 Good evening. My name is Fabian Levy and I'm deputy mayor for communications for the city of New York This has been a difficult week for all of us for our city for our state and for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East But while the attacks we witnessed in Israel last weekend have shaken our conscience. They have not shaken our resolve We will not be intimidated And here in New York neither our city nor our state will tolerate any form of bigotry Whether it be anti-semitism Islamophobia or any other kind of hate or discrimination We are working closely with law enforcement officers our state partners and other cities across the country to monitor for potential threats and keep people safe in Anticipation of tomorrow's day of resistance that has been widely promoted in social media The city has already had multiple meetings and calls with different Jewish and Muslim groups across the five boroughs throughout the day But we wanted to speak to all New Yorkers tonight About the actions the city and the state are taking to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers To keep you informed about these efforts We are joined today by New York City Mayor Eric Adams New York Governor Kathy Huckle NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban New York State New York State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Emergency Services Jackie Bray Multiple additional members of the NYPD and schools Chancellor David Banks first we will hear from Mayor Eric Adams Thank you, and I want I want to thank the governor for really a leadership and partnership as we Ensure that all New York's state residents are safe, and we're going to continue to coordinate together We know the entire world is horrified by the attacks the terrorist organization Hamas has made on our brothers and sisters in Israel, and we are deeply disturbed by the message Hate urgent violence in other communities in this region and around the world. It is not acceptable I want every New Yorker, especially Jewish New Yorkers and other groups to know they are currently no credible or specific threats against our city But with large-scale protests planned for tomorrow. We must remain vigilant New York City is the most diverse city in the world and protecting our residents is the most sacred Responsibility that we have we have directed the NYPD to surge additional Resources to schools houses of worship to ensure that they are safe and there and that our city remains a place of peace We're also stepping up NYPD patrols in other key neighborhoods to help protect all of our city Residents, New York City will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe And if New Yorkers see something we're saying to you Do something by reaching out to your local authorities New York City rejects terrorism We reject hate we stand united and we mourn the innocent lives taken in these attacks Let us pray for the safe return of those Captured and for all those on both sides suffering the horrors of wars We will be united together and again I want to thank this team and I want to thank the governor of the state of New York For her leadership at this moment. Thank you. Thank you mayor next. We'll hear from governor Kathy Huckle governor Thank you mayor Adams and once again the two of us have been strong partners as we work to protect the public safety of all New Yorkers and This past week has been one of unimaginable heartbreak. These attacks on innocent civilians Babies children grandmothers that have now unleashed a spiral of violence We've all watched in horror and anguish as we saw so many of our own residents affected deeply some who are over there still in harm's way and It's a fear even within our city limits in our state that people never experienced Expected to feel again so soon And I agree with the mayor Reports that Hamas is called for a day of action tomorrow Calls for us together to address the concerns of New Yorkers as you receive this information And I'm proud to work with you mayor and our commissioner come on as we update New Yorkers What we first want to emphasize something that is simple. It's non-negotiable That the safety of New York's Jewish communities Is not up for debate We will stand in solidarity with our Jewish friends and neighbors today tomorrow and every day There is no call to violence that will shake that conviction and there's no evil. We are unwilling to confront Before I discuss the security measures we're adopting in the state of New York tomorrow Let me tell you what we've done briefly already to protect the citizens of our state Immediately following the attacks on Israel Saturday morning We directed the state police to work with local law enforcement Especially here with the NYPD to up our local patrols and outreach Is she visit synagogues the museum's cultural institutions places that were deemed vulnerable In the city and throughout the state Constant communication with our federal partners state intelligence experts as we monitor any potential security threats I physically visited our New York State Intelligence Center in Albany to get an in-person briefing Speaking regularly with the White House. In fact, I have a call momentarily with the White House and Department of Homeland Security Department of State for the latest updates and as the mayor has been doing I'll reach to our community groups religious organizations The Muslim community the Jewish community and also responding to any credible threats, but we all have to be clear There is currently no intelligence showing any active threats in New York. That is the entire state of New York But in a moment fraught like this we will continue to exercise Elevated vigilance and impose measures to deter any potential violence Let's talk about what we're planning to do in response to tomorrow's elevated threat We fully activated our division of Homeland Security and emergency services office of counter-terrorism State police have been fully activated. We have a strong presence throughout the state as well as here in the city We're prepared to support NYPD at our joint operation center And if we need them we have the resources of the New York National Guard and our joint task force Empire Shield ready to be activated The National Guard is already directed to patrol key Transportation hubs we've been in contact with the MTA the Port Authority to ensure that they also have heightened their security measures Our hate crime task force is on high alert and will help investigate disturbing incidents as necessary We want to reiterate to New Yorkers. There's no reason to feel afraid No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives or their routines And indeed when we change our behavior without a serious credible threat Then we're letting the terrorists win. I want all New Yorkers feel confident going to a synagogue Going to school walking to the streets of New York and throughout our state over the next few days And those who seek to use Hamas's just violence as justification for violence of their own We have no tolerance for your hate. I condemn violence of every kind in New York And I want to be clear When I say every kind that's exactly what I mean I am outraged to reports of violence or threats against Jewish New Yorkers Including reported incident where an Israeli student was assaulted on their very own college campus And I have zero tolerance for hate directed towards Palestinian Yorkers a community that is also cherished and respected in our state Last night's reported attack in Brooklyn of a Palestinian Yorker is also completely unacceptable and reprehensible Public safety will always be my top priority My commitment is to keep in New Yorkers safe that is unwavering and Again mayor so proud to team up with you once again. We have the finest working with us. I thank your team I thank my state team and now I want to introduce New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban Commissioner Caban you can unmute your line Commissioner you can go ahead and unmute your line Okay, well we can come back to Commissioner if he we get him on other otherwise we can take some questions from the press at this point Great. We'll now take some on-topic questions as a reminder. Please use the raise hand function Our first question goes to Anthony de Lorenzo Anthony. You can go ahead and unmute your line Go to the next one Anthony Go ahead that we have is there a rabbi on the dais that we can speak with There's not a rabbi on the dais we have members of our Jewish leadership here at City Hall, but not a rabbi And just okay, maybe and just for note Anthony. We had a Meeting two meetings today one without your sheaves the second without Jewish leadership And we just completed one with the Muslim leadership as well in the city Okay, my question then would be to any faith leaders if there's any concerns specifically And how this call to action is being interpreted by members of the community or possible lone wolves If there's been any concern from local congregants or people from the community expressing Some safety concerns that they have going forward and possibly not wanting to attend Sabbath services tomorrow So I would point you Anthony We had a meeting this morning with leaders from the yeshiva community We also had a call this afternoon with leaders of white a wider group of the Jewish community We were very clear to them that folks should continue to get their kids to school that they should go to yeshiva That folks should feel comfortable going to their congregations and praying the safest place for them are in school for our kids Especially are the schools we have a deputy commissioner for intelligence whiner here might want to talk a little bit more about that Absolutely, that's an important point You know, I think what we are seeing in the digital universe Which we do see is a lot of spin-up and a lot of fear and our message is very clear New Yorkers and everybody visiting our city should certainly stay vigilant and stay aware and we always urge that But really should also stay calm and not alter your daily routines out of an abundance of caution We've surged resources around the city and people will see that tomorrow That's important. It's important for deterrence It's really important to reassure folks that we have this situation under control and the point of these kinds of messages online It's very easy From far away to instill fear and we're not going to fall for that as a city We're not falling for it as a department and we are collectively going to work through this Commissioner whiner and commissioner can sell one thing I think that was important that both of you said this morning is you're both mothers and you're both going to be sending your kids to school tomorrow Absolutely, and my mother with two children and I attend I plan on it sending my kids taking my kids to school Like I would do any normal Friday to school and dropping them off and I urge New Yorkers To please feel safe in dropping your kids to school because we're not going to let anyone Fear us into not feeling safe in our own city Thank You commissioners Thank you. Our next question will go to Chris Sommerfeld Chris, please unmute your line Better now near me. Yes, we can Okay, thank you for holding the briefing. Mr. Mayor. You mentioned that you'll be surging law enforcement Resources to certain neighborhoods tomorrow Just wondering if we can list off which neighborhoods that is in particular and what residents, you know Should expect to see on the streets tomorrow as a result of that In addition and maybe one of the law enforcement officials on the briefing can address this There's a large-scale protest plan in Times Square again tomorrow If we if you can go into a little bit what security precautions for that area in particular looks like tomorrow I'd be appreciated. Thank you. Yeah, a chief shell will go into the large-scale protests But these specific deployment that we're doing we're not going to release that information We want to make sure that people are not planning around our deployment But we will have deployment that's visible and that is not visible as our intelligent commissioner commissioner Wynor clearly states all the time It's about making sure that our eyes and our ears are not always predicted And so we're not going to release specific neighborhoods, but clearly we know where we have large Jewish populations in the city But our deployment is also not only to our synagogues that are of high profile But also many of the mosque that are high profile because we do not want Anyone that comes with an extremist mindset to attack any religious institution of house worship as well as our Christian Locations as well and others Chief so so for tomorrow we have our all out for the police department every member of the New York City police department Will be ready and in uniform tomorrow in addition to what the mayor just spoke about we are aware of the protests tomorrow in Times Square We are currently getting our resources together and we will be there just like we've been there all week to keep the peace It will not tolerate any hate any acts of disorder It'll be quelled quickly and we will be ready Thank you chief Our next question will go to Craig McCarthy Craig. You can unmute your line Did any of them speak to you about? Closing their schools tomorrow, and I know you said that that is the safest place for them But I just wanted to see if they have reached that concern level. I Have not received any communication from the heads of your sheevis or any of our Private schools or any other schools the DOE will be open as well As you know, we have a cross-section of different groups Chancellor banks Has made it clear of that we're going to provide the necessary safety with coordination of school safety Agents and NYPD, but in our meeting today No one indicated of with the meeting with the sheevis that they will be closing their schools Our final question will go to Katie honan Katie. You can unmute your line Can you hear me? We can oh Okay, that's why I was was asking I'm I wanted to ask you the two-fold question the first is is there any idea of how long the sort of elevated threat will go into? I know tomorrow is a specific day, but if it will last through the weekend or even further Not that New Yorkers should I mean they should always be vigilant and secondly if it goes into the weekend Are there any specifications or special details about how to communicate with communities that? So, you know part kick part in the Sabbath and are not obviously on their phones or anything I don't know what the plan is for that So, you know in terms of this elevated posture We are very responsive to events overseas We're very responsive to what we're seeing in the online universe and we're responsive to what our partners are sharing with us And you as the public so we will maintain the posture that we need to preserve the safety and security of this city This is a dynamic situation But I also think it's really important to point out that these resources are operating not just today and tomorrow But every day of the week and of the year. This is a program and a Priority for our public safety as a city so we will continue to monitor for other threats that may emerge Just as we always have done again responsive to situation and environment as it changes Thank you commissioner. I would also point out last weekend after the attacks on Saturday We were able to get on the phone on a zoom call with all members of the religious Jewish community To make sure they're aware of everything that was going on Jewish law allows Those who practice that are so much about to break the Sabbath if it is a life or death scenario And so if god forbid there is any kind of while we see no Threats at this time if there is anything, you know New Yorkers Jewish New Yorkers are permitted Breaking the Sabbath the rabbi would I'm sure would approve of that We are hopeful that doesn't become become the case But we have 8.3 million New Yorkers and if you see something, please say something We need the force multiplier of New Yorkers to help us out So thank you very much for joining us today. We hope we've answered all your questions and um, thank you