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

June 22, 2025

Gary Byrd: Well normally each and every second Sunday of the month WBLS is proud to welcome the 110th mayor of New York City, second mayor of color [and] the first hip-hop mayor in the city's history. But it's primary time and so indeed you're hearing back to back from our Mayor Eric L. Adams right here from 107.5 WBLS. Mr. Mayor, good morning and welcome. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Hey brother, how are you? You know it's good to speak with you and the audience this morning. We got a really good show today but I want to welcome everyone back to Hear from the Mayor, from your Mayor Eric Adams. 

And if this is your first time tuning in to the program please, there's several ways to hear from me, listeners could call and hear directly from me but you can also sign up and hear from me by visiting nyc.gov/hearfromeric. You can sign up to our website to text with Eric and talk with me on WhatsApp.But today you can call 212-545-1075, 212-545-1075. 

So today we are going to talk about an initiative that means a lot to me, financial literacy. It's something that we often ignore, particularly with our young people. 

We want them to be academically smart, but it's about emotional intelligence and all of the skills they're going to need to be productive citizens in life. And we did a huge rollout at Brooklyn Collegiate Public School and about our financial literacy education with our young people. 

We use a term, it's called FLY, F-L-Y as an acronym. And while I was there I met just an impressive young man, Jalen Waters. You know keep an eye on him and you know this guy is solid as a rock he [opened] for us and just sitting there listening to him. 

You know people talk about our young boys, particularly young boys of color and you have a question mark wondering what the future looks like for them but Jalen took that question mark into an exclamation point, we're going to be fine. 

He understands the importance of financial literacy and we know that it's not just about chemistry bonds, it's about stocks and bonds. And it's something that's not taught to our young people. When Jordan, my son, went to American University on the campus, it was nothing but these credit card sign-ups. And he signed up, got a credit card, and went into the high levels. 

When I graduated from high school and college, my credit score was dismal. People don't know how much that impacts your life. And so to have a young man like Jalen in the studio with us here at Gracie Mansion to dig into, is something that we're really looking forward to engaging into a conversation. 

So parents, if you have someone young getting ready to start out in life, you should have them sit in and listen to this program and hear directly, from not only a leader of tomorrow, but a leader today. So Jalen, I'm going to turn the mic over to you. Talk about where you get your interest from in financial literacy?

Jalen Waters: Basically, my interest in financial literacy came when I was a little younger. My parents always introduced little things about credit, crypto, stocks and stuff like that. And as I grew older, I just feel like it's become more important to me because I'm about to be in the stage of my life where money is becoming more important. 

And I don't want to be behind. So I feel like financial literacy just helps you get ahead of the game and prevents you from making costly mistakes in the future. And it can open up doors that not everybody gets to have open for them.

Mayor Adams: Well said. And you know, our announcement this week, Financial Literacy for Youth. As I say, the acronym is FLY. We're gonna be doing a couple of things, introducing them to all sorts of forms of credit, understanding credit scores, understanding, as Jalen just stated, Bitcoins, crypto. 

You know, I took my first three paychecks as mayor in Bitcoins. You know, everybody thought I was crazy. They were laughing at me. Now they see how well Bitcoins are doing and I'm laughing at them. 

You know, but learning those different aspects is important. And so when you think about financial literacy, what comes to mind, what do you believe your peers should know about it?

Waters: I feel that a big part of financial literacy is also being taught about entrepreneurship. I feel like the school system and stuff like that, they teach us how to work for a business and work in one and not how to really run one or administer one. 

And I also think that investing in stocks and crypto is a big, important thing and teaching people how to read the stock market and informing more people about the significance of investing in crypto, seeing more things are becoming technological in the future and also how to use credit to your advantage and stuff like that.

Mayor Adams: It's interesting, you said something, you're probably the first generation where you are going to be more focused on running your business and not working for someone, you know? 

And I think that, when I grew up, it was all about go get a job, not start a company. And I hear young people like yourself constantly talk about, “Hey, I wanna run my own business. I wanna do my own business.” If you were to go into your own business, what type of business would you think of going into?

Waters: I'm in a little partnership with my cousin, he owns a exotic rental car company. And that's basically like, brokering.  But I feel like I would wanna pursue that situation, because I enjoy driving cars. 

I enjoy working on my own time. I enjoy stuff like that. So I feel like businesses, online businesses are also big things that I also value having free time and being able to work on my own schedule as well.

Mayor Adams: And you know, you're talking about owning an exotic car business. All I had was a lemonade stand, you know what I'm saying? Think about that. I was getting five cents a glass. You talk about exotic cars, you know. How much has social media changed the game in like becoming your own entrepreneur?

Waters: Social media, it played a big role because like you see all these other people doing it and it's like, [], I could do the same thing as well. And it's, you got it right in front of your face. You have all the tools right in front of your face. 

It's not like back in the days where you gotta go scouring for information, it's right in front of you. So you see other people, you have other people give you tips. It's just up to you. It's up to you to put the work in and make it happen.

Mayor Adams: When you work for yourself, you are willing to put the time in, and it's so important. And so now, I know when we were off, you were talking about how your dad talked about the importance of this. 

And so it really is an important conversation that parents should be having with their children now. You know, what are some of the tips your dad gave you?

Waters: So one of the tips my dad gave me was just basically using my money the right way. And him and my mother, they basically put me as an authorized user on their credit card. So like before I'm 18. 

Mayor Adams: Wow, wow. 

Waters: So I have established credit and stuff like that. So as the time goes on, I just have established credit history and it just puts me in a better place and advantage and stuff like that. 

But just being smarter with my money, like not always having to have impulse control, not always having to spend, also being able to save and knowing where to invest and just basically, like I said before, having your money work for you.

Mayor Adams: You'll be surprised how many pearls you're dropping because if we were to do an analysis with the overwhelming number of high school students and ask about credit scores. Many of them probably won't even know about it. 

I had no idea what credit scores were and savings, as you were saying. So in households where parents don't know, how do you develop that? I just want to hear some of your thoughts. 

How do you develop that communication where we have to, where the young people can actually educate their parents because many parents probably have terrible credit scores and don't understand what credit cards can do to them. So how do you think leaders like yourself could talk to their parents about it?

Waters: I feel like there's a lot of kids that teach their parents things as well. And I was just talking about this earlier, like with the initiative being brought to schools, having a younger generation, basically coming back, parents always asking, “Oh, what did you learn in school today?And “How is this going?” Now you tell them that it's like oh wow, you open their eyes a little bit.

So people learn, you can never stop learning. So it's always stuff that can open your eyes, and I feel like hearing that from your kid will make it more impactful. 

Mayor Adams: And you know, it's powerful about never stop learning. People lose the possibilities if they believe if a person is younger than them in generations that you can't learn from them, which is so far from true. 

I was with a young streamer, Kai Cenat. He talks to millions of young people and he and I were talking about some of the violence we're seeing in the Bronx. So can you imagine if someone like Kai Cenat brought you on and talked about financial literacy? Now you're all of a sudden opening the eyes of young people all over the globe. 

The two things that impact you the most as an adult is your finance and health. If you don't have your finances in order, you're constantly going through mental stress. And if your health is not in order, you're also going to go through stress. 

And so what you're doing with financial literacy and understanding that is helping you invest now so you can be ready for the future. And if you are out there, what would you encourage young people to do with just some simple tips that you encourage them?

Waters: I'll say just do your research and I read more books and stuff like that. Just reading books about your mindset. I feel like mindset is the most important thing, but get a secure card for credit that helps build credit. 

Like I said before, asking somebody with good credit spending habits to put you under their credit card as an authorized user before 18 that helps build it. And just like, just keep learning and keep making smart decisions with your money, not just going to blow it all at one point.

Mayor Adams: What are your financial goals by the time you hit 25?

Waters: By the time I hit 25,  I want to have little to no student loan debt after graduating. Have over five to ten thousand dollars invested throughout stocks and crypto because that's around six years. I feel like that to be a good amount and have an emergency savings account. 

So I have confidence in myself no matter what. I always have something to fall back on and just become more emotionally intelligent and learn how to manage my emotions when it comes with their finances as well.

Mayor Adams: When you're speaking with your friends and peers, do they get into conversations about financial literacy?

Waters: At times, yeah. I try to put myself in friend groups and stuff like that that align with my viewpoints and stuff. But we also do have good conversations and stuff like that as well, which I feel helps me build character and get more knowledge as well, being able to have those conversations.

Mayor Adams: Your peers are on the same mindset that you are when it comes down to financial literacy?

Waters: A few of them, not everybody is up here.

Mayor Adams: But you gotta bring them with you sometimes. You know, some of my friends I'm still in contact with throughout the years. And you know, when I was talking about running for mayor, they didn't have that same aspiration. 

But, you know, we bring people along as we go along. So we're doing this program in fifteen districts across the city, from Staten Island to the Bronx. Our goal is to really empower our young people about financial literacy. 

We don't want folks to wear their wealth. If all that you have is on your back or on your shoes, on your feet, or in the pocketbooks that you have, that's not where your wealth should be. 

Your wealth, if you save right now, you can live right later. And that's the goal that we're trying to put in place. But we want to make it attractive. And that's why, as we do this, we want to speak to folks like you to find out exactly how attractive it should be. 

Now, you're heading off to college. You already know where you're going, right? 

Waters: Yeah, I'll be attending North Carolina A&T in the spring semester.

Mayor Adams: Why did you choose that school? 

Waters: I did want to go to HBCU, but I also saw that they have a good business program and that's just something that I wanted to be aligned with. 

Mayor Adams: And your major is going to be what? 

Waters: Business administration. 

Mayor Adams: And you want to eventually own your own business. You know, what type? 

Waters: Not exactly sure what type, I just want to explore my—I feel like college is going to help open that up for me and figure out what I want to do.

Mayor Adams: And when you build the foundations of the principles of business, you can always decide what business you want to do, but it's about understanding the principles of business. And it comes with knowing how to manage your money in a real way, and purchase some real estate, purchase your home, so you're not always being a renter in the process. 

Really happy to speak to Jalen this morning. We're gonna take a break, and when we come back, you could ask Jalen, or you could ask me any questions you have, but it's about paying yourself first. You pay yourself first and over time it grows and you'll be able to see the fruits of those investments. 

212-545-1075, 212-545-1075. You can speak with me or you can speak to the future billionaire that's in the studio with me, Jalen Waters.

Byrd: The program is Hear from the Mayor and the mayor wants to hear from you two one 212-545-1075, that's 212-545-1075. We'll come back right after this break from 107.5 WBLS. 

[Commercial Break.]

Byrd: Well normally it's each and every second Sunday of the month but it's primary season and as a result we have a special edition of Hear from the Mayor. And the mayor wants to hear from you, 212-545-1075. Here he is, Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Adams: Thanks so much Gary, we're talking about money. How do you handle your money? And we're in the room with Jalen Waters and he has really dropped some pearls on us. 

But why don't we open up to the phones? You could ask either one of us any questions that you want. So please dial in today and reach out to us. You can call us at 212-545-1075. Caller, you're in the air. 

Question: Hello, good morning. 

Mayor Adams: Hello, how are you? Good morning. 

Question: Good. I'm calling about NYCHA. In NYCHA, you have 7,000 vacant apartments in NYCHA now, but in the shelter, it costs a family of two to live in the shelter $5,000 a month. How can this cost be justified, and what can be done for it? This is done on your watch. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, and brother, everything that happens in the city is under my watch, and this is a city, as Jay-Z would say, “99 problems,” and you know, I got to face them all, and the problem of NYCHA didn't start January 1st, 2022. 

I've been the mayor for three years and six months, and although we build more housing in our individual years that are affordable in the history of the city, moved more people out of shelter into permanent housing in individual years in the history of the city, moved more people with vouchers into permanent housing in the history of the city in individual years. 

And so we know the complexity of NYCHA. So let me break this down for you quickly. One, NYCHA is under a special monitor. I no longer have direct control over NYCHA. This is what these special monitors do. They make millions of dollars. The same problem that I faced with NYCHA when we came in is basically going on now. 

Now, each time someone moves out of an apartment, it has to go through an extensive renovation and abatement issue. Sometimes it has lead, sometimes it has internal problems in its walls. We were the first administration to include NYCHA in our housing plan. Never before has that been done. 

We've been able to get land trespass up in Albany and other programs so that we can deal with the debt and the problems that NYCHA has. NYCHA has an over $80 billion capital debt, $80 billion dollars.  

The federal government has disinvested in NYCHA, the state government has disinvested in NYCHA, and we have been left holding the bag without complete control over NYCHA. 

So it's under my watch, but someone else has the ability to make the decisions there, not the mayor of the City of New York, which I think is wrong. So help me advocate to give control back to me, and we can see some better changes there. 

Caller you're on the air.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Adams. 

Mayor Adams: Good morning. 

Question:I'm calling because we still haven't fixed this issue with our retention bonus, and I've addressed this with you a couple of times on the air and in person, but we're still stuck. 

And it's a perfect topic that you guys are talking about money, because we're city workers and we're still not getting the money that we deserve. We're still being penalized for taking vacations, we're still penalized for having personal days, using our time, going to the doctor. 

And it doesn't make sense in the city— if myself and my co-workers don't show up to work, nobody in the city gets help. We are before the Fire Department, we are before EMS, and if you don't speak to us first, you don't get help. And we deserve our money. 

It's still in the air. And our union is even telling us not to reach out to the public, not to reach out to officials. And even people that did get their money, they're being told, people who didn't get it before, if the contract, you can't go back. So it's not fair. 

I've been there 22 years. So because I take time off, because I use my vacation, if I use too much vacation in one period, I'm taken out. What about people that have been there five and more years?

Mayor Adams: Okay, sister, I want to get to the other callers. We're very much familiar with this issue and the consistency, you should continue to advocate and be a voice. And we reached out, I came over there and I spoke with you and I walked through and I heard some of the issues. 

In this city, much of these contractual issues are through your union. We gave DC 37 one of the best contracts in this history with a 98 percent ratification rate. When people voted on that contract, there's still aspects of the contract that we have to continue to negotiate. 

I brought this to my commissioner of Labor, Commissioner Campion, and we're going to continue to communicate with your union to make sure that you get the support you deserve. But I encourage you, it's your union that is a negotiating bargain that must come to the table. 

Callers, we're out of time. We try to keep it tight with the questions so we could answer as many as possible. But thank you, and I want to thank Jalen as he's getting ready to take this great journey into college, and thank all of you for calling in and listening in. Let's continue to move our city forward. Thank you very much. 

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