NEW YORK (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams reflected on his time in office so far during an extensive interview for PIX on Politics.
“I say over and over again, when does the hard part start?” Adams said.
Adams talked about everything, from subway safety to COVID funding.
“We need the funding to continue to keep things going,” he said.
The mayor says he plans to expand his new anti-gun unit during the interview with PIX11 News’ Dan Mannarino, for he is concerned about a possible increase in crime as the weather gets warmer.
“My anti-gun unit, the numbers are impressive. Dan, we removed over a thousand guns off our street,” he said.
Adams also touted his work on subway safety, adding more officers into stations, and focusing on those who are experiencing homelessness and mental health crises.
“Every Sunday, I speak with my law enforcement team and my ‘quality of life’ team. I want my police officers on the trains,” Adams said. “People need to see them; I need them moving about.”
When he talked about COVID, Adams said his strategy was to slowly roll back restrictions. He’s been especially cautious when it comes to children and knows he’s catching heat for keeping kids under 5 masked up in school.
“I got to really balance this out,” he said. “I don’t want to look in my rearview mirror later in life and say I made the wrong decision with our babies.”
The mayor also talked about his agenda for the next 100 days.
“This is an FDR moment. We have some troubling indicators: unemployment, foreclosures, people who are on an eviction list, crime,” he said. “We’re gonna face this head-on together. This is a resilient city.”
Mayor Adams has also faced a lot of criticism for his controversial sweeps of more than 300 homeless encampments. The mayor says he’s working to preserve the dignity of unhoused New Yorkers. Critics argue that destroying encampments doesn’t solve the problem and that the city needs to invest in creating better, cleaner shelters that people will feel safe relocating to.
Mayor Adams is working remotely this week after testing positive for COVID Sunday. His symptoms are minimal and the mayor says he will continue to get stuff done, just as he has during his first 100 days.
