Eric Adams remembers the time when at 15 he was arrested and sent to the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx. 

"Yes, right here, overnight, they brought us here before they took us to family court."

For decades, spending time at the center was a rite of passage for many Black and Latino teenagers.

Now, in front of the old site, the mayoral candidate says he wants his life story to be inspiration for young New Yorkers.

"Eric Adams went from being an inmate at Spofford to becoming the mayor that would be in charge of closing the Spoffords," Adams said, promising to offer more opportunities to young men of color. 

He would also close the Vernon C. Bain Center, a floating jail across Rikers Island that was supposed to be temporary but has been operating for almost three decades. The pledge that got him the endorsement of another Bronx elected official, City Councilman Rafael Salamanca. 

Adams has made public safety the core of his campaign at a time of rising crime in the city. He's offering a mix of police and social services formula to lower crime rates.

For example, asked about the squeegee men in some intersections of the city, Adams said he would help them get off the streets. 

He said he was one of them at age 17.

"I couldn't afford a squeegee," he said. "I had a dirty rag with some Windex that I watered down, and I used to stand on the corner of Jamaica Avenue washing windows so I could save up enough money to give my mother the money, so we could have a meal to eat."

A day before the second and final televised debate between the eight Democrats running for mayor, Adams also took swipes at another leading contender, Andrew Yang, saying of his rival's campaign:"It's a joke and it's not funny anymore."

"This is not a game," he added. "New York doesn't need a cheerleader. They need a leader."