On Thursday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams held a press briefing on the seizure of 3500 illegal guns from New York City streets.
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00:00There are only two types of Americans.
00:05Those who live in New York and those who wish they could.
00:30Those who live in New York and those who live in New York and those who wish they could.
01:00All right. Good morning, everybody.
01:06I'm Adel Omrani. I'm the president of Free World East Region here.
01:11And I'm very privileged and happy to welcome everybody here, especially Mayor Adams, Deputy Mayor and Commissioner Tish, as well as New York Finest and everybody here.
01:28For more than 30 years, actually, we've been partnering with the New York City and with Mayor Adams and proudly serving the Long Island region in particular.
01:39We process here about 1.8 million tons, actually, of waste in the facility behind me here, which is about 75 percent of what the island generates in terms of waste.
01:51And we don't just process that. Obviously, we actually turn it into electricity to power more than 80,000 homes here in the island.
02:01And by processing this, we actually, in a sustainable manner, we divert this waste also from landfills, which is equivalent of removing about a million cars off the street by not taking it to a landfill and not generating any greenhouse gases.
02:22Obviously, like I said, we always partner with Mayor Adams in the city to provide safe, disposable options.
02:31Last time you were here, we took care of a few tons of narcotics, I guess.
02:36This time there won't be any odor or any of that, but we will have fun destroying these firearms, these illegal firearms that are harming our communities and making sure that they are sustainably and destroyed,
02:56as well as making sure that we generate this extra electricity that Mayor Adams and the City of New York actually is contributing to.
03:07With that, thank you very much again for being here, and I'll pass that to Deputy Mayor.
03:16Good morning, everyone.
03:22Got my two kids with me to bring your kids to work day, land in the Maven and stay there behind me.
03:28I am Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Kaz Daughtry, and we are here today to give an update on our mission to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.
03:38As the mayor often says, there are many rivers that feed the sea of violence, and we are damning them one by one, holding people who commit crimes accountable while investing in upstream solutions to prevent crime and violence.
03:59Since day one, this administration's priority has been to end gun violence in New York City.
04:05We have a long way to go in this fight, there's no questions about that.
04:10This past week, it's a stark reminder of the holes left in the fabric of our communities when a shooting takes place.
04:19We are honored to be joined by so many members of our community who share our mission to end gun violence.
04:28This right here is how we save lives.
04:30We are in this fight together.
04:33Among our partners here today are some incredible leaders.
04:38A.T. Mitchell, founder and CEO of Man Up, who also serves as the Gun Violence Prevention Czar,
04:46and the co-chair of the Mayor's Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
04:49Bishop Gerard Seabrook, senior pastor at Repetha Cathedral, and president of the United Clergy Coalition.
05:00And Jackie Rowe Adams, Mama Jackie, who turns her pain into purpose,
05:07founding Harlem Mother's Saves after losing two of her sons to gun violence.
05:12We also have with us the police commissioner, Jessica Tish, and members who put their lives in a line every day,
05:24serving as our first line of defense against gun violence.
05:28And now I'd like to ask the mayor of the safest big city of America to come up and give a couple of words.
05:35Mayor Eric Adams.
05:35Thank you so much, DM Daughtry, and really thank all these partners.
05:44As I look around and I see many of you, we have soldiered together on this pursuit of ending and ridding our communities of guns.
05:53And I think DM Daughtry said it best when he stated that the last two days were reminders of how important this work is,
06:03from our crisis management teams to our clergy and faith-based institutions,
06:08to the everyday mothers and fathers who had to experience violence.
06:15And then to the children, as we say, bring our children to work day.
06:19This is the work that we need to do so they can continue to aspire and grow in our city.
06:27Destroying these guns are crucial.
06:30Not only is substantive or ridding a gun off our street,
06:34but there's a level of symbolism that's attached to it of how we are not going to ever surrender to violence.
06:41Speaking with the son of a victim of a gun violence yesterday
06:45and talking about the beautiful life that his mom lived and how she gave back and contributed to the Harlem community.
06:53When we lose someone prematurely to violence, it impacts us all.
06:57And even when the bullet hits the intended target, the emotional pathway does not stop.
07:04It continues to rip apart the anatomy of our city and the anatomy of our community.
07:08And that is why we're here today.
07:11And it's crucial that we continue this fight as we move forward.
07:18I want to just pause for a moment and just talk about we're dealing with an air quality advisory in effect today
07:24due to the ongoing wildfires in New Jersey.
07:28So New Yorkers may see smoke and smell smoke over the city.
07:32We're monitoring the situation closely and coordinating with New Jersey and New York State.
07:36The main impacts are to air quality for sensitive groups with respiratory issues.
07:43And this includes those who are dealing with asthma and other breathing issues.
07:49So don't forget, notify NYC.
07:50It's a great way to stay up to date.
07:53And you can visit nyc.gov slash notify for up-to-date information.
07:59Now, the moment we're here.
08:00And I want to, again, thank everyone who has joined us to move forward and help us destroy these illegal guns.
08:09And you look at them as they mount here on the table a combination of semi-automatic weapons, revolvers,
08:18different pearl-handled guns on both of these tables.
08:23These are weapons of destruction, weapons of pain, weapons of chaos that we are removing off our streets.
08:34And we know that we have to do more, and we will do more.
08:40And this is what keeps me up at night.
08:42And I'm sure the police commissioner would say it is saying it's what keeps her up at night when you hear about a shooting that takes place in our city.
08:52We must keep criminals off our streets and illegal guns out of their hands.
08:58This is what we will continue to do every day and what we were committed to do from day one in this administration.
09:05Public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity, and there's no symbol greater of the lack of public safety than a gun.
09:14And day after day, month after month, year after year, we're committed to this pursuit.
09:19And our administration is clear on that.
09:22When you look at the numbers, the numbers don't lie.
09:24We have removed over 21,400 illegal guns off our streets.
09:30More than 1,600 of them already been removed this year.
09:34And today we're here to send 3,575 of these illegal guns off to their final destination into this gun chipper you see here.
09:50And I'm joined here, as we indicated, not only by advocates, not only by community leaders, not only by those who are part of the public safety apparatus,
10:00but by family members, but by family members.
10:03And as they throw a gun into this chipper, I want them to call out the names of their loved ones.
10:10And the true irony and despair here is some of them will call out more than one name.
10:17You look at the story of Jackie Rowe Adams losing two children to gun violence.
10:24And having her to have this symbolic gesture, it is just going to continue her work and her pursuit to deal with violence.
10:33And all of these community and faith leaders, NYPDs, violent advocates, all of them represent the strength of our communities and what we believe in.
10:41Every one of these guns is going to be destroyed, never to be used again to threaten, kill, or injure someone.
10:49Each illegal gun we destroy will save a life, if not more than one life.
10:55We're damming up one more river that leads to the sea of violence and sending a message that New York City is serious about enforcing gun laws and ending gun violence.
11:05Because these weapons have no place in our city or in the hands of those who are dangerous or in our society.
11:13Today, we're ensuring these guns will never return to our streets.
11:17They will never again endanger another child, terrify another New Yorker, or destroy another life.
11:23Each and every one of these guns will be turned into scrap metal, recycled,
11:27and sent to the School of Cooperative Technical Education with students.
11:33And the Weldon Vocational Program will create a memorial to honor victims of gun violence.
11:41Public Safety and Justice have been our administration's top priority since day one.
11:46It is our North Star.
11:48And the most recent stats prove it.
11:50We have had five straight quarters of declining crime in the first three months of this year.
11:57saw the lowest number of shootings in recorded history.
12:02Think about that for a moment.
12:04The lowest number of shootings in recorded history.
12:08And the second lowest number of homicides.
12:12On top of three straight years, shootings dropped significantly.
12:16Fewer and fewer and fewer shootings are taking place in our city.
12:20This is what we call getting stuff done.
12:22And we will continue to make history.
12:25And this is the good history we want to make.
12:27Those five straight quarters of crime reduction, it's no accident.
12:31This is the results of leadership, strategy, and hard work of the entire team.
12:36And we're not sitting back on our success.
12:39We continue to forge ahead and push ahead.
12:41And really want to thank Commissioner Jessica Tish, who is already leading this department into a new era of safety and success.
12:50And Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry and his entire public safety apparatus, all of our community and faith leaders that are here,
12:57and the brave men and women of the NYPD.
13:01They run towards gunshots while we run away from them.
13:07We can never forget the countless number of men and women who place their lives on a line to defend and protect the city of New York.
13:18Every day our team is out there doing this dangerous work, interacting with violent and far too often armed recidivists who have made up their mind to wreak havoc on our city.
13:29And as your mayor, I want every one of you to know how grateful this city is for the dedication of our men and women of the public safety apparatus.
13:39Over three years ago, we came into our determination to make the city safer.
13:44And each one of these guns we're destroying is making good on that promise.
13:49From day one, this administration has mounted an all-out effort to reduce gun violence.
13:55From our gun violence prevention task force to our neighborhood safety teams, I've testified before Congress about gun violence, urged the Supreme Court to uphold gun safety laws,
14:06worked with leaders and mayors across the nation, and sued the makers and marketers of ghost guns.
14:13Every day, we convened the gun violence strategy partnership to review felony gun violence arrests and ensure perpetrators are held accountable.
14:23But we will not rest on these achievements.
14:26We will keep pressing for more, more officers, more safety, more results, and better laws.
14:32This administration is about going the distance, not pausing halfway through the fight.
14:38With our long-term plans to keep New Yorkers safe, we will be victorious.
14:44We will continue to dam up the rivers of gun violence, continue foot patrols in high crime areas, both above ground and throughout our transit system,
14:53open up more playgrounds and community centers for young people to play, invest in safety of our schools,
15:00and ensure that New York City remains the greatest and the safest big city in America.
15:05Because of that steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, New York City is just that, the safest big city in America.
15:14Keeping us safe is what we would do.
15:16This is an all-hands-on-deck issue, and I am thankful for all the hands that are here today to make sure we destroy these weapons of destruction.
15:26Thank you very much.
15:28Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
15:32I would now like to bring up to the podium the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, Jessica Tish.
15:39Thank you, Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor.
15:42The symbolism of what we're doing this morning shouldn't be lost on anyone.
15:47Nearly 3,600 illegal firearms, the cause of so much destruction, shredded, scrapped, and recycled into building materials.
15:56I can't think of a more fitting tagline for the trash revolution than that.
16:02These deadly weapons will never again be a threat.
16:06Instead, they will be a reminder, melted and welded together to create a memorial to the victims of gun violence.
16:13That memorial, as the Mayor said, will be designed and constructed by the students at Co-op Tech in East Harlem,
16:20and I want to thank them for taking on this important project.
16:24This city, led by this public safety mayor, has made it clear.
16:30These guns have no place in our neighborhoods.
16:32They stoked fear, inflicted pain, and destroyed lives.
16:37And they belong right here, in the tear box of an industrial metal shredder.
16:41Getting them here isn't easy, though.
16:44It's dangerous, daring work.
16:46And no one does it better than the women and men of the New York City Police Department.
16:51As the Mayor said, we have seized more than 21,400 illegal firearms since his administration began.
16:59That's about 18 guns every single day for more than 1,200 days.
17:05In that same time, the NYPD made more than 14,000 gun arrests.
17:12And in 2022, our officers made the most gun arrests in 27 years.
17:18None of this is by accident.
17:20It's strategy, precision, and a clear focus on the Mayor's mandate.
17:25Get the guns and stop the shootings.
17:28In the year before Mayor Adams took office, shooting incidents in our city were at a 15-year high.
17:34Shooting victims had more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels.
17:39And murders were at the highest they'd been in a decade.
17:42This was an epidemic.
17:45Gun violence has become a real public health crisis, and no corner of our city was spared.
17:50The people standing here with us know this all too well.
17:54Families torn apart, bright futures destroyed, and communities searching for answers.
18:01This damage is irreparable.
18:02So our work must prevent gun violence, not to just react to it.
18:07That's been the Mayor's directive from the beginning, and the NYPD is seeing it through.
18:12We put more cops out on patrol.
18:14We launched focused, daily deployments in our city's most violent areas.
18:19We targeted the trigger pullers, and we saw what happened.
18:23In the first quarter of 2025, shootings went down more than 23 percent citywide.
18:29And it wasn't just the lowest first quarter in recorded history.
18:33It was the lowest quarter ever.
18:37Shootings in the Bronx went down by 33 percent.
18:40In both Manhattan and Queens, they declined by 25 percent.
18:44And citywide, shooting victims fell by 23 percent.
18:49We are making real, significant progress, but we still have work to do.
18:53The women and men of the NYPD, they will never stop fighting to rid our streets of illegal firearms and to hold the criminals who carry them accountable.
19:02I want to thank Mayor Adams, our faith leaders, community partners, and everyone else who stands with us in this fight.
19:11And most of all, thank you to the brave NYPD cops who put their own lives on the line every day.
19:17It takes a truly special type of person to do this job, and it is the greatest privilege of my life to work alongside them.
19:25Thank you, Police Commissioner.
19:30Now we'd like to bring up Bishop Gerard Seabrooks.
19:38Well, the Lord Jesus Christ says, if you don't believe me, believe me for the very works that I've done.
19:46We're here to say this mayor has been faithful to his word to reduce public safety and crime in our city.
19:58And on behalf of black and brown people who have suffered the most, we want to thank you.
20:04You can be trusted.
20:06You're reliable and faithful.
20:08Mayor Eric Adams has made public safety a key issue for his administration.
20:18We not only see the results, but we feel safe when we walk the streets.
20:25We've been praying for the police department.
20:28We've been praying for this mayor.
20:30And now we can see tourism is back.
20:34Our streets are safe.
20:36And we want to thank this mayor for the phenomenal job that he's doing to rid guns off our streets.
20:44Let's continue to pray for him.
20:47And this is the safest city in the world.
20:50Thank you, Bishop.
20:55Now, last but certainly not least, Mama Jackie Roe Adams.
21:13Good morning, Long Island.
21:17We are in a safe space out here because you are our partners.
21:25And thank God, thank God that I'm standing here this morning with one of the baddest mayors in New York City.
21:40And I'm serious.
21:43Because, see, what some people don't know, because a lot of times the news don't talk about it, but I'm going to talk about it.
21:50Come on, Jay.
21:52He's been doing this work of gun safety from 2006.
21:58Right, Herbie?
21:59Tony, you've been standing with me?
22:03AT, standing with me?
22:05Because this mayor here started, helped start Harlem Mothers Save, a mother like myself, who lost two kids to gun violence.
22:20And I wanted to lay down, but God said, get up.
22:23And when I reached out, and Assemblyman Keith Wright reached out to the mayor, he wasn't the mayor, he was the sergeant of NYPD.
22:36And he was the president of the 100 black law enforcement.
22:42And what was they doing then?
22:44Talking about gun violence.
22:47Talking about getting these guns off the street and shut down.
22:51And I'm not ashamed, but I'm disappointed in Harlem.
22:55In 2006, he shut down two bodegos selling guns.
23:01But now, thank God, Harlem is alive.
23:04Harlem is safe.
23:05Harlem is not doing all that gun violence.
23:08Because in, people say, in his four years, he ain't four years yet.
23:16He ain't no four years.
23:19He did this work in one year.
23:24And we're here to talk about it.
23:27In one year, Mayor Adams, the strongest man I know.
23:32I ain't talking about strong as a mayor.
23:34I'm talking about strong as a person, because he's still standing.
23:39He got a lot done in one year than any mayor have ever did in four years.
23:47And do you see everybody standing up here?
23:51Do you see everybody here?
23:54He ain't by himself.
23:55He's not alone.
23:58Thank God for NYPD.
24:00Thank God for the leadership of this mayor and our commissioner, Tish, and all these chiefs that they put in place, and NYPD leadership.
24:13Because you know why?
24:15He can't do it alone.
24:17I said it yesterday when I spoke at the 61-year-old grandmother.
24:23Walks out and a bullet hit her.
24:26But thank God, 35 more hundred, 36 more hundred guns is coming off the street from killing our children, our grandparents.
24:36And the good thing is, this is the only city that is melting these guns and giving them to education.
24:44Let's clap it up for education.
24:45Education.
24:47Education.
24:49And I want to say, I just talked about A.T. Mitchell this morning to our commissioner.
24:56I calls him my angel, Commissioner Howard.
25:00Saying, you know, all of us and Tony Hurray, we started this fight when it was nobody talking about it.
25:08And we started this fight.
25:10And look where we are today.
25:12Thank you, Mayor Adams.
25:15The mothers and fathers of this city could sleep well tonight.
25:20Because not only the 20,000 or 20, hey, listen, let me say 30,000, 40,000 has been taken off this street.
25:31But now we're here today, we're going to melt these guns, and my two kids from heaven is going to be looking down saying,
25:39Thank you, Mayor Adams.
25:41Thank you, New York City.
25:43Because these guns, 36 lives will be saved.
25:50Will be saved.
25:52So I want all of us and all of the city and all of Long Island to pay attention to what's going on and support this mayor and support NYPD and just support this city and saving lives.
26:10Let's stop this violence.
26:12Let's stop this violence.
26:14And let's stop talking about each other and doing nothing.
26:20Do something.
26:21Do something.
26:23Work with our mayor.
26:24Work with our city.
26:25God bless all of you.
26:27And enough is enough.
26:29Let's stop this violence.
26:31Let's stop this violence.
26:32Yes.
26:33Yes.
26:34Yes.
26:35Yes.
26:36Yes.
26:37Yes.
26:38Yes.
26:39Yes.
26:40Yes.
26:41Yes.
26:42Yes.
26:43How are you?
26:44Good.
26:45I wanted to ask you about these guns.
26:47Why were these chosen since it's just a portion of the ones you seized?
26:51What type of crimes have they been used in?
26:54And then my last question.
26:55Everybody brought it up.
26:56Today the crushing is symbolic.
26:58But what's the message you want to send to New Yorkers, especially in the wake of yesterday's fatal shooting in Harlem?
27:04No, they got a great, great question.
27:06And they are, these guns are representative of the over 21,000 that we have removed off the streets of the city.
27:15And over 1,600, close to 1,600 I believe that we've done this year.
27:21And when you hear about shootings like a 61-year-old grandmother that was an innocent bystander, we should not lose sight of that.
27:31When you hear about those shootings, there's a level of fear that engulfs our city because it breaks our heart.
27:38And at the same time, people think about their loved ones.
27:42But we want to send a clear message to the city.
27:45Those high profile unfortunate incidents is not an indicator of the direction the city is going.
27:53The commissioner indicated this quarter from January through March with the lowest number of shootings in recorded history in the city.
28:01We have a lot of work to do.
28:03But I want the city to know that work is being done.
28:07The men and women of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement communities and the strategies we put in place.
28:12We want to eradicate all shootings like that.
28:16But it's imperative that the city knows that we are moving in the right direction and we're going to continue to forge ahead so we don't have these unfortunate incidents.
28:25A city of 8.3 million people.
28:27I visit cities across the country and look at an analysis of those cities and what they're going through.
28:32The numbers are clear.
28:33This is the safest big city in America and we want to match the actual numbers with people feeling safe.
28:39But Kelly, it's important also to the commissioner talks about it often.
28:44When our lawmakers do things that are harmful to public safety, they are at a step with the men and women of this city.
28:54When you want to disband a database, a gang database that allows us to close cases.
28:59When you allow those who have recidivism and continuous violence in our city to continue to walk the streets.
29:06The person who was involved in the shooting yesterday, he was just arrested less than a year ago for robbery and stabbing two people.
29:19This is what's making our job harder.
29:21The criminal justice system includes police, judiciary and legislators.
29:28They all must be engaged on the same path with the people who are behind me.
29:32I'm going to say this over and over again and it needs to become a constant message.
29:37This is a day when we have to decide whose side are you on.
29:40That's right.
29:41Whose side are you on?
29:42Are you on the side of cuddling and protecting people who are inflicting violence on innocent people?
29:48Or are you on the side of the innocent people?
29:51I'm on the side of the innocent people.
29:56And all of these cases, Kelly, are closed and that's why we're able to destroy them.
30:00We're not going to destroy a gun that the case is still open.
30:04Okay, we're going to destroy some guns.
30:05Okay.
30:06Okay.
30:07Okay.
30:08Now, the.
30:09We're going to try to come out and get a big shot.
30:10We're going to try to get a big shot.
30:11You're good.
30:12You want to come right over here?
30:15Okay.
30:16The.
30:17The.
30:18The.
30:19The.
30:20The.
30:21The.
30:22The.
30:23The.
30:24The.
30:25The.
30:26The.
30:27The.
30:28The.
30:29The.
30:30The.
30:31The.
30:32The.
30:33The.
30:34The.
30:35The.
31:44Excuse me in the front.
32:00No, not right there please.
34:22This is for my two sons, Anthony Rowe and Tyrone Bolton.
34:26May they rest in peace.
34:28The guns are gone.
34:30They will never hurt nobody again.
34:50This is for the grandmother who lost her life yesterday.
34:54And we pray for our family and send condolences.
35:24I'm sorry, I'm going to have you step this way a little bit because our camera is live back there.
35:34And after you get your photo, I'm going to have you step this way a little bit for our live camera.
35:38I'm sorry.
35:44Folks, I'm sorry.
35:45I'm going to have you just step this way a little bit.
35:48Can I get a glove?
36:02Does anybody have any names to say in honor?
36:06Do you have any names to say in honor?
36:08Go for it, sir.
36:10Just say it.
36:12This is for my son, Shamel Blake, that was killed 20 years ago.
36:18The gun violence.
36:20Put the glove on so you know.
36:23Put the glove on so you know.
36:29Thank you, sir.
36:31You got the glove?
36:32Yeah.
36:33Yeah.
36:34I didn't even need that.
36:36Huh?
36:37Uh?
36:38Beautiful.
36:40Uh.
36:41Beautiful.
36:42You look at the glove?
36:43Yeah.
36:44I don't know where about
36:50Yeah.
36:51Yeah.
36:54Yeah.
36:55Yeah.
36:57Yeah.
36:58Yeah.
37:01Yeah.
37:32We have you, can we have you folks back up a little bit, please, for the camera back there? Thank you.
37:49I started the whole thing in the name of my son, my brother's son.
37:54So if I could throw one, please, please, please, absolutely. Here.
37:56Mr. Mayor, I started this gun advocacy when my nephew was killed, shot in the back of the head.
38:26So I do this with Jackie Rowe and everybody else, and I want to get rid of these guns.
38:31Thank you, sir.
38:36Thank you, sir.
38:42We'll go back around and put them in the bins, all right?
38:49Back in the bin.
39:10Yeah, folks, can you come on up?
39:23Yep.
39:24I'm going to do it.
39:25Who else wants to go?
39:28I got to go.
39:29I got it.
39:30I got it.
39:31Go ahead.
39:32I'll go throw some more.
39:35Who else?
39:36Anyone else?
39:37Anybody else?
39:38Yes.
39:39This is for Butch, Steve, Kenny, and all the people in Hempstead that's lost their lives over the years.
40:08I'm going to go.
40:09I'm going to go.
40:10I'm going to go.
40:11I'm going to go.
40:12I'm going to go.
40:13I'm going to go.
40:14I'm going to go.
40:15I'm going to go.
40:16I'm going to go.
40:17I'm going to go.
40:18I'm going to go.
40:19I'm going to go.
40:20I'm going to go.
40:21I'm going to go.
40:22I'm going to go.
40:23I'm going to go.
40:24I'm going to go.
40:25I'm going to go.
40:26I'm going to go.
40:27I'm going to go.
40:28I'm going to go.
40:29I'm going to go.
40:30I'm going to go.
40:31I'm going to go.
40:32I'm going to go.