Office Of The Mayor Of New York City: Transcript: Mayor De Blasio Appears On Inside City Hall

Press release from Office of the Mayor of New York City:

August 23, 2021

Errol Louis: Welcome back to Inside City Hall. As we were discussing before the break, the City will require proof of vaccination for all Department of Education employees starting on Monday, September 27. That mandate does not include an option to test for COVID-19 instead. Here now to talk about that and much more, we've got Mayor de Blasio joining us now from Staten Island Borough Hall this week, as the borough is a focus of City Hall for the rest of the week. Welcome, very good to see you. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Live from Borough Hall, Staten Island, Errol. How are you doing? 

Louis: Great, just fine. You know, it dawns on me that there are about four months left in the year and in your term, do you plan to get around and I guess as a farewell tour to some of the boroughs? 

Mayor: Well, we're doing City Hall in Your Borough in every borough. We did the Bronx last month, we're doing Staten Island this month, and we'll be going through the next three after that. And I'm really looking forward to it. This is – excuse me – every year something we do that's great because we connect with people at the grassroots, hear their needs, do something about it. I really look forward to these weeks each year. 

Louis: Okay, let us start with the big news of today. You introduced this vaccine mandate for all public school employees, including teachers, administrators, building services, staff, and so forth. We – just before we went on the air, we saw from DC 37 a statement saying that, “while we strongly encourage our members to get vaccinated, we do not believe that the City has the legal authority to change the terms and conditions of employment without bargaining. District Council 37 along with a coalition of unions and the municipal labor committee will file an unfair labor practices complaint over the City's failure to bargain.” Was this avoidable? Did your Corporation Counsel tell you that your move can withstand a legal challenge? 

Mayor: Oh, of course, Errol. The fact is I've talked to the labor leaders involved and I told all of them, we would bargain immediately – impact bargaining starting immediately this week. And this is for a policy that doesn't take effect until September 27th. So, look, I respect these leaders greatly. I've worked with them for a long time. I understand their job is to defend the interest of their unions, but I'm confused myself because when I said this morning in the press conference, we will immediately be going to go to bargaining, I thought that was pretty clear.  

Louis: Well, I mean, what is there to bargain for on their side? I mean, you're trying to preserve public health for over a million students. Do they need like extra pay for that or something? What would their side of that conversation even look like? 

Mayor: Well, I can't speak for their side. I can say the kinds of issues that are relevant issues, you know, how do you implement it, monitor it, confirm each person's status. What happens if someone is unwilling? What are the penalties? I mean, these are all very valid questions that we're happy to work through in bargaining. Legally, of course, we have the authority. There's a Health Commissioner's Order here. This is a global pandemic. We have to keep our kids safe. We have to give people confidence in the safety in our schools. Our kids – we have a lot of kids who have not been in a classroom in a-year-and-a-half. That's unconscionable. We cannot have that continue. And we have to – we have an obligation to all employees to keep them safe. And we know vaccination we'll do that. The numbers are stunning. We're going to go over them later this week. The difference of what's happening to vaccinated New Yorkers versus unvaccinated New Yorkers, literally night and day. So, this is our Health Commissioner saying this is what's necessary to preserve health and safety. We're quite convinced that will be legally binding.  

Louis: There are a lot of different titles of different workers, different unions within a school building. Are you expecting to have a single conversation with them, or will this be kind of multiple conversations?  

Mayor: Well, I think in some cases it will be individual with each particular union or local, and then there's some other things we can do in a group setting with the MLC or other groups of unions. Look, again, we all know each other very well. We've all known each other a long time. We want to have a constructive conversation, and there's over a month clearly to get this done. I'm very confident that we can address some of the very valid concerns while making this happen and getting the impact we need. Vaccination is the only way out of the coronavirus. It's the only way to defeat the Delta variant. In fact, you see, Errol, literally, like, day after day, the dominos falling – the Pfizer announcement today, the FDA permit approval, that was really important for a lot of people to hear. There it is. It's a fact now. New Jersey's acting with its schools. We just heard about our court system here in New York State, obviously the U. S. military making vaccination mandatory. This is the way of the future. And I think more and more folks in the private sector are going to be implementing mandatory vaccination because it's the way that we avoid another turnaround back to restrictions. I don't know anyone who wants to go back to the restrictions and shutting down our economy and all the loss of jobs and businesses. We can't let that happen. And if we're just about the most important issue, which is protecting people's health, we need the maximum number of people vaccinated. 

Louis: Okay. Let's talk a little bit about what's going to go on in the schools. You have been adamant about not preparing a remote option for parents. You know, the idea is that everybody's going to go back into the classroom physically. Are you working, however – do the folks at the Department of Education have a so-called doomsday scenario for when individual schools end up having to close due to outbreaks, which as we've discovered can happen easily and might even be inevitable? 

Mayor: Yeah, I don't know if it's inevitable, but I certainly would say we have a scenario because we ran that play all throughout 2020. When we started this horrible crisis together in March, 2020, there was no such playbook. It was inconceivable to have the whole school system go remote, let alone an individual school. We ultimately had to make the whole school system remote capable. We did it. But we also learned in the process, Errol, and I'm saying this as mayor, and I'm saying this as the person responsible for education, our kids, and as a parent – we learned the tremendous limitations of remote learning. So, to me and to Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter it's abundantly clear, our job is to get our schools out and keep them open, obviously with the guidance of our health leadership. But if a school at any point was closed, of course we know how to do remote. We've done it before. We know its limitations also, but at least I can say practically, technically of course we know how to do it.  

Louis: Let's talk about some non-COVID safety issues. According to a story in The City, the news website, there were concerns about how many school safety agents will be in place, whether or not their role is going to change. I mean, one thing that happened during the pandemic is that they were moved from the NYPD to the Department of Education. On the other hand, Gregory Floyd, who's the president of the Teamsters Local representing safety agents says that there's going to be a shortage of 650 agents compared to the last full school year. Are there plans to ramp up hiring or otherwise make up for that shortage?  

Mayor: Well, Errol, as you know, the transition from NYPD to DOE is still continuing, so that's not completed yet. That'll be after this coming school year. We have an extraordinary group of school safety agents. I have a lot of respect – they’re so typically folks from the very same community that they work in, they care about kids. They do a lot of good, they reassure parents by their presence, and they did amazing work. I want to say to all the school safety agents, a profound, thanks for the work they did during COVID. They played a really crucial role in keeping people safe when schools were shut down, going out in the communities, mass distribution, but also in schools. When we opened them, they helped lead the way in checking kids’ temperatures, a whole host of things. We have the numbers we need to get started. We're going to be adding as we go into the first few months of the year. I feel good that we'll be able to do what we need to do to keep everyone safe. 

Louis: There was also a promise to fund an additional 500 social workers at city schools. That was in your July budget as well as a hundred so-called community schools for high need kids where students get direct access to local nonprofits that offer social services. Is that going to be in place by the first day of school? 

Louis: Okay. Stand by, Mr. Mayor. We're going to take a short break. We'll have more with Mayor de Blasio in just a minute. Stay with us. 

[...]

Welcome back to Inside City Hall. I’m once again joined by Mayor de Blasio who's joining us from Staten Island Borough Hall. And Mr. Mayor, I wanted to ask you about your big announcement today about a new ferry service that goes – I guess it helps a certain kind of Staten Islander who needs to go to the far west side of Midtown, I guess. It looked to me like it would shave about 20 to 30 minutes off the commute for those folks and would make the commute go from impossible to unreasonable, right? It's still a pretty long way. 

Mayor: That's an editorial comment. No, I look the enthusiasm that I have met with today talking to the Borough President – you know, Jimmy Oddo is no pushover – and also a lot of Staten Islanders who are really pumped up about this. Look, Staten Island to the west side has not existed either ever, or in generations. I don't know all the history, but it certainly if it ever existed it was long time ago. You’re talking about being able to go now to Midtown Manhattan, access to everything there directly. To me, it's a game changer that we have another major transportation option and a really positive one – NYC Ferry, just as an experience. It's fast, you know, the boats are great. It's a great ride. You're outdoors if you want to be. I'll tell you, I think a lot of people are going to see this as a real improvement in their quality of life. If they're going to Lower Manhattan or if they're going to the West Side, it's another great option. 

Louis: And it launched today. Today, we're in the wake of a hurricane, kind of some funky weather out there. It was still okay for use in this level of inclement weather? 

Mayor: Oh, yeah. This was not an issue today at all. The ferries, you know, they do well in weather, but if there's anything that's questionable, you know, the service can be postponed, but no, today, not a problem at all. And again, you know, Staten Islanders – I've done these City Hall in Your Borough weeks in Staten Island before, and Staten Islanders rightfully say there's a history of lack of investment in Staten Island. One of the number one things I talk about, because the borough's grown so much is wanting mass transit options. So, this is a step in the right direction. I'd like to see a lot more. I think ferry service is going to be a lot of the future of New York City. I think when we can connect it more deeply to buses and subways, and have them all work together, it's going to have a big impact, but this opens up a world of possibility. So, to have Staten Island connected to it – I think a lot of people here see it as, you know, a step that has a big, big ramification for the future. 

Louis: Right, right. And just to be clear, it is $2.75. It's the same cost as if you were to take the subway, but there is no free transfer. This is separate from the MTA at this point. 

Mayor: Right, and this is an issue that I'm going to keep working on, that I think is something we can address over time because if the – look, I think I want to say at the beginning, the Economic Development Corporation, NYC EDC, has done a stunning job. This is an idea – NYC Ferry did not exist in anyone's mind. During my administration we created the idea. It's now in all five boroughs. It has a tremendously positive impact on the city and it's in its infancy, but it would be much better if we get on the same page for the MTA and have one fare allow people to go, you know, subway, to bus, to ferry, or vice versa or any combination. That's something I'm going to be working on because I think that's the real door-opener to the future. 

Louis: Okay. I want to talk a little bit about the weather, we got slammed by the storm. Our infrastructure, of course, showed it. Street and basement flooding in a lot of neighborhoods, some vehicle rescues. And of course, the combined sewage overflows, dumping raw sewage for hours at a time into Newtown Creek, Gowanus Canal, other local waterways. Are we going to get ahead of these infrastructure needs? Are either the federal dollars or just city capital dollars going to go to deal with the places that always flood? 

Mayor: I think that for the first time, literally in my memory we have the prospect of the federal money we need. You know, right now we have a very aggressive city capital program across everything we do, affordable housing, new schools, you know, road paving, you name it. Of course, a lot of investments to fight climate change and we're in a very aggressive place and we need that federal money to be able to do some of the more structural kind of ongoing work that we need to do. Everything you delineated it's going to be changed profoundly by the kind of infrastructure plan that we see coming out of the Congress. And I remember a few years ago, it was 2015, I fought with a group of mayors, bipartisan group of mayors, tried to get money into infrastructure. We were happy to see even a few billion more go into infrastructure. This is an entirely different universe, thanks to Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. We're talking about a transcendent amount of money, and places like New York City, Errol, benefit the most. The places with the older infrastructure we're going to also be super competitive in these grant processes. New York City has a great batting average in terms of winning these federal grants when they're competitive. So, yeah, this is the kind of thing that actually will allow us to get at these foundational problems and address the flooding in particular. 

Louis: Okay, the big news, of course, tomorrow is the swearing in of a new governor. What do you think Kathy Hochul should do in her first few days? What do you want her to make her immediate focus? 

Mayor: Be herself, don't be Andrew Cuomo. I think the good news is Kathy Hochul is, you know, an open and communicative person. We've spoken several times since she's prepared to step forward as Governor. I think she has the instinct to want to work with people, listen to people. That's tremendously helpful just to begin, you know, that sets a whole different tone – we need that. We're going to be working with her of course, on COVID. I reached out to her this morning to give her a heads up on what we were doing on the mandate for our schools. We're going to work closely on a variety of issues in terms of fighting COVID and the recovery. And then I'm going to talk to her on an ongoing basis about what we need from Albany. We are looking forward to really important help – for example, the help we need on homeless vouchers, the legislature passed really important legislation to increase the value of homeless vouchers. The City Council did the same. I supported it. I'm hoping it was one of the things she'll do soon is sign that bill because that's going to help us get homeless folks into affordable housing. And there's a lot of other issues, but what I know about her, and I commend her for is I know she listens, and I know she actually wants to help.  

Louis: Are there longer term or bigger projects – you and I have talked about a lot of things that require city and state cooperation, and those just weren't on the agenda for the last, you know, eight years, or couldn't get done over the last eight years. And I'm talking about things like the connection between the city and the state when it comes to what to do with parolees, right? A lot of them end up in homeless shelters where they are almost guaranteed to not succeed. I'm talking about things like the New York, New York Agreement, that is in desperate need of being renewed so that more supportive housing can be built for people who are currently ending up on the street and have mental health and addiction issues, that sort of thing. Is there a possibility? I mean, the timing just seems awful. She's coming in, you're on your way out, but is there a possibility of getting some of those conversations going? 

Mayor: You know, Errol I'm an eternal optimist, and I would say I don't look at it the same way in terms of the timing. I'm going to work on those issues. We had a great parole bill that my administration worked with the Assembly on and with the Senate on. The Assembly passed it, we're really hopeful that the Senate will pass it when they come back to address exactly what you're saying. That could be a game changer. In terms of New York, New York Agreement – I mean the basic funding is there, certainly on the city side, I did a 15,000-unit commitment. That's going to make a huge difference. The State in principle has put aside some funding. We haven't seen it move the way we'd want to. With a new governor it could. And then Eric Adams is coming in, who I know cares about the same issues I care about, and also knows how to get things done with Albany. He was in the State Senate. I think Eric and I are going to have a, you know, really clear handoff on these kinds of issues. So, I think you could see this year, next year, a lot of these big issues resolved in a favorable way. I really do. I think the stars actually aligned for it. 

Louis: Okay. That brings us to the end of our time. We will see you next week. If nobody else has said it, I thought the concert was great. The hip hop section was legit. I liked the way LL Cool J came and tore the place down. It's too bad it got rained out. And perhaps as you've said, we may get a do-over of part of it. 

Mayor: Well, we'll see what the future holds, but for that two and a half hours someone said to me that you literally use the word flawless. And I think that's a fair word. I mean, that part with LL Cool J was stunning. The talent he brought together and the way it kind of epitomized everything about hip hop in that brief period of time – you can't do better than that. 

Louis: Yeah. Okay. Thanks a lot, Mr. Mayor, we'll see you next week.

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This press release was produced by Office of the Mayor of New York City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.