Brian Lehrer: The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. We begin today with Brooklyn borough president, and now Mayor-Elect Eric Adams, back with us for the first time since being elected mayor last week, overwhelmingly in fact, with two-thirds of the vote. One of the few bright spots for Democrats, this election cycle anywhere in the US, and of course, with a big job ahead of him. We'll bring him on in just a minute listeners here's what we'll do on the phones with the mayor-Elect for this segment. Let's take them on a five-borough tour. We will take 132nd phone call from each borough. One from each borough with something you would like the incoming mayor to know about your neighborhood.

You'll have 30 seconds to do it, 212-433 WNYC 212-433-9692. This can be a fun thing about your neighborhood if you want or, of course, it can be an issue in your neighborhood that you'd want him to address through public policy once he's officially in office. We'll have time today for one from each borough and we will give you 30 seconds to say what it is so he can get all five boroughs in. Who has won something from your neighborhood in any borough that you want the incoming Mayor to know about? 212-433 WNYC 212-433-9692. One word in advance, if we bump your call it's not about you. We just want to make sure we're getting calls from every borough. Mr. Mayor-Elect, welcome back to WNYC, and first things first congratulations. How does it feel?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Brian. Not really, I think as a station, you have been a source of information for so many people and have been just a real strong conversation. I'm excited about the future. I'm excited about the future of New York. This is a great city. We have a level of resiliency that we should all be proud of. I have an obligation of turning those 10 million dreams into a reality.

Brian Lehrer: Is it also scary knowing you're going to actually have to run this complicated city?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: No, let me tell you what scary is, scary as waking up and not being able to look out your eyes because you lost your sight. Scary is riding the eight trains. When the city in the mid-'80s, when we were having 2,000 homicides a year, and you had to ride by yourself with a radio that didn't work. What's scary is going through school with a learning disability and not getting the resources and believing you can't learn. Obstacles is who I am, and I think that this is the moment where a person that has the life that I live to help people who are living their life now. I'm ready for this moment, and I think the city is ready to move in a good direction.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Do you have anything to announce that you'll do on day one, or any deputy mayors or commissioners you ready to name? I figure if you're rolling anything out today, I would be greedy and see if you want to break it here.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: If you had the camera on me, you would see my signature smile right now. This station has broken many stories but I have nothing. It's going to be a boring interview today. I don't have much to announce. We turned out our transition team. Really the leadership I'm proud of the diversity. We have a large number of people from the private sector, the business sector of those who are service providers. We have a great lead with Sheena Wright and Katie Moore. I'm really excited about that team, and it's a reflection on how I'm looking to govern.

Brian Lehrer: I do see that Crane's has an article on your transition team that quotes your transition chair, Sheena Wright who in real life is president and CEO of the United Way of New York City. Who said, "You're looking for people, not just with technical skills to be in leadership positions in your administration, but with emotional intelligence." Can you elaborate on that?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: It's something that corporate America and large businesses are starting to look at. The studies are showing those businesses are doing better because they are really leaning into the most emotional intelligence. We look at academics. We look at the schools you attended, the degrees that you have, all your technical skills, but we don't look at, are you emotionally intelligent? Are you compassionate? Are you caring? Do you seek to understand so that you're understood? Do you understand that every employee must have a fullness of their lives?

It can't just be about what you do in your company or your agency. How are you at home? How do we care about each other and particularly government, Brian, think about it. When you enter a governmental agency, you are broken in many places. Some of that trauma is passed on to the employees. The vicarious trauma is real. I want to have people that are leading these agencies that understand that we must be compassionate, caring, empathetic to the people that are walking through our doors and those who are employed in our agencies.

Brian Lehrer: All right. You're ready to start your five-borough tour with our callers? We're going to begin.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Oh, I thought I did that four years ago.

Brian Lehrer: Again, and again and again, no, this is an auspicious moment just elected mayor. Sophia in the Bronx you're on w NYC with Eric Adams. Hello, Sophia.

Sophia: Hello, good morning.

Brian Lehrer: I'm going to keep it to 30 seconds so we get everybody in a lot of time today. Go.

Sophia: Yes, let's go. I just want to welcome you, and also to acknowledge capping the Cross Bronx. We have a lot of green spaces. We need to unite the Bronx that has been divided by the Cross Bronx and we're in that mission, and we're trying to make that happen. Please keep in mind, capping the Cross Bronx, because we need to unite the people together from this highway and these green spaces. They're massive, they need to be done the amount of air pollution that's happening from this Cross Bronx is huge.

Brian Lehrer: Sophia, I'm going to leave it there. Thank you very much, keeping it to time, and coincidentally, we're going to do a segment on exactly that later this hour, because with the new physical infrastructure bill from Washington. Senator Schumer and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, are talking about using the money potentially for just that. Mayor-Elect Adams, do you have a position on capping the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Love it and thank her for that or something that my good friend, Ruben Diaz Jr. He has communicated that as well, and my former deputy borough President, Diana Raynor, she talked about capping the BQE Green. We do need to really roll back the Robert Moses division of our city and reunite neighborhoods and communities. I love that idea. One solution must solve a multitude of problems. You cap it, you bring communities together, green space. There's some great things we can do with that.

Brian Lehrer: Justin in Brownsville as our five-borough tour moves from north to south. Justin you're on WNYC with Mayor-Elect Eric Adams.

Justin: Good morning, Brian. Good morning Mr. Adams congratulations.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Thank you.

Justin: I would like to know first what's the street does New York have with [unintelligible 00:08:06] why New York City is so against gun control. People carry illegal guns to protect themselves because the illegal gun is on the street. The only thing is happening is that the robbers and the team is getting away scot-free.

Brian Lehrer: Justin, I'm going to leave it there. Your question is clear from Brownsville. Justin feels threatened out there, Mr. Mayor-Elect, and he wants the gun laws to be looser to allow more people to carry. What do you say to him?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: I respectfully oppose that, and I think the Supreme Court is going to make a huge mistake if they vote on making it a more easy to carry concealed weapons. Listen, you and I both know this is a dense population number one. Number two, a short fuse uses [unintelligible 00:09:08]. Have you seen when someone cuts someone off the response sometimes? We all have difficulties now, people tend to believe the answer to a problem is using a gun, and that cannot be in a culture as diverse as New York, as dense as New York.

I believe we have some of the great laws on who's allowed to have what's called the carry permit and a target permit. I'm totally opposed to increasing or to be more lenient with those laws. We need to fight and hope that the Supreme Court does not make these changes.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners we're going to go to the Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Yet we have an open line for a Staten Island caller. If you want to tell the Mayor-Elect Eric Adams something that he should know about your neighborhood on Staten Island. We have an open line for that right now. 212-433 WNYC, 212-433-9692. While we're on public safety, I saw you say the other day, I think it was when you were in Puerto Rico, that the bail reform law should be changed so that judges can take into account the risk to public safety of someone who's charged with a crime. Not just whether they are a flight risk.

I believe New York is the only state where judges cannot take that into account. Do you think that would help reduce crime substantially while keeping the other parts of bail reform in place so we're not jailing people for being poor?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Let me be very clear and specific because sometimes people take what you stated and go in another direction. I'm talking about imminent threat to safety, particularly gun violence. If you are a person that discharges a weapon or a person that on multiple occasions you were found to carry a weapon, that should be taken into account. I'm talking about dangerous crimes. I'm not talking about someone steals food because he or she they are hungry.

I'm talking about those who are carrying out those specific violent crimes like the young family, 21-year-old shot in the Bronx by a 17-year-old. He assaulted his mother with a weapon. Then he was released, and he discharged his weapon and took the life of an innocent person. Those who want to romanticize public safety, they're going to always be against my position. I know what it is to knock on doors and see what victims are going through with gun violence. We have some great leaders in Albany. Carl Heastie is an amazing leader up there, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

This is just a philosophical difference I have with those that believe differently than where I am on this case. There are many things we agree on, but gun violence is a real issue in our city.

Brian Lehrer: I don't want to put words in Speaker Heastie's mouth, but I think one of the objections is that when a judge has discretion based on perceived risk of even violent imminent crime. They say that usually winds up with racial bias because judges tend to see Black and brown people as more dangerous than white people who are charged with the same offense. Do you think that's true or not so true?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: I think it's true. I fought against that when I was one of the Blacks in law enforcement. The reports show how we treat people differently based on their ethnicity. Let's fix that, and not say because of that we're going to create environments where family members are unsafe. At the top of my list of concern in the city, is that those inner cities communities, we can't continue to allow the small number of people who are violent. This small number of people and allow them to continue their violence.

These cases are happening over and over again, repeated offenders with gun-related crime. Let's fix the bias in the court system, but we can't do it at the expense of those who are innocent people losing their lives.

Brian Lehrer: Let's continue our five-borough tour with our callers. By the way, I just see that we just lost our Queens' caller. Mike in Queens I was just going to pick you up, and you dropped out. We have our Queens' line available, 212-433WNYC. One thing that you want to tell Mayor-Elect Eric Adams about for many neighborhoods in Queens in 30 seconds. 212-433-9692. Meanwhile, here's Jed on Staten Island. Jed, you're on WNYC with Mayor-Elect, hello.

Jed: Yes. Hello, Mayor-Elect Adams, Jed. Well, a couple of years ago, I moved from Brooklyn, actually, but love living on Staten Island now. I'm in the Stapletons. Tom Scarangello neighborhood. The one of many things that's really clear here is that our transportation options are so much more limited than in the other boroughs. Everyone knows it's been the case forever.

Our subway's connection to Brooklyn was started and stopped something in the 1920s, but something we can do right now to change the way Staten Islanders get around and reduce dependency on automobiles is bike share. Rest of the boroughs have it. Everyone has Citi Bike in some neighborhoods at least. We'd like to see it expanded to all, but Staten Island has had many fits and starts with any bike share. We have currently nothing.

Brian Lehrer: Jed, I'm going to leave it there. You've got your thought out there. Citi Bike on Staten Island. You're a biker, Mr. Mayor-Elect, right? Can Citi Bike come to Staten Island?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Of the idea and concept and what we must do, and I agree with him. What we must do in certain areas we should compensate or we should assist in the payment to make it affordable for bike-sharing in places like Staten Island, places like Rockaway. Those places void of real transit like Canarsie in Brooklyn [unintelligible 00:15:23] to step in and assist with a bike-sharing program to make it happen. We need to become more competitive in the bike-sharing space. We cannot limit it to just one company. I like the Citi Bike program, but let's make it competitive.

We're losing our competitive edge in the city. I [inaudible 00:15:45] program expanded. I'm going to spend a lot of time on Staten Island. I'm not going to be a Manhattan-centered mayor. I'm going to open my shop up in all of the boroughs so they can see their mayor on the ground, and understand this is a mayor for the whole city.

Brian Lehrer: Gothamist has an article this week that says, "New York City voters weren't looking for a big ideas mayor this year. They were looking for a good manager with a pandemic and crime and affordability weighing heavily on so many people. They contrasted that with Mayor de Blasio coming in eight years ago with his signature proposal of universal pre-K." I'm curious, I don't know if you've seen that particular article, but is that a contrast you agree with, or do you have anything that you would want people to think of as your signature initiative coming into office?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: I like the article because not too many people got that about what I was trying to say. Brian, I've been saying this over and over again. Our city is dysfunctional. I remember when I lost my sight and I was having problems with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, nerve damage. The doctor said, "Eric, I could give you medicine for all of your symptoms, but why not deal with the underlying cause of it?" I was able to go to a whole food plant-based and reverse all of those symptoms.

When we talk about homelessness, we talk about crime, we talk about education, we're playing Whac-A-Mole. The goal is not one issue. We need to stop a dysfunctional city that is not giving taxpayers their money's worth. If I fix just one area of the city as a signature issue and still have crises, and dysfunctionality throughout my city, then I fell. No, government must do its job like taxpayers are doing their jobs. They're paying their taxes. Now, we must do our job of the delivery of goods and services the right way. That is what I want to be known as.

Brian Lehrer: You mentioned your diabetes. Last time you were on, I don't know if you remember, I told you I'd give you the chance to talk about being a vegan. Will you talk about the benefits that you see for yourself, and also if it inspires any public policy initiative?

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: It's plant-based. As you know, there's a difference between the two. I'm a plant-based eater. Always all cookies are vegan. [chuckles] There's nothing healthy about all your cookies. What I want to show people is what 1010 and even The New York Times did a piece how having a plant-based centered diet helps us even dealing with COVID, dealing with other healthcare crises. This is no longer a discussion of the science is clear. Our overconsumption in processed foods and meat and dairy is impacting our health, and is not sustainable.

What I am saying is, "What you put on your grill is up to you, but darn it, our city cannot continue to feed the healthcare crisis. "We're going to [inaudible 00:18:54] diet in our schools, our hospitals, in the Department of Correction. We're going to allow people to have access to healthy food and not food that's feeding their healthcare crisis. We're going to educate people on the difference between the two. I'm not going to force my way of life on anyone, but I'm going to give the city of New York an option to have a more healthier lifestyle.

Brian Lehrer: All right, let's complete our five-borough tour. We've got two minutes left in the segment. We've done Manhattan, we've done Brooklyn, we've done The Bronx, we've done Staten Island. Mike in Queens, you're on WNYC. Hi, Mike. Oops, I have to click on Mike's line for him to be on. Now you're on WNYC. Hi, Mike.

Mike: Hi, Mike, good morning, gentlemen. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Good morning.

Brian Lehrer: What have you got for the Mayor-Elect? 30 seconds.

Mike: First, it's a pleasure to be speaking to two graduates of Bayside High School, Mr. Lehrer, and Mr. Adams.

Brian Lehrer: You sussed that out.

Mike: [laughs] I just wanted to mention that Mr. Adams I know one of your challenges is going to be trying to straighten out things within the Department of Education. Unlike previous mayors, I would make the suggestion that you might want to start at the bottom-up the school level up rather than tweet Courthouse down. In Queens, in particular, there's a massive problem in terms of student distribution and overcrowding along racial lines, frankly speaking in the middle school and high school. That was just my comment that previous administrations have kept tinkering with Tweed and adding this and that structurally, but I think looking at things from the school level up might pay off more benefits.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Tweed being where the Department of Education's central headquarters is just for clarity. Mr. Mayor-Elect, say anything you want to say to Mike and anything you want to say going out the door. I know you got to go into that a minute.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Yes, I thank Mike for that. Listen, a third of our budget over $30 billion, we use on the Department of Education, and every year we get an inferior product. 65% of Black and brown children never reach proficiency in the Department of Education. How embarrassing is that for our City? We got to go into the Department of Education, which is the feeder of the dysfunctionality of our city. We're going to do dyslexia screening. We're going to look at how we bridge our education from pregnancy through profession. We're going to change how we educated the city, and be committed in doing so, and return the joy of learning back in our schools. Where we have amazing teachers that are not getting the resources they deserve, and so is right. Let's start on the ground. Let's make sure we get this right and educate our children so they can have a future.

Brian Lehrer: Eric Adams, now the Mayor-Elect of New York City. We look forward to having you many times. Congratulations one more time. Thanks for coming on today.

Mayor-Elect Eric Adams: Thank you. Take care.

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