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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, as usual, on Wednesdays, our lead Eric Adams reporter, Elizabeth Kim, with fresh excerpts and analysis from the mayor's Tuesday news conference, which he does every week, the only time each week that he takes questions from reporters about topics of their choosing. Liz, as usual, will help take your calls and texts if you have any reactions or questions today, a post-West Indian Day Parade debrief, as well as some questions about 3-K and more.

Despite a fatal shooting that left four others injured, the mayor and other city officials are largely downplaying violence at the parade and crediting the NYPD for its work to keep the parade largely safe. Also, a real decline in August shootings in Brooklyn in general. We'll hear clips and take your calls at 212-433-WNYC. Hey, Liz, hope you enjoyed your two weeks off. Welcome back. Glad to have you with us. Happy Wednesday.

Elizabeth Kim: I'm happy to be back, Brian. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Yesterday was in large part a debrief about the West Indian Day Parade. I'm not sure what the final count was, but more than 1 million New Yorkers, including Mayor Adams, had been expected to attend Monday's parade. Unfortunately, there was that fatal shooting that also left four others injured. We'll listen to a clip of the mayor yesterday talking about that incident and the NYPD's work over the weekend. First, what do we know about the shooting or the shooter?

Elizabeth Kim: Just to update you, Brian, as well as the listeners, five people were shot, but one person, a 25-year-old man named Denzel Chan, actually died from his injury on Tuesday. There was a fatality as a result of the violence that occurred alongside the parade on Monday.

Brian Lehrer: Here's the mayor speaking about that yesterday.

Mayor Eric Adams: How do you stop a nut from taking a gun, shooting to a crowd of five people? [laughs] We were proactive. 25 guns removed off the street just in those small days, 25 guns. No telling how many shootings we prevented. These random acts of violence, we had the police coverage there. There were new things that they did. I don't know if many people that noticed, but there was an additional corridor of lanes that they implement now in our parades.

It's no longer that if we have to move rapidly, there's a space for police officers to do it. They did their job. Those cops, and the crisis management teams, and the clergy leaders did an amazing job. Again, you remove that one shooter who shot five people, you have a parade that probably never witnessed that level of safety that we saw before.

Brian Lehrer: Despite the fatal shooting, the mayor is crediting the NYPD with a lot of good work ahead of time to keep gun violence to a minimum over the weekend. Is that fair to say, Liz? How do we even measure that? Is it in historical terms compared to past years or when a person comes out of the day dead, it's hard to celebrate anything?

Elizabeth Kim: I think this is a very difficult moment for the mayor because there is a history of violence associated with the parade. Just to give you an overview, last year police responded to a total of three stabbings. There were five slashings and four shootings, one of them fatal. In 2025, people, again were also shot. In 2015, an aide to former governor Andrew Cuomo was shot and killed. It's unfortunate because the parade is this huge cultural, it's a historic event. Just to give people a sense of it, there are two parts to the event. There is J'Ouvert, which is this annual street festival that serves as the kickoff.

It's a morning kickoff to the parade, and that celebrates the emancipation from enslavement. Then you have the parade itself, which is a spectacle of people in costume and bands, music, performances. It's widely attended by city officials. Senator Chuck Schumer was there yesterday, as well as Attorney General Letitia James. There has been this issue of violence, and it's been in many ways tarnished by the violence that has happened. When it comes to public safety, and we've talked about this before, Brian, the mayor, being a former cop, I think he faces a higher bar than his predecessors.

He himself talks about it there, that they introduced new measures during this years parades. There were drones, there were more officers, there were checkpoints where parade goers were actually wanded. You can understand his frustration because having done all of that and having removed, I think he said 25 guns in the days prior to the parade, there was still yet this incident. The mayor was criticized by some for seeming like he was downplaying the violence that resulted in the death of a very young New Yorker. He's saying that had we not done all the things we did do, it could have been a lot worse.

Then I think you're in this position where you're trying to prove a negative, and it just seems very difficult for him to make that argument that somehow these five shootings, that it still amounted to a safe parade. I would point to the reporting that my colleagues, Brittany Kriegstein and Charles Lane, did by going into the community post-parade and asking people how they felt about it. Now, even prior to the parade, there has been diminishing interest in the parade for different reasons.

It's mostly economic reasons. It's harder for the people who are organizing the bands to make money off of doing that kind of work and getting participants. After Monday and the five shootings, there are people who are legitimately worried about going to that event. It's a real shame because, like I said, it's important to remember that this is a huge cultural event for the Caribbean community in the city.

Brian Lehrer: That's right. Pulling back from the parade day to the summer at large, we have a story on Gothamist with a headline, Brooklyn recorded the fewest shootings ever between June and August, DA says. That's quoting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez, with the number that since they started keeping modern records anyway, that Brooklyn had the fewest shootings ever for the months of June, July, and August.

Elizabeth Kim: Right. The mayor mentioned that statistic yesterday at his news conference. Again, it points to the fact that this is very frustrating for the mayor. On the one hand, he has this broader statistic that shows that shootings are down. That is, in fact, the way things have trended under his mayoralty, but you have, again, this very high profile event and it's marred by yet another act of violence by one individual.

Brian Lehrer: In addition to the West Indian Day Parade, Labor Day also marks the unofficial end of summer, as we all know. School will be back in session tomorrow. There was a lot of talk yesterday in the mayor's news conference about 3-K. We've got two clips to play. In the first one, we'll hear the mayor shout out his predecessor. Do you want to set this up, or should I just go?

Elizabeth Kim: I'll set it up. As many of your listeners probably remember, pre-K was former Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature policy. It was also his initiative to expand it to 3-K, meaning that he's expanding pre-education from four-year-olds to also three-year-olds. He did that largely by using federal pandemic aid, which was something that Mayor Adams was initially critical of. What he did when he first came into office was he said that he felt that the 3-K program needed to be rightsized and he made cuts to seats in pre-K. That was largely unpopular.

What ultimately happened and what I think was one of the very positive outcomes of the budget negotiations this year was that both sides, the mayor and the Council, they came to an agreement that they would try to fix 3-K, meaning that this is a program in which there are too many seats in areas with not enough demand, and there are too few seats in areas with a lot of demand. The city has been trying to wrap their arms around this and figure out what exactly is happening.

The mayor and the Council agreed to invest $100 million. They added more seats, not just in 3-K, but also for special education. Now, the result is that the mayor is claiming a victory. He's basically saying that they were able to fulfill, everyone who applied on time has been offered a seat.

Brian Lehrer: Here's the mayor on some of those numbers.

Mayor Eric Adams: We came a long way, 14,000 in 2019. Hats off to former Mayor de Blasio for understanding how early childhood education is crucial, but from 14,000 to 52,000, there's an evolution. We are very much moving towards that evolution of accomplishing that task, and we're looking forward to doing that.

Brian Lehrer: We also heard the administration give a bit of a nuanced take on the meaning of universal. In universal 3-K, it's like the word unique. People say, "Oh, he's very unique." Well, no, unique means you're one of a kind, universal means everybody. Here's first Deputy Mayor, Sheena Wright.

Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright: We just had the Olympics, and you get points for degrees of difficulty with diving and gymnastics, which, dear Maria, it's easier to get 14,000 people in seats than 52,000. If you say universal is a specific number, you miss the point. It's if people need it, do they have it? That's what we're aspiring to do.

Brian Lehrer: Do you want to say anything about what we heard there?

Elizabeth Kim: The question put to the mayor is, are you committed to this idea of universal pre-K or universal 3-K in this instance, which was the word that was coined by Mayor de Blasio. I think the question is really trying to get out how many seats exactly are you going to be able to provide every school year? I think the administration has been reluctant to really put a number on it. I think the answer that they're giving is a fair definition of universal, which is, yes, universal means that the city can provide a seat to everyone who requests one.

I think people are listening to hear how the administration talks about 3-K, especially in the wake of how it initially cut seats because policy experts, in particular, are watching this program because one, it's a program in which the city has been a national trailblazer on, but it's also because it's tied to the sense of livability and affordability of the city. A family that can put their children in early education earlier, like at age three versus age four or five, that means that the parents are freed up to go back to work earlier or get a job.

This is a very, very important program that policy experts see as integral to the city's economic future. I think what we heard yesterday was something that will be very much watched and I think heartening for experts who have been interested in this program.

Brian Lehrer: Here's David in Queens, talking about what our first topic was, the shooting and the police presence at the West Indian Day Parade. Hi, David, you're on WNYC.

David: Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Listening to your report on the parade, I'm wondering, are statistics kept on other parades that are held annually in the city? Do they have people being shot on a regular basis, as unfortunately has been happening in the West Indian Day Parade? If these other parades don't have as many people being shot or any, I think, what reasons might there be for this parade being as dangerous as it is?

Brian Lehrer: David, thank you for the question. Liz, any answers?

Elizabeth Kim: The parade primarily runs through Brooklyn and Crown Heights. It runs through communities that have historically faced underinvestment, and these are the underlying conditions that many experts say lead to gun violence. I think it's important not to cast the parade as the problem. The mayor spoke strongly to this point yesterday. He basically doubled down on his commitment to the parade.

He said, as we pointed out before, it's not just this cultural event, but he's also pointed out that it is an important economic driver for the city. There are people who come to New York, especially just for this parade. It helps fill hotel rooms, it helps fill restaurants. The mayor was very clear on that, that the city is not going to scale back the parade.

Brian Lehrer: Here's Laurie in Manhattan on the other topic we've talked about so far, universal pre-K and 3-K. Laurie, you're on WNYC with Liz Kim.

Laurie: Hi, I just want to say that I totally support Universal pre-K and 3-K. In Queens, on Union Turnpike and 187th Street, there's a former Rite Aid store, rather very large footprint that was converted into a pre-K school. It's been finished ready for students for several years, there's never been a student in that building. Meanwhile, the city is paying rent and no one seems to know why it's still standing vacant. I just wanted to put it out there that hopefully, somebody will investigate and find out what's going on and hopefully, it will be filled with children-

Brian Lehrer: Laurie, thank you.

Laurie: sooner rather than later.

Brian Lehrer: Sounds like a news tip to pass on to our education desk, Liz.

Elizabeth Kim: Right. That's a very good anecdote, Laurie, because that has been one of the problems. Like I said, there are some neighborhoods in which there seems to be a surplus of seats and not enough demand, and the city has been trying to figure out what exactly is the problem there. One of the solutions that they're looking to implement are longer days. It could be possible that for some parents who are seeking to return to work, pre-K, which has traditionally been a half day, that might not work for them.

The city is trying to experiment, perhaps if they offered a longer day where it was somewhere between traditional working hours, between maybe 8:00 and 6:00 or 8:00 and 5:00, that that somehow could incentivize parents to then enroll their children in pre-K. The other issue is some people argue that the city isn't promoting 3-K enough, that they really need to have boots on the ground, talking to people in the communities, telling families that there are these seats available for their children.

Brian Lehrer: Right. Promoting, not meaning convincing people to send their kids-

Elizabeth Kim: Correct.

Brian Lehrer: -to free public pre-K, but letting them know it's a thing because not everybody's even aware of it.

Elizabeth Kim: Right. It may be that many families understand pre-K in terms of for four-year-olds or even parents understand, yes, kindergarten, when my child turns five, I enroll them in school. This idea, and like I said, the city has been a trailblazer in this. It could be that some families just don't know that they could start enrolling their children in early education as young as when they're three years old.

Brian Lehrer: I want to play the question that you asked the mayor at yesterday's news conference and his response. I think this is the last clip we're going to have time for. By way of context, our newsroom colleagues, Jessy Edwards and Christopher Wirth, reported on a number of Rikers Island staffers who have remained on the job despite being accused of sexual assault, as named in suits stemming from the Adult Survivors Act, which allowed adults in New York state a look back period after the statute of limitations would have normally expired to bring sexual assault civil suits against individuals.

These were filed by Rikers inmates against some of the Rikers staff. You asked the mayor about this yesterday. Listeners, we're going to play Liz's question and the mayor's response or I might call it non-response.

Elizabeth Kim: My colleagues have a follow-up to this investigation they've been doing on 700 women who filed lawsuits under the Adult Survivors Act about sexual assault and rape that they experienced at Rikers. What they've shown in the story today is that at least five of the guards are still employed by the Department of Corrections and three are actually still working at the women's channel. I wanted to see how you respond to that and what actions you think the city should take.

Should these people still be working at Rikers, for example, or should they even still be employed? Should they be put on some kind of leave until the Law Department completes its review? Will the city initiate a separate investigation apart from what the Law Department is doing?

Mayor Eric Adams: I think that in the Law Department and the Department of Correction, the Commissioner of the Department of Correction will have determination on how to move forward. I just saw that story, it is there. We have to allow investigations to take their course. That's important, but you don't want to keep people in harm's way. The Law Department and DOC would make that decision.

Brian Lehrer: Liz, it sounds like Mayor Adams won't say whether those Riker staffers should be placed on leave while the investigation goes on into whether they committed sexual assault against inmates.

Elizabeth Kim: Right. It's a bit of a tricky situation for the mayor because, as you may remember, Brian, the mayor himself is facing a sexual assault lawsuit also under the Adult Survivors Act that was filed last year. He's been adamant in denying the allegations there. He also has a top aide of his named Timothy Pearson, who is being sued by a former or I should say a retired police officer, accusing him of sexual harassment. Between those two lawsuits, the mayor has maintained that you are innocent until proven guilty. With his own lawsuit, he has said that he does not even recall the woman who's filing the complaint against him.

With Pearson, he has continued to retain Pearson in his role as one of his top advisors. I think with this issue, I don't know that there was a way for the mayor to then say that these individuals should be placed on some kind of leave until the Law Department or even the city performs its own investigations because where would that leave himself and also his top aide? I think it's a tricky situation there, but certainly, you heard the mayor's response. He didn't really say very much, even about the allegations.

If those were just of the women who were making allegations against Rikers officers who are still employed, the total number of lawsuits is mind boggling. Is it 700? That that, as my colleagues investigation showed, just points to systematic abuse at Rikers over the years. As we know, that's been a topic of concern not just for Mayor Adams, but for mayors before him. That is exactly why there is legislation that was passed to close Rikers by 2027.

Brian Lehrer: Let me throw in one other thing real quick from another report from one of our colleagues because we're just about out of time, but I think this is important to get in. Our newsroom colleague, Caroline Lewis, reported that doctors at New York City Health and Hospitals have been directed to cut the amount of time for primary care visits in half, down from 40 minutes to 20 minutes per primary care visit. Yesterday the administration defended those plans. 20 minutes, that's all, why is this happening real quick?

Elizabeth Kim: The city says this is happening because they're just facing more demand from patients. Yesterday what the administration said was part of that demand was coming from asylum seekers, as we've had this influx of migrants coming into the city and they've needed medical care. The city says that this arrangement will actually allow the city's public hospital system to serve more patients, something that they've been struggling to do recently.

Of course, what the doctors say is that this is dangerous and this is basically trying to cut down on the time that they not only need with patients, but the time they need to fill out important paperwork and assessments. Keep in mind, this is happening against the backdrop of union negotiations with doctors. Another point that the doctors did make was that if the city wanted to do this, okay, but they were never consulted in this decision.

Brian Lehrer: We leave it there, but only for today with our lead Eric Adams reporter, Elizabeth Kim, who generally comes on the show on Wednesdays after the mayors Tuesday news conferences with clips and analysis and to take your calls. Liz, thanks for today. Probably talk to you in a week.

Elizabeth Kim: Thanks, Brian. Bye

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