In a wide-ranging interview on 94.7 The Block’s Jonesy in the Morning, Mayor Eric Adams highlighted his administration’s efforts to combat gun violence, citing the removal of over 1,000 firearms this year and more than 20,700 since taking office. He paid tribute to civil rights leader Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, emphasizing her lasting impact on New York City. On the political front, Adams dismissed concerns over challengers in the upcoming mayoral race, pointing to economic and crime reduction successes. He also criticized the media’s handling of DOJ text messages suggesting potential political motivations behind investigations into him.
Mayor Eric Adams: Hey, what’s happening? Sorry about the delay.
Tarsha Jones: You are the mayor of New York City, for now. You have real things going on. We’re just happy to have you in some capacity. How are you?
Mayor Adams: Good morning. Great, great, great. A lot going on this morning. I said, wait a minute, I forgot to call my girl, Miss Jones.
Jones: Thank you. I appreciate that. Tell us aboutthe guns that you’ve been getting off the streets?
Mayor Adams: Think about it, 1,000 guns since January, we were able to take off the street. Over 20,700 since I’ve been in office. And when you look at someone like Jackie Rowe-Adams, who lost two sons to gun violence, she stood with us, her organization Harlem Mothers Save, and 40 of those guns were ghost guns.
These are guns that are not traceable, or people can make them in their own homes. And it is just part of my continuing pursuit of safety, you know, safety is important. And I [am] going to stand by that. We should not be living with violence, no matter who the individual may be.
Jones: I agree. I agree.
Mayor Adams: Today’s an important day for all of us. It’s the funeral for Hazel Dukes, we affectionately called her Ma Dukes. She was a giant in our community, leading the NAACP for many years and just was part of the David Dinkins campaign, the first African American mayor.
She was extremely supportive of me throughout my time as a police officer, state senator, borough president and mayor. And we lost her last week and today we’re having her funeral. So I just want to really call everyone to her attention and just the life that she lived.
Jones: Hazel Dukes, woman of the day here on Jonesy.
Wayne Mayo: Yeah, she was active right up to the end, because I remember one of your more recent rallies, mayor, she was right by your side.
Mayor Adams: Yes, she was. Yes, she was. She was unbelievable. You know, she was the type of person of good friends walk in the room and others walk out. She was the person that would walk in the room and be with you. You know that good old-fashioned love, you know.
Jones: They don’t make no more. Yeah, yeah, it’s leading. So, I guess we have to talk about all the candidates throwing their hats in the mayoral race coming up. Do you have any feelings about that?
Mayor Adams: Well think about it for a moment. A lot of people forgot in 2021 when I ran, we had about nine candidates in the race. This is not new and we had Andrew Yang join the race where he was beating me by double digits. And we kept the same motto.
So, you know, stay focused, no distractions, and grind, work hard. Andrew Yang went from those double digits to we don’t call him mayor, we call Eric Adams mayor. So come on, come on. I got a record to run on. And I’m excited about the record, you know. Chopping up unemployment in the Black and brown community, there’s more jobs in the city’s history. Crime is going down. You know, shootings are at a record level low in the last few months. And so we’re gonna just keep out there, working hard, and staying focused, you know.
Jones: I always tell people, like, if you’re really considering Andrew Cuomo and your reason for not entertaining the current mayor is because of alleged criminal behavior, that can’t be, because he supposedly used taxpayer money to fight his sexual assault cases, so how do you reconcile that?
Mayor Adams: And you know what’s interesting, sister? Many people missed the text messages that were released by the new Department of Justice. The people who were investigating me, they discovered their text messages. And then in their text messages, they talked about how this was potentially a political motivated investigation.
I really encourage everyone to go read some of the text messages that they released. It was not reported on the way they reported on everything dealing with me, but in their text message, they talk about the potential of the political motivation of what this was about.
Jones: People wake up and pay attention. Pay attention and wake up.
Mayor Adams: Well said, well said.
Jones: I’m not going to hold you this morning because I know you got, today you got a lot of stuff, but I am going to boycott you if you don’t bring you behind in here in- person. I’m going to flip on you like a Queens girl.
Mayor Adams: Around the way girl.
Jones: That’s right.
Mayor Adams: The team was supposed to have me in this morning. You know, I’m gonna make sure that they know I want to be in the studio sitting by your side.
March 12, 2025 New York City Hall Manhattan
Sources: NYC.gov , Midtown Tribune
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