New York City Mayor Eric Adams held a press briefing on Tuesday.
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NewsTranscript
00:00So good to see some of you and some, you know, busy, busy time.
00:11You know, I remember when I first said
00:14that when I first got elected, I said it, that this is going
00:18to be the most exciting time for many of you.
00:21Many of you are making your careers off of me.
00:24You know, no one even, no one even knew your names
00:26and now you are popular, popular folks
00:31who are getting interviewed.
00:33Somebody wrote a book the other day about me.
00:37So many people are just enjoying the ride.
00:42Their, your Twitter accounts went up.
00:45You know, you should be now going
00:48to your newsrooms and negotiating raises.
00:52You know that this is your time
00:53because you're not for working people.
00:56And you are working people and since you are making
00:58so many increases in your tweets and Instagrams because of me,
01:04they need to give you a raise.
01:06I'm going to just go in front of all your news buildings
01:09and protest with a sign, give the reporters a raise.
01:12You know, because you deserve a raise.
01:15So good morning.
01:16Every day, you know, we believe in just making the city a place
01:21where we can raise healthy children and families
01:24and that's what we're doing.
01:25It personifies that more than what we did yesterday
01:29with the police commissioner, Jessica Tish.
01:32A thousand guns removed off the streets since the beginning
01:36of the year and 40 of them were ghost guns.
01:40And when you look at the numbers, three straight months
01:44of double-digit decreases in crimes on our streets
01:47and two straight months of double-digit decreases
01:50in crime in our subway system.
01:53The city is just coming back.
01:55I was out last night walking down Madison Avenue
01:59and I was blown away how many businesses are there,
02:03our restaurants are opening and thriving
02:06and we're just really proud of that.
02:08And it's all about public safety.
02:10Public safety and justice is the prerequisite to prosperity
02:14and we will continue to say
02:15that throughout this entire administration.
02:17And so those thousand guns off the streets
02:19since calendar year 2025 started is a real symbol
02:24to what the men and women are doing to keep our city safe.
02:27And that's a total of 20,700 guns removed off our streets.
02:33Every gun has the potential of destroying a life and a family
02:37and we're going to double down on that to make sure we continue
02:40to do the work that we know that's possible.
02:44And during the first two months also,
02:46shootings in 2025 are at their lowest level
02:50in recorded history.
02:52In major crimes citywide, they're down almost 15% overall.
02:58Hats off just really to the men and women
03:00of the New York City Police Department.
03:02In the area of affordability, we hear that often.
03:05I think public safety we hear first,
03:07second is affordability.
03:09We under Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer,
03:13the HBD Commissioner Adolfo Carrion.
03:17We have been successful in finding ways
03:19to build more housing and we're doing
03:23that every day breaking records.
03:24And we know we're going to continue to break records
03:27in the year to come.
03:28But one of the exciting projects we have is
03:31that 100 Gold Street, there's going to be a conversion
03:34where I talked about it in my State of the City address
03:38where we will add 100,000 new homes from Manhattan
03:41over the next decade.
03:42We have a generational housing crisis and we must be smart
03:46in how we accomplish that task.
03:49And 100 Gold Street is one of the projects.
03:52We will transform a city on site
03:56into a residential building creating more than 100,000,
04:01more than 1,000 mixed income homes,
04:0425% of these homes required to be affordable housing.
04:09They're going to be just a few blocks away from me
04:12so they can come and visit me at City Hall whenever they like.
04:15This project will also redevelop the building's existing older
04:21adult center into a new updated facility for residents.
04:25And this is just part of the plan.
04:27We're doing some stuff in Gansevoort Square,
04:30600 units of mixed income housing
04:33and our Midtown South mixed use plans
04:35that will create 10,000 new homes.
04:39And to help these families just get started
04:42as they move into their new place.
04:43I was really proud of this announcement.
04:46Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart has been doing baby showers
04:51throughout the city.
04:52Thousands of people received those baby supplies.
04:54Anyone that has a newborn know how difficult it is
04:59to get all of those little items.
05:01And we're expanding on what he has done
05:03and we announced baby boxes initiative.
05:10Another promise kept.
05:11This year, State of the City addressed three boxes containing supplies
05:16and parenting resources including diapers, wipes,
05:20bathing and feeding supplies.
05:22Sort of giving them that start of kit.
05:25We believe 7,000 babies will benefit from this.
05:28And so with that said, why don't we open the floor
05:31and do a few questions.
05:34Marsha, how are you?
05:36I'm good, how are you Mr. President?
05:38So I have two questions.
05:39The first has to do with the ICE arrest of Mahmoud Khalil,
05:45the Palestinian protester in Colombia.
05:47My question is this.
05:49I wonder where you come down on the ICE arrest.
05:51Whether you come down on the side of people
05:53who praise the First Amendment rights to protest in America
05:57or those like President Trump who say foreigners in our country
06:00who spew hate speech should be deported.
06:03Your position.
06:04Well, first, I cannot say this clear enough.
06:08And federal government deals with immigration.
06:13That's who deals with immigration.
06:15I've said it over and over again that free speech is important
06:19and we actually, this country advocates for that.
06:23But when it comes down to the determination of the status
06:25of who stays in the country and who doesn't stay in the country,
06:28that's the federal government.
06:29We made it clear we do not collaborate
06:33with civil enforcement and we don't.
06:37But I am going to collaborate every day
06:40with those who commit crimes.
06:42And the crimes that are committed won't be
06:46on our streets and ICE is a law enforcement entity.
06:50People fail to realize that.
06:52You know, ICE is a law enforcement entity.
06:55And I'm going to collaborate with law enforcement,
06:57every federal, state, and city agency in doing so.
07:00But specifically with this individual, that's not my job.
07:04The federal government determines
07:07who will be deported from this country, not the mayor
07:11of the city of New York and not any mayor determines that.
07:15I'm sorry?
07:16Don't you have an opinion about it?
07:17Listen, I got opinion about a lot of things, you know.
07:20But my opinions cannot govern the public safety of this city.
07:24I must make sure this city is safe.
07:26And I cannot say it enough.
07:28ICE handles who's deported and who's not deported.
07:32Not the mayor of New York and not the mayor of this city.
07:35And we also don't control who comes into the country
07:39and what rules based on that.
07:40I critiqued the previous president about the number
07:43of people that came into the country
07:45and made their way to New York.
07:46And I'm going to continue to say
07:49that the federal government makes this determination.
07:52Yes.
07:53It has to do with affordability and the rising price of energy,
07:57electricity, and gas in New York.
07:59Because of the tariffs that have been put on Canada,
08:03Ontario is threatening to put a 25% surcharge on energy
08:08deliveries to New York, which is important for you
08:11because there's a new pipeline coming on board that
08:14will fund, will provide electricity for a million
08:17apartments in New York City.
08:19Are you worried about that, that the power that they're
08:21going to provide is going to become
08:23unaffordable to people in New York because of the tariffs?
08:26Anything that impacts New Yorkers concern me.
08:29And I'm going to always advocate to keep the costs down.
08:33We put $30 billion back in the pockets
08:35of low income New Yorkers.
08:37And so anything that is going to impact taking money
08:41out of the pockets of New Yorkers,
08:43I'm going to always talk about that and advocate for that.
08:48Let's be clear.
08:49That's the negotiations of tariffs.
08:51I don't know if you looked at my charter commission,
08:54my charter position, and what my abilities are.
08:57I don't negotiate tariffs.
08:58I do believe we need to secure our northern borders,
09:01just like we have to secure our southern borders.
09:03And I've said this over and over again.
09:04You can't have people on terrorist watch lists
09:07make their way across our border.
09:10Our country must be safe.
09:11That's at the top of agenda for me.
09:14And when you talk about tariffs and who's
09:15going to decide the tariffs and the war that's
09:17going to go back and forth on the tariffs,
09:19that's the role of the federal government.
09:21I don't control that.
09:23And I think that the federal government must
09:25make the determination on how that plays out.
09:29JR, how are you?
09:30I am well.
09:31How are you, Mr. Chairman?
09:32Good, good.
09:32We've got an event coming up.
09:34Yes.
09:36The Reset Awards.
09:37OK.
09:38Mr. Mayor, with New York City Mayor's race heating up
09:42right now, the focal point is public safety.
09:46Yes.
09:47And you're on record saying that you don't get
09:50enough credit for nonviolence.
09:52Could you expand on that?
09:53Don't get enough?
09:54Credit for reducing nonviolence.
09:56Correct myself.
09:58People said that.
09:59Did I say that?
10:00Did I say I don't get enough credit?
10:03I don't recall ever saying that.
10:05And if I did, I would continue to say the police officers
10:09don't get enough credit.
10:10And New Yorkers do give me credit.
10:12People who are politically motivated,
10:14they're going to come up with their soundbites
10:16and say, I think it appears, though,
10:18that they can do what I've done.
10:21You know, I call on all of you to look
10:25at what their platforms are.
10:28It's Eric Adams' platform.
10:29They realize what New Yorkers believe is important.
10:34And they weren't running on this before.
10:36They were running on defunding police.
10:38They were running on allowing recidivism
10:41to continue to come on our streets
10:42and create crime and violence.
10:45They were running on a whole different agenda.
10:48Now they realize and woke up that public safety
10:50is a prerequisite to our prosperity.
10:53Now people have different soundbites.
10:55We've done it.
10:56They're going to say what they're going to do.
10:58I'm going to be able to say what I've done.
11:00Murders are down 21.5% year over year.
11:062022 was the highest murder clearance rate since 1998.
11:12The highest murder clearance rate in 32 years.
11:15Shooting is down 21.4%.
11:17Our overall index crimes are down 14.4% year to date
11:22compared to last year.
11:24I mean, these are numbers.
11:25So noise cannot displace the numbers.
11:29And I got a record to run on.
11:31Secondly, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams,
11:36she has joined the race.
11:38Yes.
11:38Is she going to shake up the race in any which way,
11:40right choice?
11:42I said this over and over again, come one, come all.
11:45But what one can't do is they can't run in the shadows.
11:51You know, they have to be in the town halls,
11:54take the tough questions, meet the New York City journalists.
11:59They have to answer the tough questions.
12:01You can't campaign through tweets and videos
12:06and only be in this little confined place.
12:09Come out here and tough questions.
12:11There are going to be more people in the race.
12:13And this race is going to go through so many twisted turns,
12:15you can't, you're not going to be able to imagine it.
12:18You know, so I can't go in depth in the race
12:21because I'm constantly reminded by my team.
12:24I wish I could talk about this all day
12:26and give you my analysis, but I can't, you know.
12:29But I'll see you on the campaign trail
12:32and I will be easy to talk about all this good stuff.
12:36Hey, Mayor.
12:36What's happening? How are you?
12:38Good. Just back to the ICE arrest.
12:40To this point, no charges have been filed.
12:44This person remains in custody.
12:47What would you, I know you're not going to give your opinion,
12:50but what would you tell a group of pro-Palestinian people
12:55who want to protest and don't intend
12:57on causing any harm or violence?
13:01What would you tell them if they're scared now
13:03seeing what has happened, where there's, to this point,
13:05no evidence produced of a crime here?
13:08What would you say to people who are afraid of protesting
13:11in your city now because of what happened?
13:13Well, no, it's our city.
13:15And a lot of New Yorkers are concerned
13:17about some of the terminologies that are being used.
13:20Someone burned the American flag the other day
13:22and they said the only American flag that's a good flag,
13:26something like that, is one that's burnt.
13:29My uncle defended this country and I don't believe that.
13:32And many Americans don't believe that.
13:34And those anti-Israel protesters,
13:36I saw some of the pamphlets that were on
13:40Columbia University ground
13:42calling about the destruction of America.
13:44I saw some of the anti-Semitic terminologies
13:48that are being used.
13:49And so we will always have to stomach comments like that
13:54because that's what this country is.
13:56But we don't know the full scope of this investigation.
13:58And as a former law enforcement person,
14:01I know that there are parts of an investigation
14:03that's beyond our understanding.
14:06Let the process take its course.
14:07That's why the federal government
14:08is in charge of deportation.
14:11And they should be in charge of deportation.
14:13I believe that.
14:16Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you?
14:17Good, how are you doing?
14:18I'm fine, thank you.
14:19I'm wondering, now that the independent lawyer
14:23who was named by the-
14:24I'm glad you brought that up.
14:25You are?
14:26Oh, is the answer call Alex?
14:28I'm just kidding.
14:29Sorry.
14:30No, so, just trying to get ahead of it, no.
14:36So the question I have is,
14:38if in fact the judge takes the advice
14:40of this adversarial position,
14:42which actually agreed that the case should be dismissed,
14:45and your case goes away with prejudice,
14:48which means it can't be held over your head,
14:52how does that change your standing and your view?
14:55Is that a help to you,
14:57that people would no longer be able to say
15:00that you're beholden to President Trump?
15:02Okay, first of all, you got to call Alex.
15:09But I did nothing wrong.
15:14And so there was never a time or moment
15:16that I felt as something was held over my head.
15:20That was a narrative that was created
15:22by the same people who were attacking me
15:24from January 1, 2022.
15:27It's the same chorus.
15:28The chorus didn't sing.
15:30They're singing off key.
15:31I did nothing wrong.
15:32There was never a time that I felt
15:36that something was holding over me.
15:40One could say, there's others who say,
15:45if Eric doesn't do A, we're going to do B.
15:47I did nothing wrong.
15:49But what was most significant for me
15:53is that I cannot move,
15:55the judge is going to move based on his timeline.
15:57His independent court appointed person.
16:01There was several things he said in his review.
16:04And I agree with him.
16:07But what was surprising to me was the emails,
16:13texts and communications that came from those
16:17who were on this case.
16:20It was in contrast to what they said publicly
16:23and how little you guys covered it.
16:26Every leak that came out on me,
16:29there was full page stories and leaks and what have you.
16:34But these guys, they in their own words,
16:38talked about what I said.
16:39This was politically motivated.
16:41And in their own words, they alluded to that.
16:44But it wasn't covered.
16:45It was just little passages.
16:47I think, thank God for the New York Post,
16:50you know, who was willing to cover it.
16:52Why aren't we talking about that?
16:54Why aren't we talking about in their own words,
16:57their own emails, their own text messages,
17:01you're hearing about the potential
17:03that this was politically motivated.
17:06This happened to an American.
17:07You know, so I think that the case will speak for itself.
17:11And you know, to have the Department of Justice
17:14says at best, this was extremely aggressive,
17:18questionable behavior, DOJ released these internal texts.
17:23You know, go find out what the term gymnastics means.
17:27They use gymnastics.
17:30Come on, folks, come on.
17:31We gotta be honest to cover this stuff.
17:34They knew use just gymnastics to get the indictment.
17:39Yeah, I'm Mr. Merrick.
17:40What's happening?
17:42It's not much.
17:45I guess the Obama administration
17:47estimated there were 600,000 legal residents
17:50like Khalil, Mr. Khalil, or have it ring a bell.
17:54So that's a pretty large group of people.
17:55And so what we saw in the federal government's response
18:00was that he was a radical, foreign, pro-Hamas person.
18:06And there was no trial and you have now spent
18:09a considerable amount of time on due process.
18:11And appropriately, you claim to due process
18:14and you count on due process to redeem America, right?
18:17What I don't understand is he was removed from this city,
18:20the city that you are in charge of,
18:24taken to Louisiana, requiring a habeas corpus petition,
18:27and there has been no actual due process.
18:30Could Mr. Khalil be victimized
18:32by the same kind of political justice
18:35that you say you've been dealing with
18:37since the start of your tenure?
18:39The immigration, deportation,
18:45how that's carried out is the federal government's job.
18:49That's the federal government's job.
18:51And the federal government will do their job.
18:54You don't feel that you have a number of people
18:56in Mr. Khalil's situation.
18:58You don't feel that as the mayor of New York
19:01that you have any obligation to make sure
19:02that the federal government is living up to its obligation
19:05because you had a situation here
19:07with the Department of Justice, duly constituted, right,
19:10that clearly fell off what you say is their requirement.
19:13Couldn't that be happening now in the Trump administration?
19:16Or is Mr. Trump somehow inherently
19:18morally superior to Mr. Biden?
19:20Well, you know, what I'm finding surprising
19:23is the level of support you are displaying,
19:27but I didn't see that support for me
19:29even after we saw the emails and text messages
19:32that there's a potential this is politically motivated.
19:35So if you're about justice,
19:37don't be inconsistent in your call for justice.
19:40Cover those text messages that shows
19:42that it was potentially politically motivated.
19:45That same enthusiasm I'm getting from you,
19:47we should be enthusiastic for everyone.
19:49And again, the federal government does immigrations
19:53and they're doing investigations,
19:56and we need to make sure that it is done
19:58in a fair way that it's done.
20:01Hello, Mr. Mayor. Yes.
20:03How are you? I'm very good.
20:04Thank you. Mr. Mayor, I have two questions.
20:06The first one is statistics on public safety,
20:10but you also always say that it's about the feeling,
20:13how people feel safe. Yes.
20:14And I want to talk about it
20:16in terms of the race for the mayor.
20:18Many of your, many of other candidates,
20:21they run on public safety,
20:23telling people that the city is not safe.
20:26Right. Do you think they make disservice
20:29to the people of this city?
20:31That's the first question.
20:33You want to answer or should I answer the second one?
20:36Well, first of all, I said yesterday
20:38at our 1,000 gun removal off the streets,
20:41I talked about that how insulted it is
20:44for the men and women who are doing the job.
20:47I think what we did to the men and women
20:49at Department of Correction, it was just wrong.
20:53The difficult job of managing custody and control
20:59of people who committed violent acts,
21:01for the most part, in our city,
21:03and yet we don't hear any positive stories
21:07about what they've done.
21:07They were there under COVID.
21:09We wouldn't even give them the mask under COVID.
21:12Some of them were doing triples,
21:15not going to their family members.
21:17And, you know, these are human beings
21:19that are saying we're willing to put our lives
21:21on the line to protect the city.
21:22And the same for police officers, probation officers,
21:26school safety officers.
21:27I can go down the line, you know?
21:29And so when you start saying that the city is in chaos,
21:33what the numbers don't match,
21:35you are really telling these men and women
21:38who place, they place their lives on the line every day,
21:42sacrifice for the city,
21:43watching their colleagues, in some cases, assaulted,
21:46and in some cases we lost the officers due to violence.
21:51I always think about Maureen Rivera,
21:54who we lost, and so many others.
21:56And so you are insulting them.
21:59They have done their job.
22:01And so I think it's wrong to do so.
22:04And I think that if you want to attack the mayor,
22:06fine, attack the mayor.
22:07But in your sentence, talk about the men and women
22:10who have done the job,
22:12in spite of some of the actions of some of them,
22:14in spite of the how many stops laws,
22:16in spite of that we instituted laws
22:19that say you cannot handcuff inmates
22:22when they're moving to and from court and other procedures,
22:25in spite of the revolving door practices,
22:28in spite of all of that,
22:30these men and women have stepped up and kept our city safe.
22:33Thank you, and Mr. Mayor, you mentioned before
22:36that you think that the Democratic Party
22:38left the working class people, they abandoned them.
22:42I want to go back to your hearing in Washington, D.C.
22:45Do you feel abandoned by the Democratic Party
22:47after what you've been through there
22:49from the side of the Democrats?
22:51The Democratic Party uses a term, it's called the big tent.
22:55There are many different people and beliefs
22:58and philosophies under that tent.
23:01And so the loudest and who's covered the most,
23:05they do not make up the majority.
23:08And I saw that when I ran for office.
23:10When I ran for office and sat down with folks
23:13and told them my platform was going to be public safety,
23:16people said, Eric, you can't run on that,
23:18and you are a Democrat.
23:19And I said, no, that is not true.
23:21And I leaned into public safety and it separated me
23:24from the other eight or nine candidates
23:26that were in the race.
23:28There were some were even talking about
23:30taking guns away from police officers.
23:33And so I was very clear on my message
23:36and so when you talk about the Democratic Party,
23:38I believe that many Democrats didn't leave the party,
23:42the party left them.
23:44And I'm going to continue to run on those blue-collar issues
23:48that are important to New Yorkers.
23:50Morgan.
23:51Hi, Mr. Mayor.
23:52How are you?
23:53I'm good, thank you.
23:54Good, good.
23:55So the Deputy Sheriff's Association
23:57just endorsed your competitor, the ex-governor Andrew Cuomo.
24:01As you know, they're one of the people
24:03who went in to shut down the illegal cannabis stores.
24:05So I just wondered, are you frustrated at all
24:09having, you know, seeing some people like this
24:12endorse Cuomo, saying this never would have happened,
24:15having all illegal cannabis stores, if he were mayor?
24:19As you know, it required a legislative fix
24:21to fix the bill so you could actually go in
24:22and shut down the stores, a bill that he signed.
24:25You had to negotiate and push for bail reform changes,
24:29discovery reform changes.
24:31Those are all bills he signed.
24:32So are you frustrated at all to see, you know,
24:35you cleaning up maybe some of this mess
24:37and seeing people endorse him?
24:40Go back, go back to 2022
24:44and see how many of these folks endorsed me.
24:49You know, just take a look.
24:52And so it doesn't frustrate you.
24:55This is politics and you just got to stay focused,
24:58no distractions and grind.
25:00That's the same message, you know?
25:01And I think that when you see how successful
25:05we've done in the city, that's the speakers,
25:07the voters are going to speak for that.
25:09And so, you know, again, I don't want to go
25:11into the deep political strategies.
25:13You're going to see me on the campaign trail.
25:14I'm going to talk about all this stuff
25:15on the campaign trail.
25:16Do you feel like you're going to clean up this mess as well?
25:19I feel that on the campaign trail,
25:22we're going to really show the origin of a lot of things
25:25that we had to go through in the city.
25:27When are you going to be starting on the campaign trail?
25:30Soon and very soon.
25:34Hi Mayor.
25:35How are you Emma?
25:36Good, two questions.
25:36Yes.
25:37Can you clarify your comments yesterday about Khalil?
25:40Were you confused?
25:41Like, did you think that he had a gun
25:42or did you have reason to believe that he had a gun?
25:44We were at a gun press conference.
25:46My team said on topic, the question was raised
25:51about this case after asking the case about Burrow.
25:54And I said, if he had a gun, he should be deported.
25:58It was the focus was on guns.
26:01And that's what I was responding to.
26:04And number two, is it painful for some of your allies
26:07to be endorsing Cuomo, Ruben Diaz Jr.?
26:11I've heard that Rodney is going to endorse Cuomo this week.
26:14Is it painful for these like longtime allies of yours
26:17to endorse him and have you ask them not to?
26:21No, it's not painful at all.
26:23This is politics.
26:24You know, I don't know if, you know,
26:26you guys that have been covering politics for a long time,
26:30it's politics.
26:31Things happen in politics.
26:32On one week, someone can say,
26:35on one year, someone should say
26:36he should step down as governor.
26:37And next year, they're standing up saying
26:39that he should be mayor, you know?
26:40And so that is what politics is.
26:44Some people in the game have reasons
26:46for doing what they're doing.
26:48It's all part of the process.
26:49You can never take politics personal.
26:52That was the advice that Mayor Bloomberg stated to me
26:56when we were talking once.
26:58You can't take this stuff personal.
26:59You gotta just, you know, you gotta move with it.
27:03You know, do what you do.
27:05And I said it before and I'm gonna say it again.
27:07Out of that whole field, I think we up to 10 people now,
27:10and there are going to be more, trust me.
27:12Not one of them have ever won the mayoralty, but me.
27:16And no matter what happens, my picture's going,
27:19I'm gonna put my picture right next to room nine.
27:22I'll do it.
27:24Hi, Mr. Mayor.
27:25I wanted to follow up on that question.
27:27Yes, which question, which one?
27:28About your campaign.
27:29Okay.
27:30You don't have an official campaign spokesperson.
27:33You mentioned that you're gonna start on the campaign trail.
27:36You haven't reached out to some groups about endorsements.
27:38You see your allies, you know,
27:40getting these endorsements that you had before.
27:42So how should New Yorkers believe
27:44that you're actually truly running
27:46other than you saying that you are running for reelection?
27:49None of your actions are coinciding
27:51with the words that you're saying.
27:53Okay, you know, I've been doing this for a little bit,
27:55and I don't recall at any time
27:57that there was a predetermined list
27:59that indicates if someone is actually running or not.
28:03So my timetable, I know what I'm doing,
28:06I've won before, and I'm going to put the chess in place,
28:10the chess game in place,
28:12and it's not on anyone else's timetable.
28:15It's not because you want to see an indicator
28:17or someone else wants to see an indicator.
28:19No, I must put the strategy together
28:22just as I did the last time.
28:24I know what I am doing.
28:26Just as I stated, we were gonna deliver in Albany,
28:29and many people say,
28:30you'll never get what you need out of Albany.
28:32We got everything we requested out of Albany,
28:33just about.
28:35Just as I said, we're gonna bring down crime,
28:38we brought down crime.
28:39Just as I said, we were gonna build housing units,
28:42we broke records in housing units.
28:44Just as I stated, we're gonna make the subway system safe,
28:46we made the subway system safe.
28:48Just as I said, we were going to make sure
28:50we put money back in the pockets of New Yorkers.
28:52We put $30 billion back in the pockets of New Yorkers.
28:55All the things that I say,
28:56how many times I gotta do stuff
28:58that I say I'm going to do before you guys finally say,
29:00well, maybe this guy knows what he's doing.
29:02I know what I am doing.
29:05Can I quickly follow up? Yes, yes.
29:06On the Khalil situation,
29:08I know you're not going to give your opinion,
29:10but what is your communication with ICE at all
29:12in that situation?
29:13Did they let you know that they were here in the city?
29:15Did they let you know
29:16that they were on the Columbia University campus?
29:18Is there any communication happening at all?
29:23When we strategize with local law enforcement officials
29:27about crime and public safety,
29:29we're not gonna go into the details of that,
29:31but we've been very clear,
29:32we cannot collaborate with solely deportation cases.
29:36Cannot.
29:37I've said that over and over again.
29:40Oh, thank you so much.
29:41I was trying to keep up with...
29:43How are you?
29:44How are you? Quite well.
29:46You just said that in order for you to run,
29:49it's important not to have distractions.
29:51And although we have to wait for the judge's timeline,
29:54is there any indication as to when can the judge come back
29:57and say something like, I need another recommendation?
30:00Or do you think this will be solved
30:04in the next couple of weeks
30:05so you can start actually your campaign?
30:07Because this is like a cloud on top of you.
30:11For the last 15 or so months,
30:14with all that has been happening,
30:17I'm still waiting for the peace that someone's rights,
30:21that with all that has been going on,
30:24this mayor has stayed focused and moved the city forward.
30:28And if you go back to the day
30:29that the indictment was put in place,
30:32I stood in the rotunda and spoke to all of you.
30:34And I remember one reporter in particular
30:36that talked about how devastating it is.
30:38I talked about my faith in God
30:40and how I was going to continue to work for New Yorkers.
30:44And that's how I'm going to get through this.
30:45Working for New Yorkers gave me the therapy that I needed
30:49to get through this.
30:50And my faith in God made me strong enough
30:54to withstand all that was going on behind the scenes
30:57of people saying political motivations
31:00that those texts revealed.
31:02That is the same thing I'm taking from this step forward.
31:05It broke then, it's going to work now.
31:07Working for New Yorkers is my therapy.
31:09My faith in God will get me through
31:12no matter what I have to encounter.
31:15Craig, what's going on, Craig?
31:17So you brought up these text messages repeatedly
31:20to the press conference
31:21that we didn't cover it in the media enough.
31:23So would you call on the DOJ then to unseal these documents?
31:27Because the reason why it wasn't extensively covered
31:30besides being dropped at 745 on a Friday night
31:32was also that all the exhibits were redacted,
31:35which had the details of this, as you say,
31:37the political motive.
31:38I don't know if you saw with your attorney, Alex,
31:40but will you call on the DOJ to release these in full
31:43since it, as you said, it exonerates you
31:46and shows that this is a politically motivated case.
31:48And just secondly,
31:50you've spoken extensively about mask bans,
31:51but I guess in the wake of these,
31:53the next round of anti-Israel protests on campus,
31:56are you pushing the state legislature
31:58to ban masks and protests?
32:00And is that part of your already agenda?
32:04First of all, remember they were banned until COVID,
32:07and we need to go back to that.
32:08I think that you would see a lot less cowardly actions
32:13if people were not able to hide behind masks.
32:16And not only protesters,
32:18but people who are committing crimes,
32:19going into stores, robberies,
32:22some of the assaults that we're seeing.
32:25The mask and being able to cover your face
32:28is allowing people to be emboldened.
32:30And I think it's imperative
32:31that we go back to what was in place,
32:34and that is that you were not allowed to wear the mask.
32:37Those medical reasons is understandable,
32:40but the countless number of people
32:42who are wearing masks that we're seeing,
32:44like we saw on the Columbia campus,
32:48the wearing of the mask, the covering of the face,
32:50it emboldens people when they are able to wear the mask.
32:53And I think we need to go back
32:54to not allowing people to wear the mask.
32:58And answering your question specifically,
33:01it's the judge got to make that decision.
33:03He has to make the decision
33:04on what is going to be released and not,
33:08and the main justice make that decision.
33:11I have to respect the fact that they do so.
33:15But I do want to point out,
33:18the leaks that they were doing on me,
33:21people were not looking for full explanation.
33:23They were not justifying that,
33:25oh, okay, maybe they took Eric out of context.
33:28They weren't doing that.
33:28They were writing the stories as though it was factual.
33:33And so you can't have it both ways.
33:35All of a sudden, we're justifying these texts that came out
33:38and maybe was taken out of context
33:39and maybe saying that it was politically motivated.
33:42They didn't really mean that.
33:44We don't need you guys to interpret what folks meant,
33:48because no one did that for me.
33:49What I'm saying is if we don't want to interpret them,
33:51we just want to see them in full.
33:52Because in this sense, they're snippets.
33:55They're just like cherry picked, if you will,
33:57or little small snippets of the text message.
34:00All of the exhibits have been sealed.
34:02So would you want those to be released?
34:03Well, I think that if you look at the snippets
34:07that you're talking about,
34:10there's some real problems with those snippets.
34:13And we should be reporting on that.
34:16There's some real problems
34:17when those who are conducting the investigation
34:20believe that it's politically motivated.
34:22They have an obligation to stand up and say,
34:26we can't use our office as politically motivation.
34:29And then when you depart
34:31and you are saying one thing on your departure,
34:34but privately on your texts and your communications,
34:38you're saying something totally different.
34:43Hi, Mr. Mayor.
34:44How are you doing?
34:44Good.
34:45I have two questions.
34:47One, you've spoken on Adrian Adams running for mayor.
34:51I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
34:53You've spoken on Adrian Adams running for mayor,
34:55but how will this impact the budget negotiation process
35:00with both of you now running?
35:03My second question being,
35:05the governor made it clear that it was important for you
35:08to right the ship and still have confidence
35:11in your administration after the indictments had come down
35:14and resignations were piling on.
35:16A large part of that was bringing on Maria Torres Springer
35:20as first deputy mayor.
35:22She's now gone along with other key members
35:25of your administration.
35:27Was the governor a part of the process
35:30for appointing the new deputy mayors?
35:33Is she advising you on your first deputy mayor choice?
35:36Have you landed on an appointment?
35:38Are you planning to announce?
35:40Yeah, the governor's position back then to right the ship,
35:47she didn't tell me who to appoint.
35:49I don't know if that was lost in the conversation.
35:52I rebuilt the team, put the team in place,
35:55and we continued to execute.
35:57We did not miss one stride, you know,
36:00because if you are the mayor of the largest city in America
36:05and you can't continue your stride no matter what happens,
36:09then you're not prepared for this job.
36:11And I don't know if it came from my days of law enforcement,
36:13of sitting on the desk in a precinct
36:15and seeing things happening at one time,
36:17but you have to have the ability no matter what comes up.
36:21When I wake up in the morning
36:23and I place my feet on the floor,
36:25I don't know what's going to shape me.
36:27Sometime I get a call in the middle of the night
36:30that something is going on.
36:31You have to be able to shift and adjust
36:36and rebuild if needed.
36:38And you saw me do that.
36:39You saw me rebuild, put the team in place,
36:43and even after we lost four of our deputy mayors,
36:47we're back in stride.
36:49You know, we're back in stride.
36:50I have a job to do and we're never going to be distracted
36:54no matter what comes up.
36:56You know, Rudy Giuliani did not know two planes
36:59was going to fly into the Trade Center
37:01and we were going to see those large number of people that die,
37:05but he had to still manage the city.
37:07Bloomberg came in and continued the process.
37:09That's the beauty of our democracy.
37:11You have to continue the process,
37:12and not one person is bigger than the process
37:15that moves forward.
37:16So we have a deep inch in the city and in our city agencies,
37:21and I'm happy to see the new deputy mayors
37:25that are coming on board.
37:26I was sorry to see the four that left,
37:30but, you know, people make decisions in life
37:32and I respect those decisions.
37:35We're going to land a plane. We said this before.
37:37We're going to land a plane in the budget.
37:39You know, we're professionals.
37:41You know, we're going to land a plane.
37:44You know, we're going to do what we have to do with this budget.
37:46We'll sit down with her team and we'll land a plane.
37:49You know, I've said that over and over again.
37:50We will land a plane.
37:53Hi, Mr. Mayor.
37:54What's happening?
37:55All right, how are you?
37:57Revisiting earlier questions about some of your key allies
38:00endorsing Cuomo in this race,
38:03you know, who are you looking to to support your campaign?
38:07Are you reaching out to any unions?
38:08I know you interviewed with 32BJ.
38:11Are there others who you've been speaking to?
38:14And then separately, in his motion last week,
38:17Paul Clement, the independent attorney
38:19appointed by Judge Ho,
38:21he said that part of the reason why,
38:22or kind of the main reason why he wants the case
38:25to be dropped with prejudice
38:26is because he doesn't want the appearance
38:28that it's hanging like a sort of Damocles over you.
38:31So that appears to back up the idea
38:32that there's a perception that Trump would be using this
38:36to kind of control you.
38:38What do you make of him putting that in his motion?
38:41Listen, he is a wise, wise constitutional attorney.
38:50He's very impressive.
38:51When I read over, when he was first appointed,
38:53I read over his documents
38:56and I was impressed with his legal career.
39:00And I think he laid out what his thoughts are.
39:03The judge picked him and I assume the judge picked him
39:07because he realized how deep his knowledge is
39:12on this topic and so the judge will make the determination.
39:14This is now in the hands of the judge
39:15to make the final determination.
39:17And many people have different perceptions.
39:21People stop me all the time.
39:23Eric, we know you've always been independent
39:25in what you do and how you act.
39:27All the time, people have said that.
39:29And let's not misunderstand
39:33that a lot of the perception people have,
39:38this has been inundated.
39:40You know, in the public arena.
39:43Some of your articles, some of the things people read,
39:46you know, it is hard for people to think any differently,
39:49you know, but it's amazing to me that out of all of that,
39:53when I'm seeing, you know, everyday New Yorkers,
39:56people knew me from the police department.
39:57They said, Eric, you were in the police department.
39:59Those guys paid your salary and you were the leading voice
40:02on police reform in the police department.
40:05I've always been an independent voice.
40:07But if you're saying everyday, everyday people pick up,
40:11you know, reading your papers that, oh, he's under control,
40:14he's under control, he's under control.
40:15And then you say, well, why do people feel that?
40:17Damn it, they just read it for three weeks in a row.
40:20You know, at a Jefferson judge hall,
40:22he will manage this situation.
40:24And the question about your allies, you know,
40:28who are you looking to for support in this election?
40:30Oh, I like that.
40:31The people, the voters, the people who voted me in.
40:34That's who I'm looking for support.
40:38Endorsements don't win races.
40:42Knocking on doors do.
40:45And the people matter.
40:48Long as the people, I'm going to get out there
40:50and do what I do well.
40:52I'm a solid, solid campaigner.
40:55I know how to articulate a message that's clear,
40:59encrypts, and that's what I'm going to do.
41:01And I'm going to enjoy every moment of selling my product
41:06to the people of this city,
41:07how I made life better for New Yorkers.
41:10That's what I'm going to do.
41:13It's done, okay.
41:14Thank you, Mayor.
41:15Nice having you.
41:16On the economy, another rough day on Wall Street.
41:19New York, particularly impacted
41:22when we have bad financial years,
41:24something like $5 billion,
41:26according to recent comptroller's report,
41:28on the income from the financial industry
41:31going into city coffers.
41:33The possibility of a recession,
41:34which the president himself did not rule out
41:36over the weekend,
41:37his staff has doubled down on that statement.
41:39Are you concerned you're going to be facing
41:41tough budget choices, pegs, cuts to city services?
41:45Is that keeping you up at night right now?
41:48Always, always, you know,
41:50and it's probably keeping Jock Jihad up even more,
41:55you know, because anytime you attempt to cut anything,
42:00there's an advocacy group who wants to fight against it.
42:04And, you know, I take my hat off
42:06to those four independent agencies
42:09that leaned into our bond rating.
42:13You know, I always talk about it
42:14because, you know, anyone can criticize us,
42:17but there are professionals that are out there
42:20that are saying this guy is managing the crisis.
42:24These are professionals.
42:25They're not opinion people.
42:27They're not people that have no degrees in finance.
42:30When you look at Moody, S&P, and the others are saying,
42:36in spite of all that's going on,
42:38we trust Eric at the wheel.
42:42That is very important.
42:44And so we're going to have to shift and adjust.
42:46It was crucial for me to do those pegs.
42:49Out of all the noise, I say,
42:50I have to put money in the bank for us
42:53because for the unforeseen future,
42:55it was crucial to have almost $8 billion
42:58in our rainy day dollars.
43:01You know, I knew that the uncertainties,
43:04we better be prepared for it.
43:05And so we have to face these uncertainties.
43:07And, you know, the council's going to have to sit down
43:10with us based on the economic outlook
43:13and make the smart decisions to balance our budget.
43:15That's what we're going to do.
43:16Have you had any preliminary conversations with your teams
43:19about, like, somewhat immediate upcoming expenses,
43:21for example, spending on summer youth employment
43:23or upcoming recruiting classes?
43:25Have you gotten that specific yet
43:26but things New Yorkers would notice pretty readily?
43:28No, great question.
43:29Great question.
43:30We are not going, as we did with our pegs
43:33and as we did with some of the other exercises we had to do
43:36when we lost that $7 billion, you know,
43:39from the previous administration,
43:42we were able to save those much-needed institutions.
43:46We're not looking to take money away
43:47from the summer youth employment.
43:50When you think about the fact that I was the first mayoralty
43:53that had 100,000 summer youth employment,
43:55we're going to still lean into our summer rising program.
43:58We're going to still do those things
44:00that low-income New Yorkers need to get through,
44:03you know, through this fiscal crisis.
44:05And so it's a real, it's going to be a challenge,
44:08but we're going to do everything possible
44:09to hold people harmless that are in need.
44:13Joe.
44:14Hi, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing?
44:15What's happening?
44:16How are you?
44:16Pretty good, how are you doing?
44:17Good.
44:18I wanted to quickly follow up on Henry's question.
44:21Last week, Jacques Chihau was testifying
44:23in the city council.
44:24It was like the first of the budget hearings.
44:26Yes.
44:27And in his remarks, he was mentioning
44:29some of the potential federal funding cuts,
44:33Medicaid, SNAP, immigration funding,
44:36that have created uncertainties in the budget.
44:38And he talked about tariffs
44:40and how those could have an adverse effect
44:41on the economy and energy prices.
44:44I'm wondering, have you spoken with the president
44:46about any of these things
44:47that could have a direct effect on New York?
44:49And do you have, I guess, thoughts about them that you-
44:52No, no, I haven't had those conversations
44:55with him about these.
44:57And Jay, last question.
44:58And Jay.
44:59Yes, sir, good afternoon.
45:00Good to see you, man.
45:00Good to see you, sir, thank you.
45:02You know, your opponents will say
45:03that your reluctance to criticize the Trump administration
45:07prevents you from standing up for the values
45:11that New Yorkers hold dear,
45:14and the values that they want to hear their mayor
45:16stand up for.
45:18Now they're going to say that your reluctance
45:19to criticize the Khalil arrest is further proof of that.
45:24What's your answer?
45:25I want you all to go back and do an analysis
45:29of did any one of them criticize the Biden administration
45:33when we lost $7 billion?
45:35Did any one of them?
45:37Do any of them say that this is wrong, Mr. President,
45:41what you're doing to us?
45:42Did any of them say this is wrong,
45:44that you're allowing people to come into the country
45:46with no place to stay?
45:48Did any of them stand up for our city
45:51when the previous administration was over,
45:55or inundating us with this crisis,
45:58and we lost $6.9 billion?
46:01I'm consistent.
46:03I'm consistent.
46:04Are they consistent?
46:05I couldn't even get them to go to Washington
46:08and fight on behalf of our city.
46:09And we can never, we cannot erase that from history, folks.
46:14They were unwilling, based on their politics,
46:18to go and fight for New Yorkers.
46:21And I don't know why we're skipping over that.
46:24They were absent when $7 billion left our city,
46:29and none of them have been on record
46:32to fight for New Yorkers.
46:34I've been on record to fight for New Yorkers.
46:37Yes.
46:39Is Andrew Cuomo getting under your skin?
46:42You know, it's so funny you say that, you know.
46:46About, it must have been four weeks.
46:50I'm gonna take a picture and tweet it out.
46:52All right, remind me to do that, DJ, okay?
46:54About four weeks ago, I was finishing an article,
47:01and Tracy said, Eric, I want you to try something.
47:06Don't read the papers.
47:07Don't listen to the news.
47:09Have your team just brief you on things that are important.
47:13Four weeks ago, I stopped reading papers.
47:16I stopped listening to the news.
47:18People would stop me on the street and say,
47:20you know, I'm sorry what happened to you.
47:22I said, what happened to me?
47:23I said, is something happening that I don't know about?
47:29I sleep so much better.
47:32I just feel so much at ease.
47:34I didn't realize that it's like almost
47:37if you eat junk food every day,
47:39you're going to get physical obesity.
47:41I was going through mental obesity.
47:44I got a stack of papers in my office that Gladys puts in,
47:48and three months from now, I'm gonna read
47:50and hear all that y'all said about me.
47:53But right now, he can't get under my skin
47:55because I don't even know what he's saying.
47:58You felt it necessary yesterday, sir,
48:00to single out those people who were saying
48:03New York City is out of control.
48:05We all know he's the one who was saying that.
48:08Now, there's been a couple of people that have said that,
48:10but the teams give me little blips of, you know,
48:14there was a comment that New York City's out of control.
48:16I said, New York City's not out of control.
48:19So they give me enough to me to understand
48:22without me having to digest all that junk food, you know?
48:27And I am like just so at peace, you know?
48:33And y'all should try that.
48:37Stay away from that.
48:39Months from now, I'll read over all this stuff,
48:42and I'll look in our lab and I'll say,
48:44well, I can't believe they were saying that about me.
48:46But I don't have a clue what you guys have been writing
48:49for the last four weeks.