New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his administration would meet with central Brooklyn education stakeholders in District 16 to explain the dismissal of a superintendent over spring break, which occurred without prior notice to the community.
In response to the recent dismissal of District 16’s Superintendent Brendan Mims, Adams stated at his Tuesday press conference that he’s hoping to come to a resolution soon.
“That's my home. District 16 is crucial, and we're gonna sit down, and we're gonna explain to them what we're doing, why we're doing, and we're sure we're gonna come to a resolution with that. And I had a great conversation with several of the leaders there, and we're gonna be able to land the plane," he said, without providing further detail.
Parents, local elected officials and community members rallied in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Thursday to protest Mims' dismissal, who had been in the position since July 2022 and had worked for the Department of Education for 22 years. No one knew exactly why Mims was dismissed.
In addition, the mayor, who paid a recent visit to Washington D.C. to attend a gathering with the African American Mayors Association, said he did not meet anyone from the Trump Administration to discuss the halt of the Empire 1 wind farm and the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
“The project is crucial. The wind farm that we're creating was a vision and a dream I had since my days as borough president,” said Adams, who stated that he is reaching out to see what next steps to take to get the project running again.
"This is real energy, and we're gonna continue to communicate and speak with them, and we're gonna get our unions engaged, because these are union jobs," the mayor said. "These are great union jobs, and we can lead the way here on the Eastern Seaboard."
The wind farm project, already underway with over 1,000 union jobs, would have powered 500,000 homes with clean electricity.
Adams also mourned the loss of Pope Francis, a progressive Catholic leader, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88.
"You know, [it was] sort of surreal losing the Pope and what the Pope means for so many, not only Catholics, but those of us who embrace the Christian faith," he said. "And as I spoke to some of the Muslim leaders in the city, some of the Jewish leaders in the city, they, too, acknowledge this loss. And so our heart goes out to those who were impacted."
The mayor spent much of press conference talking about the city's Partnership Assistance for Transit Homelessness (PATH) program, which brings a team of officials from the city police department, New York City Department of Homeless Services and NYC Health + Hospitals to connect New Yorkers living in the subway system to shelter and care.
Adams was joined by Lisa Singh, a psychiatric nurse and part of a PATH team, who was featured in a recent story in the Washington Post.
“It puts the human face on this critical public safety issue, and I really urge all of you to read it,” said Adams. “What really struck me about Lisa's story is that she said what horrifies her the most is not having to make the decision to involuntarily give someone help. It's potentially missing someone who needs it."
Both the PATH and Social and Clinical Outreach Unit (SCOUT) programs, the latter which involves the MTA police, have gotten criticism for their use of involuntary removal of mentally ill individuals. Both programs currently has five teams and is expected to expand to 10 each.
“We're bringing all the individuals that we encounter into the H&H hospital system. We're not relying at all on the private hospitals and pushing people into a black hole where we can't keep track or have any influence over what kind of care they get,” said Brian Stettin, senior advisor on severe mental illness for the mayor’s office.
Adams said he hopes the programs will help lessen the number of incarcerated individuals with mental illness on Rikers Island.
The mayor also criticized former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running against him as a moderate in the November mayoral election, over his policies that affected bail reform, deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic, and favoritism to who received COVID vaccinations when the pandemic first broke out.
"And if anything, he's taking votes away from me. I'm the mayor. Why is he in my race?" Adams said. "It's like almost when you have a house somewhere and someone is trying to move in, it's like, go find your own house."
