Connecting Justice-Involved To Jobs, Media Availability, Lunar New Year, NYers Can Sign Up For Tax Svcs, Expanding Apprenticeships, Raises For Child Care Providers

Connecting Justice-Involved To Jobs, Media Availability, Lunar New Year, NYers Can Sign Up For Tax Svcs, Expanding Apprenticeships, Raises For Child Care Providers

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES $15 MILLION INVESTMENT TO CONNECT 1,500 JUSTICE-INVOLVED AND IMPACTED NEW YORKERS TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES 

 Community Resource for Employment and Development to Connect New Yorkers to Paid Internships in In-Demand, Emerging Sectors 

Participants Will Have Access to Support Services, Including Mental Health Counseling, Housing, Academics, and Health Care 

Announcement Comes as City Celebrates Breaking All-Time High Jobs Record for Eighth Time Since Start of Administration, Unemployment Down Across All Demographics 

Part of Adams Administration’s “Jobs Week,” Highlighting City’s Effort to Ensure Opportunity Reaches Every Borough, Block, and Neighborhood, and Working-Class Families Have Access to Good-Paying Jobs 

  Editor’s note: We’ve previously covered the Mayor’s announcements about Jobs Week in NYC, with the goal of connecting more New Yorkers with jobs. This is a time when many are seeking employment. Earlier this month the Mayor announced the NYC had an all time high number for total jobs and employment levels.  

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today continued “Jobs Week ” by announcing the Community Resources for Employment and Development (CRED) initiative, a new $15 million workforce program for participants, ages 18-40, involved in the criminal justice system who are at risk of involvement in community violence or residing in communities with the highest rates of gun violence. Overseen by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and its network of providers, CRED will offer work readiness training, occupational training, and internships for in-demand, emerging sectors for up to 24 weeks, as well as job placement within a three-month follow-up period. CRED offers holistic support to participants, providing access to mental health counseling, housing, academic support, and health care access.

This announcement comes as the city, last week, celebrated breaking the all-time high jobs record for the eighth time and unemployment going down across all demographics, since the start of the Adams administration. This week, the Adams administration is celebrating “Jobs Week,” highlighting the city’s efforts to ensure job opportunities reaches every borough, block, and neighborhood and advancing Mayor Adams’ 2025 State of the City commitment to make New York City the best, more affordable place to raise a family.

“The best deterrent to crime and keeping communities safe is simple: a good-paying job. CRED is that deterrent, investing in communities most impacted by gun violence and providing the holistic support needed to help justice-impacted New Yorkers enter the workforce,” said Mayor Adams. “All New Yorkers — no matter their past — should be able to receive the training and resources they need to secure a job. Our ‘Jobs Week’ is highlighting that a job is more than just a way to earn a living — it provides purpose, a sense of pride, and the means to keep people on the right path.” 

“DYCD is excited to introduce CRED to our robust workforce development programming and expand those opportunities to include New Yorkers who are exposed to community violence, have been justice-involved, or reside in Gun Violence Task Force priority precincts,” said DYCD Commissioner Keith Howard. “Public safety and ensuring New York is the best place to raise a family are top priorities of Mayor Adams, and programs like CRED—offering a variety of paid trainings, internships, and opportunity for full time employment—are doing just that.” 

CRED is expected to serve 1,500 participants over Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, and FY26. Participants will receive up to 24 weeks or 600 hours of paid training and internships at $20 per hour in high-demand career fields, including: 

• Industrial and Infrastructure  

• Service  

• Media & Entertainment  

• Health Care  

• Technology 

• Education/Nonprofit  

New Yorkers interested in participating in CRED should visit DYCD’s homepage for updates beginning in mid-February. 

The Adams administration has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in creating good-paying, family-sustaining, public- and private-sector jobs for New Yorkers. The New York City Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce (NYC Talent) announced that, last year, nearly 8,500 job-seeking New Yorkers were connected to employment, free training, and workforce development resources over six months through the through Mayor Adams’ “Jobs NYC” initiative. Jobs NYC is a multi-pronged citywide effort to reduce barriers to economic opportunities and deliver workforce development services directly to communities across the five boroughs that are experiencing high unemployment. Thanks to efforts like Jobs NYC, the city has celebrated an over 20 percent reduction in Black and Latino unemployment since the start of the Adams administration. To find job opportunities, free training, and employment resources, New Yorkers can visit the Jobs NYC website 

The administration has also launched and advanced transformative projects in all five boroughs to support job creation, including projects ranging from the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, to the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Brooklyn, to SPARC Kips Bay in Manhattan, to Willets Point in Queens, to the North Shore Action Plan on Staten Island. Cumulatively, these projects will create tens of thousands of permanent and temporary construction jobs, generate more than $100 billion in long-term economic impact for the city, and cultivate good-paying, 21st-century job opportunities.  

Additionally, last year, NYC Talent announced the city delivered more than 15,000 apprenticeship opportunities to New Yorkers in less than three years — more than halfway to the administration’s moonshot goal of creating 30,000 apprenticeships by 2030 announced in Mayor Adams’ 2023 State of the City address.    Further, last summer, NYC Talent announced expanded workforce services for New Yorkers with disabilities and celebrated a hiring milestone for the community. Finally, Mayor Adams, also last summer, announced the city’s first-ever community hiring effort, which leverages more than $1.2 billion in city contracts to create job opportunities for underserved New Yorkers. Community hiring allows the city to use its purchasing power, set hiring goals across city procurement contracts, and build on the success of existing project labor agreements and agency-specific hiring programs. 

“Vocational training is one of the most powerful public safety tools in our arsenal, reducing recidivism by 43%, and the CRED initiative is harnessing the power of this upstream solution,” said State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “This $15 million program will uplift 500 at-risk New Yorkers, providing them job training with wraparound support for their health, wellbeing, education, and housing. Under CRED, 500 more New Yorkers will be able to stand on their own two feet, put food on the table, and have a roof over their heads without turning to crime. It continues the administration’s signature work creating the most jobs in history and driving down crime, ensuring safety and economic empowerment for all New Yorkers.”

“The CRED initiative is a great way to steer people away from violence and crime and into productive employment,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “This initiative uses a holistic approach that understands that we cannot incarcerate our way out of all our problems. It will help create a workforce that is better prepared for the modern economy and that will help spur economic prosperity that will benefit our entire city.” 

“Too often, justice-involved New Yorkers face barriers to opportunities that prevent them from rebuilding their lives, said Council Member Salaam. “The CRED initiative is a crucial investment in breaking that cycle by providing the tools, training, and support necessary for meaningful career pathways. In Harlem and across this city, we know that public safety and economic stability go hand in hand. I applaud Mayor Adams and the Department of Youth and Community Development for prioritizing workforce development that uplifts our communities and ensures that every New Yorker has a chance to thrive.” 

“Hundreds of our neighbors return each year to our communities after being incarcerated, and most want nothing more than reintegrating back into society, but lack of employment, housing and other services often stands in their way,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “I know from personal experience growing up in a tough neighborhood, and from years of life-changing work by our Re-entry Bureau, that having these opportunities is essential for future success. So, I commend Mayor Adams for this investment, which will assist individuals, help reduce recidivism and enhance both fairness and public safety. 

TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR ADAMS HOLDS IN-PERSON MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Mayor Eric Adams: It feels so good to get back and see some of you. I’m going to do my list of who it feels good to see. But it is great to be back, coming back from Albany.Albany has, under this administration, I was telling the governor yesterday, Albany has treated us well and it was reflected in the list of items, only five priorities that we had because we have been able to accomplish so much with our delegation from New York City and our partnership with the governor. 

Everything from increasing the earned income tax credit to what we needed for the housing initiatives, to public safety, our subway safety plan. The governor was– stood side by side. And even through the migrant asylum seeker crisis, the greatest humanitarian crisis this city I believe has ever seen. And the governor was there, stride by stride. 

Our delegation, the majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and all of our partners. And we just really wanted to thank them, and privately, as I sat down with them, I just personally told them how much we appreciated their support. But again, we’re on a pursuit here. The best place to raise a family in New York City, and every day we’re going to continue to work hard to do that, affordability, public safety, and housing for working-class New Yorkers. 

And last month, as we look at the safety aspect of it, we talked about it, 20,000 guns removed off our streets. And the crime stats, not only in January, but in December as well. But if you look at last month, major crimes citywide were down almost 17 percent overall. And this gives us two straight months with double-digit decreases in crime. And below ground, we saw a whopping 36 percent decrease in transit crime last month. 

In January, we reached another major milestone in our mission to make our city safer for working-class families. Last month had the fewest number of shootings of any January in recorded history. We also had the third lowest number of shooting victims, the fourth lowest number of homicides, and the third lowest number of robberies, burglaries of any January in recorded history. And these numbers are impressive, but the story behind them speaks volume, and that includes the tireless effort of our men and women in the Police Department in removing 20,000 illegal guns, and really 1,400 were untraceable ghost guns, which is extremely significant as we continue to combat both using our lawsuits, as well as our enforcement to deal with the untraceable ghost gun. And we have removed 3,000 more guns in the last three years than were removed in the three years before we came into office. 

In the last three years, there’s been a 23 percent reduction in homicides and a whopping 42 percent reduction in shootings. And this is a story that involves lives being saved, of traumas being alleviated, if not eradicated, and bringing down gun violence in the city. We’re the safest big city in America. And when we move on to affordability, we also committed to creating a more affordable city. 

For the eighth time in our administration alone, we’ve broken the record for total jobs in New York City, with more than 4 million—over 4 million, 4.77 million jobs, to be exact. That is a record eight times we have broken the record around jobs. And that’s why this week is Affordability Week– our Jobs Week. As we’re focusing on jobs and how we’re creating jobs, First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and her team focused on Race for Space. 

Our retail industry was decimated during COVID. We know we have to look at the potential of 50 million square feet of office space leased by the end of the year. As we focus on that, we want to create thousands of jobs in the process. We want to turn vacant office spaces into job opportunities. That’s how we see it. And we’re bringing even our small businesses up. We have a record-breaking 183,000 small businesses in our city, so they can continue to flourish. One in five small businesses in our city has opened during our administration. And let me say that again. One in five small businesses have opened during this administration. And the big reason why is really Commissioner Gross continuing the work of the former Commissioner Kim. 

Small business services have really revamped and have made sure we stop using citation as a form of taxation. We have made reforms that included more than $50 million in fines and fees no longer coming out of the pockets of our businesses, and we’re going to continue to make sure that they can keep every dollar to continue to thrive in this city. 

And so we announced a $2 million investment to expand our highly successful Jobs NYC model, which uses hiring halls and community partnerships to bring job opportunities together on the ground where people are. This has to remain a safe place to raise children and families, and we’re going to continue to say that, and we are going to continue to respond to all of those issues that are impacting us. 

And so before I open up for questions, I just want to remind everyone that we’re expecting around an inch of snow to fall on the city tomorrow during the morning commute. Agencies are preparing to respond, including the Department of Sanitation, which would be brining the roads and have 700 salt spreaders ready. So please use public transportation as possible and drive slowly if you have to drive. But you know, when you talk about driving slowly, you want to make sure that you do it with a child seat, particularly when you have a new baby. 

And so we want to show the baby of Emma and Ryan from our team here at City Hall for welcoming their baby boy, Elliot. You know, just really proud of him. And he’s home with mom. And so Emma, Ryan, and Elliot, we’re all wishing you the best. And good luck to you as you raise your baby in the city that is safe for children and families. Let me open up for some questions.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I want to ask you first and foremost about your Tin Cup Day. $1.1 billion is what you asked for for some of the migrant funding. And speaking to a number of our sources, a number of Albany lawmakers, they said that money’s not coming. Right? They’re not going to come your way. The governor kind of hinted at that in some of her statements yesterday, as well. 

If you don’t get the $1.1 billion in funding, could the city be looking at head cuts again for some programs across the city? That’s question number one. I’ll let you take that one first

Mayor Adams:. Listen, we have been extremely successful and, you know, we’ve done this dance before. But we have been extremely successful with our city lawmakers in Albany. We’re going to sit down with them. We’re going to lay out exactly why we need the funding. And we’re going to give them the numbers and show them success. We have been extremely successful. 

You think about 180,000 migrants and asylum seekers that we were able to transition on the next level of their journey. And so we’re going to sit down with them. This is the beginning of the process. It has just started. In fact, the DJ hasn’t even played the music, so the dance has just begun. And we’re going to make sure we show why we need the money. We still have a substantial number of migrants and asylum seekers that are here in the city. And we believe that when we sit down with our city lawmakers that are in Albany, they’re going to see the need and requirement for it.

Question: You don’t want to do a hypothetical if your cuts are still on the table?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, no, we don’t want to do hypotheticals because, as we saw year after year after year, you know, when we talk about these issues, we saw that people gave us doomsday scenarios and just the opposite. You know, we’ve landed the plane over and over again, you know, Dan, we still got 46,000 migrants and asylum seekers that are in the city. We were successful in our transition, but it still exists, and so we’re going to go through the process.

Question: Mr. Mayor on a different topic of closing some of these early childhood centers. I spoke to the owner and she said there was a bit of an error. You stood at this podium and you said that that specific location had four students. She said that that was an assumption that they actually have 96 that are fully enrolled. So looking at the bigger picture now and maybe there was a clerical error. Will you reverse course on some of these closures and, if you don’t, I know you say every child is guaranteed a seat, but can you guarantee that they’ll get a seat in that neighborhood, where that center is?

Mayor Adams: Yeah. And I really need New Yorkers to understand what we have accomplished in this administration. And it’s amazing, a narrative can take over the facts. Dan, we were clear. Every child that wanted a seat would have access to a seat. We broke records on the number of children who have enrolled. We’ve invested more money than any other administration in this area. 

A hundred and fifty thousand children were able to get access to seats. No one has ever done that before. The number of applicants that we were able to process, no one has done what we’ve done before. But what we had to do—I inherited 30,000 empty seats that taxpayers were paying for, 30,000. And what I told the team to do, let’s look at the alignment, we had far too many places where you had a small fraction number of students there where there were other daycare centers in the areas. 

Those five areas, those five centers that you’re looking at, they didn’t reach the number of seats. There was an equation that we put in place, the number of children in the seats, the cost of the rents, you know, in one location, they wanted to go from $30,000 to $80,000 a year for 20 years, lock this city in for 20 years. And they were densely populated areas, where, a short distance away, there were other locations for them to go. So there’s a reason that bond raiders are raising our bonds, because I’m fiscally responsible. I got to make the right decisions for taxpayers. 

So I have my chief of staff now sitting down. I spoke with A.G. James. We communicated with Congresswoman Velázquez. I spoke with Borough President Reynoso. We want to sit down and see, how do we come to a solution here? But it is encouraging for all of us to go out, find the children who should be in these seats. That’s the real tragedy. 

If you look at a community where there are children who are not in these seats, so without the energy you’re seeing now from my electeds, I need them to show that energy of going and help me find these children, so we can get in the seats. We can’t have a program where you have 40 percent of these children in the seat, taxpayers are paying into it, locking the city in for high rent for 20 years. I must be fiscally responsible, and that’s what we’re doing. So the door is not closed. And let’s be clear on this. The centers are still open. Children are still going to school there. We didn’t close them, and those parents don’t have their children there. We just got to make sure we get it right. And that’s the goal that we want to accomplish.

Question: My question is, you have been critical of the way that the mainstream media covers and reports on you. And in order to help us elevate what you’re doing and to protect New York City, would you be willing to take the page out of the federal administration’s book and invite independent media, podcasters and social media influencers to join the New York City press corps and perhaps diversify the room and their subsequent reporting on you?

Mayor Adams: Now, I am hoping that the administration took a page out of my book. And when I said that Room 9 should look like the local media. Yes, I agree with you 100 percent. We need to allow the bloggers. We need to allow the local media. You need to have access. You need to be in this room to cover the news in the right way. I find that, when you do that, you have a diversity. 

And it’s not a secret to me that many of the legacy media stations are losing viewers. I’m not making this up. And so, I say, yes, I would love to see more bloggers here. I would love to see—I’m on nontraditional stations. The other day, I did Stephen A. Smith. I do local Instagram posts, you know. So I agree with you 100 percent that we need to open—all of these entities need to open to the new form of media and how people are getting their information, and millions of views, millions of views. And what I enjoy about it is they allow you to give a full scope of what you’re doing and not the distorted, filtered view. I’m with you 100 percent, and it’s good to see you here. Invite your friends. 

Question: Glad to see you’re feeling better. I know health is a private matter, but I am wondering if you could give us a little bit more detailed clarity on the kinds of tests that you had last week, what you may have thought was wrong with you. 

And then separately, the New York Times reported, and many other outlets backed this up, that your legal team, the Department of Justice, and Manhattan federal prosecutors are all talking about possibly dropping the charges against you. I want your reaction to that.

Mayor Adams: Two things. And one, I meant to bring that chart. I forgot to look at the chart. I didn’t tell them to load it. 

That week that I decided to go off, you know, I was feeling real pain in my side and I didn’t know what it was and to be honest with you when I went to the doctor– one of the most scary things to do when you go to the doctor when he said hmm. You know, not many things scare me, but I was concerned and the doctor said, “Eric, I want you to take a series of tests.” And I decided to do that. 

And when I sat down, I was telling Jordan, you know, Jordan, I went to the doctor, and he wants me to take some tests. I have to go under for one of them. And Jordan just like, “Listen, Dad, hit pause, man. Hit pause. It’s time for you– you got to take care of yourself.” And so, thanks to the team, I reached out to the team. I said, Fabien, listen, I’m going to go under for a couple of days. I’m still gonna be in communication, but I was going to be under anesthesia. And so I wanted to make sure that the team knew and the team did what they were supposed to do. 

Thank God, as I said yesterday, to some people’s dismay, I’m going to be around for a long time. You know, all the tests came out negative. They want me to do some follow up, but I feel good. You know, the doctor reminded me, I added 25 pounds and he said that, “Eric, you know, you were not just a symbol of how you reverse your diabetes, but you became an inspiration for New Yorkers. And so you have to really focus on your health.” 

And so, I’m getting back down to my true fighting weight. I’m looking at the stuff that I was consuming and I was just eating so many pastries and all of that, well, it’s vegan and all that, read the labels, you know? And so I just got to refocus back on my health so I don’t go back to that road of losing my sight, losing some fingers, losing some toes. And I want to inspire other New Yorkers that health is your wealth. 

And so I feel much better, both mentally and physically, but also I have a new course when it comes down to my health and I’m going to be cooking a lot of my food again, I stopped cooking my own food as I used to. I’m going to go back to a real heavy plant-based menu. 90 percent of your diet should be plant-based focused. I’m gonna get those dark leafy greens in my body again. I’m going to make sure I consume the water I’m supposed to. And so sometimes, you know, sometimes you go through a crisis and you come out better than you should. So that fear did not stymie me, it ignited me. And so, again, I feel much better.

Question: And the other question. About the possibility of dropping the charges against you?

Mayor Adams: Now, I want us to do this in unison. Alex, my attorney, any question– when I asked my attorney about this stuff, he said, “Listen, I don’t try to tell you how to run the city. Don’t try to tell me how to run my job of seeking justice for you.” Call Alex. Any question you have dealing with my case. My job is to run the City of New York, And that’s what I’m going to do.

Question: Yeah, so Mr. Mayor, just to follow up on that.

Mayor Adams: Yes, which one? He asked two questions.

Question: The health question.  So why couldn’t you have– because it was like radio silence from you. Why couldn’t you have at least made a video just to tell New Yorkers this is what’s going on, and you don’t have to get that specific, but so-and-so’s in charge, et cetera. And why did it coincide with when the feds were raiding during the migrant raids. Do you think it looked like you were hiding?

Mayor Adams: It didn’t coincide. They were doing the—I don’t know if many people know, but ICE carries out actions all the time in the city. So it didn’t coincide. But second, which is very important to the heart of that, is that I never left my role as being responsible for running the city. From the time that I was under anesthesia and I let the chief of staff know, and I let my FDM know. I reached out to her and said, listen, this is what I’m doing, I’m going to be under anesthesia so you guys should know. So all the responsible things you’re supposed to do, we did. 

And so when you say, well, why didn’t I do a video? I got just the opposite from the public. People were texting, calling, and saying, “Do you, Eric.” They said, all of this madness is going to be here when you come back. You focus on you. I didn’t hear people say, well, why do you let us know? Why do you do this? No, people were calling me, clergy was calling me. People were sending me prayers. People were saying, you do you. 

And I don’t know if any of you have gone through a medical scare in your life or a loved one that’s done so. The last thing you’re thinking about is your deadlines. You think about your family member. And so, I wasn’t thinking about, you know, what’s going to be tweeted. I was thinking about doing me. I needed to come back and enjoy my Tuesday off topics. 

Question: So, the Department of Government Efficiency has been really running riot in Washington, D.C., and we get billions of dollars from the federal government. Are you at all concerned about the possibility of sudden cuts in federal monies that have been appropriated for the city? And also, do you believe, just on a related question, do you believe that DOGE is genuinely carrying out a mission related to efficiency?

Mayor Adams: What was the first part you said? You said that they’re doing what?

Question: That’s just maybe editorializing on my part, but I think it’s safe to say the way they’ve been doing things in DC, that they’re kind of ransacking the federal government.

Mayor Adams: Okay and I think that what we have done successfully, and I really want to take my hat off to my comms team, Kayla and Fabien and the whole team over there. What we have done successfully is whenever something happens, either an EO, an action, we have analyzed that, you know, and just looked at it, see what’s the impact to our agencies and administration. We didn’t try to editorialize everything that we see and give our own opinion. 

We have to look at what’s happening in the city, how does it impact us, and make smart decisions with our legal team and what our response is going to be. And we’re seeing examples of that over and over. I think it was last week, the question was raised about the tariffs. And we said, Jaques is going to analyze that, instead of, just like other people started marching and protesting, you know, soon enough, the tariffs were taken off the table. 

When there were cuts to budgets, people started holding press conferences and started yelling and screaming. Sure enough, it was reversed. The goal is not just to just constantly respond, you know? And I think one of our leaders said, don’t try to swing at every pitch, you know? You know, I’ve always said I was an Aaron Judge guy. And so, that is what we’re doing. We have to run a city. 

And what’s interesting about what I believe is happening now is that we want to—you can’t run cities on social media. I said after my victory as mayor that people on social media don’t choose mayors. People on Social Security, they choose mayors. You can’t run a complex city like this on social media. And there’s a desire immediately, when something happens, I want to tweet out, no, let’s govern. And that’s what I’m going to do. We’re going to analyze whatever actions happen, and we’re going to make the right decision based on that. And we’re not going to add to the hysteria and the anxiety that I’m seeing throughout the city.

Question: Is the way DOGE is operating causing more anxiety?

Mayor Adams: They were given a mission. They were given a job to do, and every action they take, we will analyze and make the right decision based on that. 

Question: So just building on what Dan had asked about. So when you announced your preliminary budget, you actually touted $1.1 billion in savings in migrant spending for the next fiscal year. So doesn’t it seem like this is just more aligned with state funding to your new budget moving forward? Since you didn’t spend everything this fiscal year, rolled it into next year, we’re allowed to have a little bit more wiggle room with that. Doesn’t that seem like that’s how I’m kind of squaring the circle of how maybe lawmakers got to that number of money? 

And then building on your undisclosed illness last week, I’m really happy you’re okay, honestly. You went under anesthesia. You kept New York City in the dark that you were even under anesthesia. I’m not sure legally, not a lawyer, of how this triggers whether or not you can perform your job. But I know at a federal level, typically, it has to trigger– people need to be made notified. Did you notify the public advocate? Was there any conversation with lawyers, you knew you had to do this beforehand, of what you needed to legally do as to notify people in the city? And how did that go? 

And why do you feel, I mean, you’re the mayor of the largest city in New York. You say, everybody wants to live here. But why do you not feel that you had to tell them that at that point, I know it’s a personal thing, but you were unable to do the job, at least under anesthesia, and let them know what was going on?

Mayor Adams: Wow, that is, I don’t know if everyone picked up the same thing that I did. But that was one of the longest questions I’ve ever heard. Listen.

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: I answered that. And I hope you will understand the answer. And I’m sure if you ever go through a personal health issue, you’re going to respond the way you think is best for you. And that’s what I did. So I answered that question.

Question: Well, respectfully, as [inaudible] said, I don’t think you had. In my perspective, you didn’t answer that question. Meaning that it’s not personal. Like, when I go through something, I don’t have to let– I don’t have constituents in the city to respond to. You do. So why do you not feel that when you’re under anesthesia, you have to let the public know about it?

Mayor Adams: Right. And we did everything we were required to do during the period under anesthesia. Everything we were required to do, we did. I said that. I spoke to the first deputy mayor, I spoke to the chief of staff. I spoke to those who needed to do– the executive order makes clear, my executive order makes clear that if I can’t perform my duties, the FDM will perform the duties and have the powers. That’s clear. So, I really laid it out. You don’t have to reinvent it every time something happens. We laid it out. It was clear. We carried out exactly what the executive order stated to do so. Your first question?

Question: You’re asking for $1.1 billion. 

Mayor Adams: Yeah, got it.This is what happens. If you look at the budget last year, the year before, the year after that, before that, before that, before that, before that, you factor in what you’re trying to get from Albany. And you go up to Albany, and you present your case. My first presentation of that was yesterday, when I sat down with the governor and I spoke with the leaders. 

That’s what you do. And we’re hoping to get that, the billion dollars. And if you don’t, you have to come and sit down with the council and reconfigure. This is the same dance that have been going on as long as I can remember. Now, when you talk about the money that we didn’t spend, we get money back from Albany on a reimbursement level. We spend it, then we have to apply to get it back. Every dollar that we put out, that we spent, that they allocated for us, we spent it. It’s about getting the money back now as we do the reimbursement. 

Question: I wanted to ask you about something we’ve reported about guidance that went out to staff. Guidance that Health and Hospitals put out to its staff about ICE. The staff got a memo a few weeks ago telling them not to, quote, actively help a person avoid being found by ICE, which is, I think, word for word what NYU Langone also told its staff. 

Our understanding is that doctors are worried about this guidance because they’re afraid it’ll conflict with their obligation to their patients, and also that there’s already some protocol that governs staff interaction device so what’s the need for this new guidance on top of that were you aware of it is it necessary

Mayor Adams: yeah first of all you know this is a lot of emotions around these issues but we have an obligation as a city to not place city employees in any way of violating the law And that’s what H&H did. We have an obligation to do that. And they sent an amendment to the employees urging them not to try to actively help a person avoid being found by ICE. 

And so it’s crucial that we’re making clear that individuals who have health care issues—I’ve said this over and over again—should go to the hospital, should get medical care. People who are victims of any form of criminality should reach out to the police, children should go to school. I continue to say that over and over again. 

But we have an obligation to make sure that we give guidance to our employees. The role of ICE is to—the federal government, through ICE, is to handle immigration issues. That is their job, and that is their responsibility.

Question: Well, why didn’t you guys? Like, there was already a protocol. Was it because there was some fear that staff weren’t going to actively help people avoid being detected? And so there was some—

Mayor Adams: If H&H wanted to do clarity to—based on their observation of the EOs, I commend them for doing so. Each time we see something come down, we turn it over to our lawyers, they do an evaluation, and if we have to update the guidance that we issue, we’re going to update the guidance that we issue. 

We’re not going to stay away from doing just that. And, you know, I think it’s important to remember this is not new. On January 16, I believe, the memo was sent out before the new administration took office beforehand. And so, this guidance is nothing new. Everybody may be hypersensitive right now, but we’re going to constantly give our employees of 300,000 employees the right direction, so that we’re never going to put them in harm’s way.

Question: Your mandatory trash containerization for small residential buildings, we’ve received complaints from dozens of readers about their trash cans being stolen. What can your administration do to ensure these people who are paying $50, $60 for a mandatory trash can don’t need to repeatedly do so? And are their properties being protected?

Mayor Adams: And we have not received a significant amount of complaints on trash cans being stolen, and I’m going to speak with DSNY on what are some of the tips we can do to secure that, because no one wants to pay $50 and then all of a sudden have someone swipe their trash cans. 

And so we’re going to see what tips we can do to ensure that people are not stealing their trash can. But a theft is a theft. And the same processes we put in place when any type of theft is taking place, the New York City Police Department is going to do that. And I want our DSNY to come creative and see how we can secure some of these trash cans. But we’re not seeing an exorbitant amount of complaints that people are stealing their trash cans.

Question: So, first question, please, is I think what I hear you saying is that this guidance may be going out right now because of changes or perceived changes, but is the hospital guidance new or not new, just to be super clear? And other than picking up criminals, is there any other change that you’re aware of in how ICE is operating in New York City since President Trump took over?

Mayor Adams: No, I’m not aware of any other way, and we haven’t seen any other directions or indication of that. I was really proud to coordinate with them to get a very dangerous gang member off our streets, and we look forward to dealing with those criminal aspects. But I’m not aware of that.

Question: And just on the hospital, real quick before I ask my other question, the hospital guidance, if it’s new or not. Sorry, I just can’t understand the answer. Is the hospital guidance that was sent out new or just reminding of an existing policy?

Mayor Adams: I see it was to be put out, placed out before the election was—you know, before the administration took office. And I think it’s imperative that we have to be in a constant update and reminder to our city employees. You know, it is our obligation to inform city employees, the corp counsels, the hospital lawyers, they have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure employees are well aware of what the laws are.

Question: And, Mr. Mayor, as mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, what was your reaction when President Trump said last night that the U.S. will be involved in a takeover of Gaza?

Mayor Adams: It’s so important. Again, I am not going to respond to every message that comes out of any place in government. We will analyze and see the impact. I know what my role is. My role is what we have done successfully, is to protect the lives of those from Palestine, from Israel, Muslim, Jewish. The same thing we did during the Ukrainian war against Russia. 

We were clear that our Ukrainian citizens and Russian citizens are going to live peacefully in this city. That’s my job. Federal governments would deal with the international conflicts. That is not my job. It’s hard enough to deal with the international conflicts right here in this city. And so, the president and his team is going to deal with those international issues. I need to make sure that people are safe that lives in this city. And we’re doing that. Crime continues to drop in this city. 

Question: I wanted to ask a quick question. You said previously that you weren’t going to refrain from criticizing President Trump because you had a direct line, direct access to reach out to him. I’m wondering, any of these issues that have come up, have you felt the need or have you used that direct access to try to reach President Trump? And I’m wondering if, during those times, have you discussed with him at all potentially dropping the federal case against you?

Mayor Adams: First, and we need to all do this in unison on his last question, who are we calling? Alex. Call Alex. Any question to deal with my trial or anything else, call Alex. My job is to focus running the city. I cannot get that any clearer. 

And when I talk about communication with the president, I’m talking about communication with the administration. The Homeland Security secretary, she mentioned that—you know, I spoke with the mayor several times. Other members of the administration mentioned the same thing. So it’s all about communicating with the administration. And that is what we said over and over again. 

And what I find fascinating is that I was never questioned about my communication with the Biden administration, never. No one said that, you know, are you doing this over and over again? You know, why are you doing this over and over again? You know, and the Homeland Security secretary, I try repeatedly to reach Secretary Mayorkas to talk about these issues. And what’s fascinating is that, at the end of the administration, they started adopting the things I wanted to talk about—securing the border, increasing other areas of security around it. So they started adopting, but, unfortunately, they caught on too late. 

And so, you know, when I speak with the president and when I speak with his team, when I speak with whomever is with his Cabinet, it’s about the city. How do we make sure we get resources for the city? And that is exactly what the Homeland Security secretary stated, what I spoke to her about. That is exactly what Tom from ICE stated. They will all tell you the same thing. Eric talks about the city. I advocate for the city of New York. I have a legal team to advocate for me. 

Question: You talked to Tucker Carlson a couple weeks ago, and you talked about your corruption case and the charges against you. You didn’t tell him to talk to Alex Spiro. Why are you telling us… 

Mayor Adams: I’m sorry, say it again? 

Question: You talked to Tucker Carlson about your case, your legal case, a few weeks ago. You didn’t tell him to ask Alex Spiro any of his questions. Why are you telling us that we can’t ask about the case? [Inaudible] spoken about it with Tucker Carlson.

Mayor Adams: I don’t think there was anything on Tucker’s interview that I didn’t say with you already, you know? I gave you my feelings on it. I talked about the same thing I said to Tucker. I said to all of you. The difference is, he heard it and didn’t keep asking over and over again. 

You guys want to ask weekly, or when you see me on the train station or in a restaurant, you know, you want to put the phone in my face and ask me the same question again. There was nothing unique about my conversation with Tucker that I didn’t say to all of you. Alex Spiro is handling my case. And if you have any questions, ask him. I’m handling the city.

Question: We’ve seen from some city councilmembers and congress members, they’ve been doing know-your-rights information sessions for immigrant communities. Have any of your city agencies been doing that kind of communication to immigrant communities? And if not, why not?

Mayor Adams: I don’t think anyone has done a better job in communicating, know your rights, than Commissioner Castro. Manny and I traveled to the Darien Gap together. We traveled to El Paso together. 

Here’s a dreamer that’s now in charge of the dreams of others. He has done an amazing job on scenario planning, has done an amazing job of informing, bringing together immigrant groups to have this conversation. Pastor Monrose held many of our clergy leaders. And so, yes, Manny has led the way on this issue. 

Question: So, first, I wanted to get your reaction to ICE jeopardizing some detectives in Nassau County. Is that something that you and the NYPD will look at doing? And then I have a second question for you, as well.

Mayor Adams: We already work on task force with our federal partners to go after dangerous individuals. Currently, our lawyers do not allow us to do civil enforcement, but we already work with our partners. And we increase the numbers to deal with criminality with ICE. So they probably deputize them for another reason, but we already work with our federal partners to go after dangerous people.

Question: You said that increased?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, we increased numbers on our task forces to help go after those who are violent offenders in the city.

Question: And then, second question for you. Yes. I know you’re looking for a billion dollars from the state legislature, but why not go to the federal government and ask for that money? I know that was a big criticism of the Biden administration, that they only gave the city, you know, a little few million dollars. Why not go to the Trump administration, or have you?

Mayor Adams: But we’re going to have a Tin Cup Day everywhere, you know, of the City Council, the state, the federal government, you know, our 10 trips to Washington, D.C., under the previous administration. We were asking for funding. They gave us $200 million. We only were able to draw down on $100-and-something million. I added almost a $7 billion deficit. 

And so, we’re going to be asking everyone to help us with this crisis. And thank God for what our team were able to do, that we were able to bring down our population, 180,000 people. If we were listening to all the naysayers, we would still have 220,000 people in our care. 

You know, we saved our city billions of dollars because of an execution of a smart, dignified 30-, 60-day plan that everyone yelled at us about. You know? The same people who yelled at us about decreasing the population are saying, don’t bring a shelter into our area. Come on. Can’t have it both ways. 

Question: I wanted to follow up on that billion dollars that you’re asking the state for. I just want some clarity, because in your preliminary budget, you said that there’s higher-than-expected tax revenue. There was the savings that Craig talked about. 

But also, the number of migrants in the city’s care is going down. So, is it a billion dollars for money you’ve spent already, or is it for this upcoming fiscal year? Because it seems a little bit confusing, based on the information you gave us last month.

Mayor Adams: Okay. And, you know, it may seem a little confusing, but as—when it all plays out, when the dance is over, you will see that what we have done is make sure we have the money to carry out what we need to deal with the final aspect of the migrant asylum seeker process. And so, I think you just got to ride this out. And trust us, we’re going to get it done.

Question: Can I just follow up? So, last year, the same thing. You asked for $2 billion last year. But the migrant population was much higher. How is it that this year, you’re asking for so much, and, you know, Jacques Jiha was able to find all this money, eventually, or move it around, I guess you could say. How is it that the state should trust those numbers that you’re presenting to them, when last year the numbers slowly changed?

Mayor Adams: You know, I think they should trust us based on our success. We took the greatest humanitarian crisis I believe this city has ever experienced, and we navigated through it, even after having a close to $8 billion deficit of crises that we had to fund for. 

And so, right now, this is a moment of trust. And I trust Jacques. When you look at what Jacques has accomplished in three years, I mean, you have to look at what the experts are saying. The experts are saying, trust us. And so, I say the same thing. Trust us. I’m not gonna let us leave without calling on your name. 

Question: Thank you. Mr. Mayor, I wanted to follow up on other chats’ questions. Yes. Just to be clear, have you spoken directly to the president, to Trump, since he took office? And then have you raised any issues or compliments or anything? 

Mayor Adams: Have I? 

Question: Spoken directly to Trump since he took office?

Mayor Adams: Yes, just to talk about the needs of the city.

Question: And then there was also the Times reported that your cooperation with immigration was part of the discussion about dropping the case, basically, that you would be more likely to cooperate with immigration officials if you didn’t have this case hanging over you.

Mayor Adams: Did you say Times also falsely reported or you said Times also reported? Which one did you say? I didn’t hear it right. Because my attorney responded to that and I don’t think my attorney beat around the bush. He said it was a lie. 

Question: Quickly, next week, can you confirm that you’re going down to D.C. to testify regarding New York City sanctuary city laws and if so, what are you going to want to make sure you get across during your testimony?

Mayor Adams: We were invited to go down, Deputy Mayor Raspberry and her team are figuring out the logistics. And so once we know when we’re going and all of that stuff, we’ll make sure that we inform the Corps. But we were invited to go down. Our team is in—they are in communications right now to work out all of the logistics. 

And we want to—I would like to share, you know, what I’ve talked about for the longest. You know, the American people have communicated loudly and clearly. We need to secure our borders. We need to make sure those who are violent and dangerous in our cities are not continuing to do what we are witnessing in places like Chicago and others. And we’re going to state that, when you deal with immigration, that’s a national issue, and cities should not be held responsible for that. And that is what my communication is going to be. 

And we’re going to share what we’ve done here. We’ve done an amazing job, leaders said that we’re a symbol of what should be done, and we’re going to share what we’ve done here. And whatever other questions—we don’t know exactly what question they’re going to ask. 

Question: I wanted to ask you—like, you’ve addressed it a little bit. I have two questions. The first one is, you said you’re telling students to keep going to school. I know some parents might be afraid. You kind of—you disagreed with Senator John Liu’s questioning about this yesterday. 

But I wanted to know, will you give a stronger message to parents? Because plenty of reporters have spoken to teachers, administrators, and parents who are really afraid to go to school. I know there might be different attendance drops on individual schools in addition to the whole system. So I don’t know if you will give a stronger message to parents to let them know that they are safe going to school, being in school, but then also coming to and from school. 

And my second question is, I know you discussed your illness. We’re glad that you’re back. But it was reported by Politico that you met with two union leaders at Gracie Mansion. So it seems like a mixed message. You said you were too ill to do the duties, to have a press conference, whether it be virtual or not. Yet you met with union leaders. I don’t know, were they helping you with your illness? Or what was the reason for their visit on the first day of your illness?

Mayor Adams: Well, I’m not quite clear. First of all, I never said I was ill. I said I wasn’t feeling my best. I wasn’t feeling well. And a modified schedule is just that, a modified schedule. People who know me, I’m up at 5 doing my routine. And sometimes I don’t go to bed until about 1 o’clock in the morning. So I modified my schedule. 

So, folks who wanted to meet me and have chats at 11 a.m., 11 p.m., I would say, listen, I’m not doing that. I have a modified schedule, and it was only a few people I was seeing, and those two union members were waiting to see me for a long time. And I enjoy speaking with them. Stronger message for children. What could be stronger than what I have done? 

I have kept our children safe in our schools. We have not had mass shootings in our schools. I don’t believe we had a shooting in our schools since I’ve been mayor with a knock on wood. What is a stronger message than going to school? 

We’re going to protect you in school, our school safety officers, our police officers. We’re going to instruct our teachers and principals on what they should do and shouldn’t do. I don’t know what you call a stronger message. 

There is this desire that people seem to have of they just want to fight, fight, fight. I don’t want to do that. I want to produce a product. And you’re going to see, at the conclusion of this period in history, that Eric did what was best for the children and families of this city, no matter who they are. 

So, I don’t know what you mean by a stronger message. My message has been clear, and it has been strong. And so, when you go back to what John stated, that there was this drop in attendance, you don’t measure attendance week by week. That’s not how you do it. There were a lot of things that [were] happening that week. Cold weather, it was a short week. I think the Regents was happening that week. That’s why you don’t do week to week. 

And when you look at the month of January, there was no difference in the drops from the previous January to this January. And so the goal is to just bring down the anxiety. And part of that is sending a message that, as I said over and over, mothers, send your children to school. If you need healthcare, go to the hospitals. If someone is treating you unjustly or committing a crime, call the police. That’s what your tax dollars pay for.

Question: I wanted to check in on subway safety. I’m wondering, are we at full deployment with the two officers on every train? And you and I spoke two weeks ago, I know you’ve got a lot going on, so I’ll remind the conversation. You said mental health professionals would not be with them, but would be on call in case they encountered someone who clearly could not take care of themselves or was creating problems. So, I’m wondering if you have any sort of data or information about how many people have been pulled from the trains or intervention efforts that have happened in the last couple of weeks. 

Mayor Adams: Yeah. No. Don’t have those numbers. We’ll get them from DM Williams-Isom and the New York City Police Department. And remember those two officers on the train, they’re doing patrol. They’re doing patrol. So it’s not only dealing with those who are homeless or those who are dealing with mental health issues. They’re doing routine patrol. 

So we’re not assigning clinicians or mental health professionals with them. Their job is to correct conditions, if it’s criminality or any other issue. So but right now, when it comes down to the actual deployment of those officers, two officers on the train, we have full deployment for that. 

They’re on the trains, they’re doing the exact time, I think 9 p.m. to 5 [a.m.], if I remember the hours exactly. And we’re seeing success. The numbers in our subway system, we’re showing the numbers are going down. 

As a matter of fact, I’m gonna go out there probably Friday or Saturday and just look at that. As a matter of fact, I always like to do show and tell. I guess I’m going back to my childhood days. On a roll. Subway ridership surges, transit crime plunges, and congestion pricing error. So everybody’s on the train, we’re rolling along, all that hysteria, our subway system is moving in the right direction. And you know, you don’t have to get off this stop, but just make sure you pay your fare as you ride forward. 

MAYOR ADAMS AND COMMISSIONER MAYUGA KICK OFF TAX SEASON, URGE NEW YORKERS TO SIGN UP FOR FREE TAX PREPARATION SERVICES AND GET MONEY BACK IN THEIR POCKETS 

Announcement Comes as the City, Last Week, Celebrated Breaking All-Time High Jobs Record for Eighth Time Since Start of Administration, Unemployment Down Across All Demographics 

Closes Out Adams Administration’s “Jobs Week,” Highlighting City’s Effort to  Ensure Opportunity Reaches Every Borough, Block, and Neighborhood, and  Working-Class Families Have Access to Good-Paying Jobs  

Builds on Administration’s Efforts to Put Money Back Into Pockets of New Yorkers,  Including “Axe the Tax for the Working Class” Proposal That Would  Eliminate and Cut Personal Income Taxes and Help Over 582,000 New Yorkers   

NYC Mayor's Office