New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in an April 22, 2025, briefing, detailed the city’s three-year campaign to address severe mental illness, blending compassion with assertive action to move individuals from street encampments and subways into hospital care. Speaking to reporters, Adams described clearing hazardous encampments and launching programs like PATH and SCOUT, which pair psychiatric nurses with police and outreach workers to intervene in psychiatric crises. He highlighted the work of nurse Lisa Singh, who navigates the subways to connect the mentally ill with treatment, and stressed the need for law enforcement’s presence to ensure safety. Adams rebuffed critics who romanticize street living, arguing that untreated mental illness fuels public safety risks, and called for more media focus on frontline workers’ efforts while defending the city’s approach against claims of overreach.
Mayor Adams Discusses Solutions for People Experiencing Severe Mental Illness and Holds In-Person Media Availability
April 22, 2025
Mayor Eric Adams: Where is everyone? It is so good seeing some of you, you know. I want to take a moment out to just, as we all know, the loss of the Pope. And it was just really impactful when Fabien called me yesterday morning. You know, sort of surreal losing the Pope and what the Pope means for so many, not only Catholics, but those of us who embrace the Christian faith. And as I spoke to some of the Muslim leaders in the city, some of the Jewish leaders in the city, they, too, acknowledge this loss. And so our heart goes out to those who were impacted.
And I was truly impacted from my meeting with him. You know, God works in mysterious ways to have the opportunity to have met him, to be in the Vatican, to see some of the history of what the Vatican means. And it was just a great loss. It was a surprise loss. You know, we knew he was ill. But, you know, it was just really surreal when I got that call from Fabien yesterday morning. And so let’s lift up the community in prayers as they make the transition and determination as a new Pope. I’ll be joining the cardinal this morning at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He’s having a special mass. And it’s going to give us all the opportunity to sit together and lift up his life.
So moving on to today, happy Earth Day. Every day we’re delivering for safer streets and a more affordable city for working class families. And just keeping New Yorkers safe. A lot of these days a lot of people are following our lead on this conversation about severe mental health illness. You heard us talk about it over and over again. I remember the team telling me three years ago, “Eric, it’s a challenge that you need to leave alone politically. It’s just not something easy to handle.”
But it just was inhumane to walk past New Yorkers living in cardboard boxes in encampments. We saw drug paraphernalia, human waste, stale foods, experiencing schizophrenic behavior, bipolar. And we were just walking past these New Yorkers. And I said no to them. In 2022, we started a very aggressive but compassionate journey to give people the care that they deserve. And there was– City Council even passed a law to say people have a right to sleep on the streets. I mean, just like what are we thinking about to allow people to sleep on the streets when they can’t make real decisions on their own?
And we took it upon ourselves that we needed to tackle this issue head on. And that’s what we did. Three years ago, we started our pursuit. And it included cleaning up the encampments, people living on the side of highways, in the train station. If you go back, I stated we were going to remove all encampments out of our train stations. And people said it wasn’t possible. But you know what? We did it from underpasses.
A man stopped me in Greenpoint, Williamsburg area, who stated he used to play catch with his child under the underpass. But then tents and cardboard boxes people were living in was lining the underpass. We cleaned it up. They’re playing catch again in that area. This impacts the quality of life of our city. And we’re not going to allow and ignore these types of crises.
The sad reality is that many people with severe mental illness living on our streets and on our subways, they need to go to the hospital. We should not wait until those with severe mental health illness push someone on the subway tracks, slash an individual, assault a person who’s walking down the street. That is not a solution. And we are refusing to sit back and allow this to happen.
And I want to be clear. For the small group of people who are truly struggling with severe mental illness, this is a lifeline. The stories of those who turn their lives around after going through living on the streets and they receive the help that they deserve, it really is something that we should all be thankful for. And I want to really acknowledge what Governor Hochul and the state lawmakers are doing to put in place this support that is needed. And we need to push forward and make sure that it happens.
But despite the progress, there’s still a lot of misconceptions around this work. Many people want to romanticize it and act like you could just walk up to a person with severe mental health illness and state, “Won’t you come inside and get care.” That is just not true. And many people don’t know it’s not true because you’re not out there. You know, far too many people, particularly elected officials, are sitting behind a desk, never walking the streets, never going into the subway system to look at this real work and the heroes that are doing it every day. And one of those heroes is here.
I have a special guest, Lisa Singh, who’s here. Every day doing that work, she’s a psychiatric nurse who spends her nights on the subway as part of the PATH program, which looks for people most in need. And I would really suggest many of you who are writing these stories to spend a night walking these subways with her and get a firsthand view of how challenging this work is.
She’s also, along with her team of NYPD officers and homeless outreach workers, tackling this difficult and challenging work with compassion and love every day. In fact, she’s a miracle worker with the men and women who are here with us today. I am amazed when I’m out there with them and they make these encounters. They have found pathways to talk to people and give them the care that they deserve. And this is so important, and that’s why the Supportive Interventions Act is crucial.
And joining us also is Brian Stettin. Brian knows this work. He understands this work. He’s not trying to do it in a place that lacks compassion, but he’s realistic and honest. We have too many people who were removed from psychiatric institutions, placed in their own care, and they can’t take care of themselves. And we need to be honest about it and stop lying about it. They need help, and we need to be honest with the laws that we are passing.
And when you look at what Brian is doing and Captain Lou—I was out in the field with Captain Lou. He oversees the PATH program, and they bring their A-game every day. And we owe them a debt of gratitude, folks, because many people won’t do this work, and they are willing to do it. And many people want to walk by. They want to ignore it. “What are we going to do about the homeless?” Well, this is what we’re doing about the homeless, the people who are here today.
And so, last weekend, some of you may have seen the Washington Post put Lisa and the work the PATH program on the front page of the paper. You know, did you—did we give everyone a copy? Okay, good. That’s good stuff. That’s good stuff. You know, we shouldn’t have to go to The Washington Post to highlight what our heroes are doing in New York City. How about highlighting some of them? How about, you know, you do the same? Why don’t we start really looking at these heroes we have among us and not criticizing them, but lifting them up?
But thank you to The Washington Post. I’m hoping to become contagious, and some of our local journalists would do the same to highlight the great work these men and women are doing. It’s a beautiful piece, and it puts the human face on this critical public safety issue, and I really urge all of you to read it.
What really struck me about Lisa’s story is that she said what horrifies her the most is not having to make the decision to involuntarily give someone help. It’s potentially missing someone who needs it. Now, can you imagine being out there talking to someone with a severe mental health illness? They can’t take care of themselves. They’re in danger to others. You try to convince them. You can’t convince them, and then you wake up in the morning and [find] out that person pushed someone on the subway track or that person slashed someone or that person jumped in front of the train. Do you know how much trauma that is? Do you know how much PTSD that is?
This is what this team goes through when they’re out there, and they read a story about a person that did something harmful to themselves or others. This is the real work that has to be done. This is a powerful example of what people on the front lines go through every day, and they’re making these tough calls, tough calls of should you involuntarily remove someone.
With that, I would love to turn it over to Lisa to make a few remarks on behalf of her and some of her team members that are here, and I want to just thank you guys and ladies for what you’re doing. Thank you, Lisa.
Lisa Singh: Hi, everyone. I’m Lisa Singh. Thank you for having me. I consider this an honor to serve this marginalized population, and I have to say I wish that the article was a little bit more balanced in terms of including the work that NYPD does. They are phenomenal. I could not go into these sensitive spaces without their authority and their power, and they come gentle. We go into these spaces. They command the atmosphere, and I really don’t believe that I could move the way that I do without them, so I thank them. I thank every one of them.
So I am Lisa Singh again. I’ve been working with the homeless population for the past six months. I’ve been a psychiatric nurse for about 28 years now, so I’m very familiar with homelessness as it relates to the mentally ill. It’s really a tough call a lot of the time. There’s so many layers to homelessness, also taking into account that, though there is mental illness present, these folks still want to connect socially.
We don’t grow in isolation. We grow. We are each other’s point of reference, so when we look at someone, we know that, hey, did I say something wrong? Should I have said this way? Should I have said that again? And so when we look at our individuals, we’re looking for, and the article highlighted it really well, that subtle face of mental illness.
I’ll never forget, you know, there was one individual who I spoke with, and he was oriented, very oriented to person, place, and time. But then he began to speak about a spaceship, and the spaceship was coming to pick him up. And so there was a presence of delusions, yes. And so he went on to say that he was adamant on going and being picked up by this spaceship, and he said, yes, it’s going to pick him up on the top of the Empire State Building.
Last time I checked, there is no landing pad for spaceships on the Empire State Building. And I don’t mean to make light of it, and so although that delusion, that belief wasn’t of suicide, but it was to– it could have led to bodily harm and even death. So that is a 9-5-8. But do you see, there’s very subtle elements to every clinical picture, and it really takes a keen eye to see those things and to weave together a story and help in determining whether or not someone is a 9-5-8.
Question: So we, WBAI has two homeless correspondents, one in New York and one in New Jersey. And these are people that understand the system and are communicating with in real time. Because I think you’re right, what happens is we objectify these people, and that just further alienates them.
I’m just wondering, though, as a healthcare professional, are you frustrated that when you refer someone into the system, we’ve seen, for instance, around Elmhurst Hospital that was the epicenter of the COVID epidemic, several hospitals closed. The truth is that over the last 20 years, not only site facilities, but we’ve contracted healthcare facilities and the infrastructure support communities. And this showed up in the cruel disparity in struggling zip codes. Is there a little bit of despair you have to overcome professionally knowing that the system itself and capacity is so limited?
Brian Stettin, Senior Advisor, Severe Mental Illness, Mayor’s Office: Yeah, no, it’s an important point that you raise. Good morning, everyone. One thing we should keep in mind about the SCOUT and PATH programs, the two programs that have our nurses and police officers canvassing the subway system, looking for people in psychiatric crisis, is that we’re bringing all the individuals that we encounter into the H&H hospital system. So we’re not relying at all on the private hospitals and kind of pushing people into a black hole where we can’t keep track or have any influence over what kind of care they get.
At H+H, they’ve actually managed to reverse that trend. They’ve actually brought back all of the psych beds that were lost during the COVID period, and they’ve opened a couple of new units for extended care now at three H+H hospitals.
So I think with respect to the particular work that we’re doing focused on people in the subway system in the most acute psychiatric crisis, the problem that you’re identifying that does impact people with mental illness generally is not really as much of an issue because we’re getting those folks into a system where we’re keeping close eyes on them. They are getting beds. They are getting admitted to hospital care, and we’re able to track how they do over time. Sure.
Question: In the spirit of Pope Francis and what the mayor said, would it be worthwhile if these wealthy hospitals who are doing plastic surgery and so much also stepped up? Because often, the mental health crisis steps off in someone who may be totally secure and middle class. Life is working fine one day, and all of a sudden, so shouldn’t they try to emulate what you guys are doing in the private sector?
Stettin: You’re preaching to the choir on that. I mean, no question. Look, psychiatric care is the least profitable thing that hospitals do, right, because hospitals make money by performing medical procedures. And so even nonprofit hospitals, understandably, are kind of bottom line oriented. And there is pressure on them to reduce psychiatric care. And it’s something we need, obviously, help from the state. And I think we’re getting some to reverse some of those trends.
Question: For the mayor. Mr. Mayor, if Albany doesn’t come through with what you’re asking for, what can you do as the mayor to either enhance what’s happening or take more control of what’s happening?
Mayor Adams: And that’s what we have been doing. This has been a three-year pursuit, and the first action is to acknowledge the problem and not ignore the problem. It was a huge undertaking going into the streets and not allowing people with severe mental health illness to live on our streets. You know, the pushback was unbelievable. We came under great criticism. We were inhumane. You know, it was wrong what we were doing. People were stopping and chaining themselves to prevent the tents from being removed off the streets. But we did it.
And so, we’re going to ask for our help from our state lawmakers, but we’re not going to sit on our hands. And Brian has helped us carve out some real humane treatment. This is what PATH came from. This is what SCOUT came from. Former members of the NYPD’s homeless unit stepped up and reached out and said, listen, we did this work before. So, we’re doing our job, and we’re going to continue to do our part.
It makes life easier when we do some mandatory actions of holding people, not just giving them medication for one day and allowing them to go out. The process was to get someone that’s dealing with a severe mental health illness episode. You bring them in. You give them medicine for a day. You let them back out. You keep doing it until they do something harmful, until they push someone to the subway, until they slash someone, until they, you know, strike a woman who’s walking down the block. That’s a terrible system.
You can’t have 51 percent of the people on Rikers Island with mental health illness and 18 to 20 percent with severe mental health illness. We’re criminalizing it. And if we don’t do proactive action, we’re going to continue to have these traumatic experiences. The young lady who was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle, this person had a history. You look at these cases over and over again, and you can’t continue just to ignore it.
I believe the problem is that many people who are making these decisions, they’re not out there with Lisa in these officers. That’s the problem. It took me one day to walk in a subway station and approach– I think I was with you, N.J., you know, walking up to a gentleman who was dealing with severe mental health illness. I went over to him and said, “Can we help him?” He almost went into a state of rage. And Lisa said something that is really important that many people overlook.
All these folks who are out there saying police should not be involved, police should not be involved, police should not be involved. Here’s a nurse, frontline nurse, who’s on the job. She said this is a partnership. You approach someone who thinks they’re waiting for a spaceship or believes everyone is the enemy or believes that someone is an army, you approach them, they can snap like that. And a civilian that’s not ready to be able to subdue that person, that civilian could be in harm’s way. This is real work, and it’s challenging. And we were willing to do it because we have, you know, professionals like Lisa and these law enforcement officers.
Question: I know one of the challenges is the workforce of people working not just obviously in outreach, but you work 28 years as a psychiatric nurse. What kind of message do you want to get out to the public? Maybe a student who’s considering a career. I know obviously it’s talking about, Brian was saying, that it’s not the most lucrative, right, for hospitals. But talking about how rewarding it’s been for you to work with an often marginalized population that doesn’t get the help that they desperately need.
Singh: I, you know, I believe everyone is designed. They come with their own specific design. Mr. Stettin is a lawyer. I believe he’s designed for that. Look at the excitement when I said lawyer, right? He smiled. So I knew that this was my work, especially with my background as well. I was marginalized in my own home, you know, and a lot of us barely made it out of our childhoods.
And so I knew that I didn’t want for anyone to feel that way if I had the power to make some sort of change. So I– it’s funny because I’m working on a doctorate right now and my plan is to write a book to get more people into nursing and really look at how, you know, that design. And I think for nursing, I think it’s one of those disciplines that actually calls. They beckon those that are meant to be nurses.
Question: Oh, yes. I wanted to ask. So the article says that your team consists of five police officers and two homeless outreach workers. Are you the only team that’s doing this or how many teams total? Consisting of five police officers, two outreach workers and I guess a head nurse.
Stettin: So we have two programs that are built on co-response in the subway system. One is called SCOUT. It’s a partnership with the MTA PD. And the other is PATH, which you’re seeing here, which is with the NYPD. The PATH program operates five teams per night, three that operate from 8 p.m. to midnight. And then another two teams– I’m sorry, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. And another two teams that operate from 4 a.m. to noon.
The SCOUT program also currently has five teams that operate in the daytime hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They’re about, next month we’re going to add five more of those SCOUT teams with some funding support from the state. So we’ll be up to 10 teams doing this, mostly in the daytime. We’re going to get some SCOUT teams out in the evening as well. And another five that are operating overnight.
And then in addition to that, we also have some co-response teams that are part of our end-of-line operations. We have another four that are embedded in the larger operations we do at end-of-line stations, where we’re trying to get a lot of people services into our shelter system. But we also have nurses working closely with police officers at four end-of-line stations each night, looking for people in psychiatric crisis to bring to the hospital.
Question: [Inaudible] PATH and we’re going to build up to five SCOUTs?
Stettin: We’re at five SCOUTs now, we’re going to build up to 10 SCOUTs. And we have five PATH teams. So that’ll be 15, and then another four to five operating at end-of-line operations. So we’re talking about about 20 teams.
Question: What is the difference between, if you could have your druthers, would you rather have more SCOUT or would you rather have more PATH?
Stettin: The programs are really doing very similar things. I mean, I don’t have a preference because they’re all focused on finding people in psychiatric crisis, getting them to the hospital. I think the PATH teams have a little bit of a broader focus. They’re also bringing a significant number of people into the shelter system who are not in acute psychiatric crisis, whereas the SCOUT teams are operating in a daytime environment where there are other outreach teams on the ground. That can be very time-consuming.
Sometimes they’re kind of handing those folks who don’t need to go to the hospital off to other teams through our nonprofit partners.
But both teams really are laser-focused on that mission of making sure people who can’t recognize their own desperate need for hospital care are getting it. And so, you know, as many of these teams as we can get out there, that’s what we’re all about.
Question: I have a question for the mayor, if that’s all right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Adams, given the recurring concerns around the use of law enforcement in mental health interventions, how does your administration plan to balance public safety with civil liberties when engaging people experiencing severe mental illness, especially those in communities that already feel overpoliced?
Mayor Adams: You know, it’s important to find that balance. And that is why what Brian has created with these programs is to have our outreach workers, and some of them are amazing. We had a few with us when we were in the subway system with Chief Gulotta, and law enforcement. That’s the balance. What many people tend to want to do is to have it merely civilian. You can’t do that.
You have to have the balance. They have to be well-trained not to overreact. Sometimes the presence of the uniform intimidates people who are going through a crisis, and that’s why they know the proper distance. But they make sure that individuals are safe in the process. And I always hear this terminology about the neighborhoods that feel their communities are overpoliced. I have never been in one community that stated to me, “Eric, take my police away.” Never.
Every town hall I go to, every adult town hall I go to, I hear the same thing. “Where are my police? I want more police.” So, those who sit in a sterilized environment of their safety or maybe live in a fort somewhere, they have the luxury of saying they don’t want police. That’s not what the communities that I visit say. They want their police. I’ve never heard in one town hall “We feel overpoliced.” I’ve heard just the opposite.
So, the loudest is not the majority. They want their police. They want proper policing. And they want support from their mental health professionals. And I’m going to deliver that, and I’m going to ignore the noise in the process.
Okay. Thanks to all of you.
Good group. Good group. Hold on, JR. I’ve got a few more items I must touch on. Okay? That’s okay. As a matter of fact, congratulations, JR, to your great event. I just want to finish up with some of the public safety stuff we’re doing.
And, really, the connection of public safety is about education. If you don’t educate, you will incarcerate. When you look at the number of people who are dealing with learning disabilities and lack of proper educational opportunities that are in Rikers Island, it speaks for itself.
And so we announced yesterday, we had an exciting announcement, expanding our successful evidence-based foundational reading and math initiatives, NYC Reads and NYC Solves, the 2025-2026 school year, a total of more than 490,000 students at 842 elementary schools and 102 middle schools will benefit from this program, a great program of NYC Reads and NYC Solves, and just moving forward and giving children the fundamental tools they need to succeed.
And this is a permanent commitment of $167 million for early childhood education, hiring of 3,700 new teachers in nearly 750 schools across the city, 1,000 new teachers who have already been hired, and over $600 million we invested in education this fiscal year 25. And just moving on, dealing with after they’re educated, we want them to be employed. And we, again, we are doing my favorite thing, and that’s breaking records. For the 11th time, we broke the all-time high jobs record with over 4.8 million total jobs in New York City. And the goal is to just really have a holistic approach to make sure the city’s the best place to raise children and families. J.R.
Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you?
Mayor Adams: How are you doing?
Question: I am well. First, thanks for your presence on Saturday night. Every set of awards, you can’t ask for a better mayor. So, Mr. Mayor, as we talk about Pope Francis, mourning the loss of this modest man, you met with him. What’s one takeaway that you came away with from meeting with him? That’s one.
And the second question is New Yorkers and other elected officials are still up in arms about ICE being at Rikers Island. It’s being said that it’s not only violent criminals and gangbangers that are being deported. People with minor infractions are being deported as well. How do you respond to that?
Mayor Adams: First, the takeaway, you know, I think Lisa alluded to, it’s amazing how some people interact with hundreds of thousands, millions of people. But they have the unique ability to make each person they communicate with feel special. That’s a real art. You know, with all the hands you shake, all the people you interact with, you’re able to have each individual feel as though for that moment he or she is paying attention to you.
And I met people throughout my life who have that ability, and that’s what I felt when I met him. You know, there was a line of people that he was interacting with, but he was present when he was speaking with me. He was not looking past me. He was not looking to say, “Who’s next I have to speak with? Hey, I’m shaking a hundred hands today.” No, for this moment, I’m present in front of Eric Adams, not the mayor, this individual who asked me to pray on behalf of peace globally, particularly during a time we were dealing with some issues in the Middle East. That was my takeaway.
And your question about people are concerned. Who are these people? I just don’t know who these people you’re talking about. Those who cover– my town halls are a great way to have a litmus test for what people are feeling on the ground in my town halls. I do senior adult town halls. I do youth town halls. I do regular town halls. And I get a feeling of what is concerning people. We have not been in one town hall, not one town hall.
Now, no one stops me on the subway system. No one stops me in the supermarket. No one stops me when I’m walking the street and say, “Hey, what is this ICE on Rikers Island?” Like, who are these people? This bubble that we live in, you guys live in a bubble. You don’t even realize how much you’re in a bubble. You talk to each other. You interact with each other. You tweet each other. You like each other’s tweets. You do a thumbs up, you know. This is all your world. This is not the world of everyday people.
You know what everyday people want? They want dangerous people off the street. That’s who I hear. So the first deputy mayor is dealing with that. This case is in court. I’m not going to do anything to get in the way of that. Let the first deputy mayor and the court play out. And whatever way it goes, I’m going to follow the rule.
Question: You know, Mr. Mayor, the public advocate was on my show last week.
Mayor Adams: Oh, that’s the people.
Question: It starts with him and a few other people.
Mayor Adams: So let me say this. Let me say this. Let me say this, J.R. Think about this for a moment. Public advocate wakes up at noon. He takes a nap until 2. He goes looking around the fort to make sure the guards are awake. And then he goes back and takes another nap. Then he looks at the press and says, “My job for over $200,000 is to find a way to criticize Eric or something.” He leaves the fort with a security detail. He has the army protecting him in that fort. And then he’s going to talk about everyday New Yorkers, how they should be safe or not. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Should I take him seriously? Should I?
Question: My take on that is that–
[Crosstalk.]
Question: I wanted to follow up with ICE on Rikers. Yesterday, a temporary restraining order was put on that plan. Your thoughts about that? And then, it seems like this could get caught up in the courts. Would you ditch that effort for something else? Or why not talk to the City Council who’s stuggy about this. They said that you guys haven’t had any type of communication about this particular plan?
Mayor Adams: As I stated, this is in the court. The first deputy mayor, if you want to do a gaggle with him, he can answer all of those questions. So can we arrange for him to do a gaggle with them. Because I don’t do anything to interfere with what’s in the court.
Question: As the first deputy mayor of the city, he wouldn’t be able to sign the executive order if you didn’t give him that authority, so it does have to deal with you.
Mayor Adams: I’m glad you stated that I’m the mayor of the city and with that power of being mayor I have the ability to delegate to competent people in my administration. And thank God I do have a competent team that I can hand over items to like closing Rikers, like dealing with funding for our infrastructure. There’s a host of things.
And as the mayor, if you don’t know how to delegate and ensure people can do the job, you’re going to have a problem. So I delegated the issue to the deputy mayor and the Press Office sent over a statement yesterday and I will refer you over to that statement. It’s in court, let the court handle it.
Question: So James Comer, Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee has asked the attorney general of the United States to file criminal charges against Andrew Cuomo for his statements to Congress about the nursing homes and the health reports.
Do you think, you’ve said repeatedly that you believe the Justice Department acts with political intent in many cases, and they did in yours. Do you believe if they charge Andrew Cuomo with a crime this is a continuation of political action rather than justice related action?
Mayor Adams: First of all, I am going to do to all those who are going through whatever they are going through legally, anyone who is going through things legally, I am going to do to them what they didn’t do to me. I’m going to let them handle their cases.
They have spokespersons. They have legal teams. They need to handle that. And, although I was not given that same level of respect, out of my years of public service and many of them knew me. I am not going to do to them what they did to me. Let them handle their case, I have a city to run.
Question: You don’t think this is political?
Mayor Adams: Let them handle their case, I have a city to run.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Have you heard from Tom Homan after the ruling yesterday, on the temporary restraining order on Rikers? And secondly, that along with a couple other examples of your office and City Council being at odds in the last couple weeks–
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Examples of your office and City Council being at odds recently. The council reported it wasn’t looped in about the restoration of early childhood education funding. Your administration didn’t show up to a council hearing on federal funding cuts last week. The first deputy mayor is accusing the council speaker of misusing her position by demoting members who endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Have your interactions been strained by the fact that the speaker is running to replace you? Do you believe the election is getting in the way of these branches of government, your office, the City Council, and the Comptroller Office, working together and hashing out the budget?
Mayor Adams: We’re going to land the plane. And what I was really surprised about is that– how under-reported it was that two city councilmembers lost their seats on the budget negotiation committee because they didn’t endorse someone. I’m amazed how under-reported– I could only imagine if I would have done that, what you guys would have done to me.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: It was underreported. I mean, the fact that two electeds lost their seats because they didn’t endorse a candidate, how is that not problematic? That’s a real issue. That’s a real issue. And I believe the first deputy mayor was right for pointing that out. We are in the middle of negotiation. We can’t use our authority as an elected to, in any way, benefit ourselves.
Even with Brad Lander, you know, I was reading something the other day. Someone sent me a letter. Brad Lander is, to try to appease a pocket of people, he’s not willing to invest in Israel anymore to get endorsements from people. You’re not supposed to do that. You’re not supposed to say– your decision of investment should be based on outcomes, how well the financial outcomes are. But in spite of all of that, being the adult and not the cult allows me to put aside all of those personal things and get it done.
This is not the first time the speaker has been hostile to the things we want to do, but we still passed the budget. I don’t walk around with, you know, with vendettas and attitudes. I mean, we now learn why she was trying to block everything I do, you know? But they say it’s part of the business. Speakers have run against mayors before. Comptrollers have put up indicators of running. Scott Stringer did it with Bill de Blasio. He kept saying he was going to run. He was going to run.
And so it’s unfortunate when individuals use their personal ambition to get in the way of what we need to do for the city. I’ve never done that. I’m never going to do that. And people have accused me of, “Okay, he’s making his decisions based on his personal issues,” when my life has been so consistent. No one is ever able to point to, here’s what you were doing then that you’re not doing now. You were never able to do that. I’m the same Eric, the same Eric. But we’re seeing what they’re doing. It’s not going to get in the way. We’re going to land the plane.
We’re going to get the budget done, in spite of the name-calling that they’re doing, in spite of all that they’re doing. They have really dedicated their lives to get in the way of all the stuff we’ve done for the city. But in spite of all they’ve done, more jobs in the city’s history, crime is down, unemployment is down. We’re financing our schools. Even with fiscal cliffs, we’re able to do it. All the stuff we’ve done is not because of them, but in spite of them. And we’re going to land the plane with this budget.
Question: One noteworthy thing about Pope Francis was his really profound empathy for the downtrodden and immigrants. Do you have any concerns that your sort of emphasis on crimes committed by migrants is sort of unfair, given that migrants actually commit fewer crimes [inaudible]?
Mayor Adams: Migrants, what?
Question: Actually commit fewer crimes on a per capita basis than US citizens.
Mayor Adams: I don’t understand the question.
Question: My question is, you are sort of publicly mourning Pope Francis, who had a really sort of noteworthy empathy for immigrants. So the question is, do you have any regrets about your emphasis on the crimes committed by migrants, given that statistically, they commit crimes at a less frequent rate than US citizens?
Mayor Adams: Well, tell me, what is a greater level of empathy for migrants than someone who takes in 240,000. 190,000 are going on with the next level of their lives, who educated 40,000 children, who ensured that legal services, who ensured that they were housed clean, in a clean environment, clothing, fed? National leaders, Dana, has stated that, Eric, you have done what no other city has done. What is a greater level of empathy than providing for them?
And I don’t point out when undocumented people commit a crime. I point out when anyone commits a crime. And so, if you are documented or undocumented and you shoot a police officer, or you rape a child, or you rape a 14-year-old child up in Harlem, and then you’re out in a few days later. When you hurt innocent people, I’m going to push against you. And I’ve done that regardless if you’re documented or undocumented.
I’m on the side of innocent people. New Yorkers and Americans that are being victimized by any group. You know, so I know what side I’m on. The question is, whose side are you on? I’m on the side of working class people who are being victimized by anyone. A small number of people in this city and in this country victimize innocent people. And I’m not going to say, because you’re undocumented, I’m not going to talk about you. No, I’m going to talk about anyone that victimizes innocent people in this city.
I’m on the side of working class, innocent people. The question many people need to start asking themselves is whose side are they on?
Question: Good morning, mayor. Given all that you’ve said on ICE and Rikers, or not said on ICE and Rikers, are you willing to reaffirm your support for due process for anyone arrested in New York City?
Mayor Adams: Due process is clear. I’m a strong believer in due process. Don’t rewrite my history, I tell people all the time. I was a ranking member of Crime and Corrections in the State Senate. I visited many of the correctional facilities in the state. Strong advocate for the abuse of Stop and Frisk. Testified in federal court, Floyd versus the New York City Police Department.
The federal judge mentioned my testimony on one of the reasons for ruling against the Police Department. She saw me on the street, matter of fact, when I was running for office, and she said, “What are people talking about here when it comes down to you? You were the leading voice of reform in law enforcement.” Due process is the cornerstone of who we are as a democracy. We should always have that due process, and we should never move away from it. It’s crucial, and no one knows that better than me, due process.
And so, yes, I reaffirm my commitment that people must have due process. And the courts make that determination. The courts should determine if due process was used, and if it was not used. And listen, I critique the criminal justice system, but it’s the best criminal justice system we have on the globe. And I’ve traveled internationally and witnessed what happens when you don’t have a due process criminal justice system. With all the critiques I have, I love the system we have because there are ways to ensure you get your due process.
Question: So, sir, if somebody gets scooped up off the street and not charged specifically with any kind of crime, doesn’t go to trial, and gets sent to a gulag in El Salvador, you have a problem with that?
Mayor Adams: No. There’s a court system that would determine if someone’s right was violated. And what I do know about doing investigations, like one case where an individual, the courts made the determination he could be deported, there was a big outcry that he should not be deported. There [is] evidence, if you’re handing out literature, lifting up Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, if you’re trying to recruit to do so, if you damage property because you wanna break into a building somewhere on a college campus, there are repercussions because of that.
And so the courts [make] that determination. I know people think being mayor, you make the determination on everything. I don’t. There are areas of our government and judicial system. I know my role. I’m not gonna tell the police officers to go out and break laws to do anything. Courts make the determination of the outcome.
But I will tell you this, we have dangerous gangs in our city, and I would not be sipping drinks with them. I would not turn them into heroes. I would not be sharing a Tito’s and seltzer with them. I’m not gonna romanticize bad people that do bad things. I’m not going to do that. And I’m gonna call it the way it is.
We have dangerous gangs in this city that are harmful to migrants, documented and undocumented people. So if those who want to lift up these gang members and domestic abusers, that their wives have complaints on their domestic abuse, I’m not going to be drinking tequila with them.
Question: Your administration joined the congestion pricing lawsuit. I’m just wondering if you can talk about what you see as some of the benefits of congestion pricing and why the city’s joining.
Mayor Adams: Well, we have to deal with congestion on our streets. We know that. Not only is it an environmental issue, that’s why we fought to get $100 million for those communities that have an environmental impact. You know, congestion hurts our business. I speak to business leaders, [from] the time of deliveries. It’s an issue, but we got to get it right. I’ve said it over and over again. We have to get it right.
You know, I don’t want to negatively impact working class people. I don’t want to make sure we displace the traffic into other communities like Staten Island, the Bronx and other areas. I don’t want to turn, you know, outside the outskirt of Queensborough Bridge into a place where people are driving [and] parking.
You know, so we just have to get it right. We have to think it through. That’s the job of the MTA and the governor. And I said that over and over again. That is their job. I wish it would have been in the hands of the mayor and the City Council, but I don’t have that control. You know, we creatures of the state, they make the determination. I respect the determination.
Question: Just to follow up on that real fast, did you, so is that one of the things you guys are hoping that you guys can work out? You said you don’t want it to have a negative impact on working class people. Are you hoping maybe to change how it’s charged, that toll, while this lawsuit’s playing out?
And then also, on the Rikers, you know, you held a press conference last year wanting [ICE back on Rikers]. I guess, what is your hesitance maybe now to speak, you know, a little bit more about it, maybe just its impact and its importance?
Mayor Adams: You know, what’s interesting, the first person that brought that to me about utilizing Rikers, ICE on Rikers, was Councilman Holden. This is before this administration took off. Holden reached out, as a matter of fact, I have a few text messages from him that’s saying, “Listen, why aren’t we doing this?” This was one of his ideas, that he sends me a lot of ideas.
But again, it’s not a fear of speaking of anything. It’s in court. You know, I respect the judicial process. It’s in court. I’m [widely] delegated to the first deputy mayor if I’m going to, you know, all of a sudden say, you know, I don’t wanna hijack the conversation. It’s in court, and the Democratic member of the council was part of the Speaker’s Caucus. He was the one that brought this. He was the first one that talked about this pre this administration getting in office.
And so I think that’s part of the conversation, to speak with him and say, “Tell us about the conversation you had with Eric pre this administration getting in office,” and he was advocating. He was almost annoying me, so all of this mystery. This is not a mystery. This is something that he thought of, and, you know, now that it’s in court, let the court decide it. And, you know, maybe the speaker should call him in as part of her witness to see how long he wanted this.
Question: Then on congestion pricing, are you hoping there might be some kinks that are still worked out with congestion pricing, maybe just-
Mayor Adams: I’m gonna continue to advocate for working class people. That’s important to me. We put $30 billion back in the pockets of working class people paying to excuse medical debt, free high-speed broadband, dropping the cost of childcare, foster care children. My goal is to put money back into the pockets of working class people. And so I’m gonna continue to advocate to do that.
Question: So, back in October of last year, you defended ACS. There was a horrific death of a four-year-old boy. And so now we’re here again, not even a year later. You said at that time you wanted to have a review of what happens if it didn’t happen again. No young New Yorkers should die like this.
So now we have another instance. A four-year-old girl who died over the weekend or was found dead over the weekend. ACS had door knocks. It seems like they did not properly do their job. So, in the review from the last case, what is your administration doing to prevent these from happening? Because the buck stops with you.
And then secondly, on your mayoral race, are you concerned at all? You and Andrew Cuomo are kind of aiming for that same kind of voter base, the moderate. Are you a little bit concerned here that if this becomes a four-way race between you, Cuomo, and then the Working Families Party, whether that’s Lander, Mamdani, and then Curtis Sliwa, that you’re taking away votes from somebody like Cuomo, leading to a far-left candidate, which you clearly don’t agree with, taking New York City.
Mayor Adams: No, I’m not. And if anything, he’s taking votes away from me. I’m the mayor. Why is he in my race? I mean, like you said, am I taking votes from him? I’m the mayor. So, if anything, I was here already. Why are you in my race? It’s like almost when you have a house somewhere and someone is trying to move in, it’s like, go find your own house.
So, think about that for a moment. You’re taking votes from him. Oh, how about him taking votes from me? I was the moderate first. I didn’t pass bail reform that solved these problems. I didn’t have a nursing home crisis. I didn’t do a disproportionate amount of issues around the problems with dissemination of vaccines and testing. I’m not living in my daughter’s house. I have my own house in New York. You know, so, I mean, you said, “Eric, are you taking votes from him?” I mean, what are you doing on my block?
Question: You’re going as an Independent into the general. It’s seemingly gonna pit you two against each other for those same votes. What I’m saying is that, are you worried, though, that even though, say it happens either way, he takes votes from you, you take votes from him, it could end up with somebody like a Lander who we know you do not like, or a Mamdani who you do not highly agree with at all.
Mayor Adams: Well, [remember], I’m running on my record. He’s running from his record. When you [look] at what he allowed the far left to do when he was in office, I’m not sure he wouldn’t allow that to do again, you know? And then when you look at the fact, during difficult and tough times, I didn’t abandon the city, no matter how difficult it was for me, no matter how hard it was for me, I said to the people of New York, “I was elected to serve you, and I’m going to continue to serve you whatever happens to me, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
But what we should never do, we should never discount the electoral process. The process ends in November, and everyone who’s in that race must go through that process. We’re not coordinating anyone. We’re making everyone go through the process, and I’m looking forward to getting re-elected on an Independent line as a Democrat. That’s what I’m looking forward to.
You know, that’s another one of those, that’s another one of those circumstances that I continue to say, those of you who cover these stories, you should spend time going with the employees that do this work, because you can’t really cover these stories without going through it, and I really will encourage you to go out and spend a day with an ACS employee, because here it is, you get employees who are criticized for taking children away too prematurely.
You get criticized for, why didn’t you take a child away? You get criticized because, why did you knock on that door so hard? Why did you take the door? You get criticized for not taking the door. If you go out and spend time with them and see how they have to make these decisions, how they have to do these investigations, that is why I take my hat off to them.
The hundreds of thousands of interviews, of meetings, of sit-downs, of having to use their sixth sense to make these determinations, and so it’s horrific to have a baby left in the house, her mom passed, her sibling passed, and the ACS, you think the ACS knocked on that door and said, “I’m not going to do the investigation?” I’m not concerned with what’s happening behind that door? That’s just not the reality.
I’ve embraced ACS since my days as borough president. I marched across the bridge with them. I heard them call for reform. I saw the commitment and dedication. I saw how traumatized they are when they lose a child or a victim of this. This is painful, you know, and we see it as just being professional, but it’s not, it’s personal to them. Many of them go through a great deal of trauma when a case like this happens, and so I stand with my employees in ACS. I know their commitment, I know their dedication.
We’re going to do an investigation, find out what happened here, and do our best to prevent it from happening, and God knows how many cases they save. You never hear about the lives they save. You hear about a life that is lost, but they save thousands of lives because of their actions, and you know, how many people stand up and applaud them? How many times do we, like I said, with Lisa, the nurse, and these officers, when was the last time we wrote a story that applauded the men and women of ACS that have saved the lives of children? When was the last time we wrote that?
When was the last time that we said they went on hundreds of thousands of cases and you don’t have any loss? When was the last time we did a deep dive into the trauma of being an ACS employee? And when was the last time you guys just went out with one of them and said, “Let me just do some house visits to you? Let me walk into a community where there was just a shooting last week, and I’m still going to knock on that door.”
Like, when have you ever gone out? I know you write about when we have a loss of life, but have you ever gone out and saw the work of being an ACS investigator, an ACS employee? I mean, that is how, that’s why I go out with police officers, that’s why I go out with transit workers and others, because I said, before I make decisions on your life, I need to go out and see what is your life.
You guys are writing about the lives of people who are saving the lives of people, and you never even walked in their shoes. You never even experienced what it is to knock on that door and look in that household and say, “I gotta make a judgment call. Am I going to take this child?” And then if you take the child, you have a whole new group of saying, “You prematurely taking children away from parents and breaking up households.” This is real, folks.
Question: When you were in D.C., did you have any time to meet with anyone from the Trump administration to discuss about the imposing of the Empire 1 Wind farm? And then secondly, there was an uproar in Bed-Stuy about the removal of a Black superintendent. What do you say to the Black community members of Bed-Stuy that are upset, first, the lack of Black educators, and second, the removal of the superintendent?
Mayor Adams: What we have done around people of color being superintendents and playing a role of those who are making the decision, from Chancellor Banks to Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, show that diversity is important to us, and quality, because they’re both qualitative leaders. The issue in Bed-Stuy, we spoke with leaders in our community, and we know we’re gonna come to a resolution of, you know, Bed-Stuy, you know, that’s my home.
You know, District 16 is crucial, and so we’re gonna sit down, and we’re gonna explain to them what we’re doing, why we’re doing, and we’re sure we’re gonna come to a resolution with that. And I had a great conversation with several of the leaders there, and we’re gonna be able to land the plane. I did not meet with anyone from the administration. I was there at the African American Mayors Association.
It was a great gathering, a great meeting. We did not meet with anyone with the administration, but we have been reaching out to talk about, you know, the project is crucial. You know, the wind farm that we’re creating was a vision and a dream I had since my days as borough president. We’re talking about, you know, powering half a million homes.
This is real energy, and we’re gonna continue to communicate and speak with them, and we’re gonna get our unions engaged, because these are union jobs. These are great union jobs, and we can lead the way here on the Eastern Seaboard.
Question: In the theme of blue-collar workers and essential workers, earlier on, I asked you about the role that undocumented folks play as deliveristas [and] as working in our primary care facilities. And the last couple of months, the Trump administration, there’s been a punitive vibe. There’s been a discussion about taking people away, deporting them. Would you be willing to speak up on behalf of these people that served us during the pandemic and did essential work so that they could have some kind of legal status so they don’t have to hide in the shadows?
Mayor Adams: Well, listen, we don’t want anyone hiding in the shadows. That’s dangerous. I always talk about the officer. I mean, when I was a police officer in District 2, during my beginning years in policing, a Chinese immigrant was robbed, and I heard him. I was on the train at the time going home. He didn’t want to go to the police because he was afraid he was going to be deported. And people were preying on immigrants during that time, particularly Chinese immigrants, because of the language barrier and the unwillingness to report crimes out of fear of deportation.
And so it’s a handicap, and it impacts our city if people, number one, don’t take their children to school because that’s the safest place for a child. If not, they could be subject to so many different issues. Number two, if you’re dealing with a medical issue, you should go to the hospital. If not, the long-term impact would overcrowd our emergency rooms. Three, you should go to your houses of worship. You should go to your jobs. You should always participate.
And I’ve said this over and over again. And, you know, remember when the election was over, there was just this loud cry that all of a sudden we’re going to see this terrible environment in our city. And I kept saying, that’s not happening. ICE has not been in one of our schools. They have not raided our churches. They have not raided our jobs. They have not raided our hospitals.
And so the hysteria that was created were those who wanted to create that hysteria. And I kept being consistent. Go to school, go to your job, go to your house of worship, go to the hospital, call the police if you need it. But that’s what we have witnessed.
And so we have to encourage people to continue with their lives. And as the challenges come in front of us, I’m going to fight on behalf of the people of the city. I have an obligation to do that. And I lived up to that obligation. And I continue to say we gave free legal services to migrants and asylum seekers. We gave free education to the children. The things that were needed, we did. And we should be proud of that.
Question: They’re looking at other networks and saying people are being rounded up in other jurisdictions. Is there something unique that you’ve negotiated with the Trump administration that keeps us from that happening?
Mayor Adams: I’m the mayor of not other jurisdictions. I know New York City is the city of the globe, but I’m the mayor of New York. I must protect the residents of this city. I have done that. I have done it on every level, from victimizing crimes to sex trafficking to educating children. All the indicators of if a mayor protected the people who are in his city, I passed them. I passed them, regardless of how people want to paint me and depict me.
When you do an analysis of the number and not the noise, you cannot walk away saying this mayor has not protected the people of this city. And that’s what I’m going to continue to do on every level. I mean, you know, is it lost on you that we had the lowest number of shootings in the city and recorded history, second lowest number of homicides, dropped down all of our major crimes, managed 240,000 migrants and asylum seekers?
I mean, what else do I need to do before we’re going to realize that this mayor knew what he was doing? He navigated us through COVID. He navigated us through crime. He navigated us through migrants and asylum seekers. He brought back all of our jobs, second largest number of tourism in the history of the city, dealt with the fiscal cliffs. It would be [90] percent of our union contracts are settled [and] passed all of our legislation up in Albany. What else must I do?
Sources: NYC.gov , Midtown Tribune
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