Drought Downgraded From Warning To Watch; Tentative Agreement With City Unions For Pay Raises For Physicians, Medical Examiners; New EPA Grants To Electrify Heavy-Duty Vehicles, School Buses; James Stratford Names Director Of NYC’s Young Men’s Initiative; Dr. Phil’s Primetime,

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala downgraded the city’s drought warning to a drought watch. Significant rainfall and melting snowpack in the city’s upstate watershed have significantly replenished reservoir levels, decreasing the risk of a water shortage. Additionally, the temporary pause of the $2 billion Delaware Aqueduct repair project has restored flow from four critical reservoirs and enhanced water supply flexibility to meet the city’s water demands. As a result of all of these factors, Mayor Adams has downgraded the drought warning and water-saving measures previously implemented by city agencies. Additionally, last week, Mayor Adams lifted the temporary citywide ban on open flames and fireworks following recent rainfall in the five boroughs. 

  

“Thanks to recent precipitation and melting snowfall upstate, in addition to our decision to pause the Delaware Aqueduct repair project, we’re in a much better place than we were a few weeks ago, allowing us to downgrade our drought warning to a drought watch,” said Mayor Adams. “If conditions continue, we hope that, in the coming weeks, we will be able to rescind the watch as well. However, it’s a good reminder of the kind of world climate change is creating: a world with more extreme weather events and more dangerous impacts. We’ll continue doing everything we can to secure our water supply, guard against the impacts of a warming world, and keep New Yorkers safe.” 

  

“New Yorkers and our fellow city agencies have shown remarkable resilience and commitment to conserving water during these unprecedented conditions. Thanks to significant rainfall, melting snowpack, conservation efforts, and strategic adjustments to our infrastructure projects, we’re able to lift the drought warning,” said New York City Chief Climate Officer and DEP Commissioner Aggarwala. “As we confront a changing climate, we need to use our natural resources more wisely. Continuing to practice water conservation is a sustainable habit valuable even outside times of drought.” 

  

Mayor Adams and Commissioner Aggarwala first issued a drought watch back on November 2, as the city was experiencing the driest spell in recorded history. They upgraded the drought watch to a drought warning on November 18. The historic lack of precipitation led to unprecedented challenges, including brush fires within the city and the watershed. The long-lasting lack of precipitation led DEP to take extraordinary steps to safeguard the city’s water supply.  

  

New York City’s complex reservoir system is extraordinarily robust and was designed for resilience, capable of operating effectively even at below-average levels. In addition to the much-needed recent wet weather in the watershed, an analysis of weather patterns indicate consistent precipitation in the forecast, ensuring reservoir levels will continue to rise. Reopening the Delaware Aqueduct, the world’s longest tunnel of any kind, has allowed DEP to optimize flow with this recent influx of rainwater. With all three reservoir systems — the Delaware, the Croton, and the Catskill — now fully operational, DEP has increased flexibility to meet the city’s water needs. 

 

 

Advertisement

Map of New York City’s water supply. Credit: DEP 

  

When the city decided to move forward with the final phase of the Delaware Aqueduct repair project this year, weather models had predicted a wetter-than-usual fall. The final phase involves connecting a 2.5-mile bypass tunnel near Newburgh to prevent a decades-old, 35-million-gallon a day leak under the Hudson River. In order to initiate that last portion of work, DEP stopped the flow of water from the four reservoirs that feed into the Delaware Aqueduct and increased the city’s reliance on the Croton and Catskill systems. DEP also completed significant capital projects to prepare for this phase, including increasing the Catskill Aqueduct’s capacity, upgrading infrastructure across the watershed, and more. 

  

Although contingency plans showed the project able to be successfully completed even if rainfall was well below average, the historic dry spell forced DEP to pause the project last month. The lack of rain upstate meant that water reserves across all reservoirs were not where they needed to be to complete the project in the spring. Pausing the project allowed DEP to protect the long-term health of the water supply while continuing to provide New Yorkers with the best drinking water in the world. DEP is optimistic that work will resume on this critical repair next fall. 

  

New York City has been successful in conserving water for decades. The city’s average daily water demand has decreased by approximately 35 percent over the past several decades, even as the city’s population has grown by more than 1 million people. During its peak, in 1979, the city’s average water usage was 1.5 billion gallons of water a day. Thanks to improved management strategies — systemwide leak detection and repairs, replacing old meters with automated meter readers, and providing an online platform for customers to track and monitor water usage and quickly detect leaks in their buildings — the city now uses just 1.1 billion gallons a day on average, and under 1 billion gallons during the winter months. 

  

DEP manages the nation’s largest municipal water supply system, which provides high-quality drinking water each day to nearly 10 million residents, including 8.3 million in New York City. The water is delivered from a watershed that extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five boroughs. 

 

New Yorkers should continue to minimize water usage where possible, and Mayor Adams reminded New Yorkers of the following ways they can conserve:  

 

• Report open fire hydrants and street leaks to 311. An open hydrant can release more than 1,000 gallons per minute, which wastes 1.4 million gallons of drinking water in a 24-hour cycle.    

• Don’t flush the toilet unnecessarily. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), toilets are by far the main source of water use in a home, accounting for nearly 30 percent of an average home’s indoor water consumption. Each flush can use 1.6 gallons, with older models using as much as six gallons.    

• Take shorter showers, saving five to seven gallons a minute. When taking a bath, fill the tub only halfway and save 10 to 15 gallons.    

• Don’t run the tap while shaving, washing hands, or brushing teeth. Faucets use two to three gallons per minute.    

• Fix leaks. A leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year, according to the EPA.    

• Run the dishwasher and washing machine only when full. Use short cycles if available. Turn off the water while washing dishes.    

• Install water-saving fixtures, including low-flow toilets and showerheads, as well as faucet aerators.    

• Sweep driveways and sidewalks clean rather than washing them down with a hose.    

• For even more ideas, visit DEP’s Water Savings Tips website.     

  

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES NEW YORK CITY HAS WON $40 MILLION IN
EPA GRANTS TO ELECTRIFY HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLES, SCHOOL BUSES

Federal Funding Will Allow City to Replace 55 Diesel Vehicles
With EVs, Doubling City’s Existing Heavy-Duty EV Fleet

Will Also Allow City to Add 109 More Electric School Buses to Fleet

City’s Heavy Duty Vehicle Electrification Program Will Reduce Annual Emissions by
700 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide — Equivalent of Planting a Central Park-Sized Forest

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city and its partners have won approximately $40 million in competitive grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2024 Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Program. The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ (DCAS) $17.3 million award will allow the city to replace 55 diesel trucks with electric vehicles (EV), as well as to add 10 additional fast chargers across the city and expand EV training for city mechanics. Additionally, with city support, the New York City School Bus Umbrella Services, Inc. won an approximately $32 million grant to purchase an additional 109 electric school buses for city students. It builds on unprecedented success of the city’s Federal Infrastructure Funding Task Force in winning grant funding from the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Under Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi’s leadership, the task force has secured more than $2.3 billion in grants — $1.3 billion of which were through competitive applications — to support upgrades to New York City’s infrastructure and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

“Building a safer city also means protecting New Yorkers from dangerous emissions and the impacts of climate change — and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Mayor Adams. “These $40 million in grants — part of the over $2.3 billion in federal infrastructure grants that we’ve won — will allow us to take dozens of heavy-duty diesel trucks and more than a hundred polluting school buses out of our city’s fleet and replace them with clean, zero-emissions vehicles. My thanks to the EPA for these grants, and to all of our city agencies, fellow elected officials, and advocates who made it a reality.”

“We continue to make it rain for New York City, this time with $40 million in grants to reduce emissions of our heavy-duty fleet and build on our efforts to electrify our school buses and industrial parks like Hunts Point,” said Deputy Mayor Joshi. “Deep thanks to the Biden-Harris administration for working with us to make New York City one of the most prepared cities in the nation, doing our part to protect our planet and spur good green jobs.”

“Our school system isn’t only educating tomorrow’s sustainability leaders—we’re also working hard to make our city a greener place for the next generation,” said New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “Thanks to this grant, as our students learn about climate action in school, they can know that the transportation they take to school is also working to support our planet and city. We’re grateful to our partners at the EPA for helping us to make this work possible.”

“Electric vehicles are the way of the future; they’re cleaner, produce zero emissions, and, with over 5,400 already in our fleet, we’re showing our commitment on the streets of the city,” said DCAS Commissioner Louis A. Molina. “Thanks to this $17 million grant from the EPA, we’re not just bolstering the greenest fleet in the nation, we’re also investing in the physical infrastructure and the knowledge base needed to maintain it.”

Vehicles being replaced with new zero emission models include:

• Diesel-powered food delivery trucks that deliver hot food and supplies to correctional facilities.
• Refuse haulers and mechanical brooms that contribute to the collection of 24 million pounds of recyclables, trash, and compostable material annually citywide.
• Rack trucks, which carry equipment for road repairs and maintenance and traffic control, and attenuator trucks designed to improve work zone safety on roads and highways during road work and construction activities.
• Utility, tapping, valve, and attenuator vehicles, which are used to maintain the infrastructure that provides drinking water and processes wastewater and runoff citywide, including 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts, 7,500 miles of sewer lines, and 153,000 miles of catch basins.

Beyond the 55 new heavy duty zero emissions vehicles, DCAS will also invest in new workforce development and training to support the maintenance, charging, fueling, and operation of zero-emissions vehicles. This will include driver, mechanic, and other essential personnel training related to the maintenance and operation of new technologies and electrician training to install electric vehicle supply equipment. Ten additional fast chargers will be installed to support DOT electric vehicles citywide, expanding DCAS’s largest-in-the-state charging network of more than 2,100 chargers. To date, over 76 percent of the city’s fleet — more than 21,000 vehicles — now use sustainable alternative fuels, including electric, hybrid electric, solar, and biofuel.

Through the city’s Federal Infrastructure Funding Task Force, the city and its partners have won a wide range of grants, including but not limited to:

• $164 million to help transform the Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a modern, 21^st-century maritime port and vibrant mixed-use community hub.
• $127 million, across several successful applications, to acquire nearly 400 electric school buses.
• $117 million to construct the next phase of the Queensway, a new linear park being built on a vacant corridor of the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch.
• $100 million to construct Cloudburst stormwater management projects in Corona and Kissena — low-lying neighborhoods subject to frequent flooding.
• $96 million to construct a segment of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway along 10^th Avenue in Inwood.
• $57 million to help 1-4 family homes and affordable housing developments afford solar panels.
• $25 million to add electric micromobility charging and storage stations to New York City Housing Authority developments.

“This $40 million federal award from our historic environmental legislation is a huge win-win: clean, electric school busses that don’t pump dirty diesel fumes into our air and a better, safer ride for our kids. I’m proud to announce more than $40 million in federal grants for New York City to deploy 109 zero-emission school buses and another 55 electric vehicles, install charging equipment, and expand EV training for city workers. This federal investment will help significantly reduce harmful carbon emissions in our communities and upgrade the city’s infrastructure,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. “I fought hard to secure funding via the Inflation Reduction Act for this new EPA program to replace existing heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission vehicles while supporting clean vehicle infrastructure and the training of workers to deploy these new zero-emission technologies.”

“This funding, awarded to New York City through the EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, demonstrates the city’s commitment to prioritizing clean energy practices that support good-paying jobs and protect communities overburdened by air pollution,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I am proud to see New York continue to embrace sustainable technologies, and I will continue fighting for federal initiatives that improve our state’s infrastructure and mitigate climate change.”

“Two years ago, Democrats passed the largest and most aggressive clean energy investment in our nation’s history, and New Yorkers are reaping the benefits,” said U.S. Representative Dan Goldman said. “I am thrilled that New York City is receiving $40 million in federal grants for zero-emission school buses, sanitation trucks, and charging stations. I applaud our city for securing these critical federal funds and will continue working with all levels of government to direct the resources New York needs to transition us away from foreign oil sources and towards a greener future.”

“Today we make a commonsense investment in our children, our health, and our sustainability,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “We have secured $40 million in grants to electrify our fleet, allowing us to add 109 school buses, 55 trucks, and 10 charging stations. That is 164 fewer vehicles spewing exhaust, including from idling buses exacerbating children’s asthma. This is part of the success of our Federal Infrastructure Funding Task Force under Deputy Mayor Joshi, through which we have secured $2.3 billion to invest in our city. I am proud to contribute to this effort, helping to secure half a billion dollars to purchase zero-emission school buses. Together, we are going to make emissions history and give New Yorkers the clean air they deserve.”

“New York City is already leading the nation by putting clean and sustainable measures into law and practice, and with this new $40 million in grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Program, we can go even further,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “We will continue to work with all branches of government to ensure New York City becomes a clean energy capital, as we combat climate change and its real impacts on our families, specifically those living in historically marginalized areas of Queens and beyond.”

“Securing $40 million in federal grants to electrify heavy-duty vehicles and expand our fleet of electric school buses is a critical milestone in New York City’s commitment to a greener, more sustainable future,” said New York City Council Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers. “These investments will reduce harmful emissions, protect public health, and create a healthier environment for our communities. I commend the Administration for their leadership in leveraging federal funding to advance climate resilience and sustainability in our city.”

“This historic $40 million investment marks an important step in our commitment to cleaner air and a greener future,” said New York City Councilmember James F. Gennaro, chair Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency, and Waterfronts. “By replacing diesel trucks with electric vehicles, expanding EV infrastructure, and adding over 100 electric school buses for our students, we are leading the charge toward a more sustainable future for New York City.”

MAYOR ADAMS APPOINTS JAMES STRATFORD AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NEW YORK CITY YOUNG MEN’S INITIATIVE 

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the appointment of James Stratford as the executive director of the New York City Young Men’s Initiative. Stratford brings to the role over two decades of experience within the nonprofit and youth development space. A native New Yorker, Stratford grew up participating in city-led programs such as the Summer Youth Employment Program and will use his own lived experience to help oversee the Young Men’s Initiative.

“In our administration, we are led by New Yorkers who bring their full lived experience to move their agencies and offices forward, use their personal story to create better policies, and, ultimately, build a stronger city — and James Stratford is no exception,” said Mayor Adams. “A product of city agencies and youth development nonprofit, James’ own personal journey will inform and shape his leadership as the next executive director of the Young Men’s Initiative. With over two decades of experience working in nonprofits, James also brings the work experience needed to ensure all young people can thrive in the greatest city on the globe.”

“I am thrilled to welcome James Stratford as the executive director of the Young Men’s Initiative,” said New York City Chief Equity Officer and Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (MOERJ) Commissioner Sideya Sherman. “James has a strong track record of championing underserved communities and leveraging his lived experience and exceptional leadership skills to drive meaningful change. His dedication to helping young people overcome obstacles and realize their full potential is truly inspiring. I am excited to see his leadership and vision continue to uplift and inspire communities across our city through the vital work of YMI.” 

“Growing up in the Bronx, I experienced firsthand the transformative power of opportunity, mentorship, and support. As the new executive director of the Young Men’s Initiative, I am honored to lead this critical work and build on a legacy that has impacted so many lives across our city,” said Young Men’s Initiative Executive Director James Stratford. “Together, with our community partners and the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice, we will work tirelessly to ensure youth, especially young men of color across New York City, have access to the resources, opportunities, and encouragement they need to succeed. I am very excited to be bringing my skillset over to the Young Men’s Initiative — working to inspire, empower, and unlock the full potential of our city’s future leaders.”

Young Men’s Initiative, an office within the New York City Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice, is a public-private partnership focused on addressing disparities among young men of color, aged 14 to 26, in education, employment, health, and justice. Since its 2011 inception, the Young Men’s Initiative has developed programs and supported policies that empower young men of color to thrive in New York City. Under Stratford’s leadership, the Young Men’s Initiative will continue investing nearly $30 million annually in high-impact programming to address disparities experienced by young men of color. Interested New Yorkers can learn more about the opportunities available for young people to enhance their lives on the Young Men’s Initiative website.

Earlier this year, Mayor Adams launched a companion office to the Young Men’s Initiative, NYC Her Future, as part of “Women Forward NYC: An Action Plan for Gender Equity,” a $43 million initiative aimed at making New York City a national leader in gender equity. Both offices are critical to the city’s broader efforts to build a more just and inclusive future for all young people. 

About James Stratford

James Stratford is a native New Yorker born and raised in the Bronx. Before being appointed executive director at the New York City Young Men’s Initiative, Stratford served as the chief strategy officer and senior advisor to the chief executive officer at FAN4Kids, a non-profit organization focused on addressing the growing rate of childhood obesity, its related health concerns, and the lack of coordinated, simple solutions to the growing problem. In this role, he provided leadership on governance, programs, operations, and strategic planning.

Prior to that, Stratford was senior executive leadership consultant at A Second Chance Inc., the largest provider of Kinship Foster Care services in Pennsylvania. He managed a $50 million annual budget, led senior teams, and oversaw strategic initiatives, partnerships, and resource allocations to drive organizational impact and growth. For 10 years, Stratford was at Phipps Neighborhoods, the same non-profit where he was a childhood participant, and oversaw programs in youth services.

Stratford is a 2024 Coro Leadership New York Fellow and a 2023 American Express Global Leadership Academy Fellow. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Government from Elizabeth City State University and is a graduate of New York University Wagner’s Executive Master of Public Administration program.

Stratford will report to New York City Chief Equity Officer and Commissioner Sideya Sherman.

“Congratulations to the eminently qualified James Stratford on his appointment as executive director of the Young Men’s Initiative,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “Someone dedicated to justice and equality, James Stratford will bring to the job over two decades of experience in nonprofits and youth empowerment, as well as his life experience partaking in city programs. Under his leadership, YMI will continue its outstanding work to uplift young men of color through mentoring, education, career programs, and life coaching. Together, we will fight for a city that supports all New Yorkers.”

“Having been in the same Executive Master of Public Administration cohort with James Stratford at New York University Wagner, I can confidently say that his leadership skills, intellect, and passion for creating meaningful change are unparalleled,” said Primo Lasana, executive director, Reading Partners. “James is a brilliant strategist, and a collaborative and empathetic teammate who always brings out the best in those around him. As he steps into his new role at the New York City Young Men’s Initiative, I have no doubt he will leverage his experience and vision to create transformative opportunities for young men of color. New York City couldn’t ask for a better advocate and leader.”

“As a Coro Fellow, James demonstrated exceptional insight, resilience, and a collaborative spirit that made him a standout among his peers. His ability to navigate complex challenges with integrity and creativity leaves no doubt in my mind that he will lead the New York City Young Men’s Initiative to new heights,” said Garrett Lucien, executive director, Coro New York Leadership Center.  “James’ work ethic, combined with his thoughtful leadership style, sets him apart as someone who not only inspires action, but also ensures sustainable outcomes. His capacity to balance big-picture vision with attention to detail is remarkable, and I am confident he will leave an indelible mark on New York City’s future leaders.”

“James Stratford’s unwavering commitment to equity and strategic leadership transformed FAN4Kids during his tenure as chief strategy officer,” said Robert Oliver, CEO and founder, FAN4Kids. “His vision for broadening our impactful programs and fostering meaningful partnerships is unparalleled. Beyond his exceptional strategic acumen, James has an incredible ability to connect with individuals at every level—whether board members, staff, or the communities we serve. His passion for creating opportunities for underserved populations shines through in everything he does. The New York City Young Men’s Initiative is gaining not just a leader, but a trailblazer who will undoubtedly inspire and empower young men of color across New York City. I am excited to see the profound impact he will make in this pivotal role.”

“During his tenure as managing director of community and school partnerships at Phipps Neighborhoods, James Stratford demonstrated a remarkable ability to forge meaningful connections between diverse stakeholders while driving impactful initiatives,” said Andre White, executive director and CEO, Phipps Neighborhoods. “His leadership resulted in stronger partnerships, innovative programs, and improved outcomes for the communities we served. James’s passion for equity and his strategic mindset were instrumental in creating opportunities that empowered young people to thrive. His dedication to uplifting underserved populations is both inspiring and transformative. I am confident that James will bring the same level of excellence, compassion, and vision to the New York City Young Men’s Initiative, ensuring its continued success and growth.”

“The American Express Leadership Academy champions nonprofit leaders who are purpose-driven, collaborative, and dedicated to creating positive change in their communities,” said Adirupa Sengupta, group chief executive officer, Common Purpose. “As an alumnus of this program, James Stratford has shown a commitment to tackling complex challenges and fostering impactful solutions. We are excited to see him step into his new role with the New York City Young Men’s Initiative and look forward to the contributions he will make in this important work.”

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH DOCTORS COUNCIL SEIU TO DELIVER RAISES FOR 500 CITY-EMPLOYED PHYSICIANS, INCLUDING MEDICAL EXAMINERS

Agreement Provides Wage Increases and Bonuses to Members, Secures Fair Deal for NYC Taxpayers, Improves Recruitment and Retention

Administration Has Now Settled Contracts with Unions Representing Over 97 Percent of Municipal Employees

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Office of Labor Relations (OLR) Commissioner Renee Campion today announced a tentative five-year contract agreement with the Doctors Council Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This agreement will cover approximately 500 city employees, including NYC Health + Hospitals and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene physicians and medical examiners in the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).

The tentative agreement is retroactive — beginning on June 28, 2021 — and expires on December 27, 2026.  It conforms to the pattern established by dozens of other unions over the last 22 months. The agreement includes wage increases of 3 percent for each of the first four years of the contract and 3.25 percent in the fifth year. The agreement also includes a lump sum ratification bonus of $3,000 for employees who are in active payroll status and in a title covered by the agreement. It also includes enhancements to the City Medical Examiner Teaching Differential — increased to $20,876 — and improvements to salary increase schedules for medical examiners.

“Our doctors and medical examiners are the unsung heroes of our city, providing New Yorkers with the care they need and the answers they deserve in their most difficult times, and through this agreement, we are ensuring they receive the fair pay they deserve,” said Mayor Adams. “This agreement will also help our public hospitals and OCME recruit and retain talent, so that we can provide quality service to New Yorkers and protect public health. From doctors to teachers to probation officers, our administration will always invest in the working-class people of New York City, and we are proud to have achieved these crucial labor agreements in record-time.”

“I am proud to have reached an agreement that provides fair and reasonable wage increases for the physicians that serve our most vulnerable city residents,” said OLR Commissioner Campion. “I would like to thank Doctors Council President Frances Quee and Executive Director Trevor Bolden for their collaboration that allowed us to reach this agreement.”

Members will receive the following compounded wage increases:

• June 28, 2021: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2022: 3.00 percent
• November 28, 2023: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2024: 3.00 percent
• June 28, 2025: 3.25 percent

The Adams administration’s efforts to reach this agreement builds on its success in reaching agreements to provide fair wage increases for city employees since coming into office. In the last 22 months, Mayor Adams has successfully negotiated contracts with unions representing nearly 97 percent of the city’s workforce. These agreements with District Council 37, the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, the Uniformed Sanitation Workers’ Union Local 831, the United Federation of Teachers, the Police Benevolent Association, the Uniformed Officers Coalition, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Teamsters Local 237, the United Probation Officers’ Association, and dozens of other unions have all included wage increases, including retroactive wage increases for employees that had not received a raise in years. Additionally, many of these contracts included dedicated funding to address retention and recruitment challenges and other important benefits.

TRANSCRIPT FROM MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2024: MAYOR ADAMS APPEARS ON “DR. PHIL’S PRIMETIME”

Dr. Phil: I’m out working in the field again in New York City. This time I’m in front of Gracie Mansion, the home of Mayor Eric Adams. We’re going to sit down and talk about all things having to do with running the biggest city in the United States. We’re going to talk about the challenges, the homelessness, the people that are fighting with mental illness, the educational crisis, and we’re going to talk about Mayor Adams’ personal crisis, facing indictments that could land him in prison for as much as 40-plus years.

[Video plays.]

Wolf Blitzer: Mayor Adams, you currently face federal charges for bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.

Mayor Eric Adams: Based on what I read, it’s clear that if there’s campaign violations, I know I don’t violate the campaign. That’s right. If there’s foreign donors, I know I don’t take money from foreign donors. We look forward for the legal team to handle this as I handle the City of New York and continue the success that we’ve witnessed in the last two years and nine months as the mayor of the City of New York. Thank you very much.

Alex Spiro: The mayor entered a plea of not guilty. He’s innocent. We expect these charges to be dismissed.

[Video ends.]

Dr. Phil: Well, mayor, thanks for sitting down with me. I want to begin by thanking you for last night, taking me down into the subway and showing me the initiatives that you and your response teams are taking with the mentally ill and the homeless that are down living in the subway and getting out of the weather down there. That was very enlightening and I think very educational for people.

Mayor Adams: So true, and, really, thank you for doing so. I was really amazed to see the Dr. Phil brand, even in a tough crowd like New York, people respect you. The trusted voice. I think your real approach to the real problems that we’re facing and that personifies a real problem. The complexities that are associated with people who are dealing with not only severe mental health, but those who are silently dealing with depression and all the other forms of mental health. It is played out in our subway system.

Dr. Phil: It really is. I think that’s just one prong of the issue because there are so many that aren’t there. Maybe they’re one paycheck away from being there. Maybe they’re one life experience away from being there that are living all around the city and they’re alone and they’re suffering from loneliness. We talked about that some last night because that is a real issue, a real problem that impacts longevity. It impacts people’s resiliency if they have a disease. Of course, those people are suffering from loneliness. Can you imagine? I know you can. People need to think about how long the nights are when you have nothing to do, nowhere to be, to just sit there and nothing to look forward to, no hope, the hours are just dragging by forever.

Mayor Adams: Right, and you tend to stop existing and no longer to live. We ignored for many years how loneliness plays a major role in the social determinants of health. Other countries, they start to look at loneliness czars, and they really started to focus on that. We come from a culture where it’s like, just suck it up, step up a lift. These things don’t impact you, but it does. It impacts us in many ways. We have to, number one, acknowledge it if we want to resolve it. I’m hoping that our cities start to do like others have indicated they’re doing of becoming trauma identifiers.

Identify when people are going through trauma, not only who are coming for your services, but even your city employees, our city employees. Everybody carries trauma all day, every day. You’re hearing the pains of people. People don’t realize it, but it plays on you in a real way.

Dr. Phil: It does.

[Commercial Break.]

Dr. Phil: New York is a sanctuary city.

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Dr. Phil: Will it continue to be in the future?

Mayor Adams: The idea of sanctuary city and those who are paroled into the country has been conflated. We need to clearly understand what a sanctuary city is. A sanctuary city. This was a law that was passed by former Mayor Koch and was also modified by Mayor Bloomberg.

What it states is, if you are here in this city, you have a right to services. You have a right to go to the hospital to get medical care. You have a right to have your children educated in our schools. You have a right if you’re a victim of a crime that someone is going to respond to you. You have a right to use the basic services of the city because if you’re here and you buy a loaf of bread and you’re paying taxes, those are tax dollars that go in the coffer.

No one’s told you that if you are an immigrant documented or not, that you don’t have to pay your taxes for those items. Because of that, you have a right to the services in the city. That’s what a sanctuary city is. In addition to that, New York City has a right to shelter law that tells you if you are in New York City, you have a right to have shelter. No one thought that was going to mean 225,000 migrants and asylum seekers.

This was a lawsuit that was passed years ago when a group of men who were homeless did not have shelter and that lawsuit was passed and put in place. That is different than what we are experiencing right now with the migrants and asylum seekers of both the sanctuary city law has nothing to do with that. These people are paroled into the country, and when they’re paroled into the country, if they come here to New York City, then our right to shelter law is taken into existence.

Dr. Phil: You had a system for sheltering people here. Meeting that law, that would accommodate 40,000, 50,000 people?

Mayor Adams: Yes. When I came into office, we had 65,000 people in our care already. With the migrants and asylum seeker crisis, that’s an additional 220,000. That overwhelmed this city. The right to shelter law, we went to court and fought for this. The right to shelter law never was intended for humanitarian crisis of housing everyone across the globe. As the law was in place before we challenged the right to shelter, it stated, you can come from anywhere on the globe, come to New York and stay on taxpayers’ dime for as long as you want inside our shelter system. That just made no sense.

Dr. Phil: These are two different things. People that say, okay, New York, you thought it was so great to be a sanctuary city, now you got to house all these people. That’s not part of the sanctuary guidelines.

Mayor Adams: No, it’s not.

Dr. Phil: The reason that you’re housing these people is because there is a law that has nothing to do with sanctuary.

Mayor Adams: Not at all.

Dr. Phil: It’s not really well-defined what sanctuary city means, but you can throw all that label off and you still have the law that says you come here, you have a right to shelter.

Mayor Adams: Right to shelter. It was over 40-something years that law was in place, right to shelter. What we did is, we went to court, and we said to the court that this was not the intention of right to shelter that we will house anyone from anywhere on the globe that comes here, we must pay on taxpayers’ dime their right to shelter. The court agreed with us, and we were able to make some modification in that, that when it comes down to the migrants and the asylum seeker crisis, this is a humanitarian crisis. That is not what right to shelter was put in place for.

Dr. Phil: Okay, but you’re still housing these people.

Mayor Adams: No, this is what we did. This is why we were successful, because this is so important, we put a timeline on it. We were saying now to the migrants and asylum seekers that you can’t come here and stay as long as you want. We’re now giving you 30 days if you’re a single adult, 60 days if you are a family with children, and within that timeframe, you have to find your path.

Now, that 225,000 that we’ve had, 170,000 went on the next step of their journey. Some decided they want to be re-ticketed back to the countries that they came from, some went to the destinations that they wanted to go to in the first place, but 170,000 have moved on. We took a lot of criticism. People say we were inhumane for giving people a deadline. They attacked us for it. No, what’s inhumane is having a child raised in a shelter system. You’re less likely to graduate from high school if you are in the shelter system and you don’t educate you will incarcerate.

[Commercial Break.]

[Video plays.]

Mayor Adams: Those who abuse of their right to be in this country by violating and harming innocent people, they should not be here after they serve their time. I’m clear on that. I’m unwavering on that. I’m looking forward not to be in a warring state with the incoming president and his team, but to be in a working state. Fix the immigration, secure our border, and make sure that we can protect Americans.

[Video ends.]

Dr. Phil: You’ve spent $6.5 billion.

Mayor Adams: Think about that.

Dr. Phil: Yes. It’s a lot of money. What could you do with that?

Mayor Adams: Well, one, it’s imperative as we went out yesterday and walked in the subway system. We need to get people into what we call safe haven housing so they can get round-the-clock care. Imagine if we had a billion dollars to do that. We would wipe out homelessness in this city if we had a billion dollars. We have a large number of children that did not return to school after COVID. They are chronically absent from school. A substantial number of them, tens of thousands.

Imagine if we had $300 million, if we could have gone and put a real team together to find them. If we had a couple of hundred million dollars to hire more police officers, a billion dollars to put in our housing. When you talk about $6.5 billion that was removed out of the economy, that is not going to hurt high-income New Yorkers. Specifically, it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers. That should never have happened. Cities should not carry the weight of federal issues.

Look at what happened to Denver. Millions of dollars out of their budget. Chicago, billions of dollars out of their budget. Los Angeles, Washington, Houston. These are big cities in America that they had to take a substantial amount of their cities tax dollars that should have been going to the needy in their cities and they had to send it over to deal with the national crisis. Not only New York, it hit our major cities in America. Even our border cities when I was down the El Paso and saw what was happening there as well. This has hijacked these cities and their tax dollars to deal with the crises that they were facing.

Dr. Phil: Do you believe we should close the border?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we should until we get it under control and decide. There are several things that I think we can turn this crisis into an opportunity. Many of our cities are dealing with a serious decrease in population. We are dealing with a real workforce issue. Everything from food service workers to nurses, we have a shortage, et cetera. We should control the process.

If we parole someone into this country, we should tell them where to go. “Here we have a population problem, here we have an employment problem. You go here for three years and then you could determine to move throughout the country.” You should not dictate where you’re going into the country. There should be a symbiotic relationship. You go where we need you to go. Then we should not be allowing and paroling in those who are gang members. Those who have a history of violence. We have to do a better vetting job to make sure that whoever’s coming into our country is coming here because they believe in the American dream.

Dr. Phil: I know you’re a Democrat mayor, but so many things you’re talking about are cultural issues that should be nonpartisan. Getting the homeless taken care of, mentally ill taken care of, educational issues taken care of. Children that need safety, Americans that need safety. These aren’t partisan issues. This applies to everybody and you’re taking all of these things on, and it seems to me that everybody would line up behind those things. Do you have enemies on these issues?

Mayor Adams: Oh, you do. I think that there’s certain things that we have witnessed that is happening in our country right now, that we need to really be conscious of them.

One, I believe the radicalizing of our children. Here you had a person who went to an Ivy League school raising the best family, but when you read the manifesto and you look at his posture, they appear to hate America.

The shooting that shook our city last week. A CEO, Brian Thompson of United Healthcare, was the victim of a senseless act of violence. When you looked at after October 7th, what was playing out on our college campuses in some of the paraphernalia of “destroy America,” using the sports analogy, our young people— that’s our triple A. That’s our minor league. If they hate the jersey of the professional team, you’re in trouble.

If you hate America, if you don’t understand what America has done– and no, we’re not perfect. We have a lot of things we have to improve on, but it’s the best country on the globe. I get criticized and many people are criticized for one reason, they love America. There’s something wrong with you for loving America. A country where a young man is dyslexic and now he’s elected to be the mayor of the greatest city I believe on the globe, only in America.

Yes, there are those who their agenda is they hate our way of life, and we need to be honest about that. They want to hurt our way of life, and they’re the numerical minority, but they’re the loudest. They are organized and they have a lot of partnership and a lot of legacy media. We have to be honest about that.

[Commercial Break.]

Dr. Phil: You’re mayor of the biggest city in the United States. You look at crime statistics, for example. In New York, you’ve been able to really fight the battle against crime, violent crime, murders, muggings, rape. You’re making progress across the board, correct?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we are. We have continuously witnessed a decrease in crime throughout my administration. I inherited a city when we were looking at a 40 percent increase in crime. We were in the midst of COVID. No one wanted to come back on our subway system. No one wanted to use the office spaces, small retail shops. We were in a dark place, and it was aggravated by some of the crises that COVID produced for the city and the country.

The amazing work of the Police Department, these men and women couldn’t social-distance. They couldn’t operate remotely. They had to be out there every day, and they did just that. I knew I had to deal with not only rebuilding the city, but rebuilding the morale of our officers by giving them the salary that they deserve, giving them the equipment they deserve, and giving them the support. They answered the call. I’m really pleased of what the NYPD was able to accomplish.

Dr. Phil: Has that been the key in getting crime down? Are there other things that have contributed to it? I think people across America want to know. All the polling that went into the presidential election, across the board, people said number one was affordability. They wanted to be able to afford their lives, take care of their children. Second was security. That included border security, but it included security of all kinds. They wanted to feel safe in their communities and in their homes. As you know, I have a relationship with the NYPD. I know a lot of these officers and leaders. They’d lay down in traffic for you because you have their backs. Are there other things that have contributed to lowering the crime rate in New York?

Mayor Adams: One of my favorite quotes is from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We spend a lifetime pulling people out of the river. No one goes upstream, and prevent them from falling in in the first place. We have been operating our cities in our country with a real downstream mindset. We wait until people fall in the river, and then we create all of these programs and spend billions of dollars of how to respond to the crisis, instead of, how do we prevent the crisis?

I embraced an upstream mindset at the beginning of my administration. What did that look like? Doing dyslexia screening in our schools. I’m dyslexic, and I was undiagnosed until I got to college. 30 percent to 40 percent of our inmates that are in our prisons and jails are dyslexic. That means that instead of giving them the services that they deserve so they could be functioning in our society, we wait until they believe they’re dumb and they commit predatory crimes and end up in our jails. We wanted to stop that by doing that dyslexia screening.

Also, around health, what we have done proactively around health, what we have done around foster care children, we have 600 or 700 foster care children that age out every year. We know what happens to them. They fall through the cracks. Victim of a crime, participate in crime, homelessness, mental health.

We said, let’s stop that. We’re paying their college tuition, giving them a stipend to live daily, and we’re giving them life coaches until they’re 21 years old. You’re seeing a remarkable increase in the number that are graduating in college and participating in the services we’re doing. Our mindset is we can’t be a downstream administration. We must go upstream and prevent some of these crises in the first place.

Dr. Phil: People know when we talk about aging out of the foster care system, my wife Robin and I have been national spokespersons for CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, for a long time, and Robin has been very active in that regard. When we say age out, when they hit 18, they’re done.

Mayor Adams: Think about that.

Dr. Phil: There’s nowhere for them to go. They’re just out on the street and may not have had any preparation for the next level. They get lost in the system sometimes. This can sound like a big giveaway program when you’re talking about life coaches for them and different things like that. The return on investment probably saves them using other services, winding up in incarceration, getting on drugs, being in all kinds of problems that require social services by empowering them to stand on their own two feet. That doesn’t happen for free, but it probably saves the city a fortune in the long run.

Mayor Adams: Dr. Phil, it is an investment. We have this, the program is called Fair Futures here, but it is an investment. What we have failed to do is identify how to invest in the future. Not giveaways, but investment. We basically profitize poverty. When you wait until that child that we didn’t invest in, we pull them out of the stream, downstream, then there’s so much money that’s been generated and made off of profitize in poverty.

When you have to take that child that you didn’t diagnose as dyslexic, and they end up in incarcerated, now you have all of these billions of dollars that are spent on reentry programs and spent on the traumatizing that they did, that is profitable. There’s no real incentive, to be honest with you, in changing to an upstream mindset because there’s so much money that’s being made downstream. Then when you look at the victims of who’s being made for it, they’re poverty, they’re Black and brown, they’re other ethnic groups that are living in low income. The voice and incentive of the money that’s being made downstream is just mind-boggling. I said, “No, we need to stop that.” We need to go upstream and make the investment. It’s almost a 10th of what it costs pulling people out of the river.

Dr. Phil: Who’s profiting from this, generally speaking?

Mayor Adams: There’s a whole list of professional entities that deal with downstream management and responses. It’s not to say that they’re wrong because someone must deal with pulling people out of the river. What we must do is we focus our attention to an upstream model because it’s more cost-saving, it’s better for taxpayers, and it does not perpetuate the continuation of the problem that we’re facing.

Dr. Phil: Yes, because if you do it downstream, what you’re doing is you’re managing it, you’re not healing it, you’re not changing it.

Mayor Adams: Well said. Well said. That’s the key, what I’ve learned from being a police officer watching the impact of downstream. One of the most memorable moments for me as an officer, an 11-year-old was arrested several times for gunpoint robbery. When I went into the command and I spoke to the young man, he knew every four-letter word you could imagine. It wasn’t until late into the night that I sat down after buying him something to eat and drink that he broke down and started crying.

His dad was in jail serving a serious charge. His mother was hooked on crack cocaine. He was not in school for a substantial period of time. Nobody checked on him. That’s the system collapsing. If we don’t stop that mindset, then it’s just a revolving door and it never ends. We’re treating the symptom and not the underlying cause. We need to stop treating the symptoms because the symptoms will always be there. It’s just another pill.

[Commercial Break.]

Dr. Phil: Here’s the question that I’ve been so anxious to ask you about. I believe that the education system in America across the board is subject to immediate collapse. We’ve got a couple hundred thousand vacancies among teachers. We’ve got another 100,000 plus that are teaching without certification and training. We got 300 plus either empty or uncertified teachers. We’re seeing standards dropped. When you and I went to school, 90 to 100 was an A, 80 to 90 was a B, 70 to 80 was a C. Now they’re just lowering the standards where you start with a 50, and you can pass with a 55. Just show up, put your name on a paper, and you pass.

19 percent of graduates are functionally illiterate. Now we’re getting ready to see what I believe is a huge national crisis with a collapse of our education system. You’ve got almost seven million residents in New York City, biggest public school systems in the country. What are you doing to deal with the educational crisis?

Mayor Adams: It is so true. Two areas that keep me up at night when it comes down to the future. One is law enforcement, we’re seeing a complete collapse and erosion of law enforcement. The second is education. Those are two entities that we spend a great deal of taxpayer dollars, and are we getting a return on our investment? When you look at the reading and the math scores across the country, how dismal they are, how many communities are reaching proficiency in reading and math, and what are we doing with our children in our schools?

Now we’re looking at how, when our children finish their educational experience, how prepared are they? I went to speak with a group of my educators the other day and I took the original Alexander Graham Bell clock that was made. I showed what the classroom was for that period of time and children were sitting behind the desk learning. Then I said, well, here’s the telephone of today the smartphone, and here’s the classroom of the day. It’s the same darn classroom.

Dr. Phil: Yes. Has it changed?

Mayor Adams: We’ve evolved in the technology, but the classroom is still the same. We are zeroing in on not only must our children be academically smart, they have to be emotionally intelligent. How do you manage your emotions? How do you have those basic skills of communicating, critical thinking, working in groups? How do you learn to just express yourself and think differently?

Then we need to get a way of getting out of the fishbowl of education. The purpose of going to school is either to start your own career or to be involved and be employable. Why shouldn’t the people who are going to describe what skillset our children need to be employable? They should be part of the curriculum. They should be the partner to say, this is the young man or woman and what I need them to have when they come to seek a job or when they start their own company.

I think that we were too tied just basically to the historical roles of education and needs when the globe around us changed. We have real partnership with internship, real partnership with real work experience for our young people. We are allowing them to do some of the items that they need to be prepared for the future. Like we teaching breathing exercises, meditation in our schools, healthy foods so we don’t feed the healthcare crisis.

Yes, we are dealing with the three Rs, reading, math, and those essentials, but you need to develop the full personhood of our children so they could be prepared. You and I know, I did 22 years in the Police Department, our babies are not going to be around sometimes for 22 weeks. They’re going to have so many changes, and they must be prepared for those changes in a real way.

Dr. Phil: Well, are we teaching the wrong things, failing to teach the right things? Is that what you’re saying? We’ve got to do something. How we’re graduating 19 percent of the class that can’t read, I don’t understand. It seems to me that we do need to be teaching maybe computer coding, maybe AI skills, but maybe things that match what the challenges are today that didn’t even exist back then. Maybe this would motivate kids to want to go to school if they knew, “Hey, I can sell these skills next year if I was learning something now instead of following a curriculum that’s 50, 100 years old.”

Mayor Adams: That’s the goal and that’s what we did. We changed our entire reading curriculum against what was normally being done and the entire state is following us, and we believe the country’s going to follow us. We were basically not using the right methodology. Chancellor Banks, the former chancellor was extremely aggressive and innovative and saying, we need to do it right. We can’t do what we’ve always done.

We’re doing the same things with math as well. Just thinking differently because you are right, reading is not only your desire to get a high grade on your test scores, it is how you’re going to function in life. It is how you’re going to have the quality of life that you deserve and what we should be preparing our children for.

Dr. Phil: Well, no question about that. Most of those in the prison system are poorly educated. They’re not literate. They don’t have job skills. The population that is functionally illiterate, poorly educated dropouts are much higher at risk for winding up in prison than those who have, and those who get educated while they’re in prison, their chance of winding up back in prison is 16 percent. Those who don’t get educated while they’re there, their chance of coming back is about 85 percent.

Mayor Adams: What you’re saying is so important, and not only that it feeds into what I stated earlier. I have been to Rikers Island, our jail more than any man in the history of the city. When I go there and I ask the inmates and groups and gatherings, raise your hand if you have a learning disability. 8 out of 10, raise their hands. The real crime is not only what they committed, but it’s the fact that we did not diagnose them and give them the support they needed at an earlier age.

We are producing the criminal behavior because people don’t believe they have a place in our society, and they do, if we do a better job. We’re doing dyslexia screening in our jails so that we can show them while they’re there, they can get the education that they need as the numbers that you just pointed out.

Dr. Phil: So, again, return on investment.

Mayor Adams: Exactly. That’s the key. The key is are we investing in the right things, and we have to be honest and willing to do in this administration.

[Commercial Break.]

[Video plays.]

Wolf Blitzer: Would you accept the pardon if Trump offered it to you?

Mayor Adams: I don’t deal with hypotheticals. I have a legal team and they’re going to manage anything that’s possible to deal with these charges that should have never been brought on me in the first place.

[Video ends.]

Dr. Phil: You’ve been indicted as a sitting mayor by a grand jury.

[Video plays.]

Mayor Adams: This is not surprising to us at all. The actions that have unfolded over the last 10 months, the leaks, the commentary, the demonizing. This did not surprise us that we reached this day. My attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.

[Video ends.]

Dr. Phil: Why do you think that happened?

Mayor Adams: I think it’s a combination of things, and I believe at the tip of it is, I was extremely vociferous about what was happening to the city during the migrants and asylum seeker issue. I lived my life, not only when I was a law enforcement officer, but as a state senator, borough president, and now the mayor, of following the law and when you look into the crevices of the indictment, it clearly shows there’s something that’s just not right. Dr. Phil, I cannot tell you the only consolation to this is that mommy’s not alive.

I would not want my mother to watch me go through this. It hurts a lot. No American should go through being on the FBI watch list because you’re standing up for your family member. That is just not what our criminal justice system is about. That’s the criminal justice system I fought for. I’ve been an advocate for proper criminal justice. I believe that the record is going to show I did nothing wrong. What I did right, I stood up for this city. I believe there were those that just disagreed that why was I standing up to see what was happening to my city and happening to the families in the city.

Dr. Phil: This is in New York. President-elect Trump has been charged with a lot of things here. This is happening to you here. Is this something that has infected this district? Why do you think here this is going on?

Mayor Adams: I started looking at my case and reading through it. Then I started to just go and search what has happened to other people. Not only to President-elect Trump, but there are other great patriarchs that have gone through a difficult period of time. When you look at the amount of money you have to spend in defending yourself, you saw the leaks that were being slipped out and reported constantly. As much as we ask the federal government, can you stop leaking this or allow us to have our opportunities to defend ourselves? It’s almost as though you have your hands tied behind your back because you can’t talk as much as you want to push back on so of the accusations.

I think this is a national issue that we have to face. The American public is not aware of how I believe we have really abused our criminal justice system.

Dr. Phil: What would you say to your mother about this if she was alive?

Mayor Adams: I’ll tell her I’m sorry. My mother was extremely proud of me. She used to stay up late at night, Dr. Phil. I was struggling in school and she would tell me, “Baby, don’t worry. Just keep trying.” She was proud when I became a police officer. She was proud when I became a state senator and borough president. She has six children. She loved them all, but she adored me. I was her child.

Dr. Phil: You’re telling me you were the favorite?

Mayor Adams: I was the favorite and you know what? They all know it, but it would’ve broke my heart if she would have had to live through this. It would have broken me.

Dr. Phil: Is it hurting you?

Mayor Adams: Yes, it is. I have a son and every day I tell him, follow the rules, follow the law, do what’s right. You build up your character. I was in Ireland many years ago, and I was speaking to some of the people and they said that never hurt the family name. I never wanted to hurt the family name. I’m a mayor of the biggest city on the globe. All that I built up and all the contributions that I made to watch me go through this. You know what hurt me the most is that there are many people that know me that never even read the indictment. They was just saying he needs to step down. They know the life that I live.

Some people I helped through most difficult times, but I refused to step down. I stepped up, and I delivered for this city. Passing housing legislation, helping the homeless, educating our children, keeping our streets safe. This is a great American story. When it’s all said and done, people are going to realize how Americans are the most resilient people because as hard as this has been, there was not one day I said I wanted to surrender.

I used to walk past my mother’s room when she was raising the six of us on her home, and I would hear her crying at night, unsure if the marshals were going to throw us out and unsure if she was going to be able to feed us. You know what? When that alarm clock went up in the morning, she got up those knees, she did those three jobs. She came home every day and she said, “I have a job to do, and I’m not giving up on my children.” I’m not going to give up on the people of the city. No matter what comes at me, I’m going to deliver for these people.

Dr. Phil: You’re going to fight these charges to the bitter end?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I am. I’m going to fight, and it’s important that I do so because I know I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve served this city as a police officer. I served this city as a state senator, as a borough president, and I’m serving it as a mayor. I think that my story is an American story, and I’m going to fight to the bitter end for this city.

[Commercial Break.]

Dr. Phil: You don’t seem to be letting it distract you.

Mayor Adams: No. Your success is not what you have done, but what you have overcome. I overcame COVID in the city, brought us back. I overcome 220,000 migrants in the sit asylum seekers without any support from the federal government that we should have received. I overcome an indictment but still doing a job, because every day people are overcoming. How do I surrender when a mother lost a child to gun violence? Yes, she gets up and started an organization like Jackie Rowe-Adams to stop gun violence. How do I surrender when someone lost a loved one to cancer? Then they start a march to help others. Every day people are overcoming obstacles.

I need to symbol[ize] and let them know that no matter what I’m going through I’m going to overcome it and I’m going to continue to move the city in the right direction. We’ve turned the city around in 2 years and 11 months. People thought it was going to take us five years to turn around the economy, to make it a cleaner safer city, and to build the housing and how we deal with the crisis that we’re facing. I need to stay on the path. I have a saying, no distractions, stay focused, and grind. That’s the American way.

Dr. Phil: You have nothing to apologize for? You’re not going to take a step back?

Mayor Adams: Not at all.

Dr. Phil: You’re going to fight it every step of the way.

Mayor Adams: Every step of the way. There’s no reason to apologize for living the life that I lived, and I’m going to continue to do what’s best for the people of this city. It is so important the type of leadership that was needed was important for me to come in office with my experience as the law enforcement officer and seeing the downstream approach to life that we were watching in our cities and cities to move the city to an upstream model to utilize and embrace technology to make us safer and move forward to become the AI capital of the world, to look at all of these challenges.

I have work to do, and I’m going to do the job that I was elected to do. My attorney will handle the case. The case I must make sure I handle is a case that New Yorkers should be able to afford to live in a safe city with a bright future for the children.

Dr. Phil: Well, I want to say when I asked you to do this interview and you agreed to do it, you came at it with nothing off-limits, full transparency. You agreed to answer any questions, talk about anything. There weren’t any guardrails or guidelines. I appreciate your transparency and openness, and I appreciate your trust that I’m going to tell this story and get it out there. That’s what we do at Merit TV, and I appreciate your trust in us and telling this story.

Mayor Adams: Well, I think that your platform is crucial. I think that getting messages out unfiltered, without agendas, but just telling what’s right. When I watch your programming shows, you have really received the trust, as we saw on the train station the other day, the trust of Americans. I think that’s so important. Trust is crucial for us to move our city forward and move our country forward.

Dr. Phil: Well, we’re a platform to tell that story, and I appreciate it. We’re here to tell that story, and we’ll continue to do so going forward. Mayor, thank you for your time. I know you’re very, very busy.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Dr. Phil: All right. There you have it. You can make up your own mind about Mayor Adams. I don’t think anybody can question his dedication to the City of New York. I don’t think anybody can question his transparency about what’s going on here. A man born with dyslexia, one of six children that fought to overcome a lot of things, and he’s got some personal battles ahead of him right now. One thing you can bet he is a fighter. He’s not going to lay down, and this will play out, and we’ll see where it goes. He’s continuing to keep his eye on the ball. He’s continuing to focus on the people of New York and deal with the issues that any city deals with. They’re all amplified when you’ve got eight million people looking to you for leadership. We’ll see you next time.

Banner Image: Reservoir. Image Credit – Sue Winston