Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears Live on PIX11's 'PIX11 Morning News'

October 7, 2024

Dan Mannarino: Taking out the garbage is going to look a lot different from now on and that's because the new composting rules are in effect citywide and if you don't do it, you're going to have to pay. Mayor Eric Adams, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch joining us now to talk about that and a whole lot more. So let's begin on the topic of composting. Good morning to both of you.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. And we talk about three billion pounds of potential rat food and this is an amazing initiative. Commissioner Tisch and her team, they have implemented to add everything we're doing around to clean the city and I don't want to take a thunder, the commissioner can explain the program.

Mannarino: Yeah, Commissioner Tisch, I want to ask you this because no one's exempt from curbside composting, right? Homeowners, property owners, they need to make sure they comply. So what's that look like in terms of enforcement and what goes in the bin?

Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Department of Sanitation: So first, this is the simplest, easiest to use curbside composting program that this city has ever seen and now it is citywide. We are offering this as a service to New Yorkers so we have made it easy to use. We like to say if you cook it or you grow it, you can throw it.

In that compost bin put anything from your kitchen, anything from your yard, set it out on your recycling day when you set out your metal glass, plastic, and your paper cardboard and we will come and pick it up. There will be no fines associated with this program for many months. Enforcement won't really start until April of 2025 and that's because we want to give people an opportunity to get the muscle memory down of separating out the food scraps and the yard waste.

Mannarino: Commissioner, I got to ask you though, because we saw the bins on the side of the street, the orange ones, right? How do you make sure that people are throwing the right stuff into the compost bin? Because you kind of see this play out with the recycle bins and everything else where people just throw whatever they want into whatever bin.

Commissioner Tisch: Yeah, in our back end processing centers at our compost facilities, we have machines that deal with contamination. So we already have processes in place to clean out any material that doesn't belong in the organic bin.

Mannarino: Mayor Adams, I know you talk about this against the war against rats. How much is the compost program going to cost the city? And before I get into how you get the bin.

Mayor Adams: You know, as the commissioner says, you know, some things are priceless, keeping rats off our streets and making sure that we can deal with the quality of life issue. You can't put a price tag on that, but what is the average dollar amount?

Commissioner Tisch: In our budget, we got about $37 million a year and that's mostly for the person power to operate the trucks or sanitation workers to run more truck starts.

Mayor Adams: But it's an investment, it's an investment, not an expense, because we can use this instead of putting three billion pounds in our landfills, we're going to be using it productively for our gardens and other aspects of the city.

Mannarino: How do you go about getting the bin? Right. That's the big one.

Commissioner Tisch: Yeah, you can get a bin, any resident of Manhattan, the Bronx or Staten Island can get a free bin from us on our website, nyc.gov/curbsidecomposting, and we will deliver it to their door.

Mannarino: All right. I want to talk about, while I have both of you here, a number of other topics plaguing the city. And of course, this big one is what came out this morning with Deputy Mayor Phil Banks resigning. Now, mayor, I want to ask you, first and foremost, you said that you welcome the resignation, right? It was his decision. Did you want him to stay?

Mayor Adams: Listen, I always want my great employees to stay. When he wanted to leave about six months ago, we were working on, with Commissioner Tisch and Phil, we're working on about the ghost cars, moving a thousand ghost cars off the street. He was part of the main implementation of our cannabis enforcement. So I asked him to hold on a little longer. Let's get this up and operating. So I would love for him to stay as long as he wanted. But he stated, Eric, I want to do something else with my life. And I don't want to be under this constant, you know, just communication.

Mannarino: Okay. And so while that's all playing out, there's been a number of sources telling us that First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright will be resigning. Not that she already has resigned, but that she will be resigning sometime this week and that she's working out some plans on exiting. Can you set the record straight, Mr. Mayor? I heard you said that, you know, you thought the reporting was false, that she had resigned. But is she going to resign in the near future?

Mayor Adams: Well, the reporting was false. There were those who said she was escorted out of the City Hall. That was a lie. They stated that she was not, she was fired Friday. That was a lie. We've been very clear. We announce personnel actions when they take place. And I cannot thank Sheena enough. She was the head of my transition team. She came into government, almost three years of serving. And when it's time for her to transition, we're going to make a formal announcement.

Mannarino: But does that, again, I'm just pushing a little bit on this transparency issue here. Will it be this week? Because there's even been reports out there that you're already considering the next first deputy mayor. And one of those names is the person sitting right next to you, Commissioner Tisch.

Mayor Adams: Again, we continue to say over and over again, you know, this business, Dan, rumors fly wide and high when we make personnel announcements. We do so just as we did this morning with Deputy Mayor [for] Public Safety Banks. And we're going to do that with any personnel that comes in or any personnel that goes out.

Mannarino: I saw a slight head nod, as in no. So, Commissioner Tisch, if the offer came to be first deputy mayor, would you want it?

Commissioner Tisch: I have worked in city government for 17 years, and I love being commissioner of the Department of Sanitation under the mayor. We're doing the most incredible needle moving work, this curbside composting that we're discussing today. But next month, we're doing a residential mandate to put all residential trash in bins for small homes. So it's just been an extraordinary experience, and none of it would happen without the mayor's leadership.

Mannarino: So you're not saying if you want that job or not, but you're staying on board, even though looking at all these high profile departures.

Commissioner Tisch: I have been very clear that being the commissioner of the Department of Sanitation was my dream job. Lots of people think that that's shocking, but that's been my dream. A girl can dream.

Mannarino: Mr. Mayor, I want to talk about just the personnel changes, right? Now we have Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, there is the school chancellor, which you've already filled, health commissioner, police commissioner's an interim. Do you have names? Are those positions going to be filled rather quickly? What's the timeline?

Mayor Adams: I'm glad you stated that, because as the chancellor transitioned out, we have a chancellor that is there executing, and it was one of his handpicked successors. The same with all of these positions. I think we underestimate how deep not only is the bench for government, but for the city. We have talented people in the city that state the mission is to serve the people of the city, and we're not short of people doing that.

Mannarino: Timeline on filling on the health commissioner, at least, and the police commissioner?

Mayor Adams: Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom has several people who she's interviewing now, and that is going to be filled. Dr. Vasan stated that he's going to go to the end of the year if need be, but we will have that position filled before that. The interim commissioner, we're going to solidify who's going to be the permanent commissioner. We must realize the city is filled with those who understand how to ensure, no matter who's at the top, that the city continues to operate. That's what we're doing every day.

Mannarino: Okay. I want to ask you about this poll. 69 percent of New Yorkers think that you should resign. 71 percent of those are Democrats, Mr. Mayor, and I'm always straight with you. You're adamant you're not resigning, but what do you say to those folks? That's a number of people in that poll, and I know you're going to say polls are polls, but there's something to be said about some folks who do want you to step down.

Mayor Adams: Yes, and they're those who want me to keep the mission going. You saw that all over the weekend. That's rarely covered, what happens when I'm out in the street speaking to everyday working-class New Yorkers. You don't really hear that often. Eric, keep doing what you're doing for the city, driving down crime, building affordable housing, getting the City of Yes done, and making sure that we continue to have the largest number of businesses in our city history.

And so, yes, there was a one-sided report on this entire incident. We want the entire story to be told, and so I understand that New Yorkers are wondering what actually happened, and it's all going to come out, but in the meantime, I've got to move the city forward, and that's what I'm doing every day.

Mannarino: I've got to squeeze in one more question here, because I know we're out of time. Borough President Antonio Reynoso had said here on PIX11 that he received offers, these tea sets, porcelain tea sets, eight of them, and a flight from Turkey, and he said that that came after they've already said they had conversations with you when you were borough president. When you were borough president, did anything like that ever happen, where you were given a gift from the Turkish government?

Mayor Adams: I'm sorry, you said he received tea sets?

Mannarino: Yeah, he said he was offered eight porcelain tea sets from the Turkish government. He said he didn't want them and didn't accept them.

Mayor Adams: Well, we get, all mayors and executives get gifts all the time, and there's a process of vouching those gifts where they're supposed to be. I have those gifts, some are on the table here at City Hall, some is in whatever filing system that's done. We have a list of those gifts that are turned over to us, and they're all filed within the necessary process that we're supposed to follow.

Mannarino: Mr. Mayor, I appreciate your time, and Commissioner Tisch, I appreciate your time. Good luck with the composting, and Commissioner Tisch, I want to see you back here in the studio with that garbage can in a month when you're doing the residential.

Commissioner Tisch: See you soon.

Mannarino: All right, good to see you guys. Thanks so much.

Mayor Adams: All right, take care.

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