On May 11, 2025, Mayor Eric Adams appeared on the “Hear From the Mayor” radio show on 107.5 WBLS, hosted by Gary Byrd, to discuss the new “After-School for All” program, a significant initiative aimed at supporting New York City’s children and working families. Joined by Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar, Adams highlighted the program’s $195 million investment to add 20,000 after-school seats over three years, starting with 5,000 seats in September 2025. The initiative offers safe, engaging, and fun after-school activities, including STEM, sports, arts, and academic support, fostering social-emotional growth and peer connections. Adams emphasized its importance for working parents, providing peace of mind and flexibility, while Almanzar shared how her personal experiences shape her commitment to equitable opportunities for youth. The show also addressed listener questions on federal funding, parade permissions, parking issues, and school safety officer retention, showcasing Adams’ focus on direct community engagement.
Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts “Hear From the Mayor” Radio Show
May 11, 2025
Gary Byrd: Well, each and every second Sunday of the month, WBLS is proud to welcome the 110th mayor of New York City, and the second mayor of color, and the first hip hop mayor in the city’s history. It’s time for us to hear from our mayor, Mayor Eric Adams, right here from 107.5 WBLS. Mr. Mayor, good morning, and welcome.
Mayor Eric Adams: Good morning, and great to be on, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. You know, “I’ll Always Love My Mama,” A song I always remember. I want to welcome back everyone to another episode of Hear from the Mayor, and I’m your mayor, Eric Adams.
And if this is your first time tuning in, the purpose of the show is to do just that, just hear from you. Give feedback, unfiltered, share your thoughts, and whatever questions we can answer. Listeners should give me a call, and hear directly from your mayor. You can also sign up to hear from me by visiting nyc.gov/hearfromeric. You can sign up on your website to text with Eric and talk with me on WhatsApp.
And now, you can call in to 212-545-1075, 212-545-1075. And today, on Mother’s Day, we’re going to talk about a very important topic, an after-school program for our children, a universal “After-School for All,” building on our commitment of investing in children and working families. When you do an analysis of this administration, you will see that we focus on children and families so they could have a brighter future.
And “After-School for All” families is a game changer for households and for thousands of families across the city offering child care beyond the regular school day. And starting this school year, we’re going to be kicking off.
So I am really, really proud to have here in [Gracie Mansion] with us, the first Dominican deputy mayor, Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar. And what I love about the D.M. is her family. I think it’s ten of you? You know, ten siblings or family, children from her mom and dad and just an amazing family.
And it’s really good to have you here as we talk about this program and how important it is, a safe space for children after school so parents can be comfortable to go on and do things in their lives as well. So can you just give me the framework of this program and how is it going to roll out?
Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar, Strategic Initiatives: Absolutely. And thank you, mayor. And Happy Mother’s Day, as you said, to all the mothers out there. And it’s a great program for parents, indeed, as it is for children. The “After-School for All’ that you, mayor, had made such a significant investment in $195 million to right-size the program and $331 million as a whole to increase the program by 20,000 seats in three years.
The first year will add 5,000 seats. That is September coming up. And this is a program, mayor, that New York City parents can now have the assurance that their children will be spending time after school in a place that is safe, that is engaging intellectually, and also that is fun for the children in high quality throughout the entire city.
Mayor Adams: And so important, and it makes a difference in the lives of working parents and their children after-school. What can parents expect in terms of the type of activities, support, and safety? What can they expect if their child is enrolled in the program?
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: And it’s interesting, mayor, that you use the word safety as your logo, that public safety is a prerequisite for prosperity. And this program itself, the “After-School for All,” is another part of that plan, of that safety plan. But we have different activities for our children.
We have STEM, different sports, robotics, the arts, field trips, and more, including for those students that might need some enforcement in their academics, so they can have that assistant with homework there at the school if they choose to, but also to have a way for them to have that peer-to-peer connection, that social connection, that so many of our children lost during the pandemic, and now they are re-engaging and having those extra hours where they don’t have to be, per se, doing their homework, but they can actually interact with one another and have a social-emotional support.
Mayor Adams: Yeah, and that’s so important, something that’s talked about often in this administration. We constantly expect children to be academically smart, but emotional intelligence is crucial, and socialization is part of that. And the structured learning, and free time, and play time, I didn’t realize how much that is all part of the development of one’s brain, particularly when you’re a child.
And so having a child in some structured environment to get that educational support, do after-school programming, and learning how to communicate with each other is crucial. And so when you look at what we’re planning on doing with this after-school program, we’re expanding beyond the instruction hours of the school.
Now, how can parents give us feedback? How can they evaluate in the coming years, and how they share their feedback with us for future after-school services in their community?
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: Absolutely. They can do it in several ways, depending on how engaged they are with the school. They can do so through their parent-teacher conferences, but they also can go directly to the school and speak with the program directors, and those who are engaged in the after-school program.
And if not, they can also go to the local nonprofit that is serving that school, and also give us feedback. The way that we are expanding this program with the 5,000 seats this year, and 20,000 in the next two years to come, we’re also engaging with different providers and advocates throughout the entire system, individuals who have direct contact with the youth, and also with some young people to help us build a program that is best designed to serve them.
Because as an adult, we might think that we know what’s best for the students, but why not have the voice of the students design, help us design what’s to come for the future for the program at after-school?
Mayor Adams: And it’s really interesting when you combine this investment with what we invested already, that’s going to elevate us to a $755 million investment by the 2027 to 2028 school year. And a 78 percent increase in just three years are enormous numbers. And then when you add those numbers into just some of the other activities that we’re doing, the Summer Rising, the Summer Youth Employment, the Saturday Night Lights Basketball, tell us about some of those other programs we’re doing.
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: Impressive numbers, mayor. This year, we are aiming to serve the same number, if not a bit higher, for the Summer Rising. Last year, [there] were 110,000 children who were engaged in Summer Rising. This year, what we did was open the application system much earlier to allow families to be able to select where they would like their child to go.
Is it near their home, or is it near their work to have easy access? The same thing for the after-school program, early application process with 100,000 children that will be served. And we’re looking at specific demographics to make sure that it’s not just a lottery, but that we are doing so in a systematic way, serving those who need it the most, those children in NYCHA, those who are in foster care, those who are in supportive housing and shelters, that they have access to those services and be able to learn about a career path that they can pick up once they become an adult.
And if they choose to, they can come back next summer and the following summer until they graduate from high school and take advantage of that.
Mayor Adams: And when you look at it, for years, advocates and others were calling to increase the number of summer jobs over the summer. And we went from 75,000 to 100,000. Extremely impressive. When people talk about, what are we doing for youth? What are we doing for youth?
We’re answering that question because, as you mentioned, the Summer Rising Program, we all know about this well-kept secret of summer loss. Children go off for the summer. They don’t have any instructional learning. They come back with a deficit, particularly in Black and brown communities. And so what happens with the Summer Rising Program, that really helps close that gap?
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: Oh, the way that the YCD and the New York City Public School System, the Department of Education, has structured the program is that we spend X number of hours in the reinforcing of that academic portion of the program that you mentioned, mayor. Helping the students who might be in jeopardy or not being promoted, or who were promoted but might have some deficiencies in math or in reading.
Then they get that specific assistant with an instructor. To help them reinforce those skills. And then for the other part of the day, they have a non-academic engagement. That is art, that is sports. That also helps with the child, the intellectual development of the child. Because when you think about math, and you think about a basketball court, you have to know what’s the distance between the court, the hoop, and that’s how much I know about basketball. And where you are in order to be able to make the shot.
And same thing for baseball. For whatever sport they’re playing, math comes into play. And that’s what we’re doing in the Summer Rising, making sure that whatever the child is doing is tied to academics. That even if they might be doing arts, I visited one in Bushwick last year, where the teacher was doing “art.”
But she was teaching them about geography and geometry by helping the student design their neighborhood. Tell me where the bodega is. And then calculate the distance between your house and the bodega. So the kid was thinking about art, but the professor was thinking about mathematics.
Mayor Adams: Love that, love that. You know, when you think about it, we talk about how much the after-school program helps children, but what about parents? What could parents do, knowing that their child is in a safe space? How [does] it help them in their development?
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: Well, growing up in the Dominican Republic, we didn’t have access to an after-school program. And as you mentioned, my poor mother, with all of us, ten of us, she would have benefited from an after-school program. She would have had less gray hair, I can attest.
But the idea is to not only engage the student, but also to give the parents the peace of mind that their child’s going to be in an academically enrichment environment, that they’ll be safe, and that they will have a quality education.
And for the parents, it’s for them to be able to take that extra shift, or to know that their child’s gonna be at school until they get out of work, and they can come and pick them up, so they don’t have to leave work earlier, that they don’t have to make further arrangement to have an extra person pick them up, or perhaps have the child home alone, that we know, we all were young, and we know what kind of mischiefs we can do if we’re unsupervised.
Mayor Adams: You know, and that’s what I love about this team, particularly my deputy mayor is, you know, in order to help people who are going through a lot, you have to have gone through a lot. And we use our childhood, and growing up, and some of the challenges we face to assist us in crafting what policies we put in place.
And as you indicated, your family came here from the Dominican Republic, ten family members, your mom and dad. How does that shape how you approach this work that you do? Because your portfolio is so important.
Deputy Mayor Almanzar: Absolutely, and if you were to look at my academic performance, mayor, from kindergarten to high school, to 12th grade, and then my college transcript, and you compare the two, you would think that they’re two different people. And one, I went to school from [K-12th grade] in the Dominican Republic, and I went to college in America.
And even with the challenge of the language, I was able to perform astronomically much better in America than I did in the Dominican Republic. And that has to do with the assistance that I received, the tutoring, the access to resources, the access to other adults who were invested in my education. Back home, we have very limited resources.
And here, when I think about the work that I do, I think about the younger back home, or the younger here in Bushwick, my neighborhood, or Brownsville, or East New York, or Harlem, who might not have the resources at home, but what can we provide as a city to make their life better?
And that’s what I think about every morning when I wake up and I put my heels on and come to the office, is that this city, my story, can only be written in New York City. Nowhere else on the planet can a younger of 18 land in a country, not speak the language, go to a school, be able to access so many opportunities that by the grace of God, I have been given.
So whenever I think about my work, I think about that, that I was given so much that I can only dream that the work that I do allows for other young people to access the same opportunities that I had. I’ve been extremely blessed, I should say.
Mayor Adams: And then, you know, to elevate, to become the first Dominican deputy mayor in the largest and most important city in America. And that’s why when we did our budget, the Best Budget Ever, we did it from Bayside High School, my old school, where I struggled with dyslexia.
And now you see, because of those opportunities, you know, that undiagnosed dyslexia made me believe I couldn’t excel. But once I got the help that I needed to elevate, to be the mayor of this city. And I look at our team and it says a lot, and your work lives that out. You know, we wanna thank you. So we’re gonna take a break.
But remember, Mother’s Day, and on the other side of this break, we will answer calls to Deputy Mayor Almanzar or to the mayor. Look forward to you tuning in after the break. Please, if you’re near your phone, call in to 212-545-1075. See you after the break.
[Commercial Break.]
Byrd: The program is Hear from the Mayor. And the mayor wants to hear from you. We’re taking your calls right now at 212-545-1075. And now back to the mayor of New York City, our brother, Mayor Eric Adams.
Mayor Adams: Thanks so much, Gary. And we want to go to the phones. Callers, please. We want to get in as many calls as possible. So please give us, you know, a direct question. Caller, you’re in the air.
Question: Yes, good afternoon. This is [inaudible]. Now, on federal funding, because we’re a sanctuary city, can we guarantee that, you know, we won’t lose it because it’ll affect our schools and other things? Because he’s threatening federal funding could be taken on sanctuary cities. And the second one is, will Trump allow the gay pride parade to go as he is changing on DEI on these parades?
Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you for both those questions. And what is so important to the city, and I was just talking to my Mayor Office of Immigrant Affairs yesterday. We must stay focused on the services we’re doing in the city and don’t allow terminologies to get in the way of doing that and not live in fear.
You know, there’s a lot of talk out there of what we’re not going to have, what we’re going to have. But in fact, the city’s still moving forward. No one is going to stop the gay pride parade from taking place. When you talk about our funding, we’re going to continue to invest in our children and families.
And when we have these challenges, we have shown how we can budget during crises. Remember, we lost $7.5 billion under the previous administration. And in spite of that, we were able to maintain our fiscal cliffs, continue these programs that goes after children and families and low-income New Yorkers. And we’re going to do that.
We’re going to fight for whatever we must get from our federal and state agencies. But at the same time, we’re not going to take away these programs that impact us. So when it comes down to the lawsuit for sanctuary cities, that lawsuit is in place by Corp Counsel.
But in the meantime, my job is to make sure we provide for working class New Yorkers. And we’ve done that no matter what happens in Washington and in Albany, mind you. And so I’ll see you at the gay pride parade. We’re going to have a great march.
Byrd: You’re in the air on WBLS, go right ahead.
Question: Yes, good morning. My name is Laura from Mount Vernon.
Mayor Adams: Thank you, Laura. You’re in the air.
Question: Yes. And I wanted to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers. I have a pet peeve. I travel in Manhattan and the Bronx often to visit family and friends. And there are park spots on 147th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and further up and further down where I’m getting $116 tickets. And I don’t understand what the ticket is for because it says a safety zone. These spots are a whole block from corner to corner. They have sections. Why? What is that?
Mayor Adams: That’s a great question. On your ticket, it tells you what the ticket is for. Okay, if you ever parked anywhere, there is a sign that tells you where you can park and where you can’t park in New York City.
Question: There’s no sign to identify what this spot is for. There’s nothing. From block to block to block, always on the left side of the street on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard from 135th Street to 145th Street and maybe further down. There’s several spots that are a block long and I’m getting $116 [ticket]. For what?
Mayor Adams: Let me take a look at it because that sounds like a lot. Let me take a look at it. And safety zones for pedestrians [are] protected by signs. But let me take a look at it. This is the first time I heard about that. I’ll drive by there and see exactly what it is. And I’ll speak with our commissioner to find out. We don’t want you to get a summons for some unnecessary reason, but I’ll look into it.
Caller, you’re in the air.
Question: Hi, afternoon. I used to work for school safety and there seems to be a lot of problems with management in school safety. So it seems like people are exiting, like there’s no tomorrow and no one looks into why people are exiting. They just say goodbye and later and that’s that.
Is there any way you could have somebody look into why people are exiting and instead of just saying, lose the problem, looking to having someone maybe fix the problems?
Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. And I’m a strong believer in school safety officers. Not only do they do a good job of taking care of the day-to-day, but they also are almost aunties and uncles to these young people. What I watch them do is just amazing. So let me look into that.
We know we are recruiting. We want more school safety officers. And when others were talking about getting rid of them, I said, no way under this administration. But I’ll take a look and see, we’re losing them in a large population. Listen, again, Happy Mother’s Day. That music is an indicator that we’re moving on. As you move through your day, don’t forget to sing that song, “I’ll Always Love My Mama.” She’s my favorite girl. Thank you.
Byrd: Thank you. He’s Mayor Eric Adams. The program is Hear from the Mayor. Heard each and every second Sunday, but also throughout other Sundays as well. As we move across the next several weeks, keep listening for details on the upcoming schedules.
New York City Hall May 11, 2025
Sources: NYC.gov , TV503.com
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