Mayor Eric Adams Hosts Jewish Media at City Hall

By Hamodia & COLlive
Photos: Levi Kolton/COLlive

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his staff met with a group of Jewish journalists on Monday and answered questions on the minds of Jewish New Yorkers.

The meeting at city hall included a dozen journalists from Jewish news outlets, including COLlive.com, and served as an opportunity to raise subjects that are on the minds of their readership.

Adams was joined by Deputy Chief Richie Taylor of the NYPD; Menashe Shapiro, Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Mayor; José Bayona, Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media; Fabien Levy, Deputy Mayor for Communications to the Mayor; Joel Eisdorfer, Senior Advisor to the Mayor; Fred Kreizman, Commissioner Community Affairs Unit; and Moshe Davis, Senior Liaison – Community Affairs.

Fred Kreizman opened the meeting by listing programs and initiatives that the mayor has done for the Jewish community, including his support for Israel during recent events and ensuring the safety of Jewish communities when protests were held by pro-Palestinian groups, as well as sponsoring events which promote Jewish heritage and culture.

The meeting allowed the media to convey the sentiments of gratitude of the Jewish residents citywide for the mayor’s open-door policy, which, personally and through his staff, allows the leadership of Jewish communities to raise important issues and get results through the mayor’s office.

When asked about the recent rash of hate crimes that have plagued the Jewish community, Adams said he issued direct orders to the NYPD to prioritize reports of hate crimes and provide the manpower to the officers in the field to inform the Hate Crimes Unit and let them investigate.

The mayor stressed that all agencies of law enforcement must work in tandem to help eliminate this problem, underscoring that besides the orders and response of the NYPD, it is vital that the District Attorneys and judges do their part and not allow perpetrators of hate crimes to receive revolving door justice where the criminals are simply allowed to return to the street without any accountability.

Deputy Chief Richie Taylor described the unprecedented cooperation between all city agencies regarding law enforcement but bemoaned the passage of laws by the state Legislature that eliminated cash bail and the ability for judges to remand dangerous criminals to custody while awaiting trial.

“The mayor fought very hard and traveled to Albany several times to lobby the Legislature to reverse some of these laws, and for what I believe is the first time in history, they admitted they erred and reversed some of these laws,” Deputy Chief Taylor said. “Now, if a person is charged with a hate crime, a judge has the discretion to impose bail and keep that offender in custody until there is a real trial.”

Taylor also explained how due to new changes, those who break the law are arrested and given a “hard reset” before being released.

The Mayor was asked about the uptick in crimes on the Subway in recent months, and he noted that the random acts of violence are causing many people to feel unsafe.

“These repeated actions cause people to feel unsafe. Our goal is to make sure that every arm [in law enforcement] is doing their job,” he said. “New Yorkers want to feel safe,” he said, noting that 4.1 million New Yorkers ride the subways every day, with an average of 6 crime incidents a day, even with so many people in such close quarters.

“The awesome job of the police department to move 4.1 million people in a safe way – these officers should be commended. We’re bringing back control into our system,” he added.

The mayor provided data to show how recidivism, where the same people are committing crimes again and again, is a major problem in the city, due to the lack of consequences. The second is the many homeless and other individuals with severe mental health issues. Finally, there have been too many random acts of violence, and he stated that lawmakers must join in the fight to pass laws that will address these issues.

The Mayor also reiterated his staunch support of Israel, even with growing calls for a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza without Hamas turning themselves in. “I stand up strong for people,” the Mayor said.

He cited instances when he stood with Muslims and other groups when they had come under attack, such as when Islamophobia spiked and Muslims were attacked after 9/11. And while he insisted that the deaths of innocent people since the war began must end, he has not called for Israel to restrain itself in Gaza.

“I’m going to continue to say it,” Adams told the journalists. “The hostages should be returned home, Hamas should be destroyed, and we don’t want innocent children to die, nowhere.”

He added, “My consistency on that is not going to change.”

When asked about the almost daily pro-Palestinian protests in the city, Adams said protesters are within their rights to protest as long as they abide by the law and don’t disrupt traffic or block roadways so that emergency personnel can get to an emergency at any time.

Still, he reiterated that he has always been a friend to Israel, and that will not change.

“I’m not going to succumb to what people want me to say,” Adams said. “I’m going be the person that I’ve always been. And I’m going to be consistent in my message, that innocent people should not die and they should not be assaulted.

“There’s no room for hate in this city,” he said. “You don’t want people living in fear in this city,” Adams said. “And if you can’t live in safety in this city, we have a big problem.”