Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Appears Live on NBC 4

June 24, 2022

Michael Gargiulo: Joining us now, New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mayor Adams, you've come out strongly against the Supreme Court ruling. What do you think the court got wrong?

Mayor Eric Adams: It's clear that the ruling, and according to the majority, that it was based on our historical connections with gun[s]. But it did not take into account the crisis we're facing now. And so that historical analysis has endangered our future. We're still analyzing the bill, but it's clear New Yorkers and Americans are unsafe due to gun violence because of that ruling.

Gargiulo: Gun rights advocates say, "Look, to own a gun in New York, you have to be at least 21 years old." You undergo a background check, you get fingerprinted. And they're saying the people who do that are responsible gun owners, so why should they not be allowed to defend themselves outside their homes?

Mayor Adams: Because this is not the Wild, Wild West. These are not the days when you were dealing with six shooters. We are dealing with assault rifles. We are dealing with high capacity ammunition. And when you do a real examination, when you are in an environment such as New York City – highly densely populated, 8.8 million people – simple disputes can elevate into gun play. And I believe gun advocates are not really understanding of this gun crisis that has engulfed our entire country.

Gargiulo: Mayor Adams, now, one option that the city might have would be to apply to restrict certain areas from people who could bring guns, houses of worship, schools, the subways. On the other hand, some of the Supreme Court justices said they're not willing to let the city just block off huge areas. What would you say to them about keeping guns, for example, out of our New York City subway system?

Mayor Adams: Based on the preliminary analysis, our legal counsel stated private areas can come up with their own form of restrictions, but it's clear. The Supreme Court says you can’t block out all of Manhattan. That is problematic. Particularly when you look at the Times Square area. We had over 300 something thousand people visited Times Square last Monday. Our tourism is returning. And when you state, you cannot create those public areas or governmental areas as sensitive locations, it just makes it extremely challenging for our city, our subway system. All of these places where large number of people congregate is open to people carrying guns. And that is not what we need in New York City as we continue to fight this epidemic of gun violence in our city.

Gargiulo: You want to talk about that epidemic. You're trying to make the subways safer. You had officers on solo patrol in the subways. You changed that to have two together, at least, after one of those officers were assaulted. What can you say to people? You're trying to keep 472 stations open 24 hours safe. What progress can you tell the people of New York you believe you're making?

Mayor Adams: Well, we're continuing our solo patrol. We want to be clear on that. The goal was to create omnipresence and the officers, because of the way our system is made, officers are going to be spread apart but in eye distance from each other. We're going to cover as much ground as possible and we're making headway. Let's be clear. We're seeing an increase in ridership. We saw in April and May a 30% decrease in shooting, 30% decrease in homicides. We took over 3,000 guns off our street in the City of New York. So we are moving in the right direction. But I say all the time, that many rivers that feed the sea of violence. We dam one with the Senate passing of a bipartisan gun agreement, but the Supreme Court created another river that we're going to fight.

Gargiulo: Well, Mayor Adams, I want to thank you for spending some time with us this morning and hope to see you back here soon. Thanks again.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

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