Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on FOX5's "Good Day New York"

August 30, 2024

Dan Bowens: This morning, there's some relief for parents after Mayor Eric Adams announced his administration has offered 3-K seats to every family who applied on time. Joining us now with more from Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, Mayor Eric Adams and Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar are working hard with us this Labor Day weekend. Good morning to you both. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning. 

Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar, Strategic Initiatives: Good morning. 

Bowens: Mr. Mayor, this is a big deal. Can you promise that every parent who has applied will now get a seat? Is that a promise you can make now?

Mayor Adams: Well, that was a promise I made from the start that we would ensure that every parent that desired a seat for their children would have access to a seat. And so there was a filing period where there was a substantial number of parents who filed. 

In the first round, we saw we were able to do that for 94 percent of the parents. That was never done before. But we drilled in and I handed it over to the deputy mayor who put our team together so that we can reach 100 percent. That's what she accomplished. And I cannot say enough about her and her team. We knew how challenging it was, but as always, we know we can get it done if we stay focused.

Bowens: And deputy mayor, I want to ask you, obviously all this came together a little late here. We heard from the New Yorkers United for Child Care. They put a statement out and they said that there are some parents who still haven't received that outreach. There are some who say they still haven't gotten the school that they wanted. It wasn't in their top 10. And others who say that they had to put money down for a daycare and that it's sort of a little too late for them. What's your message to them this morning?

Deputy Mayor Almanzar: What we continue to work is that the message that we sent yesterday and continue to send throughout the entire have a lot to do. But as the mayor mentioned, 94 percent of those who apply on time received an offer. That is 42,000 applicants and families throughout the city that were able to get an offer. And all those who didn't apply on time, who didn't submit their application by the deadline, we increased that offer by 8,000. So 51,000 families got an offer for this school year that they had never done before. 

It's an administration under the Adams administration that has expanded early childhood education throughout the entire city. We encourage those families to continue monitoring their account on MyCity and New York City Public Schools to make sure that they can look into the system and as families accept and reject offers throughout the system, they can engage in those wait lists and be able to then get an offer throughout these coming weeks.

Tashanea Whitlow: Well staying with schools, Mayor Adams, let's talk about the cell phone ban. You admit that cell phones are distracting. Parents know that cell phones are distracting. Studies show that cell phones are distracting. What happened with implementing it this school year?

Mayor Adams: Well, let me tell you what else is a distraction. When you implement it and it fails and you have to come back again, over and over again. We saw that under previous administrations where bans were implemented just to have to go back and change it. I want to get it right. 

We will eventually have a system where cell phones won't be in schools, but I want the inclusive thoughts of parents, children, educators. We want to sit down, see how to roll it out, come up with the inner workings of implementation. Many people believe a great idea is fine to say, but implement it in a school system with a million children and their feedback is so important to me. We already have schools that have bans in place. We're looking at what they're doing to see what works and what we can do to make it better.

Whitlow: Mayor Adams, let's talk about the MTA cracking down on fare evaders. You're now writing tickets. You have this EAGLE team that's out. Now, tickets are anywhere between $50 and $100, and we're talking for evading the fare for $2.90. A lot of folks would say the city is trying to make up for lost wages on the backs of already disadvantaged, hardworking New Yorkers. What do you say to those folks? It's a lot of money.

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, we have a lot of New Yorkers who are swiping their MetroCards and saying, why aren't we doing something about those who are evading their fares? And let me tell you what else we find. We find that many people who do the evasion, they have a great amount of money in their pockets. They just choose not to pay. 

It's unfair to New Yorkers when you increase the fare because 50 percent of people on our buses are not paying. That comes out of the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers. Those are the individuals that I want to respond to who have reached out to me when I'm on the buses and walking the street and saying, Eric, it is just wrong that I'm paying and swiping my MetroCard, and we have individuals that just want to just walk past the bus driver and just disobey the rules. That is not the city we're going to live in.

Bowens: Mr. Mayor, are those people who, do you think, can't afford it, or do you think they're just disregarding the rules? Because if they can't afford it and then they're being hit with this ticket, that seems like it sort of goes against what you would want here.

Mayor Adams: Yeah, no, without a doubt. So here's what we need to look at. Number one, we put in place a real process of reduced fare MetroCards to go after those low-income New Yorkers. Number two, there's a process if you cannot afford to pay your fare, there's a process you can go through to get the free ride for the moment. But if we start the process of normalizing not paying your fare, then it gets from 50 percent to 100 percent. Then we have a real problem, and it costs money to run the system.

Bowens: Some people haven't said that some of that fare evasion issues, that's the quality of life issues, where even though the NYPD, and I know yourself, have said that numbers are down when it comes to crime, that the appearance of it still seems to be that there are these issues all throughout the city. 

We know that your administration has taken steps now to try and address some of the issues specifically in Central Park, where we have seen numbers that are on the rise. But yet, just overnight, we saw that there were three young people who robbed a woman of their cell phone, and video was put out by the department. What's being done now to address some of those issues in the park?

Mayor Adams: Well, you know, let's be clear. We have 8.3 [million] New Yorkers. And when you do an analysis of big cities across America, the bar graph shows that this is the safest big city in America. Robberies on our subway system is the lowest in recorded history. We see a double-digit decrease in homicides and shootings. 

All the things I focused on when I ran for mayor, this continues to be the safest big city in America. Are we going to have crimes in our city? I would be foolish to think that we're not, but can we apprehend the persons, what we have been doing, bring them to justice, and make sure the city continues to be safe? That's what we're doing.

Bowens: Did it take too long to get to that point? Did it take too long to start to move forward with stepping up some of these sides of it, stepping up some of this enforcement in the area, if the numbers were already trending in one direction?

Mayor Adams: Well, we did it in the subway system. Look what happened in the month of January. We saw a slight increase in crime in our subway system. We served our police officers there, and we witnessed a seven-straight month of decrease in crimes in the subway system, and overall crime is down in the city. 

These police officers, with a smaller police force, and dealing with almost 3,000 protests in this city, and other ways of keeping the city safe, I must take my hat off to these men and women who are police officers, because they are responding, and dealing with the repeated offenders. When you think about 342 people that were arrested for shoplifting and other crimes have been arrested over 7,600 times in our city. We're doing our job. The rest of the criminal justice apparatus must do their job.

Whitlow: Mayor Adams, let's stay with our quality of life issues, because 125th and Lexington, we know that you all launched the Operation Four Corners to improve the quality of life issues in that area, and mayor, I'll be completely honest with you, that area is still in desperate need of attention. You're walking past half-naked people who are overdosed on the street, not to mention needles. Folks work hard in that area, and most times they're just trying to get to work with their kids. Is there anything else that can be done to try to combat some of that?

Mayor Adams: Cross-section, and you're right. I spend a lot of time on 125th Street. Late at night, I'm at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. I walk on Park Avenue and 125th Street. You see the overdose. We have to operate within the confines of the law that it allows us to do. 

If someone wants to walk the streets with no shirts on, we try to engage them and talk to them aside. If someone is dealing with severe mental illness, we attempt to engage them and take them inside. The law does not allow us to go outside of that. Remember when I wanted to do involuntary removal, remember the outcry that I saw from a large number of people that said it was inhumane. I know it's inhumane to allow people to stay in the street in that manner, and we need Albany to help us strengthen these laws, and trust me, we can go after those that need involuntary removal to give them the concern they deserve.

Whitlow: Mayor Adams, we've got to go, but we know that, if I can reclaim my time, we know that you recently burned four tons of illegal weed. I've got to ask you, did you catch a contact?

Mayor Adams: No, the filtering system there prevents you from going outside. 

Whitlow: Just kidding.

Bowens: Mayor, we know one other headline, Prince Harry is coming back to town. I know you remember the last time he was here. Have you instructed the NYPD to give him any extra security or to keep an eye on him while he's here?

Mayor Adams: Well, when we have any high-profile visitor, we extend the right courtesy. Remember, we've got the U.N. General Assembly coming, so this is going to stretch our manpower, but we're going to get the job done.

Bowens: Mr. Mayor, thank you very much. Good luck with the new 3-K program as well. And enjoy your Labor Day weekend. And deputy mayor as well.

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