Mayor Adams talks 3-K expansion and city safety ahead of new school year

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- As kids get ready to head back to school, Mayor Eric Adams discussed plans for expanding early childcare and making the city safer for commuting families. 

The mayor and Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar sat down for an interview with PIX11 Morning News on Friday, ahead of back-to-school week. 

Adams and Almanzar boasted their recent feat of expanding 3-K so that every family that applied on time got a seat for the upcoming school year. It comes after the mayor allocated $100 million to early childhood education. 

In continuing to expand 3-K opportunities for all families, Adams and Almanzar discussed investing $42 million in adding more seats for special needs students as well as $25 million for childcare for undocumented families. 

“We know that if we don't go out and let everyday New Yorkers know how-- what this program is and how available it is, we're not going to get the numbers that we deserve,” the mayor said, as he discussed his plan to recruit more early education applicants from inner cities. 

When it comes to helping families feel safe as they take mass transit to school, Adams called on the city’s criminal justice systems to do more about keeping repeat offenders off the streets. He also doubled down on his plan for involuntarily removing people with mental health issues from the subways.

Before signing off, Adams briefly discussed Randy Mastro and the corporation counsel confirmation hearing. Despite his pick for corporation counsel being grilled by City Council members, the mayor called it “the beauty of democracy” and said he would respect the process.