Transcript: Mayor Adams Announces Removal of Over 2,200 Illegal Firearms from New York City Streets Since Beginning of 2025 Alone As Shootings and Homicides Hit New Record Lows and Holds In-Person Media Availability

June 3, 2025

Mayor Eric Adams: I cannot tell you how great it is to see some of you, you know, and joined by the police commissioner, Deputy Mayor Daughtry, Chief LiPetri. The chief is, you know, it's just like our secret weapon, always behind the scenes and knows how to really analyze crime in a real way to do the things that we are doing best. And that's making this a safe place to raise children and families. 

And we're delivering on that every day. And over the last three and a half years, we wrote to create safer streets, safe, safer subways and a safe city for all New Yorkers and their families. We've said this over and over. And again, I said it during 2022, the feeling of crime must match the success of bringing down crime. And many of you criticized me when I said it. And then that became your talking point after we know people have to feel safe and be safe. 

We knew we were being successful in bringing down crime. But the reality was that New Yorkers weren't feeling safe. And we wanted to match that. And we knew we had to make sure that our strategy was about removing illegal guns from our streets. As you see, these examples here, these are not props. These are guns that bad people were carrying. Just look at these weapons that you see here and with a scope, you're seeing weapons that are very dangerous, automatic weapons. 

At one time, we will only see 38 revolvers like this one here and this one here. Now, these are semi-automatic and they carry more than the six shots that like a two-shot Derringer there. But these are some serious weapons and they could do a lot of harm and a lot of danger. And the goal was to get them off the street. 2,200 this year, 22,000 over the three and a half years we've been in office. And the National Gun Violence Awareness Month, we want to draw attention to what we're doing and we want to honor and remember victims of gun violence. 

You know, Jackie Rowe Adams is a good friend of mine. She lost two sons to gun violence. And many occasions, family and loved ones share with me how they've lost multiple family members throughout the years to gun violence. That's why this was an important initiative in our promise to eradicate gun violence. We're moving forward on that promise. 

And our promise is planned dividends, breaking shooting and homicide records. Hats off to Commissioner Tisch for continuing to drill down on the success that we want to have in dropping gun violence. The last five quarters, I believe it is, we've witnessed a decrease in crime. But in the last five months, we've had the lowest number of shootings and homicides in recorded history in the city. 

I just want that to linger out there for a moment, you know, because you have people running around saying the city's out of control, city's out of control. The lowest number of shootings and homicides in recorded history of this city. That is an amazing achievement. 

It is not the end of the line. We want a city where there are zero shootings and homicides. But we have to acknowledge the work that our men and women are doing every day. They're running towards gunshots when others run away from gunshots. And we know how important this is. 

But this is, again, there's so much more to do because there are illegal guns out there and we're going to go after them. And so five months into the year, we know that this success is what we are moving towards. But it's by no accident, it is the result of our administration's clear and continuing focus on eradicating violence in our city. And violence on all levels. Mopeds crash, that's a violence. Violence by vehicles, that's violence. We're looking at violence on all levels. 

There is no condolences if someone stops and tells you that you lost your loved one to some form of violence. And when you take 22,000 guns off our street that can no longer terrorize New Yorkers, you're hitting the mark. Each illegal gun we took off the street is saving lives and damning one more river that leads to the sea of violence. 

And this is about public safety, but also about quality of life in our city. The feeling that you are safe and proof that our public safety system is working is crucial. But I say it over and over again, we can't do it alone. Too many people who are carrying these guns have repeated interactions of violence with law enforcement. So everyone must be on the same page. 

And in fact, since coming into office, shooters and homicides declined 53.9 percent and 41.4 percent respectively. These numbers show our comprehensive approach. We're now more than two-thirds through the next quarter and we are seeing our sixth straight quarter of crime continue to decline. 

We're seeing year-to-date declines. In May 2025, there was a 4.9 percent decrease in major crimes. Shooting incidents decreased by 38.6 percent compared to the previous year, representing 41 fewer shooting victims. The commissioner is going to go over some of the stats that we have here. We have Chief LiPetri, if there are any questions as well. So I'm going to turn it over to the police commissioner of the City of New York, Jessica Tisch.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, Mayor Adams, and good morning, everyone. The NYPD's work in May was exceptional and the results were historic. Memorial Day weekend was the safest on record for gun violence with the fewest shootings ever recorded and zero shootings on Memorial Day Sunday for the first time in recorded history. That's 32 years. That weekend capped off the safest May on record for shootings and murders. 

Last month, murders declined 46 percent, shooting incidents dropped 39 percent, and shooting victims fell 38 percent. And that momentum has carried through the year, making 2025 so far the safest year on record for both shootings and murders. 

For the first five months of this year, there were 264 shootings and 112 homicides. Not only are those figures back to the pre-COVID range, but both are below any previous year as far back as crime stats have been kept. Before now, the record low for shootings was in 2018 with 267 and homicides were in 2017 and 2014 with 113. 

That is not luck and it is not a coincidence. It's the result of our bold, aggressive, and data-driven summer violence reduction plan and the extraordinary work of 49,000 members of the NYPD who are focused every single day on one thing, public safety. 

And that progress isn't limited to shootings and murders. For the eighth month in a row, major crime is down citywide. It is down in our precincts, on our subways, and in our housing developments. And our summer violence reduction plan is aimed to continue this progress into the warmer months through the expansion of our citywide zones. 

As we've seen over the past several months, this scalpel approach to crime fighting works. Throughout our zone deployments in some of our city's most violent areas, major crime is down nearly 20 percent year-to-date. We've now expanded that strategy into 70 summer zones across 57 communities, the largest deployment of its kind in NYPD's history. 

With 1,500 uniformed officers on footposts in precincts, public housing, and the subway system, all focused on high-priority crimes and shootings. Because just 12 square miles scattered across five boroughs, only 3.5 percent of the city's land accounts for 41 percent of all shootings. That's not just concentrated violence. That is a clear call for precision policing. 

And it's not just cops on footposts. We've also deployed specialized units, including gun violence suppression, narcotics, auto crime, and our field intelligence officers, all of them working in concert to target the drivers of violence in these communities. 

Since the summer violence reduction plan began on May 5th, major crime in our summer zones during deployment is now down nearly 28 percent, with shootings down 65 percent, felony assaults down 52 percent, robberies down 25 percent, and grand larcenies down 21 percent. Quality of life calls were also down 18 percent last week in these zones. 

And across the city, our officers have already recovered nearly 2,270 illegal firearms this year, a critical part of our mission to prevent gun violence before it happens. That effort would not be possible without the leadership of Mayor Adams, who has made illegal gun enforcement a top priority from day one. And let me be clear, we are not letting up. We'll keep applying pressure exactly where the data points us to ensure the rest of the summer is just as safe. 

While I laud the mayors and the NYPD successes fighting crime, I'm equally candid about the challenges that we still face. Three weeks ago, a 16-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet fired into a group of children by a 14-year-old boy who was handed the gun by a 13-year-old boy. It was a tragedy, but it was not an aberration. 

From 2018 to 2024, the number of children under the age of 18 arrested with a gun increased by 136 percent in New York City. Over the same time, shooters under age 18 went up by 92 percent, and young shooting victims increased 81 percent. So far this year, 36, or 14 percent of our shooters in the city or persons of interest in a shooting were under the age of 18. And 44, also 14 percent of our shooting victims were under 18. I have seen enough. 

This all went off the rails when the first part of New York State's Raise the Age Law took effect in 2018. The legislation changed both the age of criminal responsibility and the way that teenage offenders are processed in our courts. The idea behind this was one that we can all agree on. Children should not be treated like adults in our criminal justice system. But when the age of criminal responsibility went up, the age of criminal suspects went down. 

Gangs and crews began recruiting younger and younger members and had them carry the guns and commit the shootings, the robberies, and the assaults. And we cannot forget, when more shooters are kids, more shooting victims are kids too. Seriously bad things come from a consequence-free environment. And right now, juveniles who commit serious crimes in New York City are living in a virtually consequence-free environment. 

I believe that Raise the Age was a well-intentioned attempt at protecting our children. Unfortunately, instead, it had the unintended consequence of putting them right in the line of fire. Until our laws change, Mayor Adams has made investments in a variety of programs specifically tailored for at-risk youth. And every day, our cops are out there in the neighborhoods that need them most. 

So, to the women and men of the NYPD, thank you. This progress that I've announced today is a direct result of your hard work, your presence out on footposts in the heat, and your tireless commitment to the people that we serve. And thank you, of course, to our Public Safety Mayor, Mayor Adams, for your continued support of this department and for ensuring that we have all of the tools that we need to make our streets safer. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thanks so much, commissioner. Well done. And the challenge, this right here, just looks like a little simple device, but it's not. In fact, it's a handgun. And it just folds up, has an extra area here for bullets. This is what officers are going up against every day, these simple devices, and the complicated ones here, and the challenge that they face. 

So, I'm going to open up a few questions while the commissioner and her team is here.

Question: I wanted to talk a little bit about subway safety. You've obviously made a lot of progress in terms of bringing down murders, shootings, getting guns off the street. But it seems in terms of subway safety, there are still issues with assaults within the system. 

I wanted to know what's been working, what's not been working in terms of assaults within the subway system, and ways that you move forward. And do you agree that there should still be officers on patrol in the subway cars at night?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, you're one of us, chief.

Chief Michael LiPetri, Crime Control Strategies, Police Department: We have the most aggressive subway plan that I've seen over the past few years. We have officers exactly where they should be deployed, deployed to the platforms and the trains. And what we've seen is a reduction in crime on the platforms, on the trains, and that's exactly what we thought. 

As far as the assaults, we know that mental illness plays a part of this, and that's what our data shows us. So, with the coordination of the mental health system and obviously officers in transit, we have really done a very good job targeting areas that we do see more prolific people who assault individuals in transit. 

And we've done well with that. Whether it be layup locations like 34th District in Coney Island or other end of the line, we've actually been very aggressive and we see very good results. 

[Crosstalk.]

Yeah, so transit crime has reduced approximately 5 percent. We've seen reduction in areas that really have been stubborn for us. Some corridors in Manhattan, but really where we've seen a lot of good progress is in Brooklyn and also in Queens. 

And, you know, when we see the individuals that continue to prey on New Yorkers, and when we look at those individuals and we analyze those individuals of what type of crimes they're committing, a lot of them are low-level crimes in transit, right? So we treat that differently. 

And what we've seen is when we take those individuals out of the system for committing a low-level offense, well more than 50 percent of them already are walking around the streets with a warrant. And we deal with that, and we've dealt with that, and that has really helped us reduce crime in transit.

Question: And in terms of the assaults, what more do you need or what else could help you push the numbers even lower?

Chief LiPetri: I mean, look, mental illness is tied to it. It is. So, again, we're working, you know, I know the mayor and the police commissioner, you know, we're doing as much as we can to work with our partners and see, you know, removing those individuals from the transit system when the law allows. Thank you.

Question: The mayor mentioned safety in his intro, and he also mentioned road violence. So for the commissioner, it's worth noting that last week, the Department of Transportation put out statistics.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: The mayor mentioned road violence in his intro, and road violence is a key part of keeping people safe in the city. The commissioner knows that, and she also knows that the Department of Transportation issued statistics that showed that in the first four months of this year, crashes and injuries caused by the riders of electric bikes are down by double-digit percentages. 

Nonetheless, you launched a criminal crackdown because you said that the tickets, regular traffic tickets issued against e-bike riders were meaningless. So my question is, you have never showed data to show that the tickets issued to electric bike riders were being blown off at any higher rate than car drivers. So my question is, do you have that data, and will you present it? 

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: But let me say this. I'm not sure if you know what our campaign is, our campaign is Vision Zero. So to say, and I'm surprised to hear that from an advocate, to say that the numbers are down, the numbers aren't zero. My goal is zero, because I can't go to a parent that their child was almost hit in Williamsburg. I can't go to Michael Miller who had his leg broken and he has pins in it right now and say that, well, the numbers are down. 

No, my mission is Vision Zero. And the only way you won't get a summons is don't speed. Don't break the law. That's all. This is not complicated. Don't break the law. You break the law, we're going to find a way to make sure you come to court and make sure you right-size your behavior. 

I don't know if you have crossed over some of these bike lanes and seen how fast people are riding. It is out of control. I have not gone to one community board forum, one community senior forum, where they haven't said over and over again for almost a year now, may I need you to do something about this? And so the goal is zero. And when we get to zero, then we can engage in that conversation.

Question: You did have a plan for a Department of Sustainable Delivery.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: My question is about the guns removed. Do you have statistics on where are they removed from the most? Transit system? Or how do you take those illegal guns off the street? 

And the second question, commissioner mentioned that there is a centralized effort in specific areas that are most crime driven. Would you say that the sole presence of more police officers in that area is enough to see those improvements within one month? Thank you.

Chief LiPetri: So I do believe 22,000 guns removed from the streets of New York City over the past few years has interrupted the flow of guns into New York City. I do believe that with that large number. We analyze everything. So we do know the percentage of how we recover a gun. 

So say, for instance, search warrants. Search warrants usually equate to about 10 percent of the guns recovered in New York City. Vehicle stops, usually about 40 percent of the guns recovered come from vehicle stops. People stopped on the street. Somebody walking with a gun in possession is usually about 30 percent. So we look at all of that. 

As far as the largest concentrations of guns, it's the Bronx with no surprise because it's 37 percent of the shootings in New York City. And that's why we put 42 percent of the graduating class into the Bronx. And that's why the 4-4 precinct, the 4-4 precinct had no shootings for the month of May. That's incredible. That's incredible. 

That's why we see the 7-3 and the 7-5 in Brownsville and East New York, respectively, down 39 percent in shootings. It's remarkable, really. And it's the men and women out there every day on footposts from, I don't want to give the times, but until late at night. And they're doing a phenomenal job. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Yep. Thank you. Thanks a lot.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Mayor Adams: Because this is our presser. That's not complicated. You can catch up, reach out to him.

Question: So, Mr. Mayor, your [corporation] counsel issued an amicus brief in the case of Dylan Lopez Contreras, who was a New York City high school student who went with his mother in good faith to the immigration court, had his case dismissed, and then was arrested by ICE afterwards and moved to Western Pennsylvania. 

And in your comments attached to the amicus brief, you described that that kind of extra legal activity undermines safety in the city. If you could expound on that and talk about how you want people to go to their court dates and how that kind of action undermines safety.

Mayor Adams: And I'm not sure if many people are aware, it was our process. You know, we advocated for TPS. We assisted thousands of people through the process. This was our process. And we encourage people to go through the process legally. And I don't think I have been shy about sharing that my focus is on those who commit crimes in the city. I've been clear on that. 

We would, will not, and we have not collaborated with ICE on any civil enforcement. And so I don't want people to be deterred from going to court. Because if you deter people from following out the process, then you can create a level of people being fearful of our court system. And that's what we shared.

Question: Just a follow-up. So when we both started out a long time ago, there were 2,000 homicides in New York City. And I remember those days and now we think of what 2,000 pairs of shoes look like, you fill this room. 

You mentioned in that amicus brief, 3 million New Yorkers are immigrants, isn't part of the secret sauce of New York undocumented people here who come and have the foundation of faith, family, and work, isn't that the thing that's revitalized this city that we both love? 

Mayor Adams: I've said that over and over again. Not only did I say it, we displayed it. I don't know if you really understand we housed 230 something thousand people, with not one child or family sleeping on our streets. The success of this administration, getting thousands of people through the legal process, giving the support, educating 40,000 children, matching and reaching the buses that came in. We lived up to our responsibility and we're going to continue to do that. 

And I believe what you just raised is important. A lot of people who are in this room, they were not here during those 80s. They didn't know what the city was like. So they don't fully appreciate the removal of 22,000 guns and dropping from 2,000 homicides a year down to the numbers that we are currently experiencing. 

I was there. Not only was I here, but I was a police officer at the time. And we're going to continue to make this a safe place for all residents of the city. That is my responsibility.

Question: I have two questions, the first one actually has to do with this. You're running for re-election on two lines, one being Safe&Affordable. So is this, I guess, exhibit A of what you're trying to say to New Yorkers in terms of your ability to keep the city safe and affordable? 

Mayor Adams: What frustrated me with politics all the time is how people run on one thing and produce another. I ran on housing. We produced it. I ran on recovering our economy. More jobs in the city's history. 

I ran on leaning into our young people. We have the largest number of children who are in pre-K, 3K, 100,000 summer youth jobs, 110,000 young people are in our Summer Rising program, going after justice-involved young people. We did that with our CRED program. 

I ran on NYCHA. We included NYCHA, being included in our housing plan, high-speed broadband for NYCHA. I ran on supporting foster care children. We're paying their college tuition, giving them a stipend, a life coach, and they're 21 years old. 

If you look at what I ran on, you'll see the results of it. I ran on public safety. And that was that paramount. And you know what's interesting, Marcia? Everybody was telling me as a Democrat, you can't run on public safety. It won't resonate. I knew people wanted to be safe, and I stuck to that. And the results of that, you're seeing the results of the things that I ran on. 

I am running on my record. Other people are running from their record. They're trying to redefine themselves. But you can look at what I ran on, and you're seeing it here. And every day, I'm delivering on the promises I made to New Yorkers. And when you look at what we were experiencing pre-pandemic, and what we're experiencing now, there's a totally different city that I'm proud of.

Question: So, Mr. Mayor, my second question is this. Andrew Cuomo has given a number of interviews recently, where he talked about the fact that if he is elected, he is going to campaign in Washington and around the country to alert people to the cuts that the federal government is making on Medicaid. 

And he wants to organize in Washington and around the country to attack the Republican policies. How do you feel about that? And is that something that the mayor of the City of New York should be doing? 

Mayor Adams: Well, if you're going to be around the country, then you better understand whenever you leave the city, you have to deal with the reporters saying, where are you? And if you're going to be around the country, that sounds like you're trying to run for something else and not trying to be the mayor of the City of New York. Because you shouldn't be around the country, you should be around the city. 

You should be in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, Queens. That's where you ought to be. And you need to be among the people. And those of you who follow me, you know I'm not fearful of being among the people. I don't run for office, campaign office, or I'm not in office, hiding out anywhere. 

I'm willing to take whatever comes with this job. Being the job of mayor is different from being the job of any other lawmaker. The mayor, you have to be closely engaged with people. And the job of mayor is not around the country, it's around the city. 

Question: If you got re-elected, would you be campaigning against the Medicaid cuts that could affect your constituents?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we're going to advocate for delivering for the city. And you know, when you advocate for delivering for the city, you have to ignore those who complain about you going to Washington D.C. to bring back a multi-billion dollar job. 

You know, there's an irony to whenever I speak to D.C., I'm placating. But when the governor goes to D.C., it's alright. When governors across the country go to D.C., it's alright. I have to really ignore all of those things that people are saying, and stay focused on delivering for New Yorkers. And I'm delivering for New Yorkers. And the numbers prove that.

Question: Two questions. So first, did you know the crypto kidnapping victim through Brock Pierce? 

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, say it again? 

Question: Did you know the crypto kidnapping victim, did you know him through Brock Pierce? His name is Michael Cerrone.

Mayor Adams: This is the crypto-victims? Did I know? 

Question: Did you know him at all through Brock Pierce? 

Mayor Adams: No, no, no. I didn't know him.

Question: And the second question, why did it take so long for you to respond about the high schooler, Dylan Contreras? Are you worried that city residents are going to feel that you don't have their back? 

Mayor Adams: What's your definition of taking too long? Last week, this question was asked, and I was very clear that, you know, they're not in our schools, they're not in our hospitals, they're not carrying this out anywhere. I was very clear on my position. And the corp counsel will respond based on the law. 

And the corp counsel made a decision to do an amicus brief after finding out all the research and all the understanding. That's how we should function. We shouldn't just shoot from the hip because someone raised a question to us. Corp counsel did their job, they briefed me, and then we made the determination to do amicus brief. And people should go to court. I said that over and over again. 

Question: Just off of that, what is your message to migrants who have to go to court for their dates and are seeing these kinds of ICE raids? You know, they're going there and they're getting their case dropped and then getting arrested minutes later. And then separately, the first Democratic debate in the primary is tomorrow. What would you want to ask Andrew Cuomo if you were on that stage?

Mayor Adams: First, let me answer your first question. They should seek their counsel. That's what lawyers are for. They should seek their counsel. Someone is going to court, they should sit down with their counsel and be guided by their counsel on what actions they should take. I would encourage everyone to do that. Seek your counsel. Seek counsel from your counsel, from your lawyer. 

You said the question that I would ask if I was on the stage is just what is your consistency? And I'm pretty sure other candidates are going to raise that question. You know, where's your consistency? You got in the way of increasing minimum wage when Bill de Blasio attempted to do it. You brought Tier 6 and now you're saying you're going to reverse it. 

You took away the Advantage program that really led and contributed to the homeless problem that we're having. You took away the psychiatric beds. Now you're saying that you will close Rikers and you will remove all the people with psychiatric issues from Rikers. And I think you said 30 days. Somebody asked me that. 

In 30 days, I don't know where you're going to put them because you took away the psychiatric beds. Bail reform, that's your baby. The smoke shop, cannabis shop, that was your bill. We had to fix it. If you, I spent so much time fixing the governor's mess. 

You know, if you look at a lot of the energy that I had to do, I had to correct what he put in place. And now he reached the point that, I mean, he would say any and everything to get elected. How about just being honest? He understands how government operates. And so my question to him is which Cuomo are we speaking to right now? 

Question: So there have been some calls from mayoral candidates regarding comments that councilwoman–

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, regarding what?

Question: There have been some calls from mayoral candidates regarding comments from Vickie Paladino that Zohran Mamdani should be deported based on the fact that he's socialist and too left according to her. I'm wondering, do you condemn that sort of language? He is a naturalized citizen. 

And my second question is tomorrow is the debate. You know, you're the city mayor, you are a Democrat. You're not going to be there. I wonder if that feels unusual to you. And what are you going to be doing tomorrow during that debate? Will you be watching? Will you be critiquing?

Mayor Adams: The first [question], I think all of us could tone down the rhetoric. I said this a year ago. We all could tone down the rhetoric, all of us. And, you know, so we want to point to Vickie and what she stated. We need to point to ourselves first. I mean, some of the stuff that we've been saying and writing and reading, you know, we are leading, our behavior is leading to some of the actions that you're seeing playing out across the globe. 

I mean, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at innocent people. You know, some of this stuff that we're seeing and everybody is saying how terrible it is. Yeah, but we're leading to this atmosphere. We've created this atmosphere. And so I think all of us can tone down our rhetoric.

Question: Do you condemn that specific language of her calling on U.S citizens to be deported?

Mayor Adams: I am not going to point out one specific comment when I said over and over again, we all need to tone down our rhetoric. I think many of you should have toned down some of the stuff you wrote about me over these last few years. 

I condemn a lot of stuff that you guys have been saying about me. You guys have committed me, have accused me of all sorts of things, you know, over and over and over and over again. You know, you would be on the court, you know. 

So I think everybody needs to tone down their mean spirit, hateful language. And I'm not going to point out Councilwoman Paladino. I want to point us all out for what we've been doing. And so tomorrow night, I'm going to be doing what I've been doing for three years and five months and three days. I'm going to be running the City of New York. 

They are running for my office. I'm running the city. So let them, with all of their aspirations and what they're going to do with [the] complex job of being mayor, only one of them will come out as the nominee. And two of them have the potential of being on the ballot, you know. So we'll see what happens.

Question: One is serious, the other one a little light. But what do you think of this new tactic of the Trump administration of arresting people at their hearings, the hearings that they're required to go to? And the second one's about your son Jordan and Eurovision. 

Mayor Adams: What has Jordan been up to now? I believe people should go to court and go through their proceedings. I feel that. And if you don't, it would make people, I don't want people living in the shadows. And I stated that over and over again. And I think that's true with our amicus brief, I pointed out that we should allow people to go through the process because if you don't, people could live in the shadows. 

But I have said this over and over again. I want to be clear on this. Federal authorities decide immigration policies, and that includes all of our federal lawmakers. And so I hear people over and over saying, “Well, mayor, do something, do something, do something.”

We need to be clear on what the mayors can do across this country. The mayors have their powers. Federal lawmakers have their powers. One of the things that we could do is we could do amicus briefs when we feel the need to do so. We've done that. We can sue when we feel that money was taken from us. We've done that. 

There are a list of things that we can do. We could go to Washington and advocate for us like I did under the previous administration and like I did under this administration. We've done that. We're doing our job. But I find it interesting that you're not asking our federal lawmakers what are they doing, because that's their job. 

So you constantly come into the mayor and say, mayor, what are you doing? But I've been reading these articles and listening to this coverage. Have you ever asked the federal lawmakers, which that's their job, what are they doing? Did anyone reach out to our federal lawmakers? We have a federal senator. We have a federal congressional delegation. We have federal lawmakers. 

The question is, what role are they playing and what are they doing? And being as a march, attending a march and yelling at people, that's not governing. That's not governing. 

Question: If you're on board with his party rap songs, I know that the drill rap you don't like, but I'm wondering if you're on board with that. And also, how involved is he currently or will he be in your mayoral campaign?

Mayor Adams: You know, Jordan is amazing. He's very creative. He speaks in the spirit and energy of young people. I'm excited about what he's doing. He's teaching now also. And those students, they love him. He utilizes his entertainment aspect and his ability to write and do films. He incorporated it into his lesson plans. 

And it's really exciting to see what he has developed into. And I told him all the time, he's my hero. He's the Paul Robeson in my life. He's a very focused and disciplined young man. And those of you who have children, that's all you could expect for your children. 

You know, I did a great deal of sacrifice to get him through American University without any debt. And that investment is paying off. And whatever road he wants to go down, whatever way he wants to use his ability to write, he's creative. He's well-educated. 

I'm looking forward to what the future holds for me. He would definitely exceed me, you know, because when you come home and you say, I'm married to the mayor of New York, nobody likes that. They like it when you say, you know, you're married to someone as creative as Jordan is. You know, I just want to have some grandkids.

Question: Mr. Mayor, let's go back to that crypto case we heard about before. Right now, NYPD is launching an internal investigation, two NYPD detectives are on modified duty, including one of them on your detail. Just your reaction to that? And are there other NYPD officers under the microscope right now? 

Mayor Adams: I'm not aware of it. Everybody has to follow the rules. That's it. Everyone has to follow the rules. The supervisors they assign who's going to be on my detail, they do so. But everybody has to follow the rules. It doesn't matter if you're on the detail or if you're just on patrol. Everyone must follow the rules. And if someone does something wrong, the investigation will determine that.

Question: Going back to Dylan's case, I agree with your point that mayors have limited power here, but you are someone who's met with the president before and have spoken about how I think your goal in doing that is to help New York City. 

If you were to sit down with President Trump, or the next time you do, would you explicitly tell him that this strategy, this administration strategy of making arrests at these hearings, that you disagree with that and you would like that to not happen in the city? 

Mayor Adams: Listen, I say this over and over again, and that's why people like talking to me, because I don't go into private conversations. You don't hear me calling you, giving you tips and leaks. People are comfortable with speaking with me because I don't go into private conversations. And so any conversation I have in a private conversation with the president, I would tell you about an outcome of something, but I'm not going to go into private conversations. 

But again, I'm going to say again to you, all of you, there are other offices in this city. I really believe that thorough journalism will start asking the questions to those who are empowered to deal with this issue. Federal authorities are empowered to deal with this issue, and dealing with this issue is not merely holding rallies. 

Go to the federal authorities who are elected to handle this issue. I'm elected to handle city issues. I'm elected to have 230,000 people come into the city. I'm elected to educate their children. I'm elected to put in programs that will allow them to get work authorization. All the things that I am required to do, I'm doing. 

Federal lawmakers have to deal with immigration reform and all of those other issues around what is playing out. That's the job of federal officials. Why is that challenging to understand? 

Question: On that point, okay, so you don't want to talk about your private discussions with the president. Would you publicly call on him right now to roll back this new initiative to target people at immigration hearings?

Mayor Adams: Well, I think the amicus brief points out what our position is on that. I would ask all of you to read the amicus brief and see what our public position is. The public position is clear. I have not moved away from my position. I have not vacillated back and forth. It's very clear. The amicus brief points out I don't want people to be fearful to go to court. 

Question: So this is really off topic. I want to commend DOT for the work that they're doing. I drove down Linden Boulevard and into Queens yesterday. Very smooth road. Excellent. I thought it was on a highway. So I have to commend you for that as well. But then there are all these speed cameras along the way. Brooklyn and Manhattan, so many speed cameras, so many tickets that they come up against. 

And I know that most times we're going to hear it's to only control people, but it's only a few bad actors out there. But everyone is paying. [In] Long Island, they petitioned all of the speed cameras away. What do [inaudible]. 

Mayor Adams: Now, listen to what you just said, though. You said there's only a few bad actors, but everyone is paying. You don't pay if you don't speed. If you don't speed, you don't pay. And so the best way, going back to what I answered before, the best way not to get a speed summons is not to speed. 

You don't get a speed summons just because you're driving down Queens Boulevard. And remember [what] we used to call Queens Boulevard, the boulevard of death. People were dying on Queens Boulevard. And so what the reports have shown us, people who get one or two modify their behavior. 

Even around school zones, they modify their behavior. Because no one wants that $50 summons coming in the mail. And you all of a sudden say, well, you know what, maybe I need to slow down. And so when it comes down to public safety, that's a hard call for me. I don't want people getting summonses, but I don't want people speeding. 

I went to a number of vigils, [meeting with] a number of family members, when I was borough president [and] as the mayor. This is traumatizing when you lose a loved one that's a victim of a vehicle crash. And so my advice to people, to everyone that's getting it, stop speeding. 

Question: Andrew Cuomo has said, and you alluded to this a few minutes ago, that New York is a city in crisis. He says it over and over again, everywhere he goes. Now he has an ad out that says “New York is a city that needs to rise and that it will arise under his leadership.” Do you think New York City is a city that needs to rise?

Mayor Adams: Well,  I think that you have to look at the numbers. You know, you have to look at the numbers. And I would say over and over again, our era, we're so busy doing the work that you have perception is reality. And when you get those high profile shootings, those high profile incidents, although your numbers are decreasing, although the economy has recovered, although, we're outpacing the state and reading the math, we're doing some great stuff [that] people need to also feel that. 

And, you know, if you're not reading it, you're not seeing it, you have a tendency to believe it falls into what he's attempted to do, because he's playing on the fact that our success has not been properly reported. And we should have found a better way to speak directly to our consumers. And we haven’t done that.

Question: [Do you] perceive that our city is rising? 

Mayor Adams: Well, because he's playing on–  Andrew's a master politician, master politician. I mean, he grew up in this under his dad of going to governor, you know, never really had to have a campaign for anything. The Cuomo name was so far, because people really adored his dad. And he was always allowed to be in his cocoon. You know, no one really had to scrutinize him. 

He's always moved from one location to another location with this whole cocoon. And you come from a dynasty. I didn't come from a dynasty. You know, I came from having to build the dynasty. And so you have that edge. I mean, it's so easy to pick up the phone and call people when you are a Cuomo. 

You really are so far ahead of so many people, you know, and many people don't want to really share their real opinion of him. You know, many people don't want to do that. And so when you look at the fact of what we've accomplished in the city, he knows that. He very clearly understands how successful this administration is. 

You know, when you look at record lows in crimes, more jobs in the city's history, all of these things, housing, all these things we have done, what is his definition of rising? You know, we came out of COVID where shops were closed, but you could walk down Times Square and no one was out there. We have turned this city around. 

And so I keep saying I had to fix his policies. Cannabis law was his law. Bail reform was his law. Advantage program, where we were subsidizing housing, he dismantled that. All of these things, they were his issues, his initiatives, and he's trying to move away from that. So the city is rising and we will continue to rise.

Question: Have you been in touch with Dylan and his family?

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, who?

Question: Have you been in touch with Dylan, the high school student and his family since he was detained? And do you plan to visit him? And then the second question, as I'm sure you know, the city has until August 29th to come up with four names of who they'd like to see appointed mediation manager for Rikers. Who would you like to see in that role?

Mayor Adams: One, no, I have not communicated with his family and no, there's no plan to visit him. And the judge has made her decision to do what she's doing with Rikers. She can handle it. You know, she wants-

Question: So are there any recommendations? 

Mayor Adams: Whatever the process is for us to do a recommendation, we would do so. Our recommendation is let us, we should have continued what we were doing. And so she made the decision that someone else can do it better, then it's up to her. The same way they made [the] decision that someone should be in charge of NYCHA years ago, we spend millions of dollars. 

Is NYCHA any better? You know, so I don't know why people buy into this concept that you spend millions of dollars [on], we have a special monitor there already. I know you're aware of that, right? Millions of dollars we pay to the special monitor who doesn't even live in the city. 

So we continue to pay these millions of dollars in NYCHA, millions of dollars in the Police Department, millions of dollars in Department of Correction. They put these special monitors in place. And so, you know, the Law Department would do what they have to do. I would, whatever she tells, she's a federal judge. Whatever she tells us we have to do, we're going to follow the rule and do what she have to do. 

We knew we were turning around NYCHA. The commissioner has done an amazing job in doing so. Decades, decades of problems. Yet three years and five months with all the success we've had, she made the determination. She wants a remediation manager. I do what's in my control. I don't control federal judges. And so whatever way she wants us to do the process, we're going to follow the process. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, can you give us an update on the Roosevelt Hotel if it's going to be closed this month? How many people [are] there and what's going to happen to them? And the second question about Andrew Cuomo with a little different take. 

He probably said that maybe he shouldn't have resigned and defended himself at that time. I was thinking whether he was also, you know, looking at your example, how you handled your case when he was saying that.

Mayor Adams: Listen, first of all, you guys are all aware we spent $60 million on that, right? $60 million dollars. Think about that for a moment. And so, um, when people were telling me to step down, I said, no, I'm going to step up. Hard times make strong people. I didn't abandon my responsibility, my sworn oath of going into office. I did not abandon that. 

And when someone abandons their responsibility, we should look on that and ask ourselves what happens with the next tough situation that's coming up? Because there could be more tough situations. Do you depart? Do you run? Do you leave? I'm not going to do that. I'm a New Yorker. I'm a fighter. 

And the beauty is I actually lived in New York for my life. 

Question: [Inaudible]. 

Mayor Adams: Yeah, we find out exactly how many we have there in the recovery. We're going to be moving folks to the DHS system once it's closed. And right now, my understanding is close to about 700 and something people, around 750 people.

Question: Can you respond to an incident that happened last week where DHS officers handcuffed a staffer for Representative Jerry Nadler, in his office in Manhattan?

Mayor Adams: No, I can't. I think the congressman should respond to that. I don't have enough detail to know what happened. I do know I tell my staff here, we should never interfere with actions that's taking place. And so I don't have all the details there. 

I received criticism from folks when I was telling my staffers, don't interfere. Call the legal team, let the legal team do what they have to do. You're not to interfere. Because if you do interfere, corp counsel can handle you up to your charge. But if you're convicted, you're on your own. And so I made it clear to city employees, you are not to interfere with what federal authorities do. And so Congressman Nadler could respond to his staffer.

Question: I'm just following up a little bit on Monica's question, actually. You know, when Cuomo said that the state would be better off if he hadn't left, I was kind of taking a shot a little bit as well at Hochul. Do you think that he would have done a better job than Hochul over the last four years? 

And second question for you. He also had this plan to remove people who are mentally ill from Rikers. And they said low level offenses, people have committed low level offenses, or nonviolent offenses. Now, just a few moments ago, you had people on the NYPD here talking about how they have arrested people who have these low level offenses. 

Just kind of, this is kind of a wonky question, but just, you know, what would this do for especially NYPD officers who are taking their time to arrest some of these people for low level offenses, just see them back out on the streets just like this, and just also just the infrastructure capacity as well for this?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, a couple of things. Governor Hochul helped fix the bail reform. Governor Hochul helped fix the mental health crisis. Governor Hochul helped fix his cannabis law. Governor Hochul helped fix the criminal justice problems that we were facing. Governor Hochul modified the congestion pricing situation that he put in law. Governor Hochul dealt with the cannabis problem. And so I'm just really baffled about this. 

Which Cuomo are we dealing with? These were all of his initiatives. And so now he's saying, the initiatives that I did, I'm going to fix. I'm going to, what he did with Tier 6 and employees, I had to fix that. What he did with allowing cannabis shops, he said we stood by and allowed cannabis shops to open up. That was your law. We went up to Albany to fix that. What we're doing with these recidivisms, that was his bail reform law. 

And so I'm really not quite understanding what he's saying. He really believes that people don't know his history. And to say now, I made a mistake, I shouldn't step down. I made a mistake, I shouldn't have Tier 6, I made a mistake, I shouldn't have stopped Bill de Blasio from raising the minimum wage. I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I made a mistake. I'm going to be all over the country. 

This stuff is just, I mean, this is hilarious. You guys would never let me get away with this. You guys would have never let me get away with this. He should have just sat down and said, “I screwed up. I screwed up.” You answer questions, he doesn't. You guys, you know what? Katie would follow me around with a phone in my face if I would have done that. And you know what's interesting? 

The thing that he, I'm telling you, what he really doesn't understand, being mayor is different from being governor. Being mayor, you know, I can't even tell you folks what it's like being mayor. New Yorkers have five fingers. You know what they love the most? 

Being mayor, you are in the trenches. You don't, people just don't walk around and say, you know, you're not going to be protected. You could be sitting down in a restaurant eating a meal. New Yorkers don't care. You know, you could be on the subway station. New Yorkers don't care. And when you look at the life he lived as HUD secretary, as AG, as the son of a governor, as governor, that's a different life from being the mayor of the City of New York. 

So what life did I live? Police officer, people always telling cops how they feel. State senator, borough president, and now mayor. And now mayor, you better have a thick skin and you can't hide being mayor. Everyone knows who you are as the mayor. Everyone knows who you are. So, you know, mayor, you can't hide in the suburbs. I'm telling you, it's a different job being the mayor. 

Question: [Inaudible]... Rikers? 

Mayor Adams: So think about, think about the number, the numbers on Rikers, 51 percent, 51 percent of Rikers inmates are dealing with mental health issues. 18 to 20 percent are dealing with severe mental health issues. And to be on Rikers, you have to commit a serious crime. And so if he's saying he's going to take the 7,400 people, 51 percent of that, over 3,000 or something, and just turn them back into the street without giving them the support they deserve with that. 

Think about the public safety nightmare of that, of taking 3,000 something people in 30 days, putting them back on the street without giving them the support and without giving them the mental health they need. Now you've got 3,000 and something potential people who could commit another assault on an innocent person, push someone on the subway station. That is so irresponsible. 

And then you have these officers who are [carrying] out their jobs, and now you're telling them, well, I'm just going to release over 3,000 people in [30] days back into our, on our city streets. That just makes no sense to me. And I don't know a public safety expert that would say that's the right thing to do. 

Now, if he says he has 3,100 psychiatric beds, then okay, show me where they are because you cut them before. If he says he has another plan to house them somewhere, okay, let me know where. But he told you he was going to do this. 

Did he tell you where they're going to? That's [what] he does. He just, I'm just going to throw this out. It sounds good. I get a nice headline and, you know, just keep it moving. Then when y'all try to ask me about it, I'm nowhere to be found. You know, we'll let you go before I bounce. 

Question: One, the ferry service down at Staten Island City Ferry has been complaining about the scammers. I know you visited down there. The CEO says it's worse than ever. There were 81 scammers down there the other day. Some of them look like they're underage kids. He says the city, because they didn't cut the tickets, they're losing $2 to $3 million a year because the New York City traffic is down on the Jersey side. 

And his complaint is that the city doesn't seem to be doing anything. All of the vendors there are all illegal. Even the guys selling the souvenirs and hats and buttons and all that. And the ticket scammers- 

Mayor Adams: I spoke with the PC and when we went down there, as you were, you were with me, we didn't see it. And so we need to identify what the hours [are], Cristyne Lategano said that there's some different hours. And so we're going to try to go back down there

Question: On the bike safety issue. One of the complaints that people have is the police. The reason numbers may be down is they don't take reports. I had one person say she was hit by a motorized e-bike and the police said, well, be ready to go call the Fire Department, we'd only take a report if you were dead. 

Mayor Adams: Well, that makes no sense. 

Question: We said we only record fatalities. We don't record injuries. That's the Fire Department. So one reason the numbers may be down is the police don't report every bike collision 

Mayor Adams: And they should. Someone is a victim. Bikes must follow the same laws that vehicles follow. A lot of people don't realize that bikes must follow those same laws. And a police officer should take a report if someone is a victim of a bike crash, you know, it's not only vehicle crashes, but bike crashes. You should also take a report and scooters as well. And so that's, that's incorrect. Okay. I got to bounce.