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Adams makes mayoral case before editorial board
BY ARIEL PACHECO
As the issue of crime continues
to rise in the city,
leading mayoral candidate
Eric Adams today pushed
back on the idea that only mental
health professionals should
answer calls where there is a
mental health crisis, without the
assistance of a police offi cer.
Adams’ comments came as he
sat down with the Schneps Media
Editorial Board, where the current
Brooklyn Borough President
touched on several topics ranging
from affordable housing to crime
to rezoning.
“That to send only mental
health professionals is reckless
and that is irresponsible,” said
Adams. “Every call of a mental
health person is not merely that
someone is feeling depressed.”
Adams pointed to instances
where incidents did turn violent
and says there needs to be a
combination of the two.
“If the call for service is dealing
with a person that is not violent,
no imminent threat or danger,
have a mental health professional
go,” said Adams. “We should also
have that police offi cer on backup
just in case.”
Adams looks to fi x the affordable
housing crisis through
various methods like basement
apartments, apartment sharing,
and lived sharing spaces that are
used in parts of Europe. This is
also part of his plan to help with
homelessness, where Adams says
he wants to retrofi t hotels and
move away from shelters.
A real-time system will be
built that would analyze the pool
of apartments that are currently
built, but where the Area Median
Income (AMI) is too high.
“We need to think not outside
the box, but we have to destroy
the box,” said Adams.
Adams is in support of the
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams speaks to 32 BJ
Local members who are fighting for a new contract at JFK.
SoHo/NoHo rezoning plan.
The plan would add affordable
PHOHTO BY LLOYD MITCHELL
housing to two of the more affl uent
neighborhoods in the city.
“We’ve had an improper approach
to affordable housing in
this city. We’ve upzoned poorer
communities, ignored affl uent
areas. I say let’s upzone those
areas as well as 42nd street to
14th street, from 9th avenue to
Park avenue.”
He says this would solve multiple
problems like diversifying
schools that are segregated.
“We can get a better return on
our investment by upzoning these
areas.”
Adams placed a focus on creating
a new position, Deputy Mayor
of Effi ciency, to ensure that city
agencies are on the same page
and communicating. He says this
would allow for everyone to be
in the same room when solving
problems.
“We’re going to start bringing
together the agencies that impact
a particular area and have him
or her in charge of that,” said
Adams.
Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire vows ‘big comeback’
for New York City on Upper East Side business tour
BY DEAN MOSES
Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire took a walking
tour of the Upper East Side on Monday
afternoon to speak with local business owners
and meet potential voters less than a month away from
the June 22 Democratic primary.
The former Citicorp executive took to the streets to
discuss his ideas and policy changes with New Yorkers,
and most importantly of all showcasing that he will be
an accessible mayor.
On the corner of 1150 Madison Ave., McGuire was
welcomed by voters with open arms as they cheered him
on, stating, “We need a cool mayor like Ray!”
As a businessman himself, McGuire hopes to have more
government involvement when it comes to supporting
entrepreneurs and businesses, something that he believes
the current administration has not performed correctly.
In fact, McGuire believes there are many policies put
forth by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi ce that created, in his
view, “a broken system” that hinders public safety. The
mayoral hopeful says the economic crisis has been one
Ray McGuire passes by a vacant storefront on the
Upper East Side Side.
of the biggest factors contributing to the recent rise in
crime, gun violence, and robberies.
“I think public safety has to be one of the highest if
not one of the most important issues that we need to
address. We need to have an economic comeback, which
is a part of my comeback plan and we need to make sure
our streets are safe in order to feel safe to come onto the
streets. We need to focus on small business. My plan,
the greatest most inclusive economic comeback plan
in the history of this city, is to go big,” McGuire told
amNewYork Metro.
After stressing that businesses are the lifeblood of
New York City, McGuire began his tour which unfortunately
saw him passing by a slew of vacant storefronts.
This is something he hopes to change if elected.
“Small businesses are responsible for half of the jobs
of New York City,” McGuire added.
In addition to sharing his plan for an inclusive economic
recovery, McGuire also shared histhoughts on the Mayor’s
decision to open schools for 100% in-person learning—a
feat McGuire says is “Not enough and too late.”
“We have a crisis here. There are a million and half
New Yorkers who do not have access to mobile or
broadband and the assumption is that we went from
in classroom to out. The assumption there is that all
children would have access which is clearly not correct.
We’ve done nothing to address that. Yet another crisis,”
McGuire told amNewYork Metro.
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