Eric Adams on Dyslexia, Trauma, and Fixing What's Broken in Politics

Can I be a little bit bold? >> Yes, you can. >> Is career politician a dirty word? You're an elected official. You're part of the government. >> Yes. >> And yet it sounds like you're a little bit critical of government. >> Poverty is profitable. We should always remember that. >> When he's incarcerated and that they're going to make a lot more money off of him than hiring a tutor in the public school to help him with his learning disability. >> The foundation of our success, I believe, lies in education. >> Ask you a personal question with handling stress. How do you deal with all of the negative energy? >> People who are saying those things, they're hurting. All I could say is God forgive them. They know not what they do. >> We have been taught as children that we have five senses. That's just not true. >> Could public policy play a role in that? >> We're not appreciating how much our mind and our attitudes and our thoughts create our reality. You are what you think. Those who don't believe won't achieve. We have never been taught how to breathe. Breathing is an important function and if you don't learn how to do it correctly, you're >> reminding me right now to breathe. By the way, >> by the way, I don't hear politicians speak this way. >> We are energy. >> Let me ask you a off-the-wall question. >> Welcome. This is a very special occasion, a very happy occasion at Soul Words. We are in our brand new studio, the Soul Word Studios in Queens. our first inaugural podcast interview. We were looking around who could we get somebody interesting, somebody well-known, a real A-listister, and then you know, everything is divine providence. Hashem runs the world. This opportunity presented itself to us and we grabbed it. So, we sat down with Eric Adams, New York City mayor, the 110th mayor of New York City, and uh had a really interesting conversation. We didn't speak about like the typical things I think people are used to hearing from him. We spoke about deep stuff, stuff that I want to talk about. Meditation and neurode divergent thinking and learning disabilities and remote viewing. Yeah, some paranormal stuff, some conspiracy theories, deep stuff, cool stuff, not not your typical stuff, you know, soul words. At any rate, we hope you enjoy this episode and we want to thank our sponsors of Romy and Malkey Goldfeder and Mel Brandle over at Electric and Beyond. They helped us out here with our facility here with all the wiring from the small stuff to the big stuff and everything in between electric and beyond. You can reach them at 7184 beyond. 7184239663. Also, we want to thank Yity and Susie Novak over at Integration HD. If you want to have like the smart system where you can do your HVAC and your security system and your audio and v video and everything remotely on your phone, uh they did it here over at the Soulward Studios. You can get it at your house. Integration HD, that's 516-6120677. 516-6120677. We're going to have both those numbers down below in the uh description. Thank you to our sponsors and please enjoy this conversation with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Pleasure to welcome you here. >> Thank you. Thank you for having me. >> It's it's our pleasure and honor and I want to inform you that you're our first guest in the new studio. >> So >> I I feel blessed. >> We feel blessed to have you here. Um we're in Cambria Heights, not that far from where you spent some of your formative years, right? >> Yes. >> Queens. Here's a question I have for you. So, you've spoken about as a youth, you had a a rough childhood involved in, you know, not the the most wholesome things, not the best things. Um, and like turned your life around and became a public servant and uh, you know, it's a it's an amazing story here. But here's my question. Here's my question. On the streets involved in the things that we wouldn't want youth to be involved in, like the negativity, >> right? But I believe that everything we experience has a message. Even the the the negative things, God has a plan. So here's my question to you. What did you gain that you used for good that you would not have gained had you not been exposed to the difficulties and the the negativity in your earlier life? Well, I think first what I try to do as mayor is to look at why was I going through some of the negative things in my life. And it came down to what I didn't realize I had undiagnosed learning disability dyslexia specifically. Mhm. >> And being bullied and teased and laughed at in school, >> I didn't feel like I I had a safe environment. >> And because of that, >> I did not want to go to school and I spent days being on the streets. >> So when you go to the origin of what caused our behavior, >> you have a better understanding. If the opportunities were there and I had a safe environment, I would have never had to find an alternative of some of the troubling things I did as a little boy. And young people are impressionable and they go through emotional trauma. A story I always tell about 11 year old child who was when I was a police lieutenant. The young man was arrested several times for robbery, gunpoint robbery. And as I dug into his story more, all of that anger he had is because his dad was in jail for homicide. His mother was on crack cocaine and selling herself on the streets and he was out of school for months and no one found him, >> right? And so if you would have just looked at the robbery he committed and not what caused it, this young man was raising himself at 11 years old. And I didn't look down on him because of the circumstances that created it. >> Before we sat down, we visited the grave of the labavbe who was uh the anniversary of his passing is coming up >> in a few days and there will be a lot of activity here. for many people from all over the world. We visiting the grave site and one of the things that Ebis spoke about very often was that if we could allocate more resources to education, we would in the long run save money that we would otherwise have to spend on the criminal justice system, which sounds like what you're what you're saying. >> Yeah. Um, one of my heroes is Desmond Tutu. Yeah. He was in South Africa during the apathy. He had a quote that I live by. We spend a lifetime pulling people out of the river. No one goes upstream and prevent them from falling in in the first place. And we have a downstream mindset in government. >> We allocate billions of dollars on actions that we would have had pennies on the dollar if we would have only gone upstream. And so our administration is an upstream administration. We're doing dyslexia screening. We're investing in foster care children. We do preventive lifestyle medicine in our hospital so we don't feed chronic diseases. So we believe that we should focus on upstream solutions while we address those who are already in the river >> because we have to deal with it once we're there. >> So that dual approach allows us to make some of the successes that we have witnessed. >> You know there's a an old story. It's like there's a there's a town called Helm, which it's a like a a place that's known for foolish people. So, there's a there's it's a whole genre of stories that people from Helm are very foolish. So, the the story is like this. There was a bridge in town and it was a rickety bridge and people were falling off, falling through into the valley and like every day there'd be someone lying at the bottom of the bridge, you know, lying in the valley with broken bones and they convened a meeting, the people of K and they said, "This is terrible this bridge. Everyone's falling off the bridge, falling through the bridge. What should we do?" So they came up with a solution. They allocated funding to build a hospital under the bridge right where the people needed it. They didn't fix the bridge. They put a hospital at the bottom of the valley for all the people falling off the bridge. >> And that's that's government. >> Can I can I be a little bit bold? >> Yes, you can. >> Okay. You're an elected official. You're part of the government. >> Yes. >> And yet it sounds like you're a little bit critical of government like from as an insider. I mean, you're an insider. You're you're is career politician a dirty word? >> Yes. It is cuz I won't call you unavailable. >> I I I my career is public safety. >> Public safety and part of it expresses itself >> as elected office. Okay. Very good. >> But you're an insider. You see how things work. >> It sounds like you're critical of like you're saying that in >> politics a lot of the way that people are looking at things is reactive, >> right? >> Do you think there's a reason for that? Is like is that the culture? Is that like how did it get that way? Is there a way to fix that? >> Yes, I do. I believe there is a reason. And when you're inside and you do a proper analysis of it upstream, remember I said you fix the problem pennies on the dollar, >> right? >> Downstreams is billions of dollars, >> right? >> There are too many people that are making money downstream. And when you start trying to correct those downstream problems, you're pushing up against >> putting them out of a job. >> Poverty is profitable. We should always remember that. Poverty is profitable. That one child that has a learning disability that we didn't diagnose, he goes out and pick out a gun, picks up a gun. Someone made profit off that gun, >> right? when he's incarcerated and that they're going to make a lot more money off of him than hiring a a tutor in the public school to help him with his learning disability. >> Exactly. You know, so wow. So when you and I don't I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist but the reality basically >> by it's a podcast so it's good for engagement little little conspiracy theory is always good for >> and I think we have to be honest about that cuz when we try to change laws the push back we get for the most part >> push back from whom the system >> those who those who profit from these systems what we've done what we're trying to do even around homelessness we're trying to do involuntary removal we're trying to transition people out of temporary housing into permanent housing. >> There's a great deal of money that's made in homeless shelters. >> So, we are going after how people make money. Now, they I'm not saying they're doing it intentionally, >> right? >> Of self-interest is a driving force for many people. Our interests always be the interest of the people of this city. >> How do we turn it around? Is it a cultural shift? Is it? Let me >> I think I think it's going to involve real honest frank conversations and we can't be afraid to to see uh what is taking place. Uh people often ask me just pick three things as the mayor and just focus on those things. >> And I just don't believe that. And I I received a lot of criticism because >> so what if I fix three things when I have 99 things that need to be fixed? If we tried a holistic approach and going back to what you stated, the foundation of our success I believe lies in education. >> Mhm. >> If we educate and I'm not talking about just academically, just educate. >> That's exactly what I was going to chime in. I'm sure you know >> as someone who spent many years in Crown Heights that Labava has said that education is primarily moral and ethical education. >> Exactly. Exactly. the our education system. What we are attempting to do is we're trying to develop the full personhood of our children, right? >> Uh education means that I'm going to understand your history. You're going to understand my history and we're going to understand the commonality that we have. Education is like we rolled out this week, financial literacy. Uh teaching our young people how to control their finance. No one is teaching these unbanked communities and then placing them in perpetual debt and poverty. Education is on how to eat the right food. We changed the food in our school system uh to start to stop feeding the healthc care crisis. And education is about not only your physical u body but the anatomy of your spirit. We're teaching young people meditation, mindfulness, um breathing exercises. We want to develop the full child and not just have them graduate because they can do a ge ge geometry of mathematical problem >> writing arithmetic. That is not how you survive. You and I both know that it takes a >> I got to tell you I never used the Pythagorean theorem in real life. >> Right. Right. But you will but you will use the skills of managing stress. You will use the skill of being socially emotionally intelligent. You will use the skill of being a deep listener so you can be a deep understander and you can be communicating. Those skills we were not teaching but we're trying to teach those skills now. >> Okay. There's so much stuff my brain's like popping. So many different connections here. Okay. First of all, I want to talk about handling stress in a second. I'm gonna come back to that >> because I want to ask you a personal question with handling stress. But you mentioned meditation. I'm sure you're aware um the labava was very in favor of a moment of silence. >> Yes. >> Not to lead a prayer because we're talking about public schools where there shouldn't be any um specific religion being promoted, but a moment of silence and that the children should be able to think about whatever they want the beginning of the day just to focus their minds and and the way that described it is let the children go home and ask their parents what the parents want them to think about. not the schools, not government, but the parents. Um, and the said that that moment of silence could be transformative. So um yeah I mean >> yes that you know wisdom has been around a long time and there have been men and women like the grand rebby for many years and how they are able to really heighten the awareness that all of us have cuz we all have that awareness >> of some are able to heighten it even more like we could all pull a book we could all put a ball in the hoop >> for Michael Jordan was able to do it at a heightened level >> at his level, >> but it doesn't mean we can't do it also. >> And you're saying there's certain like spiritual giants who are on another level >> like the Grand Reb. And I could I could go through so many of people who have walked among us and who have possessed a level of spirituality. They've exercised their spiritual muscle. And often times that exercise of the spiritual muscle comes from those reflection moment, the meditation, the breathing, the reconnection. Because we we have so much noise going on that Grand Rebby was right. Having that child sit down for a moment and having that child reconnect. >> Yeah. >> Because by the time these children get into school, the trauma they experience in the household and in route to school is unbelievable. Yeah. >> And so we want them to add and subtract, but who's going to put them back together first? And that's why we said we wanted to introduce meditation and breathing exercises. This is not a form of religion, right? >> It's a form of reconnecting oneself, quieting the noise and getting prep prepared to absorb the lesson of the day. >> Okay. Now, let me ask you, I said I want to ask about stress. >> Yes. >> You're a public figure. >> A lot of people have opinions about you who never met you, right? A lot of them are not very polite about how they, you know, speak about you. I've heard you speak about this, you know, like, you know, people posting stuff or, you know, Twitter or whatever. >> I'm asking you a personal question. How do you deal with all of the just the negative energy and like stay focused on what you got to do? I remember going into um one of the tombs in Egypt and on the wall itself says to thyself be true. And I'm able to deal with all of the incoming of criticism and stress because I'm true to myself. I know the my heart and I know the work that I'm doing. And oftent times, think about it for a for a moment. How many times have you uh text tweeted something negative about someone? People who have healthy hearts don't have healthy unhealthy communication. >> People who are saying those things, they're hurting. >> And hurt people hurt themselves and they hurt others. They don't only do it physically. They use any object or method that they can to hurt. So all I can say is God forgive them. They know not what they do. >> No. >> Um I want to get back to what you're saying about your undiagnosed learning disability. >> Yes. >> And and specifically dyslexia. >> Yes. >> I have a friend uh Tamir Goodman. Sports Illustrated called him the Jewish Jordan. >> Uh a very talented basketball player. Actually, he was given a scholarship to Maryland when they had a very strong basketball program and he couldn't play for them because he was keeping Shabas. So he's a friend of mine. He told me that he had dyslexia. He still has. He has dyslexia. >> He said that in school he was miserable >> because he would look at the blackboard >> and the letters and the numbers would just swim around. He couldn't >> make heads or tails of it, >> right? >> But that same brain, same exact brain, when he would stand on a basketball court and he would play point guard, he would see what no one else could see two, three plays ahead, >> right? So he said he had to realize that he wasn't dumb. His brain was he had a superpower that was a liability in one context, but it was an asset in another context. So here's my question for you. >> Your brain that suffered so much in school, particularly undiagnosed and and unsupported. >> I have a lot of people who connect to my content who are who identify as neurode divergent or differently wired. So, as someone whose brain is differently wired, what's something that you pick up on or you see that you don't think neurotypical or the the average person sees? >> That's a that's a great question because I think that uh the creator does not take something away without giving you something extra. And I have I have had the ability throughout my career which has been a blessing in my career to be able to feel the emotions of people >> like a sixth sense. >> Yes. I could walk in people. >> Yes. Yes. I could walk in the room and address a crowd. Uh my staff knows often times they would give me something to read and I get there and I'll look in the crowd and I can feel that's not what they need right here. >> Right. And I think it has >> reading the room they call it. >> Right. Right. Right. >> So you have a speech prepared. >> Right. >> And it's prepared but you don't use it. >> Right. >> Because you realize >> I'm I'm I am feeling something else. And I've always had that feeling. And I'm I'm sure that many people who are dyslexic would tell you they too have that feeling cuz it's not that we're we are dumb. We learn differently and we have to use more senses. You know, we have been taught as children that we have five senses. And that's just not true. We have so so many more senses, but our senses are like muscles. Our sense of taste, smell, hear, and touch. We had to learn about those. We never exercised the muscle of our other senses. No one sat you down and taught you how to develop that sixth sense. You probably developed it as a compensation for the struggles you were having. Right. My question to you is, is it transmittable? Could you sit someone down and teach this to them? >> I I I I'm I'm not sure. I don't know if it's teachable. I saw someone documentary I saw the other day about a person who was blind. >> Mhm. >> And he used the same uh clicking sounds as sonar. Exactly. Similar to what bats use. and he was able to walk and be able to tell if an object is in front of him. >> Uh could that be taught? Possibly, right? >> But being blind u did not have the distractions of what our visual interactions may be. >> And so when I read I I love reading about unusual people and the and the what we would call superhuman skills they may have. In fact, it's not super huge human. It's just exercising those muscles. If you exercise those muscles of all of the talents and senses we have, many of us can do far more than what we're doing. Do you think that there's a way to develop more of these or maybe even just recognize more of these unc unconventional Yes. >> talents? Yes. And and and here here's my real question. Like could public policy play a role in that or is that something that just has to come from the home or from >> No, I think I think public policy uh can we have to first remove the fear we have cuz we've been we have been >> the fear >> we the fear to be different because remember we as human beings we are communal human beings. We want to be part of the group, >> right? >> And if you all of a sudden start to talk about the ability to do remote viewing, you know, the >> Oh, now you're getting conspiracy theory. These are good for the clicks. Yeah. You believe in that? >> Yeah. Oh, without a doubt. And our government is aware of that. It's not >> It's a known thing the CIA did. >> We do use remote viewing, >> but all of our children can be capable of doing that, but you have to exercise the muscle, you know. So if your if if your son or daughter comes to you and said, "Mom, dad, you know, I saw something >> right." >> Instead of us embracing that and teaching them how to continue exercise that muscles, we look down on them, dismiss it, right? Exactly. We laugh at it. >> That's where we've gone wrong. And we're learning now when I go to the Sloan uh Sloan Katarin uh cancer treatment center, they're saying patients who heal from their cancer are those who come with a positive attitude, positive energy. They more likely to have a greater success. >> We're not we're not appreciating how much our mind and our attitudes and our thoughts >> create our reality. And just look at just look at quantum physics. You are what you think. And so when I ran for mayor and I was behind in the poll and people told me I couldn't win, I never thought that I I I couldn't win. No, I put out in the universe what I desire and what I needed. Now the un the universe may not give you what you want cuz sometimes your wants are not what you need, >> right? You know, >> you you mentioned is it okay that I mention you you said when you were behind in the polls when >> D'vorah Halbashnam I is it okay that I mentioned Vora? >> Yes. Yeah. She's a good friend. >> Okay. So when we were at the Reb's uh grave site, so after we came out, you visited Arialam's grave and you told me that that's something that you do every time you come here. And then you mentioned to me that when you were behind in the polls, Dvor told you to come here and and pray and that things we she she called me one night >> and she said she she had a dream. Dborah Habistan, who's the founder of the Brooklyn Jewish Children Museum. Her son Ari was killed on the Brooklyn Bridge uh by probably one of the first acts of modern day terrorism in our city. He's buried near the Grand Rebby. He was close to the Grand Reb. He spent a lot of time in his house. and she called me D'vorah called me one night >> in 2021 >> and I was behind in the polls and she said that I had a dream that you know Grand Rebby said go to the grave site and he said write down what you want and write down your concerns I wrote it down to it up yeah >> I put it in front of the the grand reby's grave site >> and you just started to see the changes in the polls you Uh-huh. >> And so those who >> So you're a believer. >> Those who don't believe won't achieve. The lack of belief is probably the biggest impediment that gets in the way of people achieving their great success. You know, we are so much more. >> But getting back to the question of is there anything public policy can do? Like I see you have a great like appreciation for undeveloped potential um unconventional potential um spiritual potential of of of human beings. Where can government if at all do anything to to foster that or at the very least not to hinder it? >> Yes. Right. You said something there. Okay. >> Um foster non-hindering. Don't underestimate the power that we're teaching children how to breathe. >> You know, there's a great book that's called Breathe. >> I encourage everyone to read it. >> It's probably one of the best books I've ever read because we don't realize that we have never been taught how to breathe. >> Okay? >> Breathing is a function. It's not just putting in air into your body. Breathing is an important function. And if you don't learn how to do it correctly, it could have serious health risk and it won't allow you to really manage stress properly. Like I could when I came in here uh today, I was thinking about something that was, you know, problematic that I have to do today. I just took a moment and I just, you know, slowed down my brea breathing. >> So you're you're you're running a city and you're running for re-election. You got stuff going on. You have a personal life, too, I'm sure. So lot lots going on >> and I'm glad you said that because you have the professional, you have the personal and you dealing with all of that. So you have to take a moment of breathing and then you have to take a moment you know when you think about it for a moment like we just saw one about Chris. You're reminding me right now to breathe. By the way, >> that's you're talking. >> And we got to be we do have to be reminded, you know, to breathe. You ever you ever had to do something, you get nervous and all of a sudden you feel your breathing pattern is off or you're hypervent ventilated. It's because you know what it says in in in the book of Exodus when God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel, we're going out from slavery. >> He goes to them says they did not believe him because I'll tell you the Hebrew word, shortness of breath. shortness of breath could not believe that the redemption was at hand because of shortness of breath. >> Right. Right. That's why breath work is important. >> And and then you have to have a full and I hope you I hope your your listeners if they don't take anything away from our conversation, >> okay, >> I'm hoping that they take away that this is not the end of our journey. You know, I say the physical physical embodiment. I and I share this all the time at funerals. >> By the way, this is I don't hear politicians speak this way. >> This is not I mean this is out of the ordinary. Like you're get I love this. This is my speed. >> Right. Right. Right. >> I love this. And you know cuz you know when you think about it is that the as I share often at funerals you know >> energy cannot be destroyed or destroyed or destroyed >> conservation principle >> and we are energy. >> Yeah. >> And so the question becomes when we leave our physical and transition to spiritual we're still here. The grand reb still here. >> We have to learn how to see their existence in their new form. Just as you burn a piece of paper, it turns to smok and heat. It if you still looking for it in the original form of the paper, you're never find the heat, feel the warmth, you know, the smell. And so >> once you understand that, you don't get trapped into everything that's happening into life. It's all It's going to be all right. It all is going to be all right because God is running the show. It's going to be >> And I say this to my team. >> Yeah. >> It's all part of the process. Everything. everything. It's all >> all part of the process, you know. So, being being reelected, not elected, somebody writing a bad auditorial about me or not, you know, it's all part of the process, you know. >> Yeah. Just ride the wave. >> And to thine known self be true. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. So, wisdom has been around a long time. >> Let me ask you a off-the-wall question. >> Yes. >> Tomorrow. >> Yes. Eric Adams is suddenly in an alternate universe where they tell you you have all the same skills, same weaknesses, same strengths, same story, everything. But you cannot be a public person, meaning not a public servant. You have to be anonymous. What would you do? Where would you channel your skills, your wisdom, your experience >> in a way totally like off the grid in an alternate universe? >> Yeah, I I traveled several years ago. I traveled uh to uh Myanmar and um Bhutan, a couple other Sri Lanka uh with a group of monks. And I long to when this is over the public, I I longing to get reconnected to our real purpose. You know, I don't have the the time. >> You would go and meditate all day. I would spend I I would go into a point of meditation. I would go into a point of really looking at some of our ancient societies and I would like to really explore, learn more, go to some of those regions and see um and do some more. >> So you could see yourself >> Yeah. No, I'm go I'm going >> pray, meditate, study ancient texts all day. >> Yes. Yes. I You'd be happy. >> Yeah. This is a wrap. When I finish being mayor, um you know, I've done the best that I can for the people. It's g it's time for me to do the best I can for myself >> like Shaolin monks >> whatever it takes >> really that's that's amazing. >> Yes. Yes. >> It's been a journey. God has blessed me. >> Yeah. >> I'm I'm blessed with good people in my life. >> Uh I'm blessed you know with health. >> Um so you know I don't look back. I how could I complain? There's only there there's only been uh 110 people who have become the mayor of the greatest city. >> I didn't know that by the way if you ask me. >> It's actually less than 110 because each cycle if you to say mayor you hold on. I will always be 110 no matter how many times I'm mayor. >> But how could I complain? You know from where I was to where I am is a true testament that the creator is real. >> Let me ask you this. everything you're talking about this appreciation for the spiritual and for the non-corporeal and developing people's untapped potential. sell me on if if it exists, if you could en envision it, >> New York City, and I'm just asking New York City because because you're the mayor of New York City. >> What could New York City look like >> if we could get people >> thinking that way >> about there's more than just the material? >> What would society on a on a city level, what would that some of that what would that look like if that revolution in consciousness would happen? And we're trying, you know, because it's it's like you said, it's a evolution is a revolution to just change the doggy dog world that we we are in and what we emphasis emphasize on. We're trying by doing our breathing exercises, our meditation, uh doing our breaking bread, building bonds when we have different ethnic groups coming together and sit down. We won't see people attacking each other based on their beliefs because it's all the same vehicle trying to get to the same destination. So, if you're driving a Volkswagen and I'm driving a Cadillac, we're on the same road, >> we just trying to get to the same destination, we would start to appreciate each other. And I just think we'd be more tolerant of each other and not uh just try to hurt each other. >> That's what we're missing. We could be we could change our finance. We could be economically strong. We could be all of those things. We're broken internally. >> Yeah. >> We're never going to get where we ought to get to. >> I I know you have a very full schedule today. I'm grateful for the time you were able to spend. This has been very enlightening. I'm glad that you were open and you just spoke about the real stuff, not just the regular talking points that you know. >> Yeah. And and this is an Arnold Schwarzenegger moment. We'll be back. All right.