Full Show: Stephen A. has a one-on-one sit down with embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Summary

The Stephen A. Smith Show: In-Depth Conversation with NYC Mayor Eric Adams Release Date: January 23, 2025

Hosted by Stephen A. Smith and iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, Stephen A. Smith engages in a candid one-on-one interview with Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York City. The discussion delves deep into Adams' administration, addressing pressing issues such as politics, diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), the migrant crisis, crime, and his interactions with former President Donald Trump.

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Trump's Inauguration and Executive Orders

Stephen A. Smith opens the conversation by highlighting the rapid actions taken by former President Donald Trump upon his inauguration, including the signing of 46 executive orders.

Stephen A. Smith [00:35]:
"Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States of America and went straight to work within hours of his swearing-in ceremony."

Adams expresses his concerns regarding Trump's pardoning decisions related to the January 6th Capitol riots and the suspension of federal employees involved in DEI roles.

Eric Adams [26:34]:
"At the heart of this is that I was doing my job of telling the fire department, can you do an inspection on a building? This is something, when I sit down with my colleagues, they say, 'Eric, are you kidding me?'"
(Timestamp: 26:34)

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

The conversation shifts to DEI, where both hosts discuss its origins and current perceptions.

Stephen A. Smith [09:00]:
"I'm sick and tired of folks bringing up DEI as if it's a bad thing to bring up."

Adams underscores the necessity of DEI, citing historical injustices and the need for fair opportunities irrespective of ethnicity or gender.

Eric Adams [61:06]:
"The goal is, how do you give opportunities to people regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their lifestyle? That's what I believe it should be."
(Timestamp: 61:06)

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Eric Adams' Administration: Accomplishments and Challenges

Adams highlights his administration's achievements, including job creation, support for small businesses, and educational advancements.

Eric Adams [17:12]:
"We have more jobs in the city's history. More small businesses are open. Black and brown businesses have received billions of dollars in contracts from the city."
(Timestamp: 17:12)

Conversely, he addresses the lack of media recognition for these successes and the obstacles posed by his recent indictment.

Eric Adams [25:11]:
"They didn't highlight their message. They didn't highlight the largest city in America. They didn't highlight a person of color as mayor lifting up this city."
(Timestamp: 25:11)

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The Migrant Crisis in New York City

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the influx of 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers into NYC, the financial strain it caused, and the city's response.

Eric Adams [33:54]:
"220,000 migrants and asylum seekers came to the city, 1.5 the size of Albany. So a whole city was dropped in our cities."
(Timestamp: 33:54)

He critiques the federal government's inadequate financial support and the long-term impacts on city infrastructure and services.

Eric Adams [37:05]:
"We were told this, it's illegal for you to allow them to work. You can't allow the buses to come. You can't stop the buses from coming in."
(Timestamp: 37:05)

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Crime and Public Safety

Addressing crime, Adams presents statistics that show a decrease in shootings and homicides, contrasting them with high-profile violent incidents that shape public perception.

Eric Adams [40:06]:
"A crime is perceived in actual and our failure, I tell the team we lost the perception because when you have incidents that overshadow your success."
(Timestamp: 40:06)

He emphasizes the challenges of recidivism and the need to address mental health issues to further reduce crime rates.

Eric Adams [41:15]:
"We have people with severe mental health illness. When I first got elected, I went into the streets and told the team, we can't live like this. This is inhumane."
(Timestamp: 41:15)

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Two-Party System and Its Impact on the Black Community

Stephen A. Smith and Adams delve into the shortcomings of the two-party system, discussing how it has failed the black community over the years.

Stephen A. Smith [48:29]:
"The two-party system has been in charge of our government and look at the regression that has taken place within our nation."
(Timestamp: 48:29)

Adams advocates for a more nuanced approach, highlighting the importance of building bridges and fostering communication across political divides.

Eric Adams [52:11]:
"We need to start talking about governing right now. We cannot have generation after generation of different administrations, but we're still going through the same hell."
(Timestamp: 52:11)

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Interactions with Donald Trump and Federal Support

The discussion touches upon Adams' meetings with Donald Trump, countering critics who suggest these interactions are solely for personal legal benefits.

Eric Adams [31:28]:
"This is the President of the United States. I'm the mayor of the largest city in America. Why are people asking, is the mayor of the largest city in America going down to meet with the president?"
(Timestamp: 31:28)

He underscores the essential support needed from the federal government to manage NYC's complex challenges effectively.

Eric Adams [57:34]:
"It's imperative everything from our educational funding. You look at many of the grants that allow us to do infrastructure building."
(Timestamp: 57:34)

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Future Outlook and Election Plans

Adams confirms his intention to run for re-election in 2025 despite ongoing legal challenges, focusing on his commitment to the city and its residents.

Eric Adams [28:27]:
"I did nothing wrong. I should not have been charged. And my job is that I was elected to represent the city of New York."
(Timestamp: 28:27)

When questioned about potential rivals like former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Adams emphasizes his focus on personal performance rather than political competition.

Eric Adams [69:28]:
"I'm running against myself. Play my best game. If I play my best game, it doesn't matter who's in the race."
(Timestamp: 69:28)

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Closing Remarks

As the conversation wraps up, Adams reflects on his role as a leader and his dedication to fostering unity and progress within New York City.

Eric Adams [68:20]:
"We have to encourage them to come out and vote. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are just like you. I want to provide for our family and make sure they have a future."
(Timestamp: 68:20)

Stephen A. Smith concludes the episode by appreciating the insightful discussion and reinforcing the importance of Adams' leadership.

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Notable Quotes with Speaker Attribution and Timestamps

• Stephen A. Smith [09:00]:
  "I'm sick and tired of folks bringing up DEI as if it's a bad thing to bring up."

• Eric Adams [17:12]:
  "We have more jobs in the city's history. More small businesses are open. Black and brown businesses have received billions of dollars in contracts from the city."

• Eric Adams [33:54]:
  "220,000 migrants and asylum seekers came to the city, 1.5 the size of Albany. So a whole city was dropped in our cities."

• Eric Adams [40:06]:
  "A crime is perceived in actual and our failure, I tell the team we lost the perception because when you have incidents that overshadow your success."

• Eric Adams [52:11]:
  "We need to start talking about governing right now. We cannot have generation after generation of different administrations, but we're still going through the same hell."

• Eric Adams [68:20]:
  "We have to encourage them to come out and vote. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are just like you. I want to provide for our family and make sure they have a future."

---

Conclusion

This episode offers a comprehensive look into Mayor Eric Adams' tenure in New York City, highlighting his administration's successes, the challenges posed by political dynamics, and his vision for the future. Through honest dialogue, both hosts navigate complex issues, providing listeners with valuable insights into the governance of one of the world's most influential cities.

Transcript

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[Lynn Williams]

Are you hungry for the inside scoop of women's soccer?

[Sam Mewis]

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[Lynn Williams]

And I'm Lynn Williams. And we're professional soccer players, best friends.

[Stephen A. Smith]

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[Lynn Williams]

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[Sam Mewis]

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[Lynn Williams]

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[Stephen A. Smith]

You can listen to snacks on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up everybody? Welcome to this edition of the Stephen A. Smith show coming at you over the digital airwaves. With YouTube and iHeartRadio, we've now eclipsed over 1.06 million subscribers. Can't thank y'all for the love and support enough just on that alone, let alone the millions of downloads that we received over the last few months off of iheartradio as well. Thank you so much. Got a lot of stuff to get into, so I'm gonna get into it real quickly. We're gonna get started with the world of politics, where the world has changed over the last two days. Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States of America and went straight to work within hours of his swearing in ceremony. Trump signed at least 46 executive orders in presidential actions Monday that addressed a number of campaign pledges. The executive orders included the end of Biden era border policies and pardoning more than 1500 people from the January 6th Capitol riots. Trump also ordered all federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion race roles placed on paid leave by tonight, Wednesday, January 22nd. In addition to all of that, Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization, a significant move that drew criticism from public health experts. Couple of things get to my mind and that's what I want to start first. Okay, first things first in terms of pardoning folks from the riots Capitol, you know, in the US Capitol January 6, 2021 I do not agree with that decision by the President of the United States. I do believe that a lot of folks should have been pardoned, etc. But when you bring up Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and considering the charges that were leveled against them, anybody, and I'm just using that as an example, anybody that engaged in violence, to me, that should have been different. If you're the Commander in Chief of the United States of America, if you preach about the importance of law and order and someone has flagrantly engaged in lawlessness, but you give them a pass just because they supported you, you're not supporting the law, you're supporting you again. The vast majority of people who found themselves really under the eyes and the microscopic focus of the federal government, particularly on the left, when it came to arresting them, indicting them, and ultimately convicting them of charges, the vast majority of people who may have been sent to jail or was scheduled to go to prison, those folks, everybody doesn't deserve that. But anybody who's engaged in violence, I'm sorry, you know, that that's lawless, you know, walking in to the Rotunda, walking into the US Capitol and taking pictures and storming the gates or whatever, that might not have been something they should still be incarcerated for. But if you committed violence against people, if you committed violence against law enforcement officials and you got let off, that's bad. Especially when you're being let off by an individual who's supposed to be our chief law enforcement officer. Essentially, you're the commander in chief. That's how I look at it. I know the Attorney General and all this stuff. You're the commander in chief, period. That should not have happened just on that front. I'll leave it at that. We'll discuss that at a later date. I want to say something about diversity, equity and inclusion, because I've been noticing something on the right that's getting on my damn nerves. And I've appeared on numerous occasions on Fox News. I've appeared on numerous occasions on News Nation, cnn, a couple of times on msnbc. I'm not ducking, I'm not hot. I just recently got interviewed by Dave Rubin. I'm friends with Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. I know these people. Okay, let me be very, very clear about what I want to say about when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion. That's making me very, very uncomfortable. I'm sick and tired of folks on the right, and I'm not talking about those individuals. I'm just talking about the right period in general. I'm sick and tired of folks bringing up DEI as if it's a bad thing to bring up. Like everybody who got a job under DEI must not have been qualified. They got it because of diversity, equity and inclusion policies implemented into corporate America and beyond. Stop. Stop. The reason DEI existed to begin with was because there were an abundance of of qualified individuals from minority communities throughout this country you didn't give a second look to. Cause they didn't look like you. I can come with it from a world of sports. When you look at the Rooney Rule, there were black coaches that were interviewed and ultimately got jobs. Why was the Rooney Rule necessary? Because there were qualified black coaches that were being ignored. And if you're being ignored or denied the opportunity to prove that you're worthy and possibly more qualified and more competent than a white counterpart, then rules and legislation need to be implemented to ensure fairness. So while you're on the right preaching and speaking about DEI in a negative way, you might actually be right in some cases. But could you at least remember why it came into existence to begin with? Because you weren't interested in being fair before now. The left might have came about and handled it all wrong and been a bit excessive in their behavior and elevated the level of cynicism that comes attached with dei. But you don't get to forget what role was played that provoked the existence of DEI to begin with. That's all I'm saying. I'm an independent, as we have articulated on this show on numerous occasions. I'm not sided with any side definitively. I just want to make the point that fair is fair. There's a lot of problems that I have with and will continue to have and will continue to express and articulate about what we witnessed from the left. But that don't let you off on the right. I'm talking about those of you with mal intent. You've denied plenty of opportunities throughout history to people that come from minority communities throughout this country. That's why DEI came into existence. That's why stuff like the Rooney Rule is in existence. That's why you had affirmative action that was in existence. A lot of things are changing in this world. There's a lot of stuff to discuss. But you don't get to forget your role in forcing that stuff to come about to begin with. You can try to gloss over history. It ain't gonna be that easy. Remember I said that. And we'll talk about that in the very near future as well. Coming up much more on the Trump administration with my next guest. He is the mayor of New York City who recently spent time with President Trump at Mar A Lago. The one and only Eric Adams joins me right here in studio face to face with your boy, Stephen A. Trust me when I say you don't want to miss this. All right, y'all, listen up. Do you know that the NFL championship games are right around the corner and that we're smack in the middle of the NBA season? So with all this action going on, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you take advantage of it all. That's why we've partnered with prize picks. The best place to get real money action. While watching your favorite sports, you see with prize picks, you pick two or more of your favorite players and then you simply select more or less of the projected stats for the game. Pick Jayden Daniels passing yards, Amari Cooper's receiving yards or Yannis Antetokounmpos rebounds, all in the same entry. And and get this, with prospects Flex Friday, every member gets a protected play. That's right. You can cash out even if your lineup isn't perfect. So download the app today and use the code SAS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app and use codes SAS to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. Yo, run your game now. Let's look at my picks for today. I'll be making picks for the NFC Championship game, y'all. The Philadelphia Eagles versus the Washington Commanders. First up, we have Commanders quarterback Jaden Daniels facing the Eagles secondary more or less than 0.5 passing yards. Of course there's more. Well, he ain't going to complete a pass unless he gets hurt on the first play of the game. What the hell is he going to do? Of course he's going to have more. That's the easy one right there. Next up, commander's wide receiver Terry McLaurin. More or less than 64 and a half receiving yards. That's a brother. That's that brother special. I'm going to go with more on this one as well. Make no mistake about that. He's that kind of dude. Next up, we have Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. More or less than 127 and a half rushing yards. Let's what y'all for once. I'm going to go with less. See, I think the Washington commander is going to key on this brother. They can't let this man run for 200 yards. They can't let this man run for 460 yards over two games the way he did against the Los Angeles Rams this season. But they got to make sure that Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards this season, okay, was a candidate for league MVP honors, could have won it if he played that last game of the regular season against his old team in New York Giants. If coach Nick Sirianni had let him play that same. Saquon Barkley is going to be the key. You know why? Because the Washington man is going to say, make Jalen Hurts beat us. We know AJ Brown is that dude. We know Devontae Smith can boil. We know Dallas gotta can get his stuff done. But in the end, if. If you make Jalen Hurts throw the football, that's our best chance to beat the Philadelphia Eagles because we can't let Saquon Barkley continue to run that ball. That's going to be their strategy. They gonna lower the box, they're gonna make the Philadelphia Eagles throw. And Jalen Hurts is gonna have to beat you. Finally, we have Eagles wide out A.J. brown up against the Commanders. More or less than 60 and a half receiving yards. I'm gonna go with more because I think Jalen Hurts is gonna have to throw the football. And if you gonna throw the football, you got to get it to that Brother, that stud A.J. brown. You dropped a couple of passes like last week. A.J. brown. I saw you. I saw you. You can't be talking and talking, chirping, chirping or being quiet while reading books on the damn sideline and then go on the football field and drop past it. You got to do better than that, bro. Which I think he will. And I think because he's going to be a focal point. Because Jalen Hurts going to look to get into football because he's a receiver that can run in between the numbers, not just outside the numbers. I think he's definitely going to have more than 60 and a half receiving yards in this game. So let's review it right here, right now. More on Jaden Daniels. More on Terry McLaurin. More on less on Saquon Barkley. More on AJ Brown. We ended with more because we like more associated with prize picks. It's what they do. It's what we love to do. Give more, as in as much as we can.

[Eric Adams]

There's a type of soil in Mississippi called Yazoo Clay. It's thick, burnt orange, and it's got a reputation.

[Lynn Williams]

It's terrible, terrible dirt.

[Eric Adams]

Yazoo clay eats everything. So things that get buried there tend to stay buried until they're not. In 2012, construction crews at Mississippi's biggest hospital made a shocking discovery.

[Stephen A. Smith]

7,000 bodies out there or more, all.

[Eric Adams]

Former patients of the old state asylum. And nobody knew they were there.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It was my family's mystery.

[Eric Adams]

But in this corner of the south, it's not just the soil the that keep secrets. Nobody talks about it. Nobody has any information. When you peel back the layers of Mississippi's Yazoo clay, nothing's ever as simple as you think.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The story is much more complicated and nuanced than that.

[Eric Adams]

I'm Larison Campbell. Listen to under yazukle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sam Mewis]

Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why is my cat not here and.

[Lynn Williams]

I go in and she's eating my lunch?

[Sam Mewis]

Or if hypnotism. You will use the suggestion in order.

[Lynn Williams]

To enhance your cognitive control.

[Sam Mewis]

But what's inside a black hole? Black holes could be a consequence of.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The way that we understand the universe.

[Sam Mewis]

Well, we have answers for you in the new I Heart original podcast, Science Stuff. Join me, Jorge Cham, as we tackle questions you've always wanted to know the answer to about animals, space, our brains and our bodies. Questions like, can you survive being cryogenically frozen?

[Lynn Williams]

This is experimental. This may never work for you.

[Sam Mewis]

What's a quantum computer?

[Eric Adams]

It's not just a faster computer.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It performs in a fundamentally different way.

[Sam Mewis]

Do you really have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you can go swimming? It's not really a safety issue.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's more of a comfort issue.

[Sam Mewis]

We'll talk to experts, break it down, and give you easy to understand explanations to fascinating scientific questions. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith Show. Joining me now to discuss the new Trump administration in New York City, along with a bevy of other things, is the mayor of New York City himself, Mr. Eric Adams. An honor and a privileged sir. How you doing? How's everything going? It's good to see you.

[Lynn Williams]

South side, we outside.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

Hollis Queen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

I'm just telling you, we used to come out to Hollis and take y'all shorties.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, you know what they didn't tell you is that we really didn't want them because we loved the ladies in Cambria Heights and Laurelton. It was other areas, the Hollis people. So he's like, okay, you do what.

[Lynn Williams]

You do, and you got some nice cascade. Yes, we do. Without question.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Without question.

[Lynn Williams]

A lot of quality came out.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I grew up with Run DMC. LL Cool J was right down the block, you know, five minutes away on Farmers Boulevard. And, you know, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, a whole bunch of cats came from the Holland Queensland.

[Lynn Williams]

And you know, you know what, brother? Working class people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

Working class values. You know, mom worked in a daycare center. She used to be up every day. Led by example, homeowners.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

You know, our, you know, many of our values come from.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right. What we saw and the community raised us right. It wasn't just the parents. It was the communities raised. We're gonna get into all of that, Mr. Mayor, but my first order of businesses is that today of all days, you are the talk of New York City. Right now, everybody's talking about you. You're stealing headlines and what have you. Because you talked about how you haven't left the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has left you. That's the quote. Everybody's been parading around all over the place right now as we sit here today. How are you feeling about your administration, what you've accomplished, and most importantly, the support or lack thereof you've received from the Democratic Party?

[Lynn Williams]

Well, and it's added a theme of the working class people. And when you stop talking about working class issues and people are hurting and you having this intellectual conversation and have a philosophical approach of just addressing what are people feeling every day. And I have never left the streets. On the subways, I would stop in the middle of the night when Barbershops closed down. I would go inside and sit down, smoke a cigar, drink a little Hennessy with the people inside and just feel them. And they're saying that the party's not talking to us. And when I say the party, I'm not talking about people who are registered Democrats. I'm talking about those who are putting out the messages of what is important to the Democratic Party. And they have left the average working class person and individuals. And that is what I'm trying to say to the party, that, you know, it's not like I abandoned the party. The party has abandoned what working class people have been fighting for.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One of, you know, you deal with this, and you will continue to deal with this a hell of a lot more. To me, I'm just your friendly neighborhood sports reporter that ventures into other areas of discussion. But I've been taking a lot of heat because of my willingness to Call out some of the things that I've seen from the Democratic Party. And it's almost like there's supposed to be this onus, this level of obligation as black men that we're supposed to have to the Democratic Party. And clearly you're being challenged on that now because of the positions and the stances that you have been willing to take as a black man, not just the mayor of New York City. How do you feel when you hear people come to you with that kind of attitude?

[Lynn Williams]

Listen, brother, this is going to be one hell of a conversation, man. People don't even realize what it is to be a man of color, to be in charge of the most important city on the globe. We need to really understand that I'm the mayor of the most important city on the globe. Only the second mayor of color. Mayor Dinkins was the first and I'm the second. I inherited a city that was engulfed in Covid 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers. Crime was through the roof. Unemployment with black and brown people was high. You were looking at our children were not learning. I've been on Rikers island more than any other mayor in the history of the city, speaking to inmates and correction officers who both are overwhelmingly black and brown. And so when you look at what I inherited and then you fast forward to today, with all that we've gone through, we have more jobs in the city's history. More small businesses are open. Black and brown businesses have received billions of dollars in contracts from the city. We have outpaced the state in reading and math. We're doing dyslexia screening so that we don't have 30% of our prison population being dyslexic like I am of what we have done in the city, paying for college tuition for foster care children. Bond raters looked at the city and said, we're going to increase your bond because the way you're managing the crises with 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers dropped in our city without any support, we've turned around this city and there are a lot of haters out there that don't want to acknowledge what this administration have done.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But why do you think that is?

[Lynn Williams]

Well, I think it's a combination of things. I was never the chosen candidate. I'm a bald headed, earring wearing mayor that's saying that you don't have to have this one stereotypical look to be successful in the city. And I think that there's a lot of people that want to send a signal that, okay, you can't run the city, I'm running the city, and I'm running and navigating us out of crises, and I'm independent in doing so. You know, there are days that I wake up feeling one way and another way, and we need to be clear on taking these big cities to the next level.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Is that part of the problem, though, Mr. Mayor, in terms of the, you know, the conflict, the confrontations, the resistance that you may ultimately encounter? Is it the fact that you wake up with independent voice as opposed to being a slave to this binary system that we live in and it's either take one side or the other. It's all one way or another way? That's what basically folks have been saying for the longest time. And people like yourself seem to be giving the impression, nah, I'm not down for that anymore.

[Lynn Williams]

Right. You know, you look at those who want to check off a box, and if you don't fit into all of these items in the box, then you can't be classified as this group or another group. And that's not who we are. As individuals and as human beings, we have different beliefs and belief systems. And I focus on that all the time. And this is not new. People fail to realize, go back 30 something years when I was with the Police Department and 100 blacks in law enforcement who care. I didn't want to be a cop. I was arrested and beat by police officers at 15 years old. Reverend Herbert Daughtry told me, you are going into the police department to fight from within.

[Sam Mewis]

Wow.

[Lynn Williams]

You know, and when we went in, people called me Uncle Tom Sellout Negro. But we went in and started one of the most important human rights and civil rights organization as black police officers. And so there's a long record of looking at my assignment and fulfilling my assignment. Brother, I can't even tell you how painful it was to say I put on that uniform of those who kicked me in my groin over and over again. My brother and I, we were pissing blood for weeks after being assaulted by those cops in the basement of the 103rd Precinct.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And before you became a captain, if I remember correctly, based on my research, before you became a captain within the police department, you were an officer literally speaking out against racism and prejudice all the time, which I might imagine didn't endear you to your colleagues and contemporaries at Boys in Blue.

[Lynn Williams]

What was interesting, that many people didn't realize that many of those officers would come to me and say, thank you for what you're doing because they wanted to go home to their families. And they knew that there was a number of cops that were overly aggressive and abusive. And by us talking out, it allowed them to not have to get caught up in that whole web that we were dealing with. And that's the same energy I took into the state senate, took into the being the first person of color to be borrowed president and to now to become the mayor. I'm the same cat brother, listen, listen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, listen, if you're the same, more power to you. Because to be honest with you, I don't know if you need to be the same. I think you've already proven who you are. You don't really, really need to be the same. You can mix it up a little bit, but I'm just looking at some of the things. I'm thinking about crime. I'm thinking about the local economy. I'm thinking about joblessness. All of these issues that have been addressed during your administration. What things have been like for you since COVID and how basically so many jobs have been restored, et cetera, et cetera. What's been the greatest challenge for you sitting in that seat as mayor of New York City, particularly over the last couple years?

[Lynn Williams]

I love that. That's a great question. The failure to acknowledge the success and our media. That's why this show is so important, our media in the city. The failure every day, if you go back and look at, from the time I took office, we've been under fire, and the failure to acknowledge the recovery of jobs cycling us out of COVID managing 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers and 170,000, 180,000 on their way. What we're doing around recovering the economy of this city, you don't read about any of that. You know, do you know, even when you talk about. In our transit system, if. When I go into rooms and I say, tell me how many crimes you think we have in the subway every day? People say, 200, 300, 400. We have 4.6 million riders a day. We have six crime felony crimes a day. But when you read this city from abroad or in another state, you say, this is a city out of control. This is the safest big city in America. I just acknowledged today with the police Commissioner, we removed 20,000 illegal guns off our street, 1400 ghost guns off our streets. Shootings and homicides are down. Crime is down. This city's the safest big city in the world.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let me throw this at you. You know what doesn't make sense to me? What doesn't make sense to me based on what you just articulated, there was an election that was coming about this past November. We know who won. We know what happened prior to that election. The media has been accused of being the liberal media for the longest time. So one would think when you consider the imagery that was emanating from the right as they talked about crime in the streets and pestilence and homelessness and migrant crisis and all of these different things, those kind of things that you just articulated, one would think that the liberal media would jump, would pounce at the opportunity to articulate that message to the masses, because it would have served their purpose in support of somebody on the left, in this case, Kamala Harris, winning the election. Yet you're sitting here saying that did not happen. How do you explain that?

[Lynn Williams]

They didn't highlight their message. They didn't highlight the largest city in America. They didn't highlight a person of color as mayor lifting up this city. There was a success story that should have been the talking point for the Democratic Party. A working class man, $30 billion back in the pockets of everyday working class.

[Stephen A. Smith]

People, canceling 2 billion in medical debt.

[Lynn Williams]

There you are. Think about that, brother.

[Stephen A. Smith]

500,000 New Yorkers.

[Lynn Williams]

Think about that, okay? 500,000 New Yorkers, we're going to cancel their medical debt. That's the number one cause of bankruptcy, and particularly for black and brown people. So there was a narrative here in the city that we could have talked about. Instead of that, there was a lot of anger because I was saying to them, you got 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers coming to the city, and you guys are not being responsible about securing our borders.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm thinking about what you just said. I'm thinking about the fact that when ultimately you were indicted by the federal government on fraudulent or fraud charges, along with other things, you were the first mayor to be criminally charged while in office. In the history of New York City. How much of a role do you believe that played in what wasn't disseminated as it pertains to your administration's?

[Lynn Williams]

I think a lot. And, you know, many people never read the indictment.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Please.

[Lynn Williams]

And if you read the indictment, you're going to see that, you know, at the heart of this is that I was doing my job of telling the fire department, can you do an inspection on a building? This is something, when I sit down with my colleagues, they say, eric, are you kidding me? You know, because this is what we do as governmental officials. And I was saying the other day on the other talk show, you know, brother, how hard as it is to just sit back and watch me. I have to take all these body blows right now and can't defend myself. Something that I've always tell you to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Be quiet, don't say anything. It's sickening. It's sickening. But go ahead.

[Lynn Williams]

You know, and so it's imperative for me when you do an analysis of not only what I have said, Biden said his Justice Department is politicized. Weaponized, weaponized, politicized. It's all the same size.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

Trump said it. And when I saw Biden's speech on why he impeached his family members, he talked about, and many people didn't read that, that when you go through prosecutions like this, it's not only your guilt or innocence, it's the, it's the financial impact on you. It's the, it's just the embarrassment. I spent $2 million, brother. I'm a, I'm a civil service. What does a civil servant get $2 million from? You know, you have to, you have to be able to have people who believe in you enough to donate to you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Rally, rally public support.

[Lynn Williams]

Exactly, exactly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And so I'm looking at it. And listen, pardon. Clement granted clemency to a few folks, all of those kind of things. That's what President Biden has done. And we'll get into that in just a couple of minutes or so. But in light of that, along with campaign finance charges, that's what they're throwing at you as well. You still have been determined to run for reelection in 2025.

[Lynn Williams]

I like that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Case is coming up in April. Reelection, you know, the primaries in June.

[Lynn Williams]

Right. Why?

[Stephen A. Smith]

What kind of message are you sending by continuing to stay in this race?

[Lynn Williams]

And I love that man. That's powerful question because many people are in dark places in their personal lives. And, you know, Mommy used to say, a dark place is not a burial, it's a plantain. And you know, brother, you know, as you know, with your parents, you know, your dad and you know, raising a family, a family of six, we're the same.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm the youngest of six.

[Lynn Williams]

Right, right. You know, and Mommy loved all of us, but she adored me, you know.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Same here, same here, same here.

[Lynn Williams]

And brother, I used to walk past Mommy's door and raising us on our own. I would hear her in that room at night crying, you know, not knowing that she was going to feed us to keep a roof on her head. But you know what? Every morning she got up, she got up. And so in the first two weeks of that indictment, people that I had sleep on my couches when they were thrown out of their homes, people who, their children were arrested and I went down and stood with them. People who I stood in the hospitals with when they were going through terrible times, they were tripping over themselves saying, you need to step down. You need to step down. It broke my heart. I'm not even going to lie to you. But I said to myself, when I thought of Mommy, she died during my election, I said, you know what? Mommy never stepped down. She stepped up. And with all that we were going through, we still moved the city forward, and we knew that I had the right team to get it done. And I'm hoping that people who are in dark places right now, if you're a young man that's sitting in Rikers island in a jail cell, you're going to say, listen, my mayor was arrested. If you are a young person with learning disability, my mayor has dyslexia. I want people to look and see my life and say, don't ever give up and don't let anyone defy who you are and what you are. I know who I am, and I'm a fight like hell to make sure people know that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Are you going to fight like hell and make sure you win the case or that you are proven to be innocent? Because there's a difference with the voters, right?

[Lynn Williams]

There's. I think the pathway to justice come in many different ways, and one should not allow anyone to block their pathway to justice. It's the role of my attorney, Alex Spiral, to ensure that we pursue every pathway to justice. I did nothing wrong. I should not have been charged. And his job to pursue my justice. My job is that I was elected to represent the city of New York. And in every area, I have never abandoned that responsibility.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You reportedly went to visit President Donald Trump at Mar a Lago prior, prior to the inauguration. What can you tell us about that? And is it really about what people are saying? It's about you're hoping that in the event something goes down, that and you find yourself being convicted of this, of these allegations, that he's going to pardon you.

[Lynn Williams]

And think about that for a moment. This is the President of the United States. I'm the mayor of the largest city in America that lost $6.5 billion due to the previous administration inability to finance the migrant crisis. Why are people asking, is the mayor of the largest city in America going down to meet with the president to talk about how do we recoup some of those losses? And how do we ensure that we move our city forward? It would be irresponsible for me not to go down and speak with the president. And hats off to him. He met with me days before his inauguration. You know, that says a lot about his love for the city and that says a lot of how much respect he had for this administration on what we are doing. I had to go down to Washington, D.C. i mean to Florida, and speak with the President.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It sounds like it makes a whole lot of sense to me and I don't have any issue with it. But you're going to have critics out there of Mayor Eric Adams of New York City saying the primary reason you went down there is because of your legal, your personal legal issues and that that is the priority over the other issues that you just brought up, mainly $6.5 billion that you're trying to recoup.

[Lynn Williams]

To that you say what I say the same thing I say in New York. Oftentimes I'm speaking to the media. I have 8.3 New Yorkers. I have 35 million opinions. That's right. That's what it is. You're not doing anything if you don't have people who are going to be attacking you. So the numerical minority with the largest voices that are constantly and consistently, from the day I took office, have consistently talk about everything I am not. Even though we showed the success. Those are the same people who are saying, well, your critics say, you know what, that's noise, brother. You know, I say all the time, the graduates, let your haters be your waiters when you sit down at the table of success, brother.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's get specific and talk about the migrant crisis in this regard. About 229,000 migrants came to this city, the city streets of New York. You had to find shelter for them. You articulated, I believe during the Tucker Carlson interview, the lack of support that you had received, et cetera. Nevertheless, you found a way to maneuver your way through this and find yourself in a position where there were so many other things about your administration there was to a ploy crystallize for the viewers out there and the listeners on iHeartRadio as well, the kind of potential damage inflicted upon New York City in light of migrants coming to the city and New York obviously being considered a sanctuary.

[Lynn Williams]

Right, Right. And you know, well said. And that's a great question. So let's look at it for a moment. 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers came to the city, 1.5 the size of Albany. So a whole city was dropped in our cities, we were getting thousands a week, all times of the night. We had to provide every service that you would provide to an individual person. We had to do housing, we had to clean clothing, we had to provide food, we had to educate 40,000 women and 40,000 children. And we were told this, it's illegal for you to allow them to work. You can't allow the buses to come. You can't stop the buses from coming in. You can't even allow them to volunteer to remove graffiti, deliver food and services. You couldn't do any of that. All of that was against the law. And out of the $6.5 billion the federal government wanted to give us, 200 million and only gave about 125 million to provide for this service, which is a national problem, it's not a local problem. And so what it did was in addition to the countless number of people who were pursuing the American dream, it brought in a lot of, it brought in a small number of a criminal element that did a disproportionate amount of crime. So we had a public safety issue that we were facing in our city and we had an infrastructure issue because those $6.5 billion people tell me all the time, okay, Eric, you got through it. Wow, Congratulations. You transitioned 170,000 to go on to the next step of the American dream. But what is the damage, the long term damage? I couldn't go after children who are chronically absent from school because we didn't have the money. My older adults dealing with my housing infrastructure, that's 6.5 billion. Now we're up to 6.9 billion that were removed from dealing with the real issues that we wanted to invest into our city. The long term impact to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, we have not witnessed the long term impact yet to this question.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So with that being said, are you still supportive of the city of New York being considered a sanctuary city?

[Lynn Williams]

So that's so important. These are good questions, brother. People conflate what sanctuary city is.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Please explain.

[Lynn Williams]

A sanctuary city is saying that if you are in New York and you are paying your taxes, then those tax dollars provide your services, your police services, your hospital services, your education services. And so right here, if you in New York, we're not going to deny you those services because you buy a loaf of bread, you're paying taxes, you buy gas, you're paying taxes. So with those tax dollars, you're paying for the goods and services of the city. That's what the sanctuary city means. What we have been Saying what American people have stated. Donald Trump got the popular vote and the electoral college. And so the people of the city said, we gotta fix our borders. You can't allow people to come in the country with no destination, not knowing where they're going. And then you're telling them you're not allowed to work. Imagine that, for six months.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But what about somebody that's looking at you? Because I gotta be honest with you.

[Lynn Williams]

Yeah.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Mr. Mayor.

[Lynn Williams]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I have been on this show. I've been on the airwaves, and I mean, with all of these billions you're talking about.

[Lynn Williams]

Right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think I was the loudest critic of the $53 million prepaid credit card. I was losing my mind. I'm like, wait a minute. I know. Look, I've been black all my life. I've been in New York City for.

[Lynn Williams]

The better part of my life.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'd be dead if I ever saw some damn prepaid credit cards coming to the black community. And I was born here. So I'm like, I'm looking at it and I'm saying, how could that be supported?

[Lynn Williams]

I love that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Explain that to me.

[Lynn Williams]

I love that. And that is why it's important to be able to tell your own narrative. So let's look at those credit card. Please do those cards. We were required by law to feed every migrant and asylum seeker that was in our care.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Okay?

[Lynn Williams]

They were being. Food was being delivered that people were not eating, and a lot of it was being thrown out. We were wasting money. And so my former deputy mayor, Sheena Wright, first deputy mayor, came in and said, listen, there's this minority company called Mocafide. We give people a food card with $11, around $11 a day that they can spend for food. And they're going to go to the local bodegas, shops and restaurants within the area. So we're going to recycle the money back into the community. Instead of a large conglomerate that we're spending, it saved us money. And we were able to put money back into the local communities and it stopped the food waste that we were seeing of taxpayers dollars. So we did a pilot to say, let's see how successful this is on first brush. When you see people do it, you say, wait a minute, what are you giving these guys credit?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I lost my mind. All I saw was 53 million in prepaid credit cards. I said, prepaid? Oh, I was hot. I was hot about that. So I need some explanation.

[Lynn Williams]

Even the editorial boards who responded at first, like the Daily News did a whole piece and Say, listen, this is a smart approach to government because what many people don't realize, people know my law enforcement background, they know what I'm doing around health in the city, but really people don't appreciate the fiscal management that independent bond raiders who determine how successful you are manager in the city have raised my bonds. They say, this cat has managed us through Covid, they've managed us through, he's managed us through the asylum seekers, he's managing the city and being fiscally responsible.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I want to transition to the issue of crime, all right? Because on May 1, 2023, 30 year old homeless man Jordan Neely was killed after being put in a chokehold by Daniel Penney, a 24 year old United States Marine Corps veter while riding the New York City subway. He was found not guilty. This past December, a woman was set on fire as she was sleeping on the F train. When you think about those incidences, those kind of things that you have, and like you said, the number is considerably lower than people even recognize. But you know, the visual is what it's all about. You know, I mean, you see a woman on fire, you scared, you don't want your daughter on there, you don't want your wife on there, you don't want your mom on there, you're gonna get scared, you're gonna be in panic mode because you want. Dammit, could it be you? When you talk about addressing crime, how do you believe your administration has gone about doing it and how has it been successful?

[Lynn Williams]

A crime is perceived in actual and our failure, I tell the team we lost the perception because when you have incidents that overshadow your success, no matter how impressive your numbers are, it overshadows when you have three people stabbed by a person with severe mental health illness. When you have someone set on fire, those visualizations are real and I respect how people feel. I don't want to come to people and tell them, listen, here are my numbers. This is how well we're doing. How you feel is important to me. My success in this city has been overshadowed by three things. Random acts of violence, slashing people, pushing people to the subway system, putting people on fire. Those small numbers have a major impact on how people feel. Second is recidivism. We have a lot of cats that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Going in and out, coming out, going unbelievable, getting arrested and coming right back out in the streets sometimes the same day.

[Lynn Williams]

Right, right, right, right. We have about 575 people that were arrested over 7500 times for shoplifting. We have 36 people who were arrested over 1100 times for a crime that's.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Just asking police officers not to do their job.

[Lynn Williams]

You know what I'm saying?

[Stephen A. Smith]

What purpose does it serve?

[Lynn Williams]

You know what I'm saying? And let me tell you the third issue that over shadows severe mental health illness. We have people with severe mental health illness. When I first got elected, I went into the streets January and February and visited people in encampments. I saw human waste, drug paraphernalia, schizophrenic, bipolar. And I told the team, we can't live like this. And many people were saying for years, even when we were growing up, when people were sleeping on the street out families said, listen, just leave them alone, they're crazy, or what have you. We closed psychiatric wards like Crepmore and others and didn't give people a landing place. And now you see them on the streets, they're doing these. They part of the random acts of violence, a small number of them. And so when I said we're going to tackle this, my team said, man, you out of your mind, man, Nobody dealt with this stuff. And I said, no, this is inhumane. We got to stop this. And when I was out in the street, I met a guy that was living in an encampment who was a retired police officer that just slipped through the cracks. And I said, we're not going to continue to do that. That has overshadowed our success. Crime is down, shootings, homicides are down, our economy is back. But it has been overshadowed by those random acts of violence.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Well, we're going to talk a little bit more because we're going to work to not have those things overshadowed with all the good things that you're doing right now. And I just want to throw this out, you know, and it'll please your team because I mean, everybody made sure I have my information. I got to give them the props where it's do okay. You're talking about a plan to ask, you know, taxes for the working class family, a plan to literally eliminate and cut city personal income taxes for 582,000 of, of the poorest New Yorkers anytime you cut taxes. I love that, I love that. I love, I love stuff like that. You're planning to build 80,000 new homes across five boroughs, do small changes and bring the cost of housing down. You've got an initiative that has saved New Yorkers more than 30 billion through city, state and federal programs since the start of the administration. Major, major stuff.

[Lynn Williams]

Broken class people.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right. Having said that, some would say that you still got A lot to worry about because former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is contemplating competing with you for the mayor's seat in New York City. And according to the recent polls, he's up about 23 percentage points on you. What do you have to say about that?

[Lynn Williams]

Deja vu. Go back to February of 2021. There was another Andrew, Andrew Yang. He got in the race. He was measuring the drapes in City Hall.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't know why he never had a chance against you. I don't know who the hell told you he had a chance against you.

[Lynn Williams]

I never believed that the polls had him up double digit, something wrong with the polls.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Double digit, something wrong with the polls.

[Lynn Williams]

Right. And what I told the team, polls don't elect, People elect mayors, people do. We need to stay consistent. And that's what we did. And so I'm going to tell my story and I'm going to let people see exactly what we have accomplished. And we're looking forward to that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm not going to tell you what we're going to talk about next. I'm going to surprise you. I'm going to take a little break. But I promise you where this discussion is going next is right in your wheelhouse and you'll enjoy it immensely. More of the Stephen A. Smith show with the mayor himself of New York City, one and only Eric Adams. Back with more in a minute. All right, everybody, listen up. With all the big time sports action that's happening each and every day. NFL games, NBA games in the college football playoffs, the Stephen A. Smith show wants to make sure you are taking advantage of all of it. That's why we've partnered with Prize Picks, the largest fantasy sports platform in all the land, to help you cash in on all your sports knowledge. You see, Prize Picks is a daily fantasy app where you pick two or more of your favorite players and then you select more or less on their projected stats for the game. Choose from any of your favorite players. Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Shay Gilgames Alexander, all in the same entry. Then sit back and watch. The list is endless. And now with Prize Picks, Flex Friday option, you can still cash out even if your lineup isn't perfect. That's right. Every Friday. Just look for the protected play. So win or your cash back and get this. Prizepix now offers MasterCard for quick and easy deposits into your account during this sports season. Make your picks in less than 60 seconds and turn your sports opinions into real money all season long on prospects. So download the app today and use Code SAs to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup again. Download the app and use Code SAs to get $50 instantly after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game There's a.

[Eric Adams]

Type of soil in Mississippi called Yazoo Clay. It's thick, burnt orange, and it's got a reputation.

[Lynn Williams]

It's terrible, terrible dirt.

[Eric Adams]

Yazoo clay eats everything, so things that get buried there tend to stay buried until they're not In 2012, construction crews at Mississippi's biggest hospital made a shocking discovery.

[Stephen A. Smith]

7,000 bodies out there or more, all.

[Eric Adams]

Former patients of the old state asylum, and nobody knew they were there.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It was my family's mystery.

[Eric Adams]

But in this corner of the south, it's not just the soil that keeps secrets.

[Lynn Williams]

Nobody talks about it.

[Eric Adams]

Nobody has any information. When you peel back the layers of Mississippi's Yazoo Clay, nothing's ever as simple as you think.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The story is much more complicated and nuanced than that.

[Eric Adams]

I'm Larison Campbell. Listen to under yazukle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sam Mewis]

Have you ever wondered, if your pet is lying to you, why is my.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Cat not here and I go in.

[Lynn Williams]

And she's eating my lunch?

[Sam Mewis]

Or if hypnotism is real, you will.

[Lynn Williams]

Use this suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control.

[Sam Mewis]

But what's inside a black hole? Black holes could be a consequence of.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The way that we understand the universe.

[Sam Mewis]

Well, we have answers for you in the new I Heart Original podcast Science Stuff. Join me, Jorge Cham, as we tackle questions you've always wanted to know the answer to about animals, space, our brains and our bodies. Questions like, can you survive being cryogenically frozen?

[Lynn Williams]

This is experimental. This may never work for you.

[Sam Mewis]

What's a quantum computer?

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's not just a faster computer, it performs in a fundamentally different way.

[Sam Mewis]

Do you really have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you can go swimming? It's not really a safety issue, it's more of a comfort issue. We'll talk to experts, break it down, and give you easy to understand explanations to fascinating scientific questions. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome back to the Stephen A. Smith show, here with his honor himself, the Mayor of New York City, Mr. Eric Adams. I want to get into a subject and I want to be very, very unapologetic and transparent about where I'm going black man to black man about the state of our two party system and what kind of impact you believe that has had on the black community, particularly in recent memory, even compared to a few years ago to a decade ago to before that.

[Lynn Williams]

Right. Well, first of all, we should be after the election. It should be about building up our communities and our cities and our country. You know, when people say, well, why are you sitting down with Donald Trump? Dr. King wanted to sit down with Nixon. You know, when you pull into purchase something for your family, they don't ask if you're a Democrat or Republican. When a bullet carve a highway of death in your community and it hits someone, it's not a Democrat or Republican. Obama said it right after the election, we must transform into the United States. The election is intramural. There's no reason we're holding these grudges. Every four years we say, who's the one up? And I'm going to take my ball and go home. No, I am very consistent on who I am and making sure that I'm willing to sit down and communicate with anyone. And I'm an open book brother. There's never a time, even when you talk to my team, they never will say you can't touch that subject area. I'm an open book. I have an authentic life. And I think as black men, we need to look into who is understanding our issues and agenda.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Just recently I spoke up on behalf of Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy and Nelly as well. And the only reason I spoke up for them was on this level, people were going off about them performing at the Crypto Ball and it was supposed to be a part of the inauguration celebration and Donald Trump was supposed to be there, but he wasn't there. And I'm like, so what? At the end of the day, you know what, you making a little paper, somebody's going to ain't gonna pay you six figures for one night's work. Everybody says it's not just about the money. It's not just about the money. But I'm thinking along these lines. This is our problem. We have politicians alluding to him being a racist, comparing him to Nazis and stuff like that, right? But then I'm supposed to expect you to go out and do business with this man and to legislate policy within this country. And then I'm thinking about people in the media. I'm not gonna say any names about them right now, but they called them everything but the child of God. And then all of a sudden they're going to mar a lago to Kiss the ring. And I'm like, you wouldn't have had to do that if you didn't go that far and you just judged on the issue instead of personalizing and engaging in incendiary content. For some reason, we don't seem to get that message nearly enough, especially as a community. Am I wrong in feeling that way?

[Lynn Williams]

No, you are dead on. And that is why we have to find our own space and not allow people to identify our space. And we need to really look at and do something that's really revolutionary. We need to start reading, look at the real data. Don't just look at the headline. Don't just flip through The Instagram, the TikTok, or the quick Twitter post. Sit down and say, let me do some real research on this. The issues that are impacting us. Because you can't have generation after generation of different administrations, but we're still going through the same hell. Why are we going through the same hell? Archbishop Desmond Tutu had a quote that lives with me. We spend a lifetime pulling people out of the river. No one goes upstream and prevent them from falling in in the first place. Poverty is profitable. And then when you look at who we're pulling out of the river, they look like you and I. People are making paper off of the dysfunctionality of government. And there's no real desire to change stuff. There's no real. You look across the country and see black and brown people who are reading at grade level, look at the unemployment level, look at the incarceration level. It's the same across the country. So either we born with some biological dysfunctionality, or there's a profit in making sure we don't change these issues.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I want to hold both sides accountable.

[Lynn Williams]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I want to look at both sides and say, you know what? It's been a binary system for decades. Both you parties have been in charge of our government and look at the regression that has taken place within our nation. But then it took a step further. Because when we get back to your point about how you never left the Democratic Party, you felt like the Democratic Party left you. I voted for Kamala Harris. I wasn't excited about it. I'll be the first to admit it. I just didn't like the divisiveness and the chaos that Trump had in his first administration. And I didn't want a repeat of that in round two. So my thinking was, if you got a Democrat in the White House, but you got Republicans in the House and the Senate, somehow people would be forced to compromise and things could get done. And I look at it in the aftermath of it all, and I'm saying to myself, wait a minute. We saw a president that clearly, I'll say it, there was slippage. You knew that. But you put him. You avoided the primaries. You made sure he showed up on a debate stage on June 27th. He wasn't ready. It was too late for anybody else. So Kamala Harris gets inserted in there. And on Judgment Day, which was election Day, the voter said, we didn't fall for it. We didn't fall for it. And the Democratic Party, to me, is still chirping as if it's the campaign trail not recognizing that this man is in office. And you're going to have to deal with them. How could we expect anybody to deal with Donald Trump if, as a Democrat, folks are still out there spewing the same old rhetoric?

[Lynn Williams]

You know what? We need to start talking about governing right now. And then you look at a mayor of the largest city in America that makes the determination, I'm going to sit down and not war with the president, but work with the president. And people are trying to figure out why I have a city to run with real issues around affordability and housing. And we have been successful in spite of what we've gone through, brother, in year one and year two, we broke records in individual years on how much housing we built. We brought records on how many people we moved from homelessness into permanent housing, how many people use the subsidized vouchers for housing. We've been breaking records after records, after records. And with the help of Washington D.C. we could go even further.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What about people who say, Mr. Mayor, you're engaging in an exercise in futility because look at this man, he doesn't really care. This is what I'm just saying. It's not me, too. Their attitude is he doesn't really care. Look at him. He immediately got rid of, you know, trying to get rid of DEI programs. Look at him. Look at who he surrounded himself with. These black, black folks, these minorities that have supported him. How many does he actually have in his cabinet? Look at him. It's Elon Musk for X. It's Fred. It's Mark Zuckerberg for Facebook and Meta and all of this other stuff. It's TikTok now. So he's insulated himself with media arms or information disseminating arms that can insulate him from the level of scrutiny. Mr. Mayor, aren't you just wasting your time even trying to communicate with this man?

[Lynn Williams]

What do you say to that, first of all, I'm an Elon Musk guy. I love the technology, I love what he's doing. I think this cat is going to put us on Mars before we know it and all the secrets that are in our universe. So I believe in what he's doing. But think about it. We're saying, look at him and what he's doing and surrounding himself with. But then you get a straight up South Jamaica Queen street cat that's able to sit down, that he's willing to pick up the phone and say, let's sit down and talk. And you want to demonize that action. So we can't have it both ways. You can't look at. Well, he's surrounded himself with a lot of billionaires. And now you get this straight up blue collar mayor. He's saying, eric, let's sit down and let's have a conversation. And you want to demonize that also, some people enjoy the emotions that's attached with misery. And no matter what they see, brother, they going to say, woe is me. You know, I could have said, woe is me when I was arrested as a child, but I became a cop. I could have said, woe is me because I have a learning disability I learned about in college, but I pushed through and became the mayor of the city of New York. So you can easily sit back and look at your circumstances and say, I would never do it, or you can use your circumstances to build your character and make it happen.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Do you believe Donald Trump is interested in helping New York City citizens?

[Lynn Williams]

Yes, I do. The president loves New York. He made his prosperity here in this city. I believe he understands how important New York is for the country with an economic engine for the entire country. And I think that this is a great opportunity to look at some of the things that we need to do here in the city. And I'm going to continue to engage with him. I'm going to try. And this is not unique. Let's understand something. When President Biden won, I went to see him before being elected mayor and I talked with him about the crime issues we were seeing in our city. He was able to appoint the 18.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And he loved talking to you until you highlighted the migrant crisis and how it was debilitating.

[Lynn Williams]

New York Times. It took 10 trips to Washington, D.C. so it wasn't as though when he got elected, the same thing I'm doing with this president, I did with President Biden. He came to the city to sit down with me and the police department to talk about the Issue of the day, which is public safety. So this is not new. You know, I have sat down with gang leaders. I've sat down with people who are my staunch critic. If we don't communicate, how the hell are we going to ever hear the other sides of issues?

[Stephen A. Smith]

How desperate does New York need the federal government's assistance?

[Lynn Williams]

Oh, brother. It's unbelievable what we need from the federal government, all that. You see the billions of dollars we send back to the federal government, There's a lot we don't get back. And it's imperative everything from our educational funding. You look at many of the grants that allow us to do infrastructure building. When you look at our law enforcement issues, the laws that are coming out of Washington, we need the federal government. If you don't have a real partner in the federal government, it is going to make it challenging for you to carry out the functionalities of running a city like New York.

[Stephen A. Smith]

One of the things that Donald Trump is making a lot of noise about is the executive orders that he handed down. The inordinate amount of executive orders that he's handed down just his first couple of days in office. Which one has stood out to you the most?

[Lynn Williams]

All of them. We have to still study. You know, people are questioning me on executive orders, and I say, damn it, the ink is not even dry. Let me read it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because he can sign an executive order, but that don't mean it's gonna hold water. That doesn't mean you're not gonna have to deal with the government. Congress, for example. They got a lot of stuff to.

[Lynn Williams]

Work through, and some may come with lawsuits, some may come with challenges. But I think the spirit of what he's saying, and, you know, and I've been saying this over and over again, this is the greatest country on the globe. You know, no other country has dream attached to his name but America, the American dream. During the migrants and asylum seeker crisis, I went to South America and watched people walk thousands of miles through the Darien Gap, putting their life on the line, all because they wanted to come here. And many an overwhelming number wanted to come to New York. And so when you look at how we have all of sudden, all of a sudden become ashamed of being the greatest country on the globe. Our children are being radicalized. They hate the country. Some of the Ivy League institutions are talking about, you know, the destruction of America and dismantling America to students. We no longer appreciate our product. And I think that out of everything he's doing, to hear people chanting, usa, usa. This country is the Greatest country on the globe. Is it perfect? Hell, no, it's not. But if you were to tell those who criticize this country, here's a map, pick where you want to go. Whole lot of people won't be going anywhere.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The one thing that one could argue in favor of the right and against the left is that the right has been preaching about how America is the greatest country in the world. And they've accused the left of doing the exact opposite of that, which is the protest that you pointed to, along with various other things. Is there any legitimacy to that in your eyes?

[Lynn Williams]

I think it's. I think it's extremely legitimate. We have a. There are various systems of government. You have communism, you have socialism, you have capitalism. We never stated we were not a capitalist country. It's about compassionate capitalism. It's about coming here as a dishwasher and one day owning a chain of restaurants. It's about growing up in Hollis, Queens and now becoming one of the premier talk show hosts. Where else are you going to be able to accomplish that? It's about being dyslexic, interested. And now I'm elected to be the mayor of the greatest city on the globe. The possibilities are endless in this country.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You're sitting next to somebody that had undiagnosed dyslexia that they found out about. And ultimately, you know, this is the kind of stuff I'm sitting here today. I ask you this because when I think about diversity, equity and inclusion, that has nothing to do with what we just talking about. But getting back to dei, I would like you to define the definition of dei. What it should mean when you hear dei. What should that mean to the average American citizen and the employers out here?

[Lynn Williams]

Yeah. We cannot. We cannot ignore the fact that there are many people who were passed over based on their ethnicity and based on their gender and based on their lives. You know, many of you. I would talk to some of my Muslim brothers and sisters, and they were denied jobs because they had a job. I would talk to some of my Jewish brothers and sisters, and there were law firms and other jobs they could not have, and African Americans. I could think about my sister, my older sister, how many jobs. She would train someone who was junior to her and constantly watch them pass over. So we know there were some historical problems. Now, the goal is, how do you give opportunities to people regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their lifestyle? That's what I believe it should be. Qualified people giving opportunities.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And that's one of the problems that people have when they look at the Trump administration or they look at the Republicans and the conservatives. Because every time you hear dei, whether it's in the media, on the right or from politicians, when you hear dei, it implicates or insinuates. These are unqualified individuals that got jobs because of dei. They're not looking at the fact that DEI was necessary because there were plenty of qualified individuals who didn't look like you share your cultural identity or background that you didn't give a chance to show you what they could do. They're not doing that. And that's something that the right to me needs to get their act together about when they talk about dei. To that, you say, what?

[Lynn Williams]

Listen, well said. And I speak with folks of color who are very much associated with the party, and they say, listen, there's areas we have to improve upon. There's a lot of things that I could disagree with people on, but I want to find places on where I agree on. And the only way you can get it at the table and talk about allowing that pathway to success is you have to be at the table and talk to people and not yell at people. And that's where folks are. If we're constantly yelling at each other, we would never hear each other. And that is my role as the mayor of the most important city on the globe.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Before I let you get on out of here, just a couple questions, because I know I'm busy and I really appreciate this time. September 15, 2023. You awarded media mogul Sean Diddy Combs with the key to the city and declared the day. Did he day. First of all, I want to know. I'm curious what goes into determining who gets a key to the city? I just want to know. I just. I'm just asking.

[Lynn Williams]

No, no. You know what's interesting? I'm glad you said that. Talking about dei, when we did an analysis of who were getting the keys, it didn't look like us. Wow. It didn't look like Jose gave it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

To somebody that looked like us. And what the hell has he got himself into, man? I'm. Come on, man. Come on. But go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[Lynn Williams]

You can't live life by what's in the front window. You got to know, you know, you go based on what people have done, right? And so there's a whole panel and committee. And what we did, we broke it up into entertainers as well as those who contribute to the city. And people looked at his contribution, what he has done, and others that we honored. We knew that we should give him that award. And listen, my heart goes out to him, you know, as he go through his legal struggles, you know, my heart.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Goes out to him if he's innocent.

[Lynn Williams]

Right, exactly. You know, and I'm, I, you know, there by the grace of God goes I. We all going through something. And so my heart goes out to him.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The key was returned last year.

[Lynn Williams]

Did you ask for it back the team? The committee did.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The committee did, not you.

[Lynn Williams]

I'm not the individual person that determined. There's a whole committee that sits down and they made the determination because of the highlight of the case and his team was. They were cool. They say, listen, we understand what's going on. We respect that. They didn't give any pushback. This is the big boys, big girls club. We all know that you have to deal with these issues that are in front of us.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The only reason I ask is because, you know, when Luigi Mangione allegedly killed the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, you were right there when he arrived in New York. I'm asking because you were right there. You will be seen front and center when it comes to issues such as that. No doubt.

[Lynn Williams]

Listen, I'm on the ground, man. I was on the ground when officer Maura and Rivera, two young officers were shot and killed, assassinated. I was on the ground when 11 month old baby was shot in the head. I was in the hospital with the family members. I believe that being mayor is both substantive and is symbolism. And we have done a great job in the substantive part of it. But the symbolism of the person who's allegedly committed an assassination in our city with a silencer watching him come back in the city, I needed to look him in the eye. And many New Yorkers said thank you for being there. People were traumatized. And if I lose my CEOs in this city, I'm losing employees, I'm losing tax dollars and I'm using the economic stability of this city.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You sound like a conservative. You understand that, right? Some people gonna look at you say you sound like a conservative.

[Lynn Williams]

No, but think about us for a moment. You know, I went to the Church of Christ in South Jamaica, Queens. Our philosophy in the family we grew up in. You know, I'm not sure what your.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Dad did, but I'm sure he was hardware, silver hardware.

[Lynn Williams]

Blue collar worker, brother blue collar worker.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Mother, registered nurse, Queen General Hospital.

[Lynn Williams]

Think about it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yeah.

[Lynn Williams]

Think about the core values and principles that they're from, you know. Your family, I believe, is from the Caribbean.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's right.

[Lynn Williams]

Coming here may have left Family members behind, eking out their way, not ever looking for a handout, just given the opportunity to work for their families and put their families to six children that they were raising. And so those are the principles that I live by.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What about people who look at the left and say they want to give too many handouts? They look at the right and say they don't want to give you a damn thing.

[Lynn Williams]

Right.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Which way do you go? How does the mayor of the largest city in the United States answer that question?

[Lynn Williams]

I love that. I love that. Because what happens all the time? People want you to be on one side or the other. And it takes a lot of discipline to say you're not going to pigeonhole me. I may have a conservative view on the topic, and I may have a liberal view on the topic, and I'm going to address that based on where I am on the topic, but devoid.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Of being pigeonholed, devoid of, you know, taking a side, per se, because I'm right with you. I believe exactly how you do. I'm not a politician, though. They say you need that support. In order to get support, you need to take a side. How do you answer that?

[Lynn Williams]

And I think they're wrong. I think the numerical minority are at the streams. The overwhelming majority is in the middle. We have to encourage them to come out and vote. I think there are more Americans like you and I that are concerned about affordability, public safety, and making sure they can house their children and have a safe place for families in the city. But we've allowed the extremes to hijack the narrative. But I think the overwhelming number of New Yorkers are just like you. And I want to provide for our family and make sure they have a future.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Last couple of questions. When I think about you now, let's think positive.

[Lynn Williams]

Yes.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Let's say these allegations are gonna go away. Your issues, campaign, you know, fraud and campaign finance, all of this stuff, we gonna do away with all of that. It's you against Andrew Cuomo for the mayor of New York. I'm a sports guy. I like competition. I mean, what kind of prediction would you put forth if you got. If you had yourself, if you found yourself in a position where you were going up against Andrew Cuomo for the mayor's position, for His Honor's position in the city of New York?

[Lynn Williams]

Well, I think that to me, and this is how I run my life. I'm not running against Andrew Cuomo or any of the other candidates. I'm running against myself. Play my best game. If I play my Best game. It doesn't matter who's in the race because there's other candidates in the race. And what I've learned in electoral politics right now, we're in the preseason, you know, we're not in the playoffs. When you're in the playoffs, your game has to be different. You could be great, you know, in the season, but when you get in the playoff, let's see what you're made of.

[Stephen A. Smith]

He's a former governor that may be running for mayor. Yes, You're a mayor. All of this stuff goes away. Gubernatorial aspirations, sir?

[Lynn Williams]

No, not at the time.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Why not? Why not?

[Lynn Williams]

I am focused on running this city. And listen, this is the second, second most important job in America. And, you know, it's a blessing every day being the mayor of the city of New York. And so no matter what's on the next journey, no one can take away the number 1 10th. I was the 110th mayor of the greatest city on the globe. Think about that for a moment.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Yes, sir. You said second most important job was.

[Lynn Williams]

The first president of the United States. Okay. You know, but everyone knows when I meet the mayors from across the globe during UN Week, they all argue about who's number two and number three. And they look over at me and they smile. They say, we know who's number one.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Good deal. Last question, sir.

[Lynn Williams]

Yes, brother.

[Stephen A. Smith]

As we sit here talking right now as two individuals from the streets of Queens, New York, and we hear the climate that is out there, it's subsided to some degree, although there's obvious concerns, because the election is over and the people have spoken. Donald Trump won the popular vote. He won the Electoral College vote. The right won the House. They got the Senate. It is what it is. What message would you say, particularly specifically to black Americans out there who have this fear of what he's going to do and the kind of effect it's going to have on our community moving forward. And it's not to alienate any other minority. It's not to alienate white America. It's nothing about that. Black man from Queens. You're a black man from Queens. We're hearing the rhetoric and we see people overreacting to the slightest syllable that comes out of his mouth and that of the right. If anybody from our community supports it in any way, what message do you have?

[Lynn Williams]

Yeah, and I like that. And I think your success has been because you may be of African ancestry, you speak to everyone. The guy that's sitting inside the bar, that's Italian, still can connect with you. The hardworking person who may be a janitor can see how you combine sports and politics. You know, I think that is the gift that you have, that you're able to connect with people. And so I say to African Americans who feel specifically that this is going to impact their lives, no matter who's the mayor, the governor, the president, if you truly believe God is in charge, then God is not going to let anything harmful happen to you. And so we have to draw on our religious beliefs, and we have to really fortify how we feel about the success of the children and families of our city. Stay focused. Don't be distracted. You have your dreams. You have your mission. And no president or mayor or governor is going to be able to impact that. Because you and I both know we've lived through several mayors and governors, and many times they may have been elected and people have forecast doomsday. And we're still here today. You running the show? I'm running the city.

[Stephen A. Smith]

There you go. And we got resolved. Your honor was all mine, sir.

[Lynn Williams]

My pleasure.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Absolute pressure. The mayor of New York himself, the one and only Eric Adams. I hope you all enjoyed that conversation. I know I did. And if you listened, no doubt you learned a few things. Until next time, this is Stephen A. Signing off. Peace and love, everybody.

[Sam Mewis]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Eric Adams]

What's up, everyone? Julius Rippinks here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

[Lynn Williams]

We're doing a new podcast together.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Here we go.

[Eric Adams]

The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.

[Sam Mewis]

Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life.

[Lynn Williams]

All topics are fair game, right?

[Stephen A. Smith]

Exactly.

[Eric Adams]

And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.

[Lynn Williams]

Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.

[Eric Adams]

Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.