NEWYORK: New York city Mayor Eric Adams said that he believed that we have to be very careful when we do things that impact public safety. Public safety is the prerequisite to our prosperity.
Talking on CBS 2’s “The point with Marcia Kramer”, City Mayor said that he respects the system of government.
“Our system of government states that there should be checks and balances, and I respect that. I don’t have to like all the checks and balances that are put in place, but I think this is a great system that we have, and I respect it, and I’m going to utilize my tools to make sure I keep the city safe for working-class people,” he said.
Mayor Adams said that the city forefathers, those who wrote the beginning on how they want this done, laid out the reason why some of this stuff moves at a very swift pace.
“They presented their proposal. We disagree with it and we’re going to just stand firm on it. I have the obligation and responsibility to get hundreds of thousands of people who voted for me as mayor to appoint commissioners, to execute plans. That’s really timely on some of these plans that we have to do.
Mayor said that city council have committee chairs: Public Safety, Land Use, etc. “I don’t want to say to the speaker I want to pick your committee chairs. That doesn’t make any sense to me.”
To a question about tug of war on different issues with city council, Mayor Adams said that he think Adrienne and him are cut from the same cloth. Both Bayside High School alumni.
“When you look at what we have accomplished, 95 percent of the things we agree on. We’ve been able to really get housing built, public safety, manage the migrant crisis.”
“I think that we’re from the same community, the same mindset. Are there those in the council who have extreme views that are just counter to mine? I don’t believe we should move school safety agents from school. I don’t believe we should take down our Police Department, disband our Police Department. I don’t believe we should have people protesting the street, calling for the destruction of America. We just have a philosophical disagreement. That’s not what I believe the speaker is.”
Mayor said that he wanted a cross-section of New Yorkers that are making up the Charter Revision, Carlo Scissura, all those who are part of it.
“I want them to sit down. Reverend Herbert Daughtry, who has been a real advocate for police reform. I want them to sit down and look at how public safety should be dealt with in our city. How should we deal with budgeting issues in our city. This is a great opportunity to do some amazing things with a charter revision.”
On a question about police department working, Mayor Adams said that he doesn’t think people know the delicacies of proper policing.
“I advocated for proper policing as a police officer, as a state senator, and a borough president. I think of this black and white philosophy of policing, without understanding the complexities surrounding it, I think we can make huge mistakes that can have long-term implications.”
“We’ve seen it already with recidivism. We’re seeing the person who shot Detective Diller was arrested 20 times. The person in the car with him that had a gun was out on a gun charge and now there’s a gun found in the car. We’re seeing action, everything from shoplifting… How do you have such a small number of people who are arrested 7,600 times for different crimes in the city? We’re seeing the impact of those that really are hurting what I think are public safety concerns.”
When asked about the voter turnout in all 51 city council districts, Mayor Adams said that he think it’s alarming when we don’t have the voter participation that come out.
“I was in certain Council districts, and people were saying they strongly oppose some of the actions, particularly like the How Many Stops Act, but they didn’t vote. They threw up their hands and said that they don’t believe in the voting system.”
“We have to go out and participate in democracy in order for democracy to work, and so it is disheartening when you look at some of the numbers and see the low participation, and then you see people take actions that really are diametrically opposed to what the everyday working-class people want in a district.”
To a question about a bill in Albany that would make all elections in New York in even years, Mayor Adams said that it saves money of these various election cycles.
“I think it would increase voter participation. I need to read through the bill to get the in-depth analysis and ask those who really understand these number crunching what their thoughts are.”
“Conceptually, I don’t see a problem with it. I don’t know if it’s the best thing to have a complete change of government at one time. You want to sort of stagnate it a little. Conceptually, I like the idea, but I will have to dig into the bill more.”
To a question about phones in school, Mayor Adams said that he thinks phones in schools are big distractions.
“I understand that particularly after 9/11, parents wanted to have contact with their children. I respect that. But it is a huge distraction from bullying to communications. There’s a real distraction. Schools should be a place for learning, not for all that other stuff that’s going on.”
Mayor said that he hoped that New York city can manage its own transportation system, but the dollars need to come with it.
“I think New Yorkers, who they don’t realize, I actually go on the subway system all the time. They think the mayor is in charge of the MTA. We’re not. The mayor was not in charge of congestion pricing. The state turned it over to the MTA. But we have to properly fund our MTA to make sure that it’s a first class transportation system.”
Replying to a question that the federal government hasn’t been that forthcoming in terms of dollars for transportation in New York City, Mayor said that we do because climate change is real and we’re seeing the byproduct of that. It’s going to be a combination of the federal government and our state lawmakers. We have great leaders up there.
“Carl, Assemblyman Heasite has always been an advocate for New York City. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, they understand. I cannot say enough about what the governor and those two leaders did for New York City during the last budgetary cycle. They knew what we went through during the migrants and asylum seeker crisis. They really stepped up for us. As a matter of fact, they called me and said we’re going to be there for New York,” he said.
To a query regarding pot shops, Mayor Adams said that administration inspected over 300, closed over 200. “We’re really starting to get our groove. We had a major bust over the weekend in the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” he added.
To a question about Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Adams said that he thinks everyone deserves a second chance and this is all part of the process. “The voters are going to determine who’s going to be the next elected. We must sell our product,” he said.
