Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live On WFAN 101.9 Fm’s “Evan And Tiki”

April 18, 2024

Evan Roberts: Joining us right now, a man I've only criticized a handful of times on the radio, but that's part of the job, isn't it? The fine mayor of New York City, His Honor Mayor Eric Adams. Mayor, Tiki Barber, Evan Roberts, welcome to the show. How are you?

Mayor Eric Adams: Good, good, good. I was a better runningback than Tiki. You know that?

Tiki Barber: What happened, Mayor Adams? What happened? You decided to quit and get into politics instead?

Mayor Adams: What are you going to say? I may be a better man than Eric.

Barber: I don't envy the job that elected officials have, especially in this city, at all. You're on to talk about a couple of things, but one, to start with, is this new stadium. It's soccer-specific for NYCFC. It's going to be over in Queens and it seems like it's a great project and the affordable housing units that are going to be attached to it, I think they're going to be spectacular. Tell us a little bit about this project and why it made so much sense for New York right now.

Mayor Adams: A real win. Believe it or not, we have a 1.4 percent vacancy rate in our city. Our inventory problem of just having working-class New Yorkers finding housing is crucial and so we have led the most affordable housing build within one year in the history of the city. More families transitioning out of homeless shelters into housing in the history of the city. Voucher program more than the history of the city.

This project here means a lot. I grew up as a kid really driving past and taking the 7 train past Willets Point. We know what it was like having auto repair shops, looking at junkyards, unpaved roads but we just landed a real goal, and that was to develop a new neighborhood, 2,500 units of affordable housing. That's there a new school, open space for people, thousands of permanent jobs that we're going to see, and really to put icings on the cake, we're going to say go because we have the first professional soccer stadium that is going to be built with private dollars, New York City Football Club. This is huge for us as we move forward and continue to be the leader.

Roberts: Being at Citi Field, I've seen work being done. Is this all done? Is there any more red tape or anything else that needs to be done for the housing project? You mentioned the soccer stadium, is it all approved and ready to go? Where are we with that?

Mayor Adams: You know that I love that. This administration, we're good finishers. This project has been in the pipeline from many mayors. Many people tried and it always fell apart. Everyone said it was not possible and I said yes it is. We're going to get this done. My amazing Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, who has led my housing initiative, she brought all the parties together.

You know New York is 8.3 million people, 35 million opinions and it's challenging to get unions on board, to get those local elected… Councilman Francisco Moya who was a young child from Ecuador that came here with his mom and dad, he had this vision and it just really warmed my heart to see a kid actually see it materialize. We finished with all the red tape. The next tape you're going to see is when we cut the tape when the housing goes up and the field goes up.

Roberts: Where do things stand? I know Steve Cohen has ideas about building a casino and building all these other plans. Where does that stand in conjunction with this?

Mayor Adams: There's a process for the casinos. As a state senator, I was the chair of racing and gaming, so I know if you do the casinos right, it could bring a lot of economic development. There's some good projects that's on the table of the Racino that's out in Aqueduct. You have a location in the Bronx, in Manhattan, and as you just mentioned, Willets Point, as well as the Hudson Yards area. I just want to see one of the casinos here. That's important to us because it brings jobs, it brings tourism, and it could fit in any one of these areas as long as the local electors would like it to be there.

Roberts: There's one other thing that Willets Point, Queens needs, and I'm so glad I can ask you this because this has bothered me for many, many years. We do not have a football team in New York City.

All right. Ed Cox, let the Jets go and promised we'll get a team in New York City, the least. I think the Jets have an out in about three years. Will you try to attempt-- I'm serious because this is a pipe dream of mine but you're the freaking mayor. You could get this done. Can you try to lure Woody Johnson to New York City and try to build a football stadium whether it's in Queens or somewhere else. Is that something on your agenda?

Barber: Well, also, would it even make sense?

Roberts: Yes.What do you want? Would it make sense?

Barber: I'm just saying it's hard to put a football stadium, an 80,000, 90,000-foot football stadium in New York City. That'd be difficult.

Mayor Adams: They tried. They tried. Remember they tried on the West side.

Barber: Yes, of course.

Mayor Adams: If we're going to get a great football team, we need to find a great running back like Tiki was. That's going to attract the teams to come. You got NY on the helmets. It must be a real NY, not NJ.

Barber: Oh, stop. I live in Jersey now.

Roberts: I think you're right. I think there's an opportunity because that Queens area, you got a soccer stadium, which is going to be very cool. We have a baseball stadium. How about a football stadium? The Jets belong in Queens. Mr. Mayor, can you get it done for us?

Mayor Adams: You know what? I'm going to tell them. You asked me and I'm going to see about making that happen. I'm going to speak with the team. We need that stadium back.

Roberts: Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Remember those good old days watching them play in Shea Stadium? Those cold days I can remember them and reflect on sitting in the stands and enjoying those games.

Barber: Now, mayor, are you going to go to the soccer games? Do you even like soccer?

Mayor Adams: Yes, I do. My son played it as a child. I'm pretty sure, Tiki, you will agree there's something about what sports does to our young people. It took us a while, but we built up a real soccer fan base. Listen, we coined the phrase Soccer moms, but it's more if children play professional. It's just about being on the team. If you could bounce a ball on the basketball court, you could wear a black robe on the Supreme Court I like to say.

I still remember the sayings my coach told me when I go through difficult times, and it just reinforces, "Just hang in the game, Eric. It's not about if you strike out. It's about if you stand up and continue to be committed." Those sayings that my coach gave me allow me to go through the challenges of running the most important city on the globe. I like soccer. I look forward to sit in the bleachers with my son and enjoying a few games.

The diversity… We are one of the most diverse places on the globe. Queens is the most diverse county on the globe, and you see many of our South Americans, our European, our Central American countries, they always wanted a soccer stadium, which is popular. Now we have it, it's coming to the borough of Queens, and remember, we land the finals. The World Cup finals will be in New York, New Jersey area, and this is a big boost for us.

Barber: The soccer stadium, is it going to be done for the World Cup?

Mayor Adams: No, one year out. One year out.

Barber: Yes. We're going to miss it by a year.

Mayor Adams: It's going to be done right after, but people will be still feeding off the energy of the finals of the World Cups, and so we're looking forward to the US Football Club during their kickoff on a pitch one year after.

Roberts: Over the next few years, how's the traffic going to be? A lot of things are being built, which is good, but for those going to Citi Field or those going to the US Open, is this going to be, let's call this, a pain in the ass. How's this going to go?

Mayor Adams: No, it's not because remember what happens at the start of Willets Point, Shea Stadium. We have the number seven line. I was a former transit cop during the '80s, and I remember that line very well. Right now we move thousands of people at every Mets game. We use it during the US Open and people are able to get to and from the stadiums in the game, so we'll be able to manage that traffic. No one does it better than the men and women in the New York City Police Department.

Barber: The soccer stadium is down the line, even though the MLS season is going on right now, but the big story sports-wise in New York are the Knicks and the Rangers and the Islanders, and Shaun Morash, who's not talking in this interview. He had a question for you, and I think it's a good one. "What kind of deals are you making?" or bets I should say, "What kind of bets are you making with the mayors of Philadelphia and/or Washington?"

Mayor Adams: I love that. You know what? We didn't do a bet yet. I just met with the Mayor of Denver, he talks about his Nuggets. We just sat down and spoke. I'm going to reach out to them today and say, "Listen, Tiki told me to make a bet because we are New York folks[inaudible] so I'm going to make a bet." Maybe I'll give them a vegan cheesecake or something like that.

Roberts: A vegan cheesecake. Oh, my goodness.

Barber: It's just oat milk or something, right?

Roberts: What, are we punishing them, they eat cheese. We're talking to the mayor of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams. I want to ask you a reflective question, all right?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Roberts: I get this from my wife all the time. I look back at the mistakes I've made and I've made plenty. When you look back, it's been two years now of this vaccine mandate that we had with the people that lost their jobs, with the sports impact, but whatever-- The sports impact is what we yelled about on the air but I also understand, in the grand scheme of things, it is what it is. Do you regret the handling of that mandate two years ago?

Mayor Adams: Actually, it wasn't two years ago, the previous mayor was faced with an awesome responsibility of figuring out how we are going to keep the city safe. The mandate was put in place by the mayor. We continued that mandate. When I became mayor, we laxed a lot of rules from face masks to other things. Think about it for a moment. We were unsure where Covid was taking us. I think all of us, even the two of you, I know you lost someone that was either directly near you or close to you. It was a very scary moment.

You make these tough choices. You may look back later and say, "I wish I could have done things differently." When you are on that field and you have to move that ball down the field, you have to trust your offensive line. Our offensive line were the doctors, the nurses, the hospital professionals. Bill, I remember during that time speaking with him as the Borough president. He was making some tough calls, and I think he did the best he could.

In the process of that, he saved lives and we have to look back and figure out how we make people whole. It was a frightening time. I remember seeing those morgues outside of hospitals watching the countless number of people who died. I lost some very dear friends. I lost my mentor, Roy Hastick, and I lost one of my rookie cops, Deborah Gillian. He made those calls. Anyone that has to take the leadership know, sometimes you make the calls, they're not popular, but leaders have to lead from the front.

Barber: Yes, mayor, there've been a lot of changes since Covid. We come in on Fridays and there's not a lot of people here. It's a lot of work from home. You're seeing, especially down here where we are, a lot of office buildings are being converted into residential buildings, which I guess helps alleviate some of that residential burden that you were alluding to earlier. Some of it, maybe low income, but I don't think a lot of it is mostly market rate. The city for a while felt really dangerous. It felt like it wasn't safe to be here. I think that's changing a little bit, but it doesn't feel all the way back. How does the city get back to where it was pre-pandemic?

Mayor Adams: I love that. That's a great question. January 1st, 2022, I inherited a city where we had a 40 percent increase in crime. No one was on our subway system. Tourism was hurting. Independent financial analysts determined that we were not the place to do your investments, guns were everywhere. Look at us now, two years and four months later we have more private sector jobs in the history of the city.

62 million tourists, the fourth largest in the history of the city. Independent financial experts increased our bond rating so we are a good place to invest in. Our children are pacing the state in reading and math, 4.1 million people on our subway system with just six felony crimes a day with 4.1 million. We want to get rid of the six, but it's clear how well we are doing. Housing is coming up.

I just announced a new office tower, one of the first large skyscrapers since the days of the Empire State Building. What I feel, Tiki, I feel like this is a 1930 moment. Coming out of the recession, many of us didn't think we could do it. Yet, a little over one year, we built the Empire State Building and we show people why this is the Empire State. We're not coming back. We're back.

The city is strong. We got to deal with recidivism and crime, which is driving a narrative. We have to deal with random acts of violence and people with severe mental health illnesses. Those are the three issues we are facing. It has overshadowed the success of the city. This is a resilient city. I was a lieutenant during 9/11. I watched that although our center of trade collapse on 9/11, 9/12, we got up. Teachers taught, cab drivers drove their cabs, retailers sold their goods. This is the place to be. This is the greatest city on the globe, and no one is going to ever tell me, we're never going to come back without resiliency.

Roberts: We're talking Mayor Eric Adams. Now, John Sterling is retired. He is going to be honored on Saturday. Your thoughts on the legend of John Sterling?

Mayor Adams: Unbelievable. It's almost hard to say Yankees without saying John. A real true gentleman and to be able to do something you love for that long and the resiliency of seeing announcers come and go. I just wish him to enjoy his life and his retirement. Sometimes people don't know when to get off the field, but when you do, you can appreciate the other aspects of life.

I had three careers, from a police officer to a state senator to a borough president, and now I'm the mayor. I enjoyed them all, but I look forward to spending time with my son even this year. I'm sure that he has probably grandchildren or children that he wants to really spend time with. It's just really happy for him. His voice has took us from games to games throughout the years.

Roberts: It was a few months ago, I got ridiculed because I came on the air and said there's something that the city doesn't talk about, but you've got this ranking system of King of New York City when it comes to athletes. I reported that you guys as a city were close to making Jalen Brunson, the new king of New York City. People said, "Why are you making this crap up?" Can you, as the mayor, confirm that this secret list still exists and you guys have thought about making Brunson king?

Mayor Adams: No, not at all. We have some great athletes out there, and I'm just going to support the best. Anything New York, we're just making a tie all the way across the board.

Roberts: That means it's true, right?

Barber: He's being politically correct?

Roberts: You're right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We appreciate it.

Barber: Appreciate you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Appreciate you guys. Take care. Good to see you.

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