Asked About Street Safety After Child’s Death, Mayor Says, ‘I Love New York!’

Maybe he has a new logo, too?

One day after cops say an NYPD tow-truck driver struck and killed 7-year-old Kamari Hughes on a dangerous Brooklyn street — and hours after he promised to do “whatever it takes to keep our streets safe” — Mayor Adams told a Streetsblog reporter, “I love New York” when asked why residents should trust that he will keep his promise.

Here’s the exchange:

Streetsblog: “Mr. Mayor, after a child was hit by a car [driver] yesterday, you said you would make the streets safe. Why should New Yorkers trust you when you have interrupted several safe street treatments? Mr. Mayor, why should New Yorkers trust you to make the city’s streets safer?”

Adams: “I love New York, I love New York.” 

Streetsblog then sought more information from the mayor about why New Yorkers should listen to his commitment to safe streets, when his administration has undermined projects on Ashland Place, McGuinness Boulevard, and Underhill Avenue.

Streetsblog: “Mr. Mayor, your administration has stopped several street safety projects, why should they trust you to make New York City’s Streets safer?”

With that, the mayor then left the event (one of his regular flag-raising ceremonies in Bowling Green) by hopping into his SUV (which had been illegally parked in the bus lane) for the loooong drive back to City Hall, which is just a 15-minute walk away.

The response-free exchange with Streetsblog follows increasing anger over the death of Kamari Hughes on his way to school on Thursday in Fort Greene — less than a mile from the spot where 3-month-old Apolline Mong-Guillemin had was killed in 2021 by a reckless driver with a long record of road violence who was not removed from the streets by state or local officials.

After that death, then-candidate Eric Adams appeared at a press conference and said, “I am tired of the endless stream of vigils. … I am tired of seeing families torn apart by the epidemic of traffic violence. We need a holistic re-thinking of our streetscape to stop this carnage, and deter the kind of reckless action we saw on this street the other night.”

And after Kamari’s death on Thursday, the mayor tweeted, that he would “do whatever it takes to keep our streets safe.”

In the meantime, both local officials, Council Member Crystal Hudson and Borough President Antonio Reynoso called for safety improvements. And a letter being circulated by a Brooklyn parent quickly generated 1,800 signatures despite little public outreach.

“These needless deaths are preventable, and they must stop,” the letter stated.

— with Gersh Kuntzman