Transcript: Mayor Adams Makes Veterans-Related Announcement and Holds In-Person Media Availability

May 20, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. It is good to see some of you. Two commissioners that always bring their A-game, both Laurie from Cultural Affairs and Commissioner Hendon, not only served our country, but serve the City of New York and those vets who serve our country and I really want to thank him for just continuously giving back to the city and the country that he loves. And every day delivering for our city, safer, more affordable city. 

This includes a place to raise healthy children and families and today I want to start by noting that the month of May is a special time for our service members, our veterans and our military families. It's Military Appreciation Month and during this month we have Fleet Week here in New York when U.S. service members stationed around the globe come here to the five boroughs to celebrate our military and their commitment to keeping our country safe. 

It includes Memorial Day when our country honors the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and one of them, I always reflect on my Uncle Joe, I can remember like it was yesterday, getting a knock on the door that at 19 years old he died in Vietnam defending this country. And these are real family members and it impacts us all and we should never forget that. 

It's not about barbecues and hot dogs and rides, it's about remembering those men and women who gave their lives for our country. And this is why our administration has established this week as Veterans and Service Members Week to highlight our city's efforts to serve those who currently are serving or who have served our country. Already this week we've announced our support for new property tax exemptions and loan options to New York City veterans buying a home and we uplifted our efforts to help nearly 100 veterans connect to job support this year alone. 

This builds on the support we're providing our Department of Veteran Affairs, Commissioner Hendon has been saying he needed some more cash there so we're giving them a million dollars to their budget and our best budget ever so they can continue a stronger safety net for our veterans. 

In [inaudible] first week reception we've announced plans for a new memorial to honor the over 100 service members from New York City who made the ultimate sacrifice in the post 9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today we're excited to announce that nationally acclaimed sculptor Douwe Blumberg has been chosen as the artist for this vital memorial. 

With hundreds of historic and inspiring works he has been held as America's Greatest Sculptor. His America's Response Monuments statue just blocks from here pays tribute to the special forces who first responded to the 9/11 attacks and as a son of a World War II veteran I know that he will bring a personal perspective to this project but today we are not just announcing the artist of this work we are going to show you what we hope it would look like once it is done and I'm proud to unveil the initial design for this new memorial to honor our post 9/11 service members titled Flames of Honor. 

All you need is Hendon and Cumbo. His design was selected for the meaningful symbolism and the use of space to promote reflection and remembrance for the fallen. It will be located in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, the borough which is home to the largest number of post 9/11 service members who were killed in action. 

Our fallen soldiers gave their last measure of devotion defending the American dream and we could not call ourselves the greatest city on the globe if we do not give them the tribute and honor that they deserve. Both Councilman Holden and Councilwoman Paladino, two electeds who are constantly reminding us never forget our men and women who have not only lost their lives but who have served to protect our country and I want to thank both of you for being there and councilman as well, or three of you, who am I missing, am I missing anyone, okay, Councilman Carr out in Staten Island, the Common Sense Caucus. 

It will serve as a symbol that our gratitude to the veteran community and the thank yous we owe them are not just spoken once a year, our gratitude is felt every day and the freedom we share, practice and appreciate and so Flames of Honor is how we make that known and so Commissioner Hendon, I want to turn it over to you and then turn it over to our borough president for his contribution to this effort. Didn't hesitate when we said the veterans, the borough president did not hesitate and stated he wanted to be a part of this, thank you very much.

Commissioner Hendon, Department of Veterans Services: Before talking about the memorial and things recently announced, we lost a titan in our veteran community this past Friday, Marine Corps veteran, Army National Guard veteran, Vietnam veteran, Edward Schloeman and I just want to take a moment just to read a little bit from a letter that we're giving to the family right now, 82 years old, you know, 82 years young, Ed was not only a decorated Marine and a proud Vietnam veteran, he was a champion for healing. 

His work through Operation Warrior Shield, the organization for which he co-founded and was president, brought hope and relief to many veterans and first responders facing the invisible wounds of service. His advocacy for the transcendental meditation, companion dogs and holistic support changed lives, opening doors to care that met people where they were with dignity and compassion. We were honored to work alongside Ed in service to New York City's veteran community. His impact on our agency and on countless individuals will not be forgotten. We remember him for his kindness, his relentless dedication and the quiet strength with which he helped others reclaim their peace. Edward Schloeman, sunrise, Monday, September 8th, 1942, sunset, Friday, May 16th, 2025. May he rest in peace. 

Alright. Now to today's events, I want to acknowledge folks from top to bottom, of course, 110th Mayor of the City of New York, the Honorable Eric Leroy Adams, want to call out? Yeah. Yeah. Want to acknowledge others in the administration who are here, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Suzanne Miles-Gustave, Deputy Mayor for Operations and the DVS alum Jeff Roth, Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry, and you know, my sister from another Mr. Where are you at, Laurie? Commissioner for the Department of Cultural Affairs, Laurie Cumbo. In their absence, Ydanis Rodriguez, commissioner for the Department of Transportation and Andrew Kimball, Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. 

Now we got to go to folks on the ground who make this thing possible. In their absence, Queens Community Board 7, Chair Chuck Apelian, and in District Manager Marilyn McAndrews. Also from the 19th, y'all heard her mentioned before, Vickie Paladino, our Councilmember for the district in which this is located. Highest concentration of veterans is in Queens. Highest concentration in Queens is in the councilman's district. Calling out chair of the Veterans Committee, Honorable Robert Holden, District 30. Also we're going to hear a little bit about this property tax relief for the veterans for the Cold War property tax, got to acknowledge David Carr, councilmember from the 50th District for the Council. Can't sit here and not call this man out too, who's making such a major contribution to this, Borough President for the Borough of Queens, the Honorable Donovan Richards. And also acknowledging all others a part of this from the state, from the federal government. 

This is a team fight to get these things done to be right by our service members and honoring them today. I want to read one other thing to level set so we all understand what this is about while we're here. This is from the Oath of Enlistment, 1789, they first wrote it. They did a small modification in 1960. I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will obey to the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to the regulations and uniform code of military justice. So help me God. 

It's important because it transcends so much. I always say we do right by our people from the moment they take the oath to the moment they're in the grave and beyond. This oath transcends your marital vows. It transcends whatever commitment you have to your children. It transcends whatever your criminal justice status is. We had Rikers honoring veterans in that veterans wing there just yesterday. It transcends race, religion, creed, et cetera. There's a reason why you have people from the common sense caucus, Republican caucus and Democratic caucus here and it transcends life. 

And so we're here to recognize our brothers and sisters who served in the conflicts post the towers falling on September 11th and the level set to take it from the top and bring it down. America's 248 years, 10 months and 16 days old in that time, there have been 12 major conflicts, 44.9 million people have served in those conflicts of those people, 1.5 million wounded in action, approximately 81,000 missing in action, 658,088 killed in action from the Boston massacre, March 5th, 1770 to the Kabul airport bombing, August 26th, 2021. 

We have monuments in this city to those who've made that sacrifice from all of these conflicts and to be clear, there was no one that we lost from New York city in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm. But every conflict where we've lost soldiers, where blood has been shed, we have something we put out honoring them. It's time to do this by our brothers and sisters and to call the numbers out for this conflict of that 44.9 million, 2.9 million served in the wars of, some call it the wars of Iraq, Afghanistan and other contingency operations. 1.9 million served in Iraq or Afghanistan, one of them. The other million served in the other contingency operations, think Libya, think Syria, think other places, more than half deployed more than once. 

Of those who served, 53,436 wounded in action, six are missing in action, 7,064 killed in action and in the 20 years from 9/11 to really May of 2021, more than four times those killed died by suicide. So you've got 7,064 killed in action, but as of May 2021, 31,177 died by suicide. And we go down deeper to look at New York in the State of New York, 296 died in these conflicts. We go to the City of New York. So far, we've identified 105 who are New York City connected of those who've died. 

That 105 breaks out to 35 in Queens, 30 in Brooklyn, 18 Manhattan, 14 in the Bronx, eight in Staten Island. This is our time to love on these people and everyone who's a part of this, who's been in the foxhole in this fight and their loved ones. And so we pray this is the first of what will be many, many more monuments to our brothers and sisters who've served in these wars since the towers fell. We look at 9/11, we talk about to count 2,977 killed on that day, September 11th. 

We look at how many have made the sacrifice since, and we just want to make sure we recognize them and their loved ones. And so with that, when we look at the monument, just a couple of key points about it for what was put together by Douwe Blumberg, who himself is a World War II veteran's child. His father served in World War II. Sorry, real quick. I've got to call out Randy Mastro, our first deputy mayor. Let's give him a round to y'all. Come on. Give me your roses, brother. 

So we look at this. It's five bronze sculptures of buglers representing each of the five services. It is a 40-foot tall monument with three silver arcs, and they're cradling a stained glass eternal flame, 65 feet is the circumference of the memorial. There are bas-relief murals, small murals on these arcs. They represent soldiers or service members of all backgrounds. The arcs themselves are stained finish at the base, and they're polished at the top. The goal is to reflect the colors day and night, and that flame burns day and night. Speaking of which, that eternal flame, it's stained glass panels with LED lights so they can be able to shine 24-7. It's seen. It's a different look in the day versus the night. This thing doesn't stop, just like the fence in this country doesn't stop. 

The folded flag is 13 feet long. It's sculpted. It floats within the arcs, and there are mosaic tiles. The flag represents the oath and the idea of commitment to something greater than oneself that can never, ever touch the ground, that cannot die. And then we look at the, it is abstract. It is realistic. It is designed to just be a place of reflection and honor for our people, and we're so happy to have this. Once again, it's the first of what we hope will be many more, recognizing our brothers and sisters who served and those who sacrificed and their loved ones. I can't stand here and not talk. We said 105 who are connected to New York City. 

Let's recognize all the family members of those who died as well, our gold star families. And so with that, this is what we do to be right by our people in this rare vein of culture. We also do things when it comes to healthcare, housing, benefits, education, employment, and other announcements dovetail with that. We're in a place where only one out of four veterans in this city self identifies. And so I always tell all of our friends who are elected officials, we're doing everything we can to get our brothers and sisters to come into the light. 

It's 34.3 percent identified in the state, in this country, 29.8 percent identified in the state, 24.1 percent in the city. And so everything we can do to make sure folks know to take advantage of the benefits that they've earned and what's out there and that we want to honor them is what's in play right now. So you see us talking today about things with employment, helping in a high touch way to help our brothers and sisters who need jobs, get jobs. You see us talking about the housing piece. We know housing is a large, you know, just nut to crack for folks. And so everything from let's help you navigate Housing Connect. If you have a hearing, vision, or mobility disability, let's make sure we can sign off. 

If we see the VA gave you the rating for it, between us or our VA partners, we can sign off making it easier for you to access affordable housing. If you're someone who is looking at owning something, let's tie you in with the Hebrew Free Loan Society with SONYMA, state of New York mortgage agency, to close the gap on the financial hurdle for you to become a homeowner through this program that is called the Hebrew Free Loan Society's Veteran Homeownership Loan Program, or Homes for Veterans NYC. And when it comes to those who currently own, of those 11,000 who own property right now in New York City, but who served during an era that is not deemed a combat era, make sure you get your tax relief. 

So this is what we're being led with Councilmember Carr on in intro 740, where of all the tax exemptions we can put on the table for our veterans, we can afford all three to them. Right now we only do two. This third one handles that group that if you served after Vietnam ended, but before Operation Desert Shield Desert Storm began, you've got no tax exemption. We want to change that right now. And so with those things, you know, we just thank everyone for all that you do. Any day we spend talking about veterans is a good day. And for those who don't identify, if you or someone in your household has served in the military, in the armed forces, please contact us. 

Website is nyc.gov/vets. Phone number 212-416-5250. Email is connect@veterans.nyc.gov and social media handle is @NYCveterans. We thank the mayor for his leadership and all who are here to get this done. Once again, the commitment is from when you take the oath into the grave and beyond. And just two quotes I got to leave you with, you know, this is Claudia Pemberton, America without her soldiers is like God without his angels. America without her soldiers is like God without his angels. And then this is Michael Graham. Service is what prayer looks like when it gets up off its knees and walks around in the world. I say again, service is what prayer looks like when it gets up off its knees and walks around in the world. Thank you so much, y'all. God bless. 

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards: I mean, how do you top that? But good. Good morning. And first of all, I want to thank Mayor Adams for having me today. And thank you to our DVS Commissioner James Hendon. Thank you for your passion and the work that you do. He walks the walk every single day. And today I want to acknowledge one person who I know many of us wish would be here today to thank in person. And that's our colleague, our friend and our brother, the late Paul Vallone, who was very passionate about this project. And during his time in the City Council and as deputy commissioner at Veteran Services, he was a vigorous advocate for this memorial. 

I remember him talking to me about it when I became borough president. And even though he's not here in this room, his legacy is truly eternal. And this memorial will be a testament to his life of service on behalf of those who've served us. We miss you, Paul, and we love you. 

September 11th changed our city and our world forever. And while many of us were left wondering what came next, some of us saw that day as a call to service and enlisted in the military. And the 24 years since their service and sacrifice has protected our city and our country. But that protection has come at a painful cost, as so many of our post 9/11 service members have been killed in action. 

In fact, more military members from Queens have been killed in action since 9/11 than any other borough. And that's why it is essentially meaningful for Queens to be the site of this memorial. It will also be a welcome addition to the waterfront in Whitestone, I know Vickie Paladino can attest to that, where we'll be incorporated into the Utopia Parkway seawall replacement and street improvement project. I'm proud to be allocating $3 million in capital towards this memorial. 

We put a down payment at $1.5 million this budget, and we'll finish up next year. Because the least we can do as Americans is to recognize those who've made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country. These heroes never came back home to their loved ones. And only because of that sacrifice, we as Americans, and as New Yorkers, live in a safe and secure country. So as we gear up for Memorial Day, I want to express Queens' gratitude to everyone who has worn our nation's uniform. And whether it's at my office Memorial Day event tomorrow, I think you'll probably be joining us, or on the parade routes this week, and I look forward to saluting each and every one of those who've served in person. I'm grateful to each and every one of you who've worn our nation's uniform. May God bless our service members, past and present, and God bless America.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Any questions on this before we go into off topics? Okay.

Question: I have a question for Councilman Robert Holden as the chair of the Veterans Committee. Mr. Holden, what more would you like from the city to do on the case of veterans?

City Councilmember Robert Holden: I'd like to double the DVS budget, but poke, poke. They're one of the smallest agencies, and certainly the fact that only 24 percent of veterans in New York City self-identify is a problem, because they're not getting the benefits that they deserve. So that's why if we put money into DVS, more will self-identify, because we can reach more. DVS can't do a mailing to the veterans, because they don't have the budget. So I think the mayor is working on that. I hope he is. I think we'll see some results, hopefully. But I think it's a very important step that we increase the budget for DVS. 

Mayor Adams:  And I think the councilmember makes a good point. And what we want to do using Commissioner Hendon is that when the vets go overseas or they defend here at home, they don't do it just for government to officials. They do it for corporations. They do it for everyday citizens. And our corporations, they need to step up. They need to make sure that they're doing their part. They are able to sell their products, because it has the good housekeeping seal of approval that it's American-made. And you can make things in America, because our men and women go and defend America. 

We are who we are, because we have the greatest military force on the globe. And so I want to see all of my Fortune 500 companies. I want to see all of my startups. Everyone should be reaching out to Commissioner Hendon and saying, let's match that million dollars that the city put in. We are all doing well because of our military. And we should not have to say, let's find another nickel somewhere. This is one of the most prosperous countries on the globe. And it's time for our corporate community to understand that our military needs their help.

Question: So I would like to know when the project will start and how long it's going to take to finish.

Commissioner Hendon: So for us, the groundbreaking will occur in the beginning of FY26, so I think in the first few months of the new fiscal year. And it's projected to take approximately two years to complete. 

It's an expedited process, mainly because we're working on an existing stormwater mitigation project that is currently being managed by EDC, but under the Department of Transportation's direction. So it's something that's already hot and ready to go. So we're so excited that once we do receive these funds within this next fiscal year, that we can start work on the project.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: I want to hold some stuff for the end, but why don't we open it up to some questions. Okay. Yes.

Question: I know you're running in November on an independent line called Stop antisemitism. And I wonder how you feel about one of the people who's running in the Democratic primary, Zohran Mamdani, who has refused to vote on resolutions that both support Israel, but also recognize the Holocaust. Do you think that's somebody who should be representing the City of New York or the large Jewish population?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think we point him out because he is the obvious. But let's not forget the fact we have a controller that he's refusing for the most part to use pension funds to invest in Israel, which is a real partner of ours. Let's not look at some of the council legislation that did not want to deal with what happened in Gaza. 

There are a number of people who are running that they have shown a real desire to lean towards those who promote of this hatred. And instead of moving towards a place that we're tolerant. And so we focus on him, which I think is wrong, what he what he has done. But look at the records of others. You know, there are others. 

I don't see how with the good return on investment in Israel, how the control is succumbing to the far left to say we're not going to have Israel as an investment partner. The goal of our pension funds is to get a good return and to make sure that whomever we use as investments is not in any way breaking any laws. 

There's no justifiable reason that the comptroller is not doing investments in Israel. And I think that when any candidate that doesn't recognize the Holocaust is real, that raises a real red flag. Listen, I was in [Oświęcim]  and walked through the camps and walked through the camp, as I stated. And so whomever believe it's not real, maybe they should take a visit and see.

Question: Do you think that these people who you've cited, both Mamdani and Lander and others, that it adds to the huge increase in antisemitic incidents and hate, Jew hate that we've seen both last year and in the first part of this year?

Mayor Adams:  Well, I think it's a level of antisemitism. For the first time in my lifetime, there is a level of comfort in being antisemitic, either on social media, the celebration you saw that some saw after October 7th on our streets, on the streets of the City of New York, going to synagogues, going to [inaudible], which is the headquarter of the Lubavitch community and the Grand Rebbe, what he has done for tolerance, building Chabad houses all over the globe to allow people in, to go to places where people worship. 

I would never tolerate someone going to a Christian church and saying vile things and doing foul things. I wouldn't allow someone to do it to a mosque. I wouldn't allow them to do it to a Sikh temple. So what you're seeing is taking place at places of worship. A synagogue is a place of worship. A Christian church is a place of worship. A Buddhist temple is a place of worship. Protest, but don't desecrate. And what you're seeing that's coming out, this meanness, this anger, this hatred, this particularly pointing out a group I just think is wrong. And, you know, people have a right to free speech and we're not going to ever get in the way of that. 

But we're not going to allow you to cross the line. And so I think those elected officials who have not been clear on this issue is adding to the problem. I have no lack of clarity. I said it's over and over again. This is not philosophical for me. There's no rationalizing about anything. I've said it over and over again. Hamas needs to be destroyed. It's a terrorist organization, not only to the people of Israel, but to the people of Palestine. They're destructive. Their behavior towards the people is is real. It's despicable. And every hostage should come home. I've been very clear on that.

Question: Two questions on two completely different stories. First, there's a video going around. I'm not sure if you saw it on a horse still attached to its carriage. It got loose in Central Park over the weekend. Nobody was hurt. But people who support banning these horse carriages say that's a good example of why it should be. Just wanted to get your reaction to that. 

Also, we heard from a mother who was having some issues with the student OMNY cards. Basically, she says a lot of them are really flimsy. They aren't really good quality. Kids are losing them. They aren't scanning in some cases in the subway. 

So when the kids are going to get on the subway, they're not working. And they'll show their school IDs to the station agents, but the station agents won't let them through. So in many cases, you see kids jumping the turnstiles. Just want to get your reaction.

Mayor Adams: First to the horse. We're looking into that. We're looking into the incident, find out exactly what's happening. And we work with everyone involved. This is a long running conversation about the horse in the carriages. TWU is representing part of that. And so this is a long running conversation. But it has to be safe. No one should be injured. We don't want anyone to lose a life or limb. And so we're looking into it and finding out exactly what's happening in that case. 

The OMNY cards. This is the first time I'm hearing that. I think it's an amazing initiative we did, because over the summer months, these young people had to use a small amount of money that they made. They had to use it to use the transportation system. But now we are giving them free OMNY cards. I have not heard those complaints. 

And if they are flimsy, we need to make sure that they're durable so they can get through the summer. And, you know, to our clerks, you know, we're not looking. Children should not be receiving fines because the cars are not working. You know, it takes a little patient, but we need to do everything that's possible to make sure these children can get to that place of employment. 

[What] we have done with 100,000 Summer youth jobs, teaching them financial literacy, teaching them so many different things, dealing with the Summer Youth Employment for the first time, having them involved in a large amount of time in city services. This has been a win-win program. We should not allow the OMNY cards to be a barrier. So we're going to look into that

Question: So last week, when you were promoting today's crypto summit, you talked about how “This new form of financing and finance is something that can impact those communities that have historically found themselves lacking access to banks and access to ways to save their resources and dollars.” What did you mean specifically? So unbanked New Yorkers should invest in crypto?

Mayor Adams: No. What you find and I was really blown away some years ago when I was a state senator. How many communities are unbanked for one reason or another? And we need to introduce them into this new technology, blockchain, crypto. And I think our young people learning early crypto was here. It is going to be here for a long time. 

And I think many of us don't realize the evolution of paying for goods and services. I mean, when you went back in [time] and you were bartering with cows and goats, no one thought that one day we would have something called credit cards of money and paying for goods and services is going to evolve. This is one of those evolutions. 

And so if a person is unbanked and they want to find a bank that's miles away from them, they should do so. If a person is unbanked and they want to go online and look at some of the new banking mechanisms, they should do so. If they unbanked and they want to invest in crypto, they should do so. Like I took my first three paychecks in crypto and many of you were laughing at me. 

Go look at my balance now. Who's laughing now? I am. And so the goal is to introduce people to the possibilities of paying for good goods and services and for building out their revenue. That's what it's about. I'm not telling them what to do. I'm exposing them to what to do.

Question: First, I want to say, because you always said this is a great opportunity to find out about the community of representing. 

Mayor Adams: Yes. 

Question: So since you mentioned Kraków, Poland and your visit to concentration camps today. I just want to say because it's very important for my community to underline that these were German concentration camps in German occupied Poland. And we are very, very appreciative if you could always [inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: I agree with you 100 percent. They were not Polish concentration camps. They were Germans and located in Kraków. And that's what I was saying.

Question: But my question today is the proposed budget of President Donald Trump and the impact of New York City. Are you at all concerned about that? Is there anything you would like to say about that?

Mayor Adams: My congressional delegation, they must fight on behalf of New York City like I'm fighting on behalf of New York City. They must do so. And I am concerned if we don't get the resources we need. Everything from housing vouchers to Medicaid [and] Medicare, all those things we need. And I'm concerned if we don't get those items and we're going to continue. 

We go back and forth to Washington, D.C. to get them done. But, you know, I'm just sort of mystifying that we talk about the budget that's going to be proposed. Let's not forget the budget that was proposed. We didn't get a billion dollars from the migrants and asylum seekers. We're losing $300 million dollars from child care vouchers. 

So I just need a consistency that whomever is taking stuff away from New York City, we need to be vociferous about it. And so, yes, we're going to fight to make sure D.C. don't shortchange us. But Albany just shortchanged us. 

We have some victories out of Albany, but we still have a migrant [population] of 39,000 people still in our care. We didn't get that billion dollars. And to Albany's child care program that they put in place and told us to sign up people, we need to be clear that we didn't get it. So we need to critique. I'm concerned about that as well as concerning any cuts in Washington, D.C. I'm consistent in my concerns.

Question: Speaking of the budget cuts from the state last week, your office announced that the asylum seeker application center is closing. One of the reasons was given because you weren't given funding from the state. What happened to that funding? Was that part of the one billion that you were expecting to get? 

And they didn't come through on that promise or whatever the negotiation was there. Then staying on migrants. Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that TPS for Venezuelans would end. During the Biden administration, you championed TPS for Venezuelans so that they could get work authorizations. 

Now, under Trump, that's ending. Are you worried that the Venezuelans here are not going to get work authorizations? And now the cost of the city is going to go up. 

Mayor Adams: So two questions. Number one, the state was bragging about how well they did with the asylum seeker application help center. They were saying how great it was. They were talking about, you know, how wonderful it was in the process. They're not funding it anymore. So, they knew how important it was. They knew that was part of the billion dollars and they're not funding it. 

And so we can't pick up the task because I know you never heard me say this before. But I must say for the first time so some of you may hear it. We spent $7.7 billion dollars. I mean, how much more do New Yorkers have to [pay]?

We're the economic engine of the state. We spent $7.7 billion dollars. So I think the state should have given us that billion dollars so that we can finish out this process that we've done an excellent job in doing so. And TPS, I advocated hard for TPS, spoke to the previous administration about TPS. 

We're a big believer when you look at our administration, what we have done to ensure that TPS was in place. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people. There's something that I advocate for. And I'm going to continue to advocate for the importance of temporary protective status [and] work authorization. This is how you get people to become stabilized and pursue the American dream.

Question: Two questions. First, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the budget bill the president is pushing would cost 8.6 million Americans their health care. And then the governor says, that includes 1.5 million New Yorkers. 

Do you know how many of those New Yorkers live in New York City and is this city sort of making any contingency plans for that? And then completely unrelated, Related Companies and Wynn Resorts, as I'm sure you saw, just announced they were pulling their bid to build a casino on the West Side because, “We or any casino operator will face years of persistent opposition.” I'm just curious for your thoughts on that statement.

Mayor Adams: I don't have the numbers for your first question. Our office will give those numbers for you. I don't have those numbers. And when it comes to them pulling their plans. I have a small role in the casinos and wherever it is in New York City. I applaud it. Union jobs. I was a former chair of Racing and Gaming. It's a great economic boost. 

And we all know when you do a project of this magnitude, you're going to have yaysayers [and] you're going to have naysayers. 8.5 million New Yorkers. 35 million opinions. That's part of the game. One has to have the stomach to go through the process. And that's why a lot of people don't want to develop some of these projects in the city, because the obstacles, the naysayers, everyone that is basically saying not here. 

Sometimes they're the loudest and not the majority. Sometimes they have their jobs already. They have their homes already and they don't understand that other folks are trying to get employed. Other folks are trying to buy their homes. I always try to look at it through that. And so they pulled their projects. There are others who are still looking to have a casino here and let the best women win.

Question: How would you characterize and describe your initial encounter and that of the NYPD for that matter with the Mexican captain and crew on board the ship?

Mayor Adams: My team was telling me that someone stated that there was some type of tension that didn't happen. I don't know where that came from. That was the same ship I was going to be on. They invited me to come on early in that week. Was it Thursday? It was early in the week. And I was looking forward to doing so, but the schedule was crazy. 

And when we arrived at the ship, the police commissioner, Commissioner Iscol, the fire commissioner and others were doing observation of the ship. And someone asked, “Could we come around so we could get a better look at it?” We walked onto the ship. They were extremely receptive. Everyone was collaborating. 

I cannot commend our first responders enough to be able to get those who are in immediate care. There's something that's called tagging during emergencies. You want to tag the persons, the individuals based on injuries so you can move them right away. They were able to get those red tags off right away. Those were serious injuries as we were standing there on the pier seeing them come off one at a time. Excellent coordination. 

No one was in anyone's way. No one was in any way disruptive. Everyone was collaborating. And so, you know, it's the New York way. Everybody wants to find some reason to say, “Okay, things didn't go right.” No, things went right. You know, the well-collaborated Coast Guard personnel were there. NYPD, FDNY, the entire team, they operated in an amazing fashion. 

And the Coast Guard person who was there said, “When this happens in New York, we don't have much we have to do.” In other municipalities, we have to bring all sorts of resources. But New York was well organized. 277 people were on board the best vessel. You know, thank God, [only] 19 people were injured. 2 people died. 

You know, that could have been a real horrific tragedy. And I think the fast response from both the New York side and the Brooklyn side and the collaboration. And so whomever stated there was some type of conflict of interaction that did not happen. And I was right there on the ship and everyone was cordial, respectful. 

And in fact, the president acknowledged the work we did here. The ambassador stood next to me when we had our press conference and the counsel general as well. So I don't know who. Probably somebody was on a boat in Maine somewhere and said, “There must be some conflict in the East Harbor.” That just didn't happen. 

Questions: You know, I think you would acknowledge that the video is horrifying. 

Mayor Adams: It is. 

Question: What do you say to New Yorkers who are concerned when they see that kind of collision? Then they think back on what happened in Baltimore and they feel that some of the city's infrastructure is vulnerable.

Mayor Adams: Actually, as I was I was on my way somewhere else, N.J., and I was doing a ride [along], matter of fact, with the elected officials for us to see our PATH program. And I got the call while we were coming out of the subway station and I was with one of the reporters. And any given night in the city, I mean, this is a city where stuff just happens and you have to be ready to respond. 

We can't stop stuff from happening. We must be able to respond when it happens. And that's what we saw. We saw the deployment. And so what New Yorkers should feel comfortable about is that if it's a plane landing on a Hudson, if there’s planes off track somewhere, if we have a power outage, if we have a flood, we have a storm. 

All of these unforeseen seen things. We respond. And so to New Yorkers, the comfort should go is that we have the best first responders in the country, if not the globe. That's the comfort we need to have because stuff is going to happen in a city of this size. 

Our bridges are strong. There was no damage to the structure of the bridge at all. We have protocols in place to make sure what ships are supposed to do. But, you know, Mother Nature has its own way of doing things. 

So this investigation, NTSB is doing the investigation. They will determine what happened here. And then we'll learn from that. And protocols will be put in place based on what we learn from that.

Question: Piggybacking on N.J. there for a minute, the Mexican ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge. Is there any initiative regulations for ships traveling onto the bridge as far as height or width so we can prevent disasters like that going forward? And secondly, New York City, we're here. The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals. Do you have that friendly wager or bet with the mayor from Indiana?

Mayor Adams:  Well, first, there are there are rules on the heights and we don't know what happened here. And I think NTSB and the Mexican authorities, they're going to be able to find out exactly what happened here. 

You know, I will say this, not knowing if it had anything to do with it. Our currents and tides are very strong. People don't realize that someone can jump into the river down by the Statue of Liberty and find them their way all the way up to the Bronx somewhere. And so I'm not sure what happened here. But we do have rules and regulations on the heights of ships that they're able to travel under our bridges. And the number of vessels that travel under our bridges. 

This is a real rarity that you'll see something like this, that that will take place. And we're excited about the game. You know, not only what it does to bring pride to the city, but the economic value attached. At the beginning of the baseball series season, we showed the economic benefits of the Mets and the Yankees when they in the playoffs. 

Right now, it's the same thing. This is a huge, huge economic boost for tourism. And I think the NBA does well when the Knicks, when they are in the playoffs. I think it helps the whole industry, you know, because of excitement. This is the media capital of the world. We have some of the finest journalists. We have the technology to produce a good product. How about that? 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor Adams: I'm going to wait for the playoffs. You know, I don't want to be premature. I mean, they are the final and wait for the finals, the NBA finals. And whomever is there, we're going to do a wager. You know, I don't want to do anything to jinx the team. Thank you.

Question: I guess. Are there going to be any areas that are closed off like in years past? Like where are the lifeguard staffing levels going to be as summer starts?

Mayor Adams:  There hasn't been a lot of talk about the lifeguards this year.

Question: There's a lot going on.

Mayor Adams: Yes, yes. I'm going to find out what the numbers are. You know, normally every year we have this recruitment going on. Our goal is not to. Our beaches and pools. But let's come up with it. Can we get an official number? With our beaches and pools, I don't believe there's any any real issues that we are facing. But I know we're going to we're going to release the numbers. We'll find out from Sue where we are. And we release the numbers later this week. Matter of fact, on Friday.

Question: Look, we got handed these letters to from from you about Ecuador. So let me ask about the letter. It seems like there's some disagreement here over whether this was taking a tough line with Trump and standing up to him and pushing back on Trump or whether this was sweet talking the president. The governor is presenting it as, you know, I fought Trump. I stood up to him and we got what we wanted. Seems like you disagree. So what's what's happening here? And also, like, why should New Yorkers care about this?

Mayor Adams: You say what do we do? We disagree on what? Who, the governor and I?

Question: The approach to to get the project back on track.

Mayor Adams: I'm not sure what you saw the disagreement on. You know, she said what she had to say. I've been very clear from day one. I'm here to work with the president and not war with the president. You know, there were many conversations. And when I went to D.C. a few weeks ago and stated that I spoke with the president, I remember N.J. was asking me a question on how do you think is going to happen? I say these things take time, you know. And so if you know, when you ask, was there any tangible results? I knew that we had a good possibility of landing this plane. And, you know, so I think it paid off. And so whomever wants a credit, I can care less who gets a credit. 

All I want is a project that will have fifteen hundred jobs. Five hundred thousand houses would be able to get electricity for it. Billions of dollars in infrastructure capital that's going to be there is part of the overall plan that we have for that location. And so people want to say that, you know, I did it. I did it. I did it. I don't care. They can say I did it. I want to say New York got it. And we don't have a disagreement. 

So if she wants to say it was because she was strong and fought for it. Hey, great governor. All I know is that when I sat down in the Oval Office, I shared with him how important this project was and what it meant. I know the letters that we sent. I know the conversations we had behind the scenes. I know that as long as you continue to talk to someone and reason with them, sometimes you win. Sometimes you won't. Many of you stated that, oh, you should not have a relationship with the president. And no matter what he does, you're not going to like it anyway. You know, that's your belief. That's not my belief, because we do. 

We got a project that is very important to us. Are we going to get everything we want? No, we're not. I didn't get seven point seven billion dollars from Biden. You all don't want to talk about that at all. You know, how about acknowledging he left us with a seven point seven billion dollar price tag?

Question: Trump has a massive deficit for the city. I mean, you just kind of brushed it off.

Mayor Adams:  Well, why don't we do both? And I'll give you the list of things that I disagreed with that the administration has done. Can you give me the list of things that you acknowledge in what the previous administration did to us or what Albany just did to us? See, I'm consistent. 

I disagree when you clawback 80 million dollars from us. But you don't have you don't have to be disagreeable to disagree. That's the way I see it. And because I'm not disagreeable, there's a real project that we're going to place in our harbor. And I want to thank NYSERDA and Equinor, Equinor and all those who were part of this. Because this is this was huge for this region. It was huge for this region. And we had to get it done and we were able to get it done.

Question: I wanted to ask you about your first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro. He's now been in the job for a little over six weeks. I've heard a lot of good things about people feel like he's really moving things along. But I also hear that he seems more empowered than the previous three first deputy mayors under you. I wondered if you could comment on that. Do you think that you have given him more power than the prior deputy may first deputy mayors? Or do you think this is just Randy being Randy? 

Mayor Adams: I think that when you look at Sheena, Sheena had a great deal of authority and power. Her staffing increased enormously under that. When you look at Lorraine, Lorraine Grillo, her power was very much there. Maria, Maria got amazing things done. You look at what she did around continuing the City of Yes. 

When you look at all the other initiatives that that are done, each person will bring their own personality. And so just to see the Fifth Avenue project was under Maria. Our successful projects we did around the housing opportunities was under Maria. Each one of them brought their own forte, what Sheena did under her administration as first deputy mayor was amazing. All of them bring their own forte, their own spirit and energy. And it's a benefit of having someone that was previously a deputy mayor, first deputy mayor. And now he's able to bring in his knowledge. 

You know, that's why people like veterans. You talk to speaking about sports, you talk to those who've been in the playoffs or the finals previously. They help a team. And, you know, he has been through many battles and many wars. And he's a great confidant. He's dedicated and he's committed. And so I don't think that my trust in him is any different than the trust I had in the rest of the deputy mayors.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: First question for you. I'm just wondering if you asked for any funding when you met with President Donald Trump for migrants or anyone in his administration. Did you guys talk about the migrant issue? 

And then secondly, we're exactly five weeks away from the Democratic primary. I know you’re no longer running. But I was wondering if you had any comments. Do you kind of miss maybe being part of that mess? Do you maybe want to comment on how much money is also being spent in this race? 

Mayor Adams: Yeah, of course. I think, you know, a lot is spent. I believe when I ran in 2021, there was a lot of outside expenditures for everyone. You know, running these races are tough. And I've been saying this over and over again. It doesn't seem to get any traction. We need to take money out of politics. 

I don't know how many times I've said this. I said it when I was running for State Senate. I said it when I was running for borough president. And I was always a top fundraiser. So it wasn't like, okay, Eric, you want to take money out of politics because you can't raise money. Every race that I was in, I was a top fundraiser. 

Money in politics is a problem. And it makes no sense that we are calling people, asking them for donations. You know, it just makes no sense. We should be… it would be a better return on our investment if the city says you get a predetermined number of signatures. Here's how much money you can spend. Two million, three million, whatever. We're giving it to you. And that's it. That's a wrap. 

Then you don't have people calling folks. You know, you don't expose these problems that come out of this. I don't even know why we continue to allow this to happen. And so, yes, there's a large number of monies that are spent. Yes, some candidates are doing collusion. Yes, there are outside folks who are able to have eight million dollars in their outside expenditures and act like they're not talking to the people that are spending. This is what happens. And as I've been saying this [since] my days [in the State] Senate, let's take money out of politics. Let's stop people calling people, asking them for money. It's a problem. It's a problem. And people don't want to acknowledge it. They don't want to admit it on all levels, on a federal level, on a state level, all levels. It is a problem. 

And so this is going to be a lot of money being spent. And, you know, it's not much I could do about it. The rules are the rules. And so I'm looking forward to see who I will be running against in a general. And I'm going to enjoy this. Young girl stopped me the other day. She's with her mom and her mother said, “That's the person that did the Summer Rising program.” This little girl says something to me. 

Very kind. And, you know, folks, I'm the mayor. I cannot complain. I just can't complain. I went from Bayside, this dyslexic child that thought he was dumb because he had undiagnosed dyslexia. And I'm the mayor of the most important city on the globe. Who cares what happened next term? You know, who cares? I've reached everything I ever thought I could reach in life. 

You know, and so what happens next term is going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be great. I don't care who you are when you come into Gracie… I mean, come into City Hall and you walk around this part of the building and you look at all these cats on the wall. You're going to see this bald headed, earring wearing mayor, Eric Adams. Think about that for a moment. I'm part of this history forever. Look at this three or four terms. 

I'm the 110th mayor. If I'm a 111, fine. If I'm not, I'm 110. It's always going to be… my life is going to be permanently attached to the city and people are going to look at the great things I did. And so the rest is I can't complain. Get up every day, sit on the back porch of Gracie Mansion, drink my smoothie and say, [], life is good. Got to bounce.