Mayor Eric Adams addressed various issues in an interview on 1010 WINS, discussing the city’s efforts to provide air-conditioned public spaces amid budget constraints affecting libraries, cultural institutions, and the impact of the migrant crisis on city resources. He emphasized the importance of true immigration reform and expressed confidence in ongoing budget negotiations, while defending the city’s approach to community hiring aimed at improving job opportunities for underserved residents. Additionally, Adams commented on the decision by DA Alvin Bragg to drop charges against many protesters from the Columbia University incident, respecting the judicial process while maintaining law enforcement’s role.
Lane Bajardi: Joining us live now on 1010 WINS, Mayor Eric Adams. Mr. Mayor, thank you for connecting with us this afternoon.
Mayor Eric Adams: Great to be here with you.
Bajardi: Always a pleasure. I’d like to hear more about this billion-dollar effort to connect New Yorkers with better paying jobs. But first, with the heat on the top of everyone’s mind today, we have reports this week of senior centers that can no longer be used for cooling because of a lack of working A.C. and libraries that have been closed or service altered due to a lack of air conditioning. What’s being done by the city to resolve this, get more people inside in public spaces with air conditioning?
Mayor Adams: We have been extremely clear. First of all, we encourage those who have air conditioners at home to use them and you don’t have to be on the highest temperature. We’re going to make sure we have a clear indication where all of our cooling sites are located. During a weekend, you may have a smaller number than during a week, but we are really getting the information out through the Department of Aging, the commissioner there. During the week, normally we have about 500 cooling centers open across the city. It will be a slightly smaller number on Saturday and Sunday, but there will be locations in each neighborhood.
Bajardi: The librarians say your budget cuts have shut down libraries people use to cool down on Sundays and this could lead to Saturday closures as well if funding isn’t restored. What do you say to that?
Mayor Adams: City Hall and the Mayor’s Office did not make any determination of closing libraries on Sundays. Everyone was looking at efficiencies and the libraries determined how they were going to utilize those efficiencies. We’re still in the process of negotiating the budget with the City Council. We are extremely comfortable that we’re going to be able to provide the services that the city needs, but we won’t do anything that’s going to impact the safety and the well-being of the people of the city.
Bajardi: Today I’m sure you saw that a coalition of cultural institutions gathered to call for restoration of their budget cuts: the museums, the botanical gardens, the nonprofit performance venues. Your reaction to them saying this is $53 million out of more than $100 billion budget. What’s the holdup here?
Mayor Adams: Everyone states that it’s just another million here, a million there, but as you know we had a over $4 billion migrants and asylum seeker cost we had to pick up, as well as sunsetting dollars that came from the previous administration. Those COVID dollars sunsetted and they were no longer available on the federal level.
Then settling all of our union contracts. We want to make sure the men and women of this city that keeps it operating are paid a decent salary. We’re looking at all of these items. This is the budget dance. It happens every year. I have so much confidence in Speaker Adrienne Adams and her team and my team here. We’re going to land the plane and everyone is going to come out fine.
Bajardi: Now you mentioned the migrant crisis and how that’s affected this certainly front and center with all the concerns about how to pay for all this housing and food, et cetera. It continues to place a burden on the city in several ways. We have the first presidential election debate ahead next week. In your opinion as the mayor and as a politician who’s followed this for a long time, whose immigration policies are better for New York City? Joe Biden’s or Donald Trump’s?
Mayor Adams: I don’t think anyone can state mission accomplished at all. I think that we need real, true immigration reform. We need to make sure we monitor the movement at the border and we need a decompression strategy that allows those who come into the country to also address the needs of the country.
Many of our municipalities, they have needs of workers, their populations have dropped. I think that we can turn this into a positive if it’s properly implemented. I’m hoping that both candidates will look at how to get it right. Republicans have made it clear they blocked real true immigration reform. I think we need to do a better job in handling this.
Bajardi: If you look forward perhaps to another Donald Trump existence in the White House, would his policies be better for New York or would Joe Biden’s at that point?
Mayor Adams: I’m looking forward to the debate. I am really pleased with many of the things that the current president has done around public safety, around how do we turn around our economy. I’m looking forward to both missions and visions specifically on the migrants and asylum seekers. I’ll be sitting down on my couch with my popcorn like other Americans and hearing those visions.
Bajardi: All right. During the siege of Columbia University, when anti-Israel protesters took over a building, the NYPD had to be brought in to restore order. Cops took a lot of abuse emotionally during all that certainly. Now there’s word today the DA Alvin Bragg is dropping the charges against nearly all the protesters arrested. Your thoughts on that and the impact on police when this happens?
Mayor Adams: There’s various levels to the criminal justice system. The one that I control is the law enforcement aspect of it. We have the judicial system and we have prosecutors. I respect each area of how they’re going to handle to keep the public safety in our city. I had communication with DA Bragg. He’s still prosecuting those who assaulted police officers and he made a determination based on those who couldn’t he couldn’t get proper ID from that the school, Columbia, is going to be addressing that on a local level. I respect his decision. I’m going to continue to make sure that those who break the law, the police officers are going to enforce the law.
Bajardi: This week you launched the city’s first community hiring effort. A $1.2 billion investment to connect underserved New Yorkers with better paying jobs. Tell us more about how this is going to work.
Mayor Adams: We’re really excited about this. This is something that we were able to get Assemblywoman Zinerman and Senator Kevin Parker to push this legislation through for us. It’s called local hiring. We spend billions of dollars on procurement contracts for goods and services in the city. What we’re saying now to those who win those contracts that you must look at NYCHA residents and low-income communities to do your hiring.
We were joined by 32BJ and Local 79 unions who was with us. The call is if you need a security guard then you should be hiring from the local communities, particularly in those low-income communities. This is going to allow us to use taxpayers dollars to leverage employment. January 1st 2022, when I became mayor, Black unemployment was four times the rate as white unemployment. We were able to cut that in half for the first time since 2019. The employment unemployment numbers are below 8 percent and we’re going to continue that progress.
Bajardi: Mayor Eric Adams thank you very much for your time this afternoon. Have a nice and cool weekend.
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Take care.
New York City Hall Manhattan New York June 21, 2024
—
Critics analyzing Mayor Adams’ speech argue that while initiatives such as the $1.2 billion community hiring program are laudable for enhancing job opportunities, concerns persist over resource management and budget priorities. Cuts to essential services like libraries and cultural institutions are viewed as potential wastage, with critics urging a reassessment of these decisions to ensure equitable distribution of resources. Moreover, there is skepticism regarding justice being defined solely by the administration and city bureaucracy, prompting calls for more inclusive decision-making processes.
Regarding budget cuts, specific figures on reductions in other programs are essential for a comprehensive evaluation of their impact on public services and community welfare.
As for Alvin Bragg, critics have scrutinized his decision-making process, especially concerning the handling of cases like the Columbia University protests. His approach to dropping charges against many protesters has sparked debate over its implications for law enforcement and public safety, highlighting broader concerns about the administration of justice in New York City.
Sources: NYC.gov , Midtown Tribune news
Big New York news BigNY.com