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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. For our last few minutes today, we're going to return to the big local news of the week, Mayor Adams indictment, but from a very particular point of view. We want to give first priority on the phones to anybody who is currently a city worker. Any city workers listening right now, after all, you're on the front lines of this chaos, it's your job that's affected by the actions of the mayor, as well as the city as a whole, of course. If you're not an employee of New York City, hold your calls for a minute. Let's see if we get city workers calling in. I realize most city workers are at work, so not necessarily listening to the show, but there are some jobs where you can listen and work at the same time, and we know some people do, or maybe you're off today or you're home sick or whatever. If you are a city worker, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Call and tell us how you and your colleagues are reacting to the news of Mayor Eric Adams indictment.

Specifically, is it mattering to your ability to do your job and your agency's ability to do their jobs? That's one of the central questions around whether Adams should resign while fighting these charges. He's innocent until proven guilty. He has the right to fight the charges, declare his innocence in court, as I think he's doing right about now in Lower Manhattan.

The question around whether he should resign really centers on, can he still run the city while he's fighting the charges? That's what we're trying to get at with you, city workers, if you're out there, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. From your desk or your sanitation truck or your classroom or your construction site or wherever you are, as a city worker, can your agency do its job, as well as or not as well as, or yes, some people maybe would even say better than, though I doubt it, before Mayor Adams was indicted. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Yesterday, the mayor sent out an email to all employees of the city in which he took the chance to further deny the charges against him. He started off by highlighting the important work of city employees. A quote from that email reads, "Over 8.3 million New Yorkers rely on us to show up every day and make their lives safer, easier, and more affordable. That is what we have done since day one of this administration, and that is what we will always do." That's part of him, planting his flag to saying the work goes on, this is not going to be affected by me having to fight these corruption charges in court.

What do you think? Give us your report from the ground, from your desk, from your beat as a social services worker, from your bus, or anywhere. Well, okay, that's the MTA, but anywhere else, 212-433-WNYC, as a city worker, 212-433-9692. We'll take your calls after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to the calls that are coming in from New York City employees on whether the investigations, the resignations, the indictments now of Mayor Eric Adams in particular, are affecting the work on the ground. Can the city go on as he fights the charges with him as mayor? Or does that distraction actually affect your work, actually affect your agency's ability to deliver services? Let's see who's calling in. How about Becky, who I think says she works for the health department? Becky, you're on WNYC. Hi there.

Becky: Hi. Hi, Brian. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: I can hear you just fine.

Becky: Hello. Okay, great. I work for the Department of Health. We just got an email announcing his resignation, but I think I've worked long enough. We've had several commissioners over the years that I've worked with. My work directly, I don't think it will, but the city as a whole, I think he should resign. I think it will indeed, in just the running of this city, it's going to hang over everything. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Can you get specific about it at all other than like a vibe, and yes, Dr. Vasan, the health commissioner, he's not one of those being investigated, we should say, but he announced that he's going to leave in a few months but go ahead.

Becky: He's going to leave. I don't know exactly how that's going to impact directly my job, but I wonder as a whole overall different, with so many people are leaving, how it's going to affect going down the line, but I don't think the mayor is going to be able to do his job properly.

Brian Lehrer: Becky, thank you for your call. Appreciate it. Here's Sharon in Brooklyn who says she's an NYPD officer. Sharon, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Sharon: Hi. Good afternoon. I just called to say this. What we do on the ground every day protecting New York City, we do well. What's going on with the mayor does not affect what we're doing whatsoever. I think he's done a great job, and NYPD does a great job of making sure that we layer the agency with great leadership. If this entire city had to depend on one person to ensure that it would run, I don't think any city or government agency could run that way. You have leadership in place for a reason. I think he's done a great job of putting people in place to ensure that these things happen. I think that he can multitask and take care of charges that we don't know are valid or not, that he's not been convicted of.

I think that he should be able to go through that process, defend himself, and still maintain a position that I personally voted for. I voted for him to run the city, and these charges do not change that. We have a previous president, who's currently running for president again, who's been convicted of, that people still have confidence in doing the job. None of this has diminished my confidence in his ability to run the city, and I have to add that-

Brian Lehrer: That's your take on--

Sharon: -in conversation--

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead, real quick.

Sharon: I was just going to say, in conversations with others, it's been about 60-40. About 60 saying, yes, we think he can, and about 40 who think he should--

Brian Lehrer: Interesting. At the departmental level, regardless, and I appreciate your expressing your opinion about the mayor, at the departmental level when you just lost the NYPD Commissioner Caban as well, and you're now onto your third commissioner during the Adams administration, does it matter who's at the top of the department or even that doesn't matter so much to getting the work done in your opinion?

Sharon: Not in getting the work done, definitely in rallying the troops, definitely in a sense of continuity, but in getting the daily work done. Officers responding to people calling for help, the various things that we do in the communities with our community partners, the things that we do for the elderly, there's so many things that we do that are not affected by who's at the very top. Policy obviously comes from the top down, but what we do daily, it has not affected us at all. Not a little bit.

Brian Lehrer: Sharon, thanks so much for your call. Call us again. Stay safe out there.

Sharon: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Let's go next to Dominic in the Bronx. I think a city worker, in that he teaches at CUNY, even though CUNY is largely a function of the state as well as the city. Dominic, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Dominic: Hi. Yes, I know that the mayor doesn't have as much control over CUNY, but he is part of the negotiating process with unions. I can't imagine him dedicating himself 100% to defending himself, claiming that he's innocent of all charges and also running the largest city in the United States. I think, just on an optics level, it would be good for him to stand down so that one, we can get Jumaane Williams who does care about CUNY, and two, he can dedicate himself to showing that he's innocent, and we don't look like the clown circus that this has become. With regard to the earlier comments that he would elected--

Brian Lehrer: You tipped your politics there, though, right? You'd rather have Jumaane Williams as mayor, and so maybe you lean in the direction of saying, well, Adams should--

Dominic: Brian, my friend, honestly, I think Jumaane Williams is too conservative in many ways. I'm like a Chomsky guy, but if we have to be stuck with odious leadership, at least we could have something with integrity, and I think Williams would show that. I think Adams would be good but not for New York. Maybe somewhere else in the world or another galaxy. This New York City has become a police state, and it's getting worse, and he reminds me of Giuliani.

Brian Lehrer: I want to stay on the scandal, though, and his ability to do the job, not on the politics, but I appreciate it, Dominic. Call us again when we're talking about policy. Here is Salmana, who I think works for the Sanitation Department in the Bronx. Do I have that right? Hi, you're on WNYC.

Salmana: Yes, hi. You have it right? Yes, I'm here. How you doing? Thank you very much for doing this show all the time. Keep following you. Thank you very much.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. What do you do?

Salmana: I drive the sanitation garbage truck.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for your work. What do you think about the mayor's situation and whether it affects the sanitation department's ability to do its job?

Salmana: They should allow him to do his job until found guilty. Trump was found guilty of 34 counts, but he's still leading Republican. Why don't Democrat leave Adams to do his job? That's my question.

Brian Lehrer: That's your take on the mayor, and no effect on you? It doesn't trickle down to your ability to pick up the garbage in the way you do as efficiently as possible or effectively as possible or any other thing in your department, as far as you can tell?

Salmana: No. So far, no. Nothing affect our job, no. All the crew, we left this morning, 3:00 AM, and we still doing our work. Why don't they listen to him? Give him a chance to prove himself.

Brian Lehrer: Got it. One of New York's strongest. Stay safe out there. That's a dangerous job, too. Call us again, Salmana. Thank you for chiming in.

Salmana: You're welcome.

Brian Lehrer: One more, well, actually, I guess we're out of time. We can't do another call of justice. Well, that was an interesting little sampling of city workers who chose to call in, including a few who, as you hear, are in the camp of giving Eric Adams a chance to defend himself. Thanks to all you city employees for calling in.

Before I sign off for the weekend, I want to give a quick shout out to one of our beloved workers, Robin Bilinkoff, who is retiring from New York Public Radio. Today is her last day. If you've ever heard a promo, or me do a live read for something, and thought to yourself, hey, that sounds enticing, I really want to tune in to On the Media or whatever we're promoting, well, Robin Sharp writing and editing were probably responsible for that. She left her mark all over our airwaves. She loves WNYC, and was always thinking of you, the listener. Robin, thank you. We will miss you. Our whole team will, and best of luck.

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That's The Brian Lehrer Show for today, produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Megan Ryan as the head of Live Radio. That was Juliana Fonda at the audio controls. Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay tuned for All Of It.

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