Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts “Hear From the Mayor” Radio Show

June 15, 2025

Gary Byrd: WBLS is proud to welcome the 110th mayor of New York City, the second mayor of color, and the first hip-hop mayor in the city's history. It's time to hear from the mayor. Mayor Eric L. Adams, right here on 107.5 WBLS. Mr. Mayor, good morning and welcome.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you, brother. Happy Father's Day to you and all of your listeners who are surrogate dads of physical children that you gave birth to and those who have just played the role of dad in the lives of others. Such an important level of our life. 

When a child is born, I still remember as it was yesterday when I was in the delivery room with Jordan's mom and he was coming out of the birth canal and I moved the doctor's hand away and touched his head. It was always my goal to be the first person to touch my son when he enters the world. 

We spent some time together. He looked at me over the last few days. He was sitting down and he said, “You know, Dad, I'm 30 this August.” And he says, you know, life just moves so quickly and rapidly. And so to all those dads, you're going to wake up, your child will be born, and then before you know it, they're going to be grown men. So enjoy the time. 

And so today we're really excited to be here and I want to welcome everyone back to Hear from the Mayor. I'm your mayor, Eric Adams. And if this is your first time tuning in, the purpose of the show is just to hear from you, just have a dialogue, something that people don't do nowadays. 

And you can give me a call and hear directly from me on what you are thinking about. And you can also sign up to hear more from me by visiting nyc.gov/hearfromeric. And you can sign up on your website to text with Eric and talk with me on WhatsApp. But right now you can call 212-545-1075 and we'll get you callers. And you know, try to have any questions so we get as many callers as possible. 

But today I'm really proud to be here with Basiliso Moreno. He's a certified financial and well-being social worker. Basiliso received a divorce in 2015 and he moved back to the Bronx with his parents and he was dealing with a low credit score. And so, you know, he turned pain into purpose and now he's a certified financial and well-being social worker. 

But most importantly, no matter what title he has, he is a dad. And his ex-wife passed away in 2015 and fatherhood became real to him because he had to take care of his children. So today I want to say happy Father's Day to you. 

Basiliso Moreno: Thank you, sir. 

Mayor Adams: And wish you many more. And, you know, becoming a father is probably one of the best things we can do. So I would like to hear your thoughts. You know, tell us about, you know, your children or child, whichever one of the two. And, you know, just give me some of your thoughts on this period of time of Father's Day.

Moreno: Sure. First and foremost, happy Father's Day to you, Mayor Adams, and to all the fathers out there in the New York Tri-State area. Hope you enjoy your day. I have two children. My son is 16, his name is Elijah. And my daughter, Sophia, she just turned 13. And it's been a journey, to say the least. 

From birth, and we are still rocking and rolling. We currently reside in Delaware. You know, we started our journey in New Jersey, moved to the Bronx with my parents, and we made our trek to Delaware. So one day at a time, that's all we could do.

Mayor Adams: Yes, well said. And I like that, you know, one day at a time. You know, so your wife transitioned, and you had the role of being both mom and dad. 

Moreno: Absolutely. 

Mayor Adams: How was that adjustment?

Moreno: So, to make a quick correction, my ex-wife, Erika, passed away in 2016 due to complications of substance abuse disorder. So, yes, it was pretty much, it was just rough. I remember the day, July 20th, 2016. Literally, I was at work. I was working at a job. I was able to take the kids to work. I took my son to work at that time. And literally, I got the call at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the call I'd been waiting for a while. 

I knew it was coming. She was in bad shape, you know, physically. So I was able to plan ahead, accordingly, as best I could. But literally, like, worst-case scenario, literally at work and having to tell my son that his mom, who he loved dearly, passed away. He was only 7 at the time. My daughter was 4 at the time when she passed. So, at that time, Google did not have the answers on how to tell a 4-year-old, your mom passed away. So it was a tough time to deal with.

Mayor Adams: And in situations like yours, that's why we launched our Empowering Fathers Thriving Children, you know, it's a citywide fatherhood plan. And the goal is to just better support fathers and their kids across various life stages and circumstances. 

You know, we often hear about moms raising children on their own. And we saw the downplay of the role fathers have to do, not only raising children on their own, but just being a father in a household. And sometimes, when you are not in the relationship with the child's mother, you still have to play that major role. And that was the circumstances with me. My son and his mother, we were not together. But it was just crucial to maintain those ties. How do you get through that day-to-day?

Moreno: Faith, you know, God first and foremost. You know, got back into church and really kind of dive in on that. Luckily, I had my mom at the time and my dad as well, kind of helping raise my two kids and also still maintaining the relationship with Erika's parents and her brother. Like, they're still the grandparents, they're still the uncle, and live a half-hour drive away. Like, I need a break. Call them up real quick. 

And yeah, we take them in open arms. And we kind of had a falling out prior to Erika's passing. But we made up, and it's basically important for the kids to maintain that relationship. So that's my story. And I know a lot of fathers don't have that, additional support like that.

Mayor Adams: You know, it's interesting, you said something quickly, but what is the role of having faith-based institutions and relationships that, you know, no matter what house of worship or no matter what faith, but I'm sure that's an amazing support system because that was a support system for my mom when we were growing up. Do you see that as an important support system?

Moreno: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was raised Roman Catholic. However, you know, I stopped going to church for a while and then actually when I got remarried in 2022, and my wife's shout-out to Jenisse, she got me back into church. 

So, like, one day, like, “Hey, you want to go to church and see how it is?” Like, sure. And just kind of using real day-to-day examples related to the Bible. So that's kind of how that's helped me. And my son loves going to church, which is why he's not here with us chilling here. He’s like, “I'm going to church.” So it was important to have that foundation.

Mayor Adams: Love that. And tell me about the Fatherhood Initiative. How has it helped you? Just, you know, being a good parent, what information have you have received from it and how helpful has it been?

Moreno: Yeah, so I used to intern at a fatherhood program out in Forest Hills, Queens, a long time ago and kind of provided parenting skills, individual counseling, talking about the cycles of domestic violence just in general, but also from a male perspective. 

And providing that day-to-day support that, yes, you want to get custody of your kids, let's work on ways to get custody or just building the relationships, co-parenting with your significant other or your ex-significant other. So just kind of having that support and guidance and kind of that baseline to move forward.

Mayor Adams: You know, and raising a son alone is a challenge. I can only imagine raising a daughter without the mom there, you know, teaching, learning how to braid hair and all of those items, you know. 

Moreno: Hair was definitely, it's still a challenge. 

Mayor Adams: You know, but people often talk about the role and the impact of a mom when it's not in the child's life. Talk about the impact of not having a dad in the life of a child.

Moreno: I mean, statistics show that having a two-parent household, children actually graduate high school more. They actually go to college more. They actually finish, actually graduate college more. So the importance of having a two-parent household is definitely beneficial to the child. 

And again, every family situation is different. But yeah, statistics show that having a dad involved, being present, doing the day-in, day-out stuff that we dads do, being parents together, definitely helps raise the children, have a better future.

Mayor Adams: Are you part of any dad's support groups with fathers coming together? Because there's a couple of good programs and dad's support groups that I've witnessed over the years.

Moreno: Yes, so there is a gentleman, his name is James, out in Staten Island. Shout out to him. He used to do a lot of dad activities out in Staten Island. So I literally would go all the way from the Bronx, all the way to Staten Island, go hang out with him. And we do a variety of different activities from 3D modeling toys to painting and kind of a variety of different things. 

I have a good support group for my high school friends that I still maintain contact with. Shout out to Alfred E. Smith, class of ‘97. All amazing dads. They keep me inspired to make sure I'm in the right step, doing the right thing.

Mayor Adams: Was there one experience you could think of that occurred in the program that really, you saw the benefits of?

Moreno: Just seeing from where the dads first started in the program, like, “Oh, I don't want to be here. What is this?” Many of them are court mandated to do the parenting classes and anger management and to kind of see their progression of being consistent, coming to class twice a week in two different locations at the time and seeing them graduate and kind of really seeing the benefits of that. 

Some of them actually got custody of their kids and are developing even more relationships with their children. That definitely saw the benefit of that.

Mayor Adams: I can always think about the things sometimes we most dislike is the thing most we learn from. We start out kicking and screaming that we don't want to be there. Then we evolve and we learn so much. 

What advice would you give other dads who are either raising their children on their own or just how to foster a strong and better relationship?

Moreno: Just find your community, whatever that looks like for you. Like I said, for me, I still have friendships from high school and many of them are dads. There's Facebook groups out there. Call 988. Call 211, 311 and get the information that you may need and seek out information if you need additional counseling or support. 

There's many great social workers out in the New York Tri-State area that are looking for clients and kind of guide you. It's okay not to be okay, but definitely get the help that you need.

Mayor Adams: That's a great sentence. It's okay not to be okay, but it's not okay not to get the help you need. There's so much help out there and you could just search, use many of the search engines and find a group that's in your local area. 

And that quality time. Today, Jordan and I, we're going to go to catch a baseball game together. How do you do the quality time? Children, you know, nowadays, you know, once upon a time, a parent would say, “Well, I don't have enough time to be with my child.” Now children are like saying, “Hey, I don't have enough time to be with you.”

Moreno: No, that is true. I know for myself, like my son just completed his sophomore year playing baseball. So I literally go to all his baseball games and take video of him. My daughter, she's more of the homebody. So kind of like just playing around in the house. 

We watch the TV, we watch the movies or we like to play dates in the house with her stuffed animals or pretending like she's the princess. Like she got me wearing a crown too sometimes. I know when she was younger, she had me paint my nails and she was like three or four, “Can I paint your nails daddy?” And she would go ahead. So just the little things like that. 

Just be a kid. Like I'm a kid at heart. So like whatever we do, whatever we want to do, let's go ahead and go watch a movie. We go watch a baseball game. High school football is big where I live at now. So like Friday nights, we go out to the game and kind of support the high school team and just a variety of different things.

Mayor Adams: You know, it's interesting. Those simple moments of sharing a game together or watching a TV movie together, painting of the nails. We see it as just a simple moment, but those are real moments and connection moments for our children. 

Jordan used to love when I would come to the soccer game or his basketball game or he's into documentaries and whenever he would do any type of documentary, it would mean a lot to him. And I would encourage parents to not dismiss those moments as simple moments. They're not. They're really helping you develop the full personhood of your child. 

So we're going to take a break and we're going to come back and hopefully we hear from some dads to share their moments. So you can call at 212-545-1075. Happy Father's Day. Let's hear from some of those dads out there.

Byrd: Now the program is Hear from the Mayor and yes, the mayor wants to hear from you right here at 107.5 WBLS. The number again, 212-545-1075. We'll come back after these messages.

[Commercial Break.]

Byrd: The program is here from the mayor, and the mayor is ready to hear from you. Mayor Eric Adams right here from 107.5 WBLS on Father's Day 2025. Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Great to be back. We want to hear from our callers. Please keep it brief so that we can make sure that as many callers as possible. You are in the air caller.

Question: Hi, good morning. Happy Father's Day to all the gentlemen that are listening. Especially my brother [Mark, Mike, Rashid]. Now, Mr. Mayor, I am so rooting for you. I'm one of your biggest supporters that's always calling. 

I would love you to debate Cuomo about his so-called phasing in of the $20. He's not telling people he's phasing in like he did the minimum wage at $15. You need to tackle him on that because he's giving a false impression to us New York voters about the $20 minimum wage to get brownie points to be elected as mayor, which is asinine. How you was a governor, and you're going backwards to be a mayor, make it make sense politically? 

On that note, I'll shut up and let you guys talk. Once again, blessed Father's Day to all the gentlemen out there. I'm Jay from St. Albans, Queens. I used to serve you, mayor, when I was a manager at Uptown and Veg, and I am rooting for you. If not you, Adrienne Adams. Those are the only two Adams I want to see with the name mayor attached to them. Wake up, people. The last one for the Hokey Doke was Andrew Cuomo.

Mayor Adams: Thank you so much. Yeah, some people would say anything to get elected. You know, everyone knows that Andrew blocked the increase in minimum wage when Bill de Blasio attempted it, and so now I don't know which Andrew we're talking to now. 

You know, everything he got in the way of, he's now saying he's going to move out of the way from. So you're right. Stay focused and don't be duped. Don't be hoodwinked, as Malcolm would say. Caller, you’re in the air.

Question: Yes, good morning, Mr. Mayor. This is Joe Gonzalez from Brooklyn, New York. Following up on what the previous caller said about Cuomo's lies, the only way you know he's lying is his lips are moving. 

Yesterday morning he was at the National Action Center, National Action Network, excuse me, and he stood up there and was allowed, incredibly, to lie and say, under your administration, only 1 percent of city contracts is going to M/WBEs. So I'm revolted that civil rights leaders and community people and pastors of churches on and on and on allow him to come in front of our community with lies. That's the first thing. 

The second thing is I want to invoke the memory of the late, great Dorothy Adams, your beloved mother. She did so much, and I've known her for years. As you know, I know you, your family, and her. She did so much to get you to be the person you are today, and I want to invoke her name and her memory during this time. Thank you, and have a good day.

Mayor Adams: I really appreciate that, and everyone knows how I feel about my beloved mother, absent from the body, present in the spirit. I still feel her spirit every day, and she made me the person that I am today. 

Thank you very much, and yes, it was a lie. Since we've been in office, we've put $20 billion to M/WBEs, $20 billion, and we know how well we've done. Again, he will say anything to get elected. Andrew, you got to, like you say, you know he's lying when his lips are moving. 

Caller, you're in the air. Hello. Yes, how are you this morning? Happy Father's Day to you and anyone in your midst.

Question: Hello, this is Deborah Lee.

Mayor Adams: How are you, Deborah?

Question: Yeah, yeah, how you doing? Listen, I don't want to get on a rough topic, but I'm a veteran, a female veteran. I've served my country, and I want to ask you a question. I don't know if you can really answer it or if you want to.

But I'm outraged by the L.A. riots. You have a right to protest. What you don't have a right to is spit on the American flag and burn it, and then flag your Mexican-Venezuelan flag all around, but spit on the American flag when America took you in, gave you all this stuff, and it hurts veterans. 

It hurts us. There's a lot of us that are very angry, Mr. Mayor. We're very angry when we see that, that they're stepping on the American flag and spitting on it.

Mayor Adams: And I'm so glad you called and shared that, because not only are veterans angry, but those who lost their loved ones that have fought and defended this country. My uncle was 19 when he died in Vietnam, and I still remember him often. I talk about and reflect on him during Memorial Day, and you're right. 

This is the greatest country on the globe. It's not perfect, we know that, but it is the greatest country on the globe, and no one is lining our borders to leave, they're lining our borders to come in. And so I thank you for your service, and you should continue to voice your outrage. 

When you defend this country, you have a right to defend it against not only the foreign threats, but even the internal threats. And I'm really happy you called in and made that comment. And to all our vets, we thank you.

Question: And I just want to repeat that I have no problem with people protesting, as long as it's neat, nice, and with respect to this country. You know, respectful to the country, that's all. 

And veterans are angry. We want to be able to meet with you and have a sit-down. Do you ever want to sit down with veterans? If I could counsel a veteran, I'm talking about real veterans, with heart. They'd like to be able to sit down with you, or you come to the VA and make a speech or something, because it's important that we know that you don't like what's going on, and you don't want us to come here to New York.

Mayor Adams: Yes, no, so true. We did a good job yesterday with over 50,000 protesters. We did what we had to do, and I would love to meet with them. And Commissioner Hendon is my Commissioner of Veteran Affairs. We meet all the time with our vets, and I look forward to that. 

We've got to wrap up. Happy Father's Day to you all. I'll be at the ballpark, wherever you are. Enjoy yourself. And I really want to thank our guest for being here today and making sure that he talks about his special circumstance with his family. But stand strong. Basiliso, thank you. Good luck to you. Happy Father's Day.

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