EXCLUSIVE: PoliticsNY interviews mayoral frontrunner
By Stephen Witt
As city voters continue
to go to the polls this
week for early voting and
Election Day coming next
Tuesday, Nov. 2, Politics-
NY had the opportunity
to conduct an exclusive
interview with the frontrunning
candidate, Democratic
mayoral nominee
and Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams.
We asked Adams about
some of the major issues
that would affect the next
mayor of New York City,
from the handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic to
school safety, from combating
hate crimes to ending
the AIDS epidemic. What
follows are his answers in
full, edited slightly for format
and clarity. (Questions
are in bold, with Adams’
answers following them.)
We’ve seen the city
springing to life every day
as the COVID-19 rates continue
to drop. Manhattan’s
seeing more activity now
with Broadway reopening
and restaurants, but
offices are still slow to fill
up. What would you do
as mayor to get offices to
fully reopen their workplaces
to their employees?
Would you also seek zoning
changes to allow some
office spaces to be reused
for residential purposes?
Number one, we need to
look at zoning changes to
open to affordable housing
in the city area, something
similar to what we did during
Sept. 11, after the terrorist
attack. We should
also look to retrofit some
of the retail spaces for onsite
childcare. Universal
childcare is important to
me, and we can do onsite
childcare where people
don’t have to worry about
their children.
I think that some of the
retail spaces in Manhattan
can be utilized for that.
And then we look at what
we can do to incentivize
Eric Adams on key issues affecting NYC
people returning. Number
one, we need to have a
clear standard based on
science, how to make office
spaces safe.
The state and the city
should come up with clear
measures that owners of
buildings and companies
will put in place, that is
proven based on the science,
and then we start
with two three days a
week, slowly getting people
back into the mindset
that it’s safe to come back
to work.
And lastly, it is crucial
that we have a safe subway
system, so people can ride
free for those who need
health services and have
free from crime, making
sure our police officers are
doing the job they’re supposed
to do, that’s keeping
the riders safe.
The city’s mandating
the COVID-19 vaccine for
all employees, including
police officers and firefighters,
many of whom
are hesitant or refuse to
receive the vaccine. Do
you think it’s the right call
to mandate the vaccines?
What approach would you
take to convince the maximum
participation in the
vaccination effort?
One thing I’m clear on,
we can’t go backwards. I
was there on the ground
during the height of the
pandemic. Many people,
you know, fled. I led from
the ground. I know what
it’s like to have a hospital
and temporary morgues
filled with bodies. I know
what it’s like to see people
check their family members
into hospitals never to
see them again. Our children,
not able to get the
education they need. Businesses
devastated at the
peak of COVID. We witnessed
trauma, like we’ve
never witnessed before. We
can’t go backwards.
I think we can move
in the right direction by
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engaging in a real conversation
with union leadership.
I would have sat
down with the leaders of
the unions and worked out
a way that we can move
together and there may be
some contractual issues
that we have to discuss.
Everything like who’s
going to pay if a person
gets sick after taking the
vaccine. We need to work
that out and get clarity on
it.
Should people be
allowed time off to go get
vaccinated? I’m willing to
hear the issues that the
unions may have, so we
can get people in a place
where they can get vaccinated.
It is proven that
vaccinations are our most
potent weapon against
COVID, and I believe that
we can get to that place
together.
Throughout the city,
there have been several
incidents of anti-Asian
attacks in the wake of the
COVID-19, particularly
in Queens. How do you
plan to address this issue
and keep constituents in
“The World’s Borough”
safe from these kinds of
attacks?
Nothing is worse than
having a loved one being
a victim of racism, antisemitism,
terrorism or
anti-Asian violence. It’s
unacceptable, and here’s
my plan.
Number one, we’re
going to partner with the
district attorneys, and ask
them to do a no plea bargaining
agreement. We’re
not going to allow those
who are arrested for these
hate crimes to see the
crime downgraded to a
misdemeanor or a disorderly
conduct. Too many
of these cases downgraded.
I say no to a hate crime.
We just stick them with
the crime.
Second, we need to
understand that a child
doesn’t just wake up
drawing a swastika. They
learned it from somewhere.
So let’s counter
that learning of hate with
learning of tolerance and
acceptance by infusing in
our schools real programs
that will foster the beauty
of diversity in his city,
and do programs like my
‘Breaking Bread Building
Bonds’ initiative, having
a hundred dinners across
the city with 10 people
at each dinner all coming
from a different ethnic
groups and background,
and learning the different
cultural understandings of
each group.
This is how we force a
better response, so I think
it’s imperative that we
do long-term things and
immediate things to stop
this violence, including
putting cameras in certain
communities that are targeted,
have proper police
response, and just really
sending the right message
that hate will not live in
our city.
You have stated that you
will stop a de Blasio administration
plan to transfer
school safety duties from
the NYPD to the Department
of Education. In
that vein, how would you
strengthen school safety?
It’s clear that those who
were calling for the removal
of school safety officers,
we see the danger of that.
You know, three to four
guns found in the school
in the last few days, the
knifing of a young child
in the library in the Bronx
and we’ve seen shootings
around schools. So there’s
a real issue when it comes
to public safety and our
students.
So I want to make sure
we hire the appropriate
amount of school safety
officers, and I’m open to
changing uniforms, maybe
a white shirt and khakis so
it doesn’t look police-like.
I’m also open to looking at
some of the new technology
that can remove scanners
and remove magnetometers
from the school.
There are new ways of
using technology to identify
someone potentially
carrying a gun, so we don’t
traumatize or do things
that’s not dignified, and
still identify those children
who are carrying weapons.
But at no cost what I allow
our children to be in an
unsafe environment.
And lastly, I would have
put in place in every school
a public safety stakeholder
committee made up
of teachers, parents and
administrators, so that
they can come up with
suggestions and recommendations
based on the
uniqueness of this school.
A one-size-fits-all-models
is not the right thing to
do. Having input from
those who are impacted
sends the right message
that we’re listening to each
other.
How would your administration
fight HIV/AIDS
and work to reduce racial
disparities in the number
of new infections? Would
you support the blueprint
that was endorsed
by Mayor de Blasio and
former Governor Andrew
Cuomo outlining the plan
to End AIDS in New York?
Yes I would and I will
go further. It’s all about
education.
Each year I partnered
with our various AIDS
representatives who have
made this an emphasis
and then we will support
our various pride centers
in the city. I’ve put close
to a million dollars in the
Pride Center in Brooklyn.
We also supported housing
for members of the LGBTQ
community.
I think we need to put
our money where our
mouths are and make sure
that we give the right support,
and I’m a strong supporter
of the needle program
so we don’t have to
spread HIV/AIDS through
dirty needles.
Besides forbidding ICE
from partnering with the
Police Department, how
would you make sure New
York remains a “sanctuary
city” for undocumented
immigrants?
Well, to be a sanctuary
city is more than what
we stop from happening,
but also what we encourage
to happen. Having a
sanctuary city is to expand
civil ID programs to get
services attached to that.
Ensuring that we go out
and promote the Metro
Plus Health Care Partnership,
to sign up people in
different languages so people
get the adequate health
care that they deserve. To
also send a strong message
that we are going to
support those immigrant
groups who are the victims
of crime, from immigration
crimes to predatory
crimes, and that they
will feel safe to come in
and report these crimes.
Many of our immigrants
are afraid to do so because
of the fear of deportation.
We want to remove that
stigma so that every New
Yorker is welcome and will
be supported here.
Eric Adams.