyone who's part of the criminal justice system to answer a question that I've said over and over again. Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of those who surrounded in that photo, who surrounded an innocent person sitting on that train, or are you on the side of those who are surrounding him? I know the side I'm on. And now everyone needs to answer that question. Whose side are you on? You need to answer that question. And I know which side I'm on. 

Question: You know, you talked about the fact that the person who's the victim is not worried about the age of the people who are surrounding them. So I ask you this. What tools do you have in your toolbox to go after people who are members of this [Los Diablos de la 42] gang, to go after them, to try to stop them so that they're not back on the street again and again and again to go after people in Times Square, to go after people in Central Park. What can you do?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, we do have a tool. Gang database. That's one of the tools. And they're getting ready to take that away from us. We have the tool of having cops carry out investigations appropriately, but they took a tool away when asked how many stop bills. 

We have a tool of using the information that we gather so that we can handle it. But they did discovery. We have a tool of having people who commit these crimes stay in. But they did reforms in bail. I mean, all the tools, so the tools are going to protect the surrounders of people. How about protecting the victims of people? 

Question: So what do you want to see changed? I mean, talk to the City Council, talk to the legislature, talk to the governor, tell them and tell me what you want to see changed.

Mayor Adams: We need to keep our gang database. Gang databases prevent retaliatory shootings and retaliatory actions. Many of the shootings we see in our city are gang-involved, and it prevents that. When we're able to identify gang members and gang affiliations, it helps us greatly in doing investigations. 

And chief, I don't know if you want to respond to that or the commissioner, but those are important tools. And the fight we're doing now for discovery. Some of the dismissals have nothing to do with the right of the person to have the information that they need. 

So these items that are eroding the actions of law enforcement officers to bring people to justice, particularly repeated offenders, there's a body, there's a small body of people that are carrying out repeated crimes. Do one of you want to go into the profile of how many arrests, how many crimes this group did?

Assistant Chief Jason Savino, Detectives Bureau, Police Department: Yeah, well, I mean, when you look at this crew, the real emphasis [on] criminality has to have consequences, right? And if it doesn't, it actually encourages more criminality. So when you look at this crew, right now, thirty seven total identified members between Los Diablos and who they've been arrested with, who are really a farm team of Tren de Aragua. 

Of those 37, we have over 240 arrests of those 37 individuals. That's almost six apiece. So think about that. Think about that empowerment. Think about that individual that's committing these heinous crimes and there's virtually no consequence. You're actually telling that individual that it's okay. 

So we have the community behind us. We feel the outrage. We know the slander that this group is really putting upon all the good people, right? All the individuals that came here with the right intentions, and to build a better life. This core group of individuals, just like any other recidivists that we see out there, are really ruining it for everybody. We're on top of it, we're building the best cases we can, we're hoping we get some help.

Question: I have a follow-up question for the mayor. Do you think that these young people, these gang members, these Diablo and 42nd Street [gangs] should be deported?

Mayor Adams: I've been very clear on this and I want to say it so this can be fully understood. Once you are convicted and once you serve whatever time it is, you have abdicated your right to be in this country. This country is a place for opportunities. 

You shouldn't be praying on other migrants and asylum seekers. You shouldn't be praying on innocent New Yorkers. Once you do that, you have lost your right to be here in what I believe is the greatest country on the globe. I can't make it clearer. I would say this, Marcia, ask the victim of that crime, what do they think, that sat on that train.

Question: Señor alcalde, buenas tardes. You say that part of this group is from the Tren de Aragua organization. How were they linked to this criminal organization? Any specific clues that just give you the idea that they belong to that organization?

Assistant Chief Savino: So what we consider Los Diablos de la 42 crew is really a farm team, a young Tren de Aragua. So they use virtually the same gang signs, they use the same verbiage, they use the same emojis when they post on social media. They're very, very big into posting firearms. 

We can show still after still after still of them posting firearms and we firmly believe that they're obtaining their firearms from Tren de Aragua. Now just to bring you back to that, we're addressing that. You saw very recently the police commissioner and the staff, Tren de Aragua, one hundred seven guns embedded in five long-term cases removed off the streets where they could do no harm. That's this year alone. That's this year alone. So we're hitting it from the top and at the bottom, and we're quite confident we're going to have good results. 

Mayor Adams: One hundred seven guns. You know, I was at the wake, you know, NJ, I saw you there at the wake of their grandmother that was shot in the head. You know, we don't know where that gun came from. One hundred seven guns, twenty seven gang members that we coordinated with the federal authorities last week or two weeks ago. 

You know, we are stopping them from having a foothold in this city. They have no regard. They're grooming these young people, young Tren de Aragua, they're grooming them to come up. When you're a victim of a crime, what do you say to a family member who's a victim of a shooting, victim of a robbery? You know, that's what I have to do every day. I'm at these wakes. And I know I asked you, those who was at the wake, did a citywide elected come? 

What member of the City Council went to that wake last week of that grandmother that was shot in the head? Who went there? Who? Tell me, one of these City Council members or citywide elected that go to the hospital and visit these family members after they're shot. Or get on the phone and say, "Listen, the city's going to be here with you." Not one. 

I mean, why aren't we asking them, did you go to the wake and say to this innocent grandmother's family, her son, did you go and console them? You're citywide elected and you had a crime of this action. And not only that, did any of them talk about it? We had a grandmother shot in the head in Harlem in a beauty salon, checking on her grandchild. 

Did one elected talk about that? I must have missed it. That's what's driving me crazy. Do these innocent people matter? Do they matter? Or no. I bet you one thing, if something would have happened to an inmate that committed a homicide on Rikers Island, they'd be tripping over themselves to talk about that inmate that committed that homicide on Rikers Island. 

If something was to happen to a person who committed a robbery or chain of robberies, they'd be tripping over themselves to talk about that. How about talking about the innocent people of the city? So my message to the City Council, to lawmakers, whose side are you on? I'm on the side of the innocent New Yorkers and I don't give a [] who [doesn't] understand that. 

Question: So I know both of you have talked about recidivism and discovery calls. But what about the laws and the penalties for crimes that have been reduced? You know, there are certain assaults now that aren't even bail-eligible anymore, and then the judges release them. Isn't this part of the problem? Do you talk to anybody in Albany about that? 

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is. It's an accumulation and erosion of the basic tools that allow police officers to do their job and hold dangerous people inside. Like family courts, Chief Chell was sharing, family court judges could be manned, dangerous of members who are repeatedly offenders in family court, they can be remanded to facilities. Can't just let them come back on the street. You know, how do you have over twenty arrests? I mean, twenty crimes that's connected to you, because we don't even know how many that's not connected to them.

Question: So was there any movement in Albany to revisit that, where they reduced, you know, the bail reform, they reduced a lot of these penalties for crimes and they made them like lower level crimes.

Mayor Adams: I don't think any elected official in this city has been more vociferous around the erosion of these laws. And everyone needs to take account for their actions in this.

Question: So could you, maybe the police commissioner or any of the other police officials explain how these teens were arrested, had a cell phone in the holding cell, I saw they were posting selfies in there. And then also, if you can elaborate on when ICE, we're dealing with ICE, when the NYPD arrests somebody, if it's possibly one of these 180 crimes or 200 crimes, you know, what is the, how does that dialogue start? 

Is it, do you guys have a daily meeting at 8 a.m. and you guys exchange information, or is this like, hey, we arrested these people, like we know they were on your radar for something and they're alerting us, is that maybe how ICE agents showed up at the precinct, or how does, what was the real world application of these policies?

Commissioner Tisch: So I'll take that one. We do not notify ICE when we make an arrest. And we have a very detailed operations order that spells out for the officers, the rules of the road, as it relates to civil immigration enforcement and goes through different scenarios and tells them what to do in each scenario. 

But regardless of the scenario, one of the first things on the list is to call the legal bureau so that they're not acting alone or exercising their independent judgment. They get legal advice from a lawyer who instructs them how to handle the situation.

Question: [Inaudible] know the cell phone in the holding zone?

Chief John Chell, Chief of Department, Police Department: You're [talking] about the cell phone in the juvenile room when they were given the gang symbols? Yeah, we're still looking into that situation. Internal Affairs says they would take a look at what phone it was. We're still working through that.

Assistant Chief Savino: I just want to add something to that, because I see that narrative out there. Think about that selfie, right? Think about all we're talking about. Those individuals, instead of showing remorse while they're cuffed in jail, decide to take a selfie throwing up gang signs. It plays [exactly] to what we're talking about.

Question: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis released a FOIL request that she said she received that says about more than 3,000 crimes were committed by people who listed the migrant shelter as their home address, were arrested for crimes, about like a two-year period. 

I'm just wondering, like, what kind of tracking, I know you guys can't ask people's documented status, but is there more tracking that you guys are doing with this, and when you guys do see something like this, what are the next steps you guys are worried about? Is this a lot? Is this, you know?

Commissioner Tisch: We do not ask people's immigration status when we make arrests. That policy hasn't changed. It's existed for a long time. The data that you were talking about was data run based on what people listed as a resident address and if it was one of our HERRCs.

Question: Are you guys worried at all about this, you know, 3,000 crimes committed in like a two-year period around migrant shelters, or at least people who listed migrant shelters as their home address?

Mayor Adams: I think that when you look at what the commissioner has put in place about zone policing and about really doing analysis where the crimes are taking place, and I'm sure she's going to roll out the summer safety plan, to us, a crime is a crime. 

And if we identify a location where crimes are taking place, it doesn't matter if it's a documented or undocumented person, we're going to deploy the personnel there. Wherever the crime is needed, we're going to look at that and make sure that we respond accordingly.

Question: Given all the enforcement against TDA or by the NYPD and what the feds might've done in terms of deportation. Is the gang stronger now than a year ago, or is it weaker? Can someone give us an assessment of their footprint in the city, their strength, and how they make their money?

Mayor Adams: Commissioner, could do that, but just going back to your question, Morgan, a lot of those sites that the congresswoman brought up, those sites are closed also. We've closed a substantial number of those sites, 

Commissioner Tisch: Maybe I'll just let Chief Savino add to this, but we've done now a number of gang takedowns in the past year directly focused on TDA, and we've taken a lot of guns off the street, we've taken a lot of people off the street, so we've definitely made a real dent in our efforts so far, but given that these kids are still out there on Friday doing what they did, obviously we still have more work to do.

Question: I just want to talk to you and the commissioner, because we've talked a lot about how those are not doing civil immigration enforcement. We reported Friday that the NYPD did share a sealed arrest record of a woman who was hit with a summons, protesting. That evidence is now being used in the case to deport her. There's no criminal investigation into her, according to HSI. 

So I'm hoping that maybe you or Commissioner Tisch can explain how this happened, the fact that the record was sealed and shared. And also if you wanted, you know, we had asked about this, you said it unequivocally did not happen. So if you want to take that back and address it.

Commissioner Tisch: Jake, yes. We got, first, this is under internal investigation and review, but I'll share with you what I can. We got a call from HSI, not New York, I believe it was HSI in New Jersey, to our real-time crime center requesting information about the individual in question. 

When we get that type of request into our real-time crime center from any partners, but also our federal partners, we ask a bunch of information, the name of the person making the request, where they're assigned, and what the request is related to. 

In the case that you are asking about, the member said that they were seeking information on this person related to a money laundering investigation, and that is fairly standard for us, and so the information was provided. How it is that summons information was provided that is associated with a sealed arrest is what we are looking into now.

Question: I actually had a quick follow-up about this. So you said there's an internal investigation. So do you feel like if it happened the way that Jake laid out, would that have been an improper instance of the information being shared? And then I had a more general question just about this process?

Commissioner Tisch: There's two separate things going on here. The first was sharing information with a member assigned to an HSI task force in New Jersey. That was all done according to procedure. It was done as part of a criminal investigation into money laundering. The paperwork is very clear on that, and that is definitely an instance where we would share information. The thing that we are looking at is, as part of that document request, which we handed over, how a summons record associated with a sealed case was also provided.

[Crosstalk.]

Commissioner Tisch: I don't know how much clearer I can be. I am looking into how a sealed record could have been provided. I am not looking into the propriety of responding to a request from a federal partner for a money-laundering investigation.

Question: So, just more broadly speaking on this civil versus criminal assisting with federal immigration partners. The border czar, Tom Homan has said, "He considers simply crossing the border illegally a crime." So I'm wondering, has he or any federal partners come to the NYPD seeking information for this type of case? And if so, has the NYPD or would it provide information if the feds consider this a criminal investigation?

Commissioner Tisch: So I'll take the second part. Our sanctuary city laws are pretty clear that there are certain crimes related to illegal entry, illegal reentry, those types of things that the city and the department cannot participate in. And so, we follow those sanctuary city laws to the letter of the law. And so, no, we would not share information or participate in investigations associated with those crimes.

Mayor Adams: Thank you, commissioner. Thank you, guys, ladies. So I just want to quickly, you know, as we talk about our budget last week that we like to classify as the best budget ever, you know, when you think about law enforcement to continue that $3.4 billion for approximately 34,000 police officers for academy classes, increasing our numbers a slight tweak, and the qualifications and enrollment is allowing a real boost of officers coming on board, and this is going to help with our continuous pursuit to make this the safest big city in America that we are now, the safety of the city all together. 

The Best Budget Ever also included $331 million to bring after-school programming to an additional 20,000 K-5 students by the Fall of 2027. And also the dollar amount is really impressive. When you look at universal after-school, $755 million annually, and the public school students served by universal after school program to an additional 184,000 citywide. Just impressive numbers and an impressive move towards what our budget is doing under different economic challenges, and we still have $8.5 billion, with a B, in our reserves. So why don't we open up, take some questions. 

Question: So last week at the Ethnic Media Roundtable at Gracie Mansion, I asked you about the idea of withholding funds from the federal government, which other mayoral candidates like Jessica Ramos and Michael Blake have expressed support for. I think Jessica Ramos actually has a bill in the State Senate about this. And you mentioned that the city is doing lawsuits, they're rightfully carrying out lawsuits to get back the funds that belong to us. 

Are you concerned at all about the Trump administration's disregard for rulings from the judiciary? And if they ignore a judiciary ruling in your favor, would you consider the idea of withholding funds from the federal government reciprocally as these other candidates have mentioned?

Mayor Adams: First of all, those candidates don't really understand the process because even if you wanted to withhold the $80 million from FEMA, it was clawed back and the banks responded to the call from the federal government. So, when you're running for office and you don't have a real understanding of city government, you make a lot of make-believe plans, you know, both of them. 

Now I want to understand why they're so far down in this whole process. Our attorneys are handling this and I have a full– I have a lot of confidence in our corp court of counsel and they're going to determine the strategy, our legal strategy.

Question: Do you have confidence in the Trump administration that they will follow a ruling in your favor?

Mayor Adams: Well, we have a judicial system, I have a lot of trust in our judicial system and our judicial system has built-in mechanisms to ensure that all of us follow the law. So I have trust in our judicial system. I'm not in charge of our judicial system. I'm in charge of the City of New York, and so the judicial system will determine the outcome of everyone that comes in front of them.

Question: Señor alcalde, is there a hearing right now about the street vendors, and they are, like a lot of them, our community, Spanish. And they are complaining about they don't have enough licenses right now, and they would like the city to help them in this situation. Right now, there is two bills that they're trying to pass. What do you think about that possibility, in the future, any possibility of them to have more licenses in order to be legal on the streets?

Mayor Adams: This is vendors? Okay. It really shows, and I saw that [inaudible] and Jumaane also did a proposal as well. Look folks, when we deal with vendor licenses, it's coming from the community. People don't want to see a free-for-all in their community around vendoring. This is coming from the community. 

It was the community that called us when you saw the Brooklyn Bridge lined up with vendors. People said, "Listen, what is this? We don't want to go through this." When I'm in Coney Island and people are talking about vendors on boardwalk, when I'm in Sandra Ung's district in Flushing, they talk about vendors on boardwalk, I mean on their streets where they can't even walk down the streets. Then it hurts legitimate businesses. 

Someone's in front of your shop, you are paying taxes, you are paying employees, you are paying for the prices. Someone's in front of your shop selling the same thing you have inside your shop. We must monitor, have a fair vendor system, but it can't be a free-for-all. And so those who are saying, just give vendor licenses to everyone, we're not going to do that. 

We're going to monitor, we're going to make sure it's done correctly, and it has to create the atmosphere that businesses are thriving in this city. And we give out vendors licenses appropriately, they must be in the right locations, the right places. It can't be a free-for-all. And so I hear what they're saying, but that's not what residents are saying to us. I'm at my town hall meetings, people are saying these vendors have become out of control in our city, and we must monitor that.

Question: So, Mr. Mayor, I have a few questions about Rikers Island. I wonder if it's pie in the sky for the council to believe that Rikers Island will close, not only in 2027, but ever. And do you really think that it's within the realm of possibility that you could take a look at those community jails and turn them into housing? 

Mayor Adams: Run it by me one more time.

Question: So, do you think it's pie in the sky for the council to believe that you can still close Rikers Island in 2027, which is when it's supposed to close? And is it possible that you will look at the possibility of taking those community jails that are under construction and turn them into public housing instead of turning them into community jails?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I think it's pie in the sky to close in 2027. I said that over and over again. The bill was flawed from the beginning. Idealism collides with realism often when you're dealing with those who just don't understand how to be realistic about it. 

The plans are the same. I've made it clear that I think we need to open a state of the art mental health facility. I said this over and over again. You can't have 51 percent of the inmates at Rikers Island having mental health illness in 18 to 20– I'm sorry?

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: I think Brooklyn House would be an excellent place to do it. You know, build a state-of-the-art facility that can be preventive and make sure people get the care that they deserve. I think Brooklyn House is next to many of the downtown areas. I think it would be great. But right now the plan says to stand the way it is and the City Council needs to come back. And I think re-examining what the law states.

Question: Can you fix Rikers so that you can actually keep people there?

Mayor Adams: I believe we can. I think there's a great deal of things we could do but right now the City Council must re-examine that.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: I'm asking about, so we profiled ACS on our Monday paper. And just wondering, with your commissioner now, are you worried that he put too much pressure on the ACS workers to not forcibly separate children, feeling that they did the wrong thing, that they sometimes flinch when they have to make that decision? And what are the consequences here? Obviously, this job is hard. We're not saying it's easy. I know they're overworked. But at the end of the day, there has sort of consequences for, if somebody dies in your care. So what does that look like?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I know, and I saw the stories in the profile, and I think it's always important to keep us aware of these cases and the seven deaths that we had of those who are in care. I keep going back to how many lives did we save? 

And what ACS and the commissioner has done, which I think is important, they did not allow the pressure of outside entities saying don't remove children. They did not allow that to get in the way of making the right decisions. And I have to commend them on that. 

If you look at last year alone, they removed– they placed 3,000 children in foster care, 3,000. That shows that they're going to make the right call based on what's in front of them. And any child that loses his or her life while is in an unsafe environment of, you know, it breaks our heart. But I know those men and women who are in ACS, they respond to these cases over and over again, and they make the right decision. 

And it's a tough decision to make. But when you look at that number, 3,000, they made that decision. So it's not far lefty policies that are saying let this child stay. No, they're making the right decision. There's a balance. Do you want to take a child out of a house and break up a household, or do you want to make sure that child is removed because the child needs to be safe? And they're carrying out that balance every day.

Question: Sorry, but what would be the consequences? This is the second time in the last eight months that a child has died in care, that were in ACS care. So what does it look like? I'm not looking for you to say, "Oh, this person should be fired," But like, what is the review process? This is like a black box here at ACS of we're not– the public doesn't get to see that anything happens. So, we don't need specifics on the people. But just in general, they should know that when a child dies, that there are consequences.

Mayor Adams: And that's what the commissioner is doing. As you just stated, you know we are restricted on how much we can say in these cases. That's what the law is. And I'm not going to violate the law. We would like to talk about the full scope of each one of these incidents, but the law states that we can't. And, you know, I didn't make that law, but I'm going to follow that law. 

And the commissioner is doing those reviews to make sure that if someone did something improper or willfully neglectful, like if someone was supposed to have gone and carried out an investigation and didn't, that's problematic. And we're going to address that. But if they use their best professional observation to determine that child should not have been removed, then that process we have to respect.

Question: Good afternoon, sir.

Mayor Adams: What's happening, birthday man?

Question: Thank you. I think I'm catching up to you. The Kehlani concert scheduled for this summer in Central Park was canceled. I understand it's under pressure from you and the administration. First of all, is that true? And also, Pan America, it's a free expression group, has called that cowardly. What's your response to that?

Mayor Adams: Well, listen, everyone knows my feeling about the increase in antisemitism throughout the country and if not throughout the globe. We just raised, the First Deputy Mayor Mastro, raised the public safety concern as we do in many times we have gatherings of these magnitudes. And we're not the first that looked at, you know, this performer and talked about the cancellation. I understand a few colleges have done the same thing. 

And so the City Parks Foundation, which is an independent entity, after we raised our concerns, they made the determination to cancel the concerts. But I think the report from the Anti-Defamation League is clear. The increase in incidents, antisemitism, I believe in 2024, the highest numbers in our state. And that is not a title we want. 

And so I think the Parks Foundation made a determination that for public safety issues that was raised by the first deputy mayor and the Police Department, they made the determination to cancel the show. And so I know Ritchie Torres has weighed in on this also. He sent a letter to us, he sent it to the City Council because the City Council Speaker Adams is in charge of the discretionary funding that went to the Parks Foundation, the City Parks Foundation.

Question: I want to make it clear though, this is a case in your opinion where free expression collides with public safety concerns?

Mayor Adams: Well, it's a situation where we did an analysis, because I believe we had Pride Week that week also. We did an analysis with all that's going on, would this impact public safety? We wanted to do an analysis and to make sure that it wouldn't. And based on– without us having to go through that full analysis, the Parks Foundation made that determination. 

Question: Both you and Andrew Cuomo have said that you're committed to fighting antisemitism. I wanted to give you an opportunity to say how you would differ from Andrew Cuomo in your commitment, or are you basically on the same page with the former governor on fighting antisemitism? Are there any kinds of policies that you've enacted that you would like to highlight that makes you different from the way the governor would do this?

Mayor Adams: I'm not sure if I ever heard Andrew Cuomo talk about his support of Israel. I think Israel is an ally in that region and I don't know if he talks about that and I think that our ability to ensure that Jewish New Yorkers feel safe as well as all New Yorkers. So this is a city where we don't we don't support hate and I will hope that not only Andrew and others, but I think everyone should talk about that this is no place to have anti-semitic attacks in this city. 

And, you know, this is the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and we should be very clear on our posture on, you know, hate of any kind. And I've not only been clear, I think that, you know, many of you have written about my acceptance of all groups, so it's not just anti-semitism, but also, you know, you write about how I do flag raisings, you write about how I invite non-traditional groups into Gracie Mansion. 

Prior to coming into office, many of these groups have not been acknowledged at all. And they'll be the first to tell you, "You're the first mayor, Eric, that has acknowledged all of us." And so you look at our record and our actions, our administration, you know, we have not only convened critical conversations with our Jewish brothers and sisters, what we're doing around breaking bread, building bonds, engaging in conversation. So our actions are very real on the ground around these issues. 

We're going to continue to do that. And so what the, you know, the governor follows a lot of things that I'm doing, as we saw with his homeless report that he put out. So we're going to continue to lean into those things that are important. 

And, you know, it just seems like the governor's not really just running. He's just going through the motions. I mean, he's using ChatGPT to put his plans in place. He's duplicating everything that I say, he shows up every once in a while. I don't know. Is he really engaged? You know, I'm not sure, you know.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, again. But this time I want to ask you, 100 days of President Trump passed. These 100 days, how do you assess them? Good things, bad things, for the City of New York during that time?

Mayor Adams: I think any chief executive, mayor, governor, president, there are things that you wish you could have done differently, there are things that you think you are successful in, and I think that's the same in my observation. 

You know, clawing back the $80 million from FEMA, you know, I don't agree with that. You know, we have a couple other projects that I believe we should move forward with. But raising some of these critical issues, like securing the border, I think it was a home run. You know, look what's happening here. We don't see that flow that we were witnessing, you know, in one week we had a high of 4,000 people. So I think it's a combination. 

All of us who are chief executives do a reflection and say, "Okay, what could I have done differently and what could I do better?" And I'm sure the president is saying the same. I know I did it after my first 100 days, 300 days, 400 days. You know, you say, "Hey, what could I do better?" Running a country is challenging, just as it's challenging running in the City of New York.

Question: So former Governor Andrew Cuomo is launching a new party line called FightandDeliver that he is going to be running on. And he just released this statement talking about that there's a disillusionment with the Democratic Party by some, saying that there's a feeling that the party has been hijacked. 

I know you've also said that you've had some frustrations with the Democratic Party. You, maybe, have both felt that Biden burned. Biden called on Cuomo to resign back in the day. So I guess, what are your feelings? Do you feel like you've moved [inaudible]?

Mayor Adams: I really need to have my meeting location [swept] because he's obviously– All he's doing is looking at Eric Adams' playbook, you know? And I hope you guys are gonna be as critical of him now that he's duplicating what I'm doing. He follows my housing plans. He follows my mental health plans. He follows, you know, I mean, it just seems like he's just going through the motion. Is it me? 

It just seems like he is like, "I'm just gonna check the box. I'm gonna show up in a Black church and tweet it out. And just all of a sudden say this, I'm just going to do a ChatGPT and find out what's the best housing plan in the country. Oh, Eric Adams is going to take his name off and I'm going to duplicate it. Oh, I'm going to do a new line like Eric Adams." 

It doesn't seem like he's just like, he's going through the motions. Just saying, "I'm just going to check off the box." Isn't that strange to you? That, now, he wants an independent line like Eric. I thought the road was I'm going to be like Mike, not I'm going to be like Eric, you know. 

So remember when I said, [Juliet], I said this, this is going to be an election with a lot of twists and turns, a lot of uncertainty. You guys have not seen the beginning of how many twists and turns this election is going to have. No, you said unfortunate? No, fortunate, but you guys are loving this. Who y'all kidding? You know, you could write stories about this. You could cover– y'all having so much fun covering me. Who are you kidding?

Question: So, Mr. Mayor, I'm assuming you didn't get your costume ready in time for the Met Gala. But they are announcing this new exhibit, and I'm going to read the description from the museum. Super fine, tailoring Black style explores the importance of sartorial style to the formation of Black identities. So, what's your style statement?

Mayor Adams: I used to watch my uncles and dad in art. Those guys were always sharp. They would go to the baseball game in a suit. They would always just take time and make sure that their attire, they would always have a pocket square. They would wear nice hats. And just, you know, men and women back then were just so elegant in everything they did. 

And that's why, you know, back when I started that Stop the Sag campaign when I was in the State Senate, because something happens when you go from making sure that you present yourself well to the point where you don't care how you look. And I think that, I love that they use that as a theme. I couldn't make it this year, but I think that style is important in paying homage to Black men's fashion. 

I think it's important because there was a whole fashion statement around them. And if you go look at some of those old pictures You know those men dress impressively. They felt good about themselves. No matter what they were going through, you couldn't see it by what their attire was showing. And so I applaud the Met for doing that and I think the presentation is going to be a great one. Thank you all.

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