Transcript: Mayor Adams Calls In For Live Interview With 77 WABC’s “Sid & Friends In The Morning"

October 11, 2023

Sid Rosenberg: Mayor Eric Adams at last night's rally, your fight is our fight. And you know, the night before that he had a massive prayer service on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights. He also said all the right things. And look, the only time I've ever been to Gracie Mansion ever with Danielle was a couple months ago, the end of Jewish Heritage Month. And the mayor made a great speech there. He's been to Tel Aviv, he's been to Greece. Why? I believe the mayor does care about the Jewish people; and unlike a lot of other Democrat politicians who I think are phonies— he knows that— he's sincere.

So, with that said, here he is, the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. Eric, good morning. How are you?

Mayor Eric Adams: Quite well, Sid. I am, you know, as we all are, just in dealing with this situation that we are facing, and so it's sort of difficult to say "I'm fine," because like I said yesterday, we're not all right. And we're going to continue to make sure we keep our city safe and deal with the issues that the people of Israel are facing right now.

Rosenberg: You know, you talk about keeping the city safe, and it clearly is a somber Eric Adams here. You talk about keeping the city safe, but I'm going to come to you, you know I'm Jewish, obviously, and number one, all those good things. And you came back here very quickly, you were here just two weeks ago, so thank you for that. I appreciate that, Eric.

But you know there's a lot of people here that are scared. A lot of folks have come to this country and there is a pool prevailing thought that Hamas, if they're not on the way here, they are already here. What are your thoughts?

Mayor Adams: And that's why [inaudible] have intel and coordination on federal, city and state level. [When] you deal with international asylum seekers, when you deal with having individuals into your country, you must do it with a level of background checks, you must do it with a level of assurance that people are vetted. And that is what we're going to continue to call for. This must be done properly to ensure that we do not rush and not have proper vetting of those who enter the United States.

Rosenberg: But we know, Mr. Mayor, that there's a lot of folks [that] have already come here, to have an honest conversation, thousands of folks that have come here that have not been vetted. We know that. Is that not fair to say?

Mayor Adams: No, I don't that. If [inaudible] regularly means or if you're talking about people who snuck into the country in an illegal fashion, yes. There are thousands who have come here but without going through the regular means, and that's what we must make sure that does not happen. But my role here in the city of New York is to ensure that Commissioner Weiner is carrying out the necessary intel.

She is in charge of the intelligence division, NYPD, to make sure we use that intel to identify anyone that has attempted to harm New Yorkers. And we have foiled plots over the years of those who attempted to do so. We're going to continue to remain vigilant on that.

Rosenberg: Well, that is true, you have thwarted a ton, since 9/11 really a ton. I would ask you about ICE. I love those people personally. And you and other Democrat officials have come under fire because...especially Governor Andrew Cuomo, too, because not really standing up for ICE when oftentimes, as you know, Eric, they're kind of a last line of defense. What are your thoughts on ICE these days as the world is basically on fire?

Mayor Adams: Well, the laws in this city are clear, and you have to abide by the laws; if not, you're going to have the state of disorder. And the laws of this city are that the city does not turn people over to ICE. Those are the laws of this city. And I don't think ICE is the front line and the last line of defense, I think NYPD is the last line of defense for the city and they will continue to do the job that they're doing.

Rosenberg: There was a special unit, Mr. Mayor, terrorism unit, about a thousand of them, special forces for the NYPD. And I've been told that unit has been depleted. Is there any truth to that?

Mayor Adams: No, here's what that unit was doing, Sid. I don't know if you have been at the many events, as you notice that you saw individuals who were using the long guns...

Rosenberg: Yes.

Mayor Adams: ...with heavy equipment. They were standing at those locations where...a sensitive location, our normal targets. We want to better utilize those officers. Instead of having five, six officers standing in front of the Empire State Building or standing at a particular location in Grand Central, we want to better deploy our officers. So, we've had a massive shift in the deployment of officers, such as if you saw on Monday at the Italian American Day Parade, you did not see 12, 13 officers every block. Why would you need that at a friendly parade?

We put those officers to where the demonstrations were. That's how you properly deploy your resources to get the manpower and what taxpayers ask for, and that is what we're doing with that unit. It's still in place, but they’re going to be more proactive in dealing with some of the issues we're facing in the city.

Rosenberg: Mayor Eric Adams, kind enough to hop back on quickly here today. He realizes folks are nervous and scared and he wants to be the voice of hope here. Mayor, one more thing on this. You know, I texted you Sunday right away after I saw that Palestinian rally and I saw that animal hold up his phone with a picture of a swastika.

And I kind of yelled at you, which I apologize for. I'm like, how do you allow this to happen! And you said— and you're right— you said, Sid, I really can't stop 'em. And you're right, you can't. So, I apologize for being angry. But at the very least you can call these people out for being repugnant, yes?

Mayor Adams: And that is our feeling. Let me tell you, the swastika is not only...brings pain to the Jewish community, it brings pain to the African American community, the Spanish speaking community, so many others. When you look at those who come from the position of the Aryan race, purifying race, those are some real bad symbols. And those swastikas were shown during freedom protests and freedom rallies.

And so we are united, people of decency are united against those who are indecent, and we need to be clear on that. We are fighting against those who are hateful. And we don't want to lump every group that is not representative of that in that, and that's what I want to be extremely careful of in this city that's extremely diverse with many religious groups in this city that don't like display of that swastika, don't like celebrating… hear somebody celebrate after what happened in Israel. And they have aligned themselves with those who are on the side of right.

Rosenberg: Five minutes to go, Mayor Adams. I know you love my son Gabriel. You guys have a great relationship. You're dyslexic, he's dyspraxic. In fact, tomorrow, you've got a second annual [radio] [Donna, Danielle and Gabe] are going to be here raising money for the charity. And Gabriel went to school the last couple of days, he goes to a fine school in New York City, Eric. Not cheap, by the way, private school, okay?

And the last couple of days he's come home shaking, cried yesterday, didn't want to go back to school because not one but a few people inside his classroom went up to him and said, hey, Jew boy, you're going to be extinct in a couple of years. Now, I've got to believe, Mayor Adams, that my son is not the only kid to be going through this.

Now, to your credit— to your credit— we had an issue about a month ago, when you said, hey, it starts in the home with the parenting. And you know that 14‑year‑old kids are still babies. They don't know this stuff, so they are hearing it in their homes. But either way, if that was your son who you love desperately, what kind of night would that be for you?

Mayor Adams: No, and I feel for your son, you know, who I do like, and your family. You know, I remember my son in schools. He went to a school that was in college level and someone got on the elevator and said, look at that gorilla.

Rosenberg: Oh, God. Jeez.

Mayor Adams: We know the pains that our children experience, and we know that we have to constantly fight against them. And your son should not experience that and my son should not experience that. And you know, what we're teaching at home, it translates into the behavior of our children. And that is some of the ugliness that we look at.

But the Israeli people are resilient, just as those who are going through horrific conditions. And we're just [inaudible] children, no, you will not be extinct, you will be here. And he should report that to school officials, whatever child [said that], and their parents should be brought up to the school. It's not a...it didn't break the law, but it darn sure broke, I'm sure, school rules. And when people expelled for doing something like that, it would send the right message. If you ignore it, then it would only continue to grow.

Rosenberg: You know that me and Danielle are not going to ignore it. [Laughter.] Listen, on the way out. I did have Police Commissioner Eddie Caban on last week. He was kind enough to stop by during Hispanic Heritage Day. And we've got a big day coming up here, and I hope you and Eddie both come, Back the Blue next Friday where we, you know, support our police and honor our police.

I know the crime stats just came out. You got some good things going on here, the Fifth Avenue Holiday Street Closings, which I loved last year, just outside of Saks Fifth Avenue. But the crime numbers came back and they were pretty good, weren't they, Mr. Mayor?

Mayor Adams: Yes. Eddie's doing an amazing job continuing from former Commissioner Keechant Sewell. It's just a real amazing [inaudible] people are going to be impressed with the well‑oiled machine. We paid our officers well, we settled the contracts, and we understood they deserved fair pay/wage. And we're going to continue to drive down crime and make this the safest big city in America as we are now. We're going to continue to do that.

Rosenberg: So, in the final 30 seconds— I know you have to run— what is your outgoing message to New Yorkers who are, like me, clearly shaken by what's going on in Israel; and quite frankly, Mr. Mayor, are nervous, we, right here in New York, could be next.

Mayor Adams: Well, we should not pretend, as I said yesterday, we should not pretend as though we're all right. Those images are real, we're not all right, and we need to unite together. But I think it's imperative that as New Yorkers as diverse as we are that we need to align ourselves with everyone that believes that what we saw in Israel was wrong and that we'll stand in unison.

We're having a faith gathering today, Gracie Mansion, and that's the message we're going to send out. This is, you know, we are people of faith and those faiths come in many walks of life, and we need to embrace them all as we continue to support [inaudible]. New York is the most important city when it comes down to [inaudible] all of our religious philosophies and beliefs and not hatred.

Hamas does not represent the Jewish community, they represent their own evil and hate. They don't represent the Muslim community, I should say, they represent their own evil and hate. And we need to deal with Hamas and make sure that they don't continue to exist [to] do what they did.

Rosenberg: Mr. Mayor, thank you for hopping on today. I know you care, that's why you're here. Fabien Levy, too. I know he's got family in Israel, so please wish him the best from me, Eric. And I'll talk to and see you again very soon. Great job here today. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Take care.

Rosenberg: All right, take care. There he is, the mayor of New York City Eric Adams, who fit me in today. Today was not a great day for the mayor in terms of his workload, but he said, Sid, for you, I'll find 12 minutes, and he did. Nice job, Mr. Mayor.