New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the news media is failing to highlight the positive results of his administration during a multi-faith event at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York on Oct. 30.
“There is a very coordinated effort not to acknowledge what we have done,” Adams alleged.
While news headlines have been filled with Adams’s legal charges, indictments, and calls to step down, he said he believes his actions to address the city’s issues are being ignored by the media, because, “A working class citizen became a working class mayor, and not everybody is happy about that.”
Adams said he believes his efforts to fix the city’s educational system have made some people angry.
“People have benefited, and they have eaten off of the dysfunctionality of the city, because dysfunctionality is profitable. You take that young child who’s dyslexic and you don’t give them the instructions that they deserve so that they can one day become mayor. He needs all sorts of counseling when he goes the wrong way. He needs all sorts of services if he gets in trouble,” he said.
“People are going to make money off of that. People are going to make money off of legal fees. People are going to make money off of all of the things that he’s going to need. That’s how much profit is made in poverty. Poverty is a profit-making business.”
While addressing crime, Adams talked about his efforts to combat gun crime and illegal mopeds. He said that gun violence and subway robberies in August were the lowest in recorded history and that his administration has taken 50,000 illegal mopeds off the streets.
The mayor also discussed the issues the city faces with immigration. In regards to the 220,000 asylum-seeking immigrants now in the city, he said he did not have the power to stop the buses, give them work permits, or deport those who are repeat offenders.
Adams said that most immigrants just want to work and have the American Dream.
“You know the irony of it? We have a lot of jobs, we have a lot of jobs that need to be filled,” he said. However, many immigrants are unable to work due to lack of permits or their illegal status, he said.
On the topic of family and education, Adams noted the problems and his administration’s solutions. He said that his administration was taking better care of the large number of dyslexic kids now in school.
He also talked about how the New York Police Department is helping to teach kids career skills.
“The police department is teaching our children real estate, to get real estate licenses, how to buy planes, how to play golf,” he said.
Concerning struggling new families, Adam said that 40,000 new parents had gone through his program to help young parents get essential childcare items, and that his administration lowered the cost of childcare from $55 a week to $5.
“The city is moving forward, and you don’t hear about it. You don’t read about it. So all I can say is ... don’t be bamboozled. ... [People say] ‘Oh, you know, he’s not doing anything. He ain’t doing anything.’ Stop buying that, folks!”
Adams has said that he is looking forward to the opportunity to answer the inquiries that he’s facing.
