Mayor Eric Adams sat down with WABC’s “Tiempo” to discuss pressing issues affecting Latino communities in New York City, including immigration policies, economic challenges, and public safety. Addressing concerns over mass deportations, Adams reassured undocumented immigrants that New York remains a sanctuary city, while emphasizing his commitment to working with federal authorities on crime-related immigration enforcement. The mayor also spoke on the city’s economic growth, highlighting job creation and the resilience of Latino-owned businesses despite fear-driven disruptions. He urged immigrants to continue working, accessing essential services, and contributing to the city’s economy without fear.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Appears on WABC’s “Tiempo”
Joe Torres: Buenos días y bienvenidos. Good morning and welcome once again to Tiempo. I’m Joe Torres. We’re out of the studio today and back at City Hall for a very special edition of Tiempo. Just like last year, we return here to Lower Manhattan City Hall for a one-on-one chat with Mayor Eric Adams.
There is so much ground to cover and so many issues that impact and affect Latinos across the five boroughs. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have rattled immigrant communities. The economic fallout of those operations resulted in a loss of revenue for so many Latino-owned small businesses as customers and even employees stay at home.
So many Latinos work in the construction, service, and hospitality industries. Will mass deportations thin out the workforce and negatively impact job creation? We put those questions and many others to the man with the answers, the 110th mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams, thank you once again for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with us on Tiempo. It means a great deal.
Mayor Eric Adams: No, no, thank you so much. Always good to speak with you.
Torres: Let’s clear this up right at the top so that we can move on to bigger and better things. Are you resigning, mayor? And is that a thought that even crossed your mind?
Mayor Adams: I didn’t even realize that when I responded to that that I said, who made up this stupid rumor? And it’s just unfortunate that we allow rumors to fester and grow and create anxiety and hysteria. I made it clear all the time that I would, I’m going to step up, not step down.
And we have shown that with the great work this city is doing. And we’re going to continue to do that work. I’m looking forward to running for reelection as the mayor of the City of New York.
Torres: You made that crystal clear. Okay, good, good, good. Mayor, your relationship with the current Republican president appears very different than your relationship with his Democratic predecessor. The New York City Council speaker, as I’m sure you’re aware, claims you and the administration have no plan to counter the president’s barrage of executive orders, which I think many New Yorkers would argue are diametrically opposed to the values of a sanctuary city.
So my question to you, do you have a plan that outlines how the city will protect undocumented immigrants from deportation?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think that first, let’s, you know, let’s break that down, because you said a lot in that question. One, my relationship with the current president. New York City is the largest city in America. Think about the irony of not communicating with the president of the United States. And I’ve had a great relationship with the previous president.
I used to call myself the Biden of Brooklyn. You know, I traveled to Washington 10 times. I invited him here to the city to talk about law enforcement. He assisted in that. So what I’m doing now is no different [than] what I did with the previous administration as the mayor of the largest city in America.
And now let’s go to the point that the speaker said we had no plan. We met with the speaker and her team, and laid out what the plan was, including scenario planning. So I was really surprised when she said that we have no plan. We laid out the plan with her.
Torres: I think what she and others would like to see is a little bit more forceful opposition, if you would, from you to the president’s immigration crackdown.
Mayor Adams: And I’m so glad you said that, because where we have come as leaders, we believe being bombastic, we believe tweeting the loudest, we believe running [the] government on social media. I don’t do that. You know, you don’t govern through tweets.
As I said, people on social media don’t pick mayors. People on Social Security picks mayors. And I have to address the complexity of the city and not overly respond to everything. For example, there was a executive order put out that called for funding in different entities and agencies.
We said we’re going to analyze the executive order. Everyone else jumped out there and started yelling and screaming. The executive order was removed. Same with the tariffs. We said we’re going to analyze the impact of the tariffs. What happened? The tariffs issue was removed. So people are looking for an unprofessional response to anything that happens. And that’s not what I’m going to do. I’m not going to be warring with the president. I’m going to be working with the president as the leader of the city.
Torres: Stay with us. When we come back, the mayor addresses the impact of immigration crackdowns in New York City.
[Commercial Break.]
Torres: We continue now our conversation with Mayor Eric Adams, who specifically addressed the economic impact of the president’s executive orders and immigration crackdown.
Let me flat out ask you, because this seems to be the issue that concerns so many Latinos in the immigrant community and all the other immigrants that make up this great city. In the eyes of Eric Adams, if you’re an undocumented immigrant in New York City, are you a criminal?
Mayor Adams: No, and I’ve been very clear on that over and over again. And what’s interesting, you’re on the streets. You know there’s not a universal opinion on the issues, even from immigrants. You know, I’m stopped all the time. I’m in Washington Heights. I’m in Sunset Park. And they say, Eric, when I came to the city, no one gave me anything free. No one put me up anywhere. I stayed with a family member, a loved one. I worked hard. I went through the system. You know, somebody rides [with] me in a car, they’ll stop and say, listen, you know, this is a place for an American dream, but you work for that dream.
So there’s no uniform belief about this issue. I’ve been clear even prior to the election. Anyone who commits violent crimes in this city, documented or not, should be out of our city after they serve their time. That’s what I said over and over again.
Torres: So what we’re seeing from the administration, and they’ve made it crystal clear, and we have federal agents on the record saying, if we do a sweep looking for those violent criminals that you just talked about, and an undocumented immigrant is caught up in that, that’s collateral damage and that’s a price they have to pay. Do you agree with that?
Mayor Adams: Listen to what else they said that a lot of people missed. I sat down and spoke with Tom, the border czar and others, they’re saying we don’t want to go into the communities. Let’s go to where the criminals are. Let’s have coordination with the criminals like we coordinated with the Homeland Security secretary to address the violent, dangerous gang member that was here in the city. Now, they have a job to do.
Immigration and housing force is a federal responsibility. It’s not a city responsibility. And I’ve made clear to the administration, when it comes down to dangerous, violent immigrants, undocumented, we are going to coordinate with them to go after those individuals.
Torres: But you still haven’t addressed what happens if undocumented immigrants get caught up in a sweep of those criminals. And that happens especially with so many Latino families where there’s mixed status within the same household.
Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. And this is, look at what happened. If an ICE officer responds to go after a person who committed a serious crime and they’re there and others are there that are undocumented, they’re going to carry out, they have the responsibility to carry out their job as immigration officials.
I don’t determine that. And I cannot have any city employee that will get in the way of them carrying out their job as a federal authority. That would be irresponsible for me. As H&H Hospital just announced that hospital staff and personnel cannot interfere with a federal authority or federal law. We can’t do that.
Torres: I want to get back a little bit to your relationship with the president and put a couple of facts together and then have you respond. Can you blame New Yorkers, Mr. Mayor, for looking at what is irrefutable?
You face federal criminal charges. The president has granted clemency to hundreds of January 6th rioters. Your lawyers recently met with Department of Justice officials in Washington. How can people not look at your warmth with the president and wonder if it has anything to do with a potential pardon down the road?
Mayor Adams: Well, I think the reality is reality. I made it clear from the first time we became aware of this situation that I have a lawyer to handle my legal case. Alex is handling that case. I stay focused on running the city. And let’s look at when this first took place. What have we done in the city?
Continue to break records on employment. Continue to bring down crime. December and January, the numbers are impressive. Continue to bring down crime in our subway system. Continue to produce for the City of New York from all of our programs and initiatives. You have not seen me miss a stride during that time. So my attorney is going to handle my case. My job is to do what I was elected to do, and I’m living up to that.
Torres: But let’s make it crystal clear. You know that it’s important to stand up to the president if you don’t agree with him or his policy or his practice or his position on a particular issue. And you’re telling me and all New Yorkers you will do that when the time comes.
Mayor Adams: Look at the irony of that question. I was never asked that question when Joe Biden was in office and I stood up to him.
Torres: Largely because there weren’t that many issues where I think as two Democrats that you had that pointed in different directions.
Mayor Adams: I totally disagree. We spent $7 billion to handle a federal program and only got a little over $100 million from the federal government. I stood up and said it was the wrong thing to do after spending 10 trips to Washington, D.C.
I’m going to defend New York City and the right for New York City to receive not only the support from the federal and state and the city government, and that’s the consistency that we witness.
Torres: With so much fear and worry in immigrant communities, do Latinos feel that New York is still the City of Yes for economic opportunity? The mayor’s response when we come back.
[Commercial Break.]
Torres: Mayor, you know, because even long before you were the mayor, you were the Brooklyn Borough President, this city has been home for your life. You know the significant economic impact of small business owners across the five boroughs. And you also know that many of those business owners, son Latinos.
And in this atmosphere, if you will, of fear and trepidation, they have told us on Tiempo and to my colleagues in the newsroom, their businesses, their bottom lines are suffering. Customers have disappeared. Employees are not showing up for work. What if anything, can the city do to convince that critical Latino population that it’s safe to go shopping, that it’s safe to go eat, safe to go work, to keep that vital economic engine running?
Mayor Adams: So true. And it’s a multibillion dollar vital engine. We have to ask ourselves, what role is the media playing in this hysteria? What role are they playing?
You know, we’re hearing over and over rumors of ICE raiding schools, didn’t happen. We’re hearing over and over again, ICE raiding shelters, didn’t happen. And so we have to ask ourselves, who’s feeding the hysteria? I’ve been very clear. My message.
Torres: I’m here to give you that opportunity.
Mayor Adams: Yes. And I’ve been very clear. You’re setting the tempo. You know, I mean, my message has been clear: students go to school. If you need medical care, go to the hospitals. If you’re the victim of a crime, go to report to the law enforcement entity.
And you know what’s very fascinating? When I went to South and Central America into the Darien Gap, and I spoke to people in certain countries in that area, like Ecuador. They were fleeing the country, not because they wanted to flee. They were fleeing the dangerous gangs. They got here to New York and said, wait a minute, these are the gangs we’re fleeing. You know, so people want to distort the reality. But when you talk to hard working undocumented New Yorkers, they want opportunities free from fear.
Torres: But that fear exists. And the fear and the trepidation is real right now. And if they’re not going to work, if they’re not going to school, if they’re not going to get their hair done at their local salon or have a meal at the restaurant, the city suffers. Does it not?
Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. And I ask you, who’s feeding the fear? My words are not feeding the fear. My words are go to school, go to work, seek medical care, go on with your lives.
Torres: But your fears are butting up against the crackdown that’s coming out of Washington. Something’s got to give along the way.
Mayor Adams: Yeah, well, I think that is crucial for us to make sure we have the right tone in this city and we’ve always had the right tone. And as the mayor of the City of New York, I’m going to continue to encourage people, go to school with your children, et cetera.
Torres: Just days ago, you kicked off Jobs Week and celebrated breaking the all time high jobs record for the eighth time. That’s the media putting it out there, okay? Are you fearful that worried immigrants across the city will undo some of that progress and remain in the shadows because right now they don’t see New York as the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity?
Mayor Adams: I disagree with that. I think just the opposite. I think they do see this as a City of Yes. I see my immigrant businesses are still open. I was up in Washington Heights. My restaurants are still opening. My deliveries are still delivering food throughout the city. I’m seeing my hair salons are still open. My nail salons are still open. I’m seeing my immigrants and out in Brighton Beach that are from Ukraine and Russia. I’m seeing my Chinese community thriving in Flushing. You know, when we talk about immigrants, we talk about the entire population. And I’m seeing that thriving energy throughout this entire city.
Torres: So you don’t see the fear, at least more because we are Tiempo within the Latino community of those people avoiding the job site, avoiding the work site?
Mayor Adams: No, I know I am not. And I’m hearing from when we look at the total jobs we have in the city and the over 180 something thousand small businesses that started in this administration, one out of five, I should say one out of five started under this administration. Many of them are Latino businesses. And I’m seeing them still thriving. Listen, there’s an initial hysteria that always happens. But I am seeing this reality settling in and people are saying, let me go about my life. Let me not live in the shadows of this city.
Torres: But the hysteria may be high, but the reality is also high for those Latino families. They’ve talked to us.
Mayor Adams: Which reality?
Torres: The reality of fear that they have to constantly look over their shoulders to see if there’s a sweep coming down the road, and I don’t want to be caught up in that simply because I’m an undocumented immigrant.
Mayor Adams: And I say to those everyday individuals that you’re speaking with the same thing I say over and over again with a very clear message. You pay taxes in the city, utilize the services that your tax dollars pay for.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Adams: I think it is. And I think my clarity is being overshadowed by those that want to create the hysteria. Ask them where they’re getting that feeling from. And they’re not going to say we’re getting it from the mayor. They’re getting it from what they’re reading, what they’re hearing. They’re getting it from [how] they are perceived.
Torres: They might say they’re getting it from Washington.
Mayor Adams: They’re getting it from the way communications are being brought down.
Torres: But the source of that communication begins in the Oval Office.
Mayor Adams: Listen, I could only make sure the Office of the Mayor sends a very clear message that this is a city where you are allowed to get the services that your tax dollars pay for.
Torres: A topic we often discuss here on Tiempo, education. We asked the mayor about that, and, about his health.
[Commercial Break.]
Torres: President Trump has talked about the possibility of eliminating the Federal Department of Education. How will that affect public school students here in New York City? The mayor educated us.
The construction industry, mayor, employs so many Latinos. Your Race for Space initiative, broad, widespread, one aspect of it is designated to revitalizing neighborhoods and filling empty real estate.
Can that happen if Latino construction workers see the risk of being detained as being greater than the reward of being on the job site?
Mayor Adams: Yes, it does. If they listen to what the mayor is saying, go to work, continue to build this city.
Torres: You think they’ll listen to that?
Mayor Adams: Yes, I do.
Torres: What makes you stand so confident?
Mayor Adams: I was just with Gary LaBarbera the other day and our construction industry is booming. When I go through these job sites, I have not received any calls from any of my construction sites that are stating, Eric, we are hurting because people are staying home. The reality of a mayor that moves around this city, I can see away from the perception and I can see the reality.
Torres: The many Caribbean and Latino restaurants in New York City that serve the food that you and I love, comida tipica, authentic food from home, they often rely on produce that either comes through Mexico or from Mexico.
Yes, the tariffs have not happened. I’m not sure they’re completely off the table, but you would agree that if they did happen, that’s an expense that ultimately gets passed on to the consumer. In a city where it’s already difficult to make ends meet, doesn’t that type of financial penalty hamper your mission to make New York work for everyone?
Mayor Adams: Affordability is crucial, but I want to be very clear. At the foundation of affordability, livability, and every other ability is public safety. We have a problem at our southern borders and northern borders. Not only are we having a problem with criminality of known gang members coming through, but we’re also having a crisis with fentanyl.
We have some of the highest levels of overdose. We’re seeing 85 percent of the overdoses we’re experiencing are coming from fentanyl. We have drug cartels that are using our borders to bring in fentanyl and other illegal activity. We must secure our borders. Eric didn’t only state that, but the American people stated that, and that is why we saw this election reflect that.
Torres: Can the immigrant communities prosper if they don’t feel safe walking the streets of their neighborhood looking over their shoulder?
Mayor Adams: Let me tell you something. What I hear from the immigrant community, particularly the Latino community, one of the strongest around public safety, they don’t want to look over their shoulders from criminality, from gunshots.
That’s why we brought down violence and gun shootings in the city. They are the number one advocate. Out of every community I’ve ever visited, I’m hearing from my Latino brothers and sisters, we want to be safe, we want more police, and we want to make sure those who are dangerous are not harming us. Because those who are dangerous prey on people within their community. 79 percent, 79 percent of New Yorkers stated that those who are committing serious crimes should not remain in our country.
Torres: President Trump is considering the possibility of abolishing the Department of Education. If my numbers were correct, the New York City DOE received $4.6 billion in federal funding in 2024. I think that’s more than any other city agency. Can you quantify the impact that a loss of federal funding would have on the education of New York City’s public school students?
Mayor Adams: Well, abolishing the department does not mean abolishing the money that we receive. We need to be clear on that. And so we are examining every executive order, see the impact of it, how it’s impacting the city, and then we’ll respond to that.
We don’t want a knee-jerk reaction to everything that comes out without doing our own analysis. That’s what you saw with the tariffs. That’s what you saw with some of the other executive orders. And that’s what you want from your mayor. You want your mayor to be thoughtful and understand how something impacts the city.
Torres: And New Yorkers want their mayor to be healthy. This is a tough job that you do, physically and mentally. I know that you recently had a health, I won’t even call it a scare, but let’s just say a health concern. Everything okay?
Mayor Adams: Yes, yes. You know, I took a series of tests. The doctor said that everything, the tests were negative. But it also was a reminder for me that, you know, health, poor eating habits, poor sleeping habits, poor habits can impact on your health. And it just put me right back on the track that I did many years ago when I was able to put my diabetes in [remission]. And my son was extremely supportive. He said, Dad, take a week. Take some time out. Still running the city, but take the time out you need.
Torres: Our thanks once again to New York City Mayor Eric Adams for spending a few minutes talking to us about the issues that affect you. I’m Joe Torres. We’ll see you next week for another edition of Tiempo.
February 9, 2025 Manhattan, New York
Sources: NYC.gov, Midtown Tribune
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Mayor Eric Adams, NYC immigration policies, Latino community NYC, NYC economy, undocumented immigrants, NYC public safety, Tiempo interview, small businesses NYC, sanctuary city, mass deportations, immigrant workforce, New York City mayor