Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on NY1’S “Weekends on 1”

June 15, 2025

Stef Manisero: Thousands of New Yorkers were out in the streets yesterday taking part in the so-called No Kings protests. We had rallies in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, and they all remained mostly peaceful. 

Meanwhile, federal troops are still in Los Angeles and were also called into several other states ahead of yesterday's protests. And joining me now to talk all about it is Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor, happy Sunday. Thanks for your time.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. It's great to be on with you. And, you know, to your fathers in your life, Happy Father's Day to all.

Manisero: And happy Father's Day to you as well. You know, Mr. Mayor, from what I understand, you are really proud of the New Yorkers who came out yesterday, who exercised their right to protest and did so peacefully. You're also very proud of your team, the city, the NYPD, for how they handled those large crowds that we saw. 

From your perspective, what went into keeping yesterday's protests largely safe and peaceful?

Mayor Adams: If you do an examination of what is playing out across the country, not only on the protest level, but also what happened in Minnesota, we saw an assassination based on someone's political belief, what it appears to be at this time. 

And then you compare that to New York, 50,000 people on our street, only 14 people were arrested, and many of them were arrested for minor infractions that we stated we had a zero tolerance for disorderly actions. 

And so you have to be proud of the city that is exercising their democratic right to protest and a Police Department that allowed them to do so without destruction of property and without any form of serious harm to those who were protesting.

Manisero: Yesterday you posted this on X, calling for the state to pass a law to ban masks at protests. You know, Albany recently did make it a Class B misdemeanor to wear a mask while committing a crime. Do you want to see the state take it even one step further?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I believe the version they passed is ill-advised. It is due after someone takes an action, that is reactive and not proactive. If we take a proactive step, which was in place already, and we need to be clear on that, all we're saying is re-institute what was in place pre-COVID. 

When you see people at a protest like that with masks on, some had gas masks on, it just emboldened them to do bad behavior. And if we ban that from happening and people have to show their faces, they are less likely to commit some of the disorderly actions that we see at protests, even on our college campuses and what we saw in other municipalities.

Manisero: Former Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that he is the only candidate for mayor who will stand up to President Trump and prevent what is happening in L.A. from happening here in the city, potentially. What is your response to that?

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, did something happen in our city? I saw a peaceful protest. Is he saying he would ban protests? In all seriousness, it's clear you see a Police Department that has brought down shootings and homicides to record levels. Never have we seen levels this low in a five-month period. You're seeing a decrease in major crimes. You're seeing Americans and New Yorkers, I should say, exercising their right to protest. 

I'm not sure of what he saw yesterday, but I saw a city that voiced their concerns and I saw a Police Department that allowed them to voice their concern in peace. If he saw something differently, he should let us know. But, it's clear Andrew would say anything to get elected and we should just focus on keeping the city safe and that's what I'm doing.

Manisero: Of course, you're running as an independent in this election, but you are still a registered Democrat. Are you planning to vote in this primary?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I am voting in some of the local elections, but my candidate for mayor is not going to be on the ballot, so I won't be voting for mayor. My candidate for mayor will be on the ballot in November and his name is Eric Leroy Adams.

Manisero: Mr. Adams, a judge on Friday blocked the plan to open an ICE office on Rikers Island. What is your response to this and where does this plan go from here?

Mayor Adams: The First Deputy Mayor Mastro, is handling that. I’ll turn it over to him, as I stated, and if anyone believes that we shouldn't be collaborating on every level with our federal authorities and lawmakers and law enforcement, I just don't subscribe to that. But Randy, my first deputy mayor, he's going to communicate with the next steps on this.

Manisero: You have said that you do support ICE agents detaining criminals who are here illegally, but in the city we've seen undocumented immigrants who seem to be following the rules, following the law, showing up to those immigration hearings, and be detained. We've seen two high school students detained. 

Can you reassure these New Yorkers that they do not have to live in fear of being deported when they are doing what they are supposed to be doing?

Mayor Adams: Well, I've said this over and over and I will continue to say the authorization to deal with immigration enforcement is a federal authorization. Mayors such as New York, Chicago, and Denver, we don't have the authorization to determine the enforcement of immigration. 

What we do have the authorization to do is not to collaborate for civil enforcement. And we're not going to do that. We made that clear. That's part of city law. But we will collaborate in any form of dangerous entities that are participating in our city, like we did with the 27 gang members that we collaborate to take down. But we do not collaborate in civil enforcement. 

And I say to New Yorkers who are undocumented, go to schools, send your children to school, go to your place of worship, enter your jobs. And if you need law enforcement help, you should receive it. And we're going to continue to do what we have done throughout the years and generations long before I became mayor.

Manisero: Okay, Mr. Adams, thank you so much for your time. A very Happy Father's Day to you and have a great rest of your day. 

Mayor Adams: You too. Take care.

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