Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts "Hear From the Mayor" Radio Show

May 25, 2025

Gary Byrd: Let's welcome the 110th mayor of New York City, our brother Mayor Eric Adams. Eric, good morning and welcome.

Mayor Eric Adams: Hey thanks so much brother Gary and it's great to be back speaking with you and our listening audience. And welcome back to another episode of Hear from the Mayor and I'm your Mayor Eric Adams and, if this is your first time tuning in, the purpose of the show is to hear from everyday New Yorkers a direct communication with me. 

Listeners should give me a call and hear from your mayor on what we are doing to build an amazing city, New York City. You can sign up to hear more from me by visiting nyc.gov/hearfromeric or you can sign up on our website to text with Eric and talk awith me on WhatsApp. But today you can call in 212-545-1075, 212-545-1075. 

Before we get started, I want to just really reflect on the loss of our brother, George Floyd, five years ago. This is the anniversary of his death. And many of you know I spent my life fighting against any form of police abuse or misconduct, not only here in New York City, but across the entire nation. 

Going back almost 50 years ago, testifying here in the city with Reverend Herbert Daughtry and others when Congressman Conyers brought a congressional delegation here, and then speaking and testifying in federal court to the Floyd versus New York case to end the abuse of Stop and Frisk that was happening in this city. 

And so this is my life work and my life legacy. And so to the family members and countless number of individuals who have to deal with or dealt with police abuse, this is a moment of reflection. George definitely changed the conversation forever in our country. I wanted to just say to his family, our hearts are with you and our hearts are with all those who are victims of police abuse and victims of crimes. We believe no innocent person should be the victim of any form of abuse. 

So we want to move on with today's broadcast. Tomorrow's Memorial Day and today we're talking about our administration's effort to serve those who currently are or are serving in our armed service or those we've lost in our armed services. 

This past week, we marked Veterans and Service Members a week announcing efforts to connect veterans with jobs, improve housing, stability, and honor their service. We announced the homecoming of honor, a ticker tape parade. My guest is going to talk about that. This is the first ticker parade for post 9/11 service members in any big city in our country and our city is also creating a memorial in Queens to honor our service members 9/11 service members who were killed in action.

And finally, we will mark Military Appreciation Month. We announced discounts and benefits and cultural institutions across New York City from Saturday through tomorrow, May 26th. Listeners can go to newyorkcity.tourism.com/veterans to learn more. 

But I'm proud today, you know, to be here with a U.S. Army veteran and leading champion for those who are currently serving in our armed services to those who are not serving as well. Just a real solid brother, always good to be around you. He brings his A-game and his energy all the time. Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner James Hendon.

Commissioner, first, I want to thank you for your service and you'll never forget our vets are really proud to have you as our commissioner of Veterans Service and Veteran Affairs. And he's also joined and first general, his daughter is here in the house with you know and you know our children run the show, you know. 

So tell me brother what roles do public parades– everybody thinks it's just a parade, but what role does a parade play when you do a homecoming parade for our heroes.

Commissioner James Hendon, New York City Department of Veterans Services:  Thank you so much for having Mr. Mayor and just to all veteran military families out there just happy Memorial Day season and we just wish all the best for our people. 

You know, we do these parades as a way to show love to our sentinels. This is what we do as far as doing right as a collective, as a community, doing right by those soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, coast guards, and guardians when we take the time to just say hey we appreciate you and all that you've given for us. 

We're so excited about this Homecoming of Heroes parade where we will next year honor our post-9/11 war veterans, those who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations to, you know, shower them with affection and appreciation for what they've done too. We've had ticker tape parades honoring returning militaries for every conflict since we first started ticker tape parades in the 1880s. 

And so, you know, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, this is the time as far as July 6, 2026, where we will have that homecoming for heroes for our brothers and sisters who served in these conflicts post the towers falling.

Mayor Adams: And so when you look at what we did this week when we had the Veterans and Service Members Week, why is it important to uplift our veterans during this time?

Commissioner Hendon: Well first off every day is Veterans Day, every day is Memorial Day and a part of doing these things this week is to accent the fact that men and women fought for all of us to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And so by affording people access to these cultural institutions, these restaurants, these museums, these other locations, it allows our brothers and sisters to take in those very things they've sacrificed so much for all Americans to be able to take advantage of.

Mayor Adams: You said something the other day when we had our Fleet Week celebration that really stunned me I believe it was either you or one of the secretary of the navy talking about the suicidal, suicide rates and the number of military personnel who, in comparison to dying on the field of battle, those who died by suicide. Was that you that gave me those numbers?

Commissioner Hendon: Yeh, we were– what we were talking about Mr. Mayor is, take these wars of Iraq, Afghanistan other locations you know, post 9/11. You had 2.9 million who served. 1.9 million went to Iraq or Afghanistan. The other 1 million went to places like Libya, Syria, and other contingency operations. More than half, like myself, deployed more than once. 

Of those who served, you had roughly 53,000. 53,436 were wounded in action. Six are missing in action. 7,064 were killed in action. 296 of those killed New York State, 105 connections to New York City. When we look at the number who died, 7,064, the number who died by suicide in just the first 20 years since 9/11 was 31,177. So more than four times as many died by suicide than died in conflict. 

And so we want to be sure to call these things out and make sure our brothers and sisters know they can reach out to us if they have any mental health needs or if they just need any help.

Mayor Adams: Now tell me why is that? What happens? You come home after serving. What happens? Is it the lack of service? Is it the loneliness? Is it from just battle, fatigue? What happens that will cause those numbers to be that high?

Commissioner Hendon: I think it's a combination of things. One piece I'll point out is something that is known as the deadly gap, where our brothers is more than two times as likely to die by suicide in that one year post leaving the military than at any other point prior to taking the uniform off or after taking the uniform off. 

And you can see this confluence of things where someone could be going through some economic hardship, have some housing issues, and that just amplifies other existing situations. And so this is why it's so important what we've announced this week, Mr. Mayor.

What you announced as far as people when it comes to jobs and economic opportunities, making it easier for them to access housing, be it affordable housing and for those with disabilities to have better access to housing connect or make it easier for someone to transition from renting to owning. If you have one percent towards that purchase we can help you the rest of the way working with our friends at the State of New York Mortgage Agency [inaudible] society. 

And then looking at those who are currently housed and who own, having a property tax exemption for those who serve during peacetime areas to make sure that they can be able to take advantage of those things as well.

Mayor Adams: So it's so important and there's a term I hear all the time, self-identified. Well what does that mean and why do we have many who don't self-identify?

Commissioner Hendon: So nationwide 34.3 percent of all veterans self-identifies. Comes down to 29.8 percent in the state of New York. Goes down to 24.1 percent in the City of New York. I tell folks “You see me, there are three other folks who are New Yorkers who you don't see who have not come up and said I am a veteran.” We can't help you if you don't know who you are. 

There's so many reasons why people don't do that. We've just, you know, worked with CUNY on a study on this, and one of many reasons is folks may feel like their entire identity isn't seen when they get out. So I'm not just a veteran, I'm also a Black man. I'm not just a veteran, I'm also a woman. I'm not just a veteran, I'm also someone of Muslim faith, etc. So not feeling like their entire identity is seen as one piece.

Another piece of this is oftentimes one of the original sins is that the when folks join the military they're not being communicated to holistically it's almost a transactional situation with that young service member about we're talking about what you can do now that you've just joined but we're not talking about you in all chapters of your life and your family and so we're doing what we can to try to reconnect that.

Another piece of it is you have folks which are so humble, it's a heightened humility. “Let somebody else take advantage of that. It's okay, not me. Let somebody else.” And then another one of these reasons is it could be that when you were in uniform, you did something or something was done to you that you put in a box in the back of your brain, all the way in the back. You don't wanna walk anywhere near that box. And part of self-identification is to walk near the box.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, I know yesterday I was with my nephew who did two tours as well. Well, you know, why does one go back and do another tour?

Commissioner Hendon: We love this country, we love what it represents and I always tell folks the thing about this work is you raise your hand, you serve, protect, defend. But it also is that, what separates these service members for folks who don't serve, you're saying “I will kill for this country. No matter who is in charge, no matter what the politics, what the media is saying, what the Congress is saying, who the commander-in-chief is, I love this country so much that I will be this instrument.” 

And so anyone who crosses the line and says they will do that, we appreciate them. And so when you have folks who say– I'm one of those folks, I've, you know, I've done my initial obligation from my Iraq tour, I wanted to go to Afghanistan, went on my way to volunteer because it was important to me, this was a need. And there's so many other people like me who do this. 

And I also say to folks, when you look at the oath of office that people take over enlistment it trumps your marital vows, it trumps the commitment to your children, it trumps race, it trumps religion, politics and so many things. And so this is why it's so important for us this season to love on our people not just by saying thank you but with the actual actions of whatever we can offer. What is our service to these servants? 

Mayor Adams: You know, I think about how young our servicemen are and women, how young they are. You know, I lost my uncle at 19. I can still remember the day, you know, going back in the 60s. It must have been about 65, 66, when the notification came to the house that Uncle Joe was not coming home. He died in Vietnam in battle. 

And, you know, you think about that dedication at a young age and many people see men and women of the military as some oppressive tool and not understanding that they're just putting the love of their country in front of everything else. When you hear some of the anti-American energy, how does that impact you and how does it impact other vets? 

Commissioner Hendon: It hurts, but you put one foot in front of the other and you carry on, you do the work. As for me as a veteran I look to the other brothers who served and sisters who served in Vietnam and what they went through and I think to myself thank God for them and all that they sacrificed so that I, as a veteran, can walk and have more opportunities and things. 

And to us you know anyone does this work you protect the American experiment even if it doesn't protect you back. And so we cannot forget when we talk about Vietnam, the youngest person to die was a New York City veteran Marine. He was 15 years old, the youngest Vietnam casualty. 

You look at our Chinese Americans who had so much systemic racism that they faced in this country, yet they disproportionately served in World War II. We look at our Puerto Rican brothers with the Borinqueneers, the 65th Infantry Regiment in their service during the Korean War. We look at Native Americans, who are more– who have a higher propensity of service than any other ethnic group. So many people fighting to protect the experiment, no matter what. 

Mayor Adams: That's powerful. We're fighting against time. So we're going to take a break and come back with our commissioner. Again, you can call in 212-545-1075. Powerful, powerful comments from our commissioner. We'll be back in a moment.

[Commercial Break.]

Mayor Adams: Thank you brother you know I was having an interesting conversation with the commissioner offline and he was just breaking down the numbers of who's served. But commissioner, if you can, just briefly go into the first Memorial Day, you know, this history is so important, the first Memorial Day.

Commissioner Hendon: May 1st 1865 and you had, you know, freed slaves who, they unearthed the bodies of 257 Union soldiers who would have been a mass grave. So it's Charleston, South Carolina this location as a racetrack doubled as a POW camp where the Confederates are holding Union folks. 

So they took these 257 folks and they unearthed those bodies. They buried them appropriately and then they marched around that racetrack. It's 10,000 folks and they had Black preachers and everybody come out to just show love and that's the first recorded instance of what used to be called Decoration Day, but what we now know as Memorial Day.

Mayor Adams: Wow, and when you think about what you shared with me, who serves? The numbers in Vietnam, during the 60s, we were talking about African-Americans going through a difficult time. But talk about those numbers who serve in our American Indians.

Commissioner Hendon: What I was saying was the Vietnam example was, you know, in 1968, black people made up 11 percent of this nation, yet we were 16 percent of draftees and 23 percent of frontline combat troops during Vietnam. And you would talk about the young man's name was Dan Bullock, New York City Marine Corps, 15 years old, the youngest Vietnam war death. 

And so just calling these things out with all these different communities where we fight to protect the experiment even when it doesn't protect us back. It's another one of the reasons we just try to love on our sentinels and their families 

Mayor Adams: And the Indigenous people you know they are five times–

Commissioner Hendon: Five, it's five times more likely, it's five times the national average. In other words, Native Americans, as an ethnic group, are five times more likely to serve than the national average as far as propensity to serve. And so that's the group that serves in the greatest proportion in America

Mayor Adams: Those are– the history is important, you know. Having you lay it out often I sit in awe with your breadth of understanding of this, you know.

So we want to go to callers. If you're a veteran or if you have a loved one that's a veteran, please call in. And even if you just want to say something kind about a vet just call in. So please, caller you're on the air, if we have any callers. Again the number is 212-545-1075. Caller you’re on the air.

Question: Good morning. 

Mayor Adams: Good morning. How are you?

Question: Hi mayor, this is [Brenda Lee]. I spoke with you– actually, you came to my job. I'm a 911 operator, and we talked about getting our bonus. And while the city did come to a resolution, but it was an unfair resolution. 

The issue is that we're still getting penalized for taking our days off. If we take too much vacation in a six-month period of time, we're penalized. If we get a mammogram, a male goes to get a prostate exam, or take any time or comes in late we're still getting taken out. 

And even if you work more than 10 or 15 years because you have too much vacation, you're getting penalized and it's not fair. The initiative was for us to get more money because we work for the city, but to still get slapped back because you're taking your own personal time off, it has to get fixed. And it's like it wasn't– it was just signed off and not really worked on. 

Mayor Adams: Brenda called in sometime ago and I told her I was gonna come to the job and see her and I did just that. And the team went and looked at what her concerns were and if you're saying it wasn't rectified, we will revisit it again. But I always live up to my commitments. 

If I say I'm going to come see someone or put someone on top of the issue, I'm going to do that. So let's look, let's re-examine what was the resolution to that and we'll circle back to you Brenda, okay? 
I want to get the other callers also, you know. Because there are other folks on the air. We're gonna get back to you and communicate with you. 

Caller you're on the air.

Question: Good morning everyone and good morning Mr. Mayor. I wanted to say that I and my family will be voting for you because we do not agree with the hatchet jar they've been trying against you when they knew you were up for re-election. And bringing out Cuomo is just a straw man to take away votes from you. That's number one. 

Number two, please take care of the road. Have DOT from Archer and Merrick going all the way down to Springfield and Merrick. Nothing but potholes. Our streets are being so neglected in our communities. 

Third thing, I had a police officer, I’m riding my bicycle, literally jumped in front of me. He could have caused me to have an accident as well as him to be injured and I'll be charged with assaulting a police officer. They have police officers in our community still doing stop and frisk nonsense which is a bit too much. 

Full disclosure, I have police in my family so I'm definitely for the police department but some of your officers are being overzealous and it needs to stop, mayor. You need to talk to them. 

On that note, I wish you so much luck on your upcoming election and please people do not fall for the hokey-doke the mayor is for us.

Mayor Adams: Thank you, really kind of you. We're gonna look at that stretch of real estate that you talked about, you know, because that was my old neighborhood. 

And that was interesting what you said about the– someone jumped in front of you while you were– the police jumping in front of you while you're on your bike. So get that information over to my office. I want to find out more about that, but we're on top of that road. I'm gonna have Commissioner Rodriguez look into that. 

We are out of time. Hug a vet, you know, participate in the parades, the local parades throughout the entire city, but let our servicemen know that we fully understand that we sit under the tree of freedom that they water with their blood. Thank you so much and have a great, great Memorial Day.

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