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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Signs Legislation to Provide Low-Income New Yorkers with Access to Counsel for Wrongful Evictions

August 11, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I think Randy just put it all in perspective, didn’t he?

Audience: Yes!

Mayor: And we are here to serve each other, and we’re here to make sure there’s fairness, and we’re here to make sure that that good family does not end up in a shelter when they could be staying in their apartment and that children have opportunity to achieve what Randy’s child have achieved. I think that was an incredibly powerful testimony, but Randy is one of those people I admire who when they understand what truth is, they then want to spread it to other people and make sure that no one suffers; everyone has opportunity. That story is so powerful because it was a spark for Randy to become the leader he became. And that’s part of why we’re here today – because of leaders like him. Let’s thank Randy.

[Applause]

I want to thank Jose for the story he told us, another story of bravery, of a man, of a family standing up for their rights, finding that they could win, and then determining it was time to help other people win. And Jose said something that really struck me. He said, you know, this law we’re singing today – the most powerful of its kind in the whole United States of America – that tenants will have the same opportunity as landlords to defend their interests. It’s as simple as that.

[Applause]

And you think about that and how fundamental that is because we’ve all seen plenty of times when someone had all the money, someone had all the power, and it was David and Goliath. And good people lost because they just didn’t have the opportunity to defend themselves. But now we’re creating fairness. We’re creating actual equality.

And I want to remind everyone that the last months in our city and certainly looking at the situation all over the country – sometimes people have been discouraged. They see some things happening in Washington, and they feel powerless at times. They feel confused. They feel worried. What I keep saying to people is don’t always think about Washington. Think about what you can do right here at home.

And what we’re doing today right here at home in New York City is going to protect hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers – hundreds of thousands of people. And that’s not only an example of what we are capable of in this city, but it sends a message everywhere else. You may not understand the tweet you read this morning coming from the White House.

[Laughter]

You might not be able to follow what they’re doing in the Congress each day because it seems to change every hour. But guess what? You can do something right where you live to create better laws, to create more fairness, to create a society for everyone. That’s what we’re doing here in New York City.

[Applause]

And Jose is absolutely right. When you do something like this, it starts to spread. I think there’s a lot of people here who have strong voices – am I right? You have strong voices?

[Cheers]

See, that was a test.

Well, we’re going to make our voices heard, and you all have family and friends. You know activists all over this state, all over this country. This is exactly the shape of things to come. This is what working people deserve. Jose is right. We’re striking a blow today for people everywhere. Randy is right. We’re striking a blow today for humanity. And I want to thank Jose, I want to thank Randy for being the exact examples we needed of the change we had to make.

Thank you.

[Applause]

Now, I want to say up front we have so many wonderful people here. This is – you know that famous phrase “success has many mothers and fathers”? Many people contributed to this success, and I want to acknowledge some of them who are here today from my administration.

Our great Social Services Commissioner Steve Banks who’s been right in the middle of all of this for years and years.

[Applause]

And our wonderful Administrator of the Human Resources Administration Grace Bonilla, thank you so much.

[Applause]

You’re going to hear from several of the elected officials, but I want to acknowledge and thank others who are gathered with us.

Senator Marisol Alcantara.

[Applause]

Assemblymember Carmen De La Rosa, Assemblymember and Bronx Democratic Chairman Marcos Crespo, thank you.

[Applause]

Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez and Councilmember Ben Kallos, thank you.

[Applause]

Now, you know sometimes people who get elected to office have a little trouble giving credit where credit is due, so I think we have to right that wrong, too. Let’s give the original credit to the Right to Counsel Coalition for this fight to make this law. Thank you everyone who’s been a part of this coalition.

[Applause]

And I want to thank everybody who is hosting us today in this wonderful facility – everything it stands for – and a special thank you to your executive director Jack Doyle. Thank you so much.

[Applause]

And a special thank you to one of the leaders of CASA who I am also proud to say serves on our Rent Guidelines Board that has guaranteed a lot more fairness for our tenants Sheila Garcia – Sheila, I’m sorry Garcia.

[Applause]

So, look, I am going to say this quickly. I just want people to feel the difference this is going to make. For a long time when that eviction notice came, it felt like the ball game was over. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve talked to over the years. Who when that notice came they felt absolutely powerless. They did not know what to do; they did not know where to turn. They only their life was about to spiral downwards. That’s not what’s supposed to happen in a place that believes that everyone is equal and everyone deserves opportunity. You’re not supposed to have people feel that they’re facing a dead end and they’re alone. But that’s what people have felt for years and years when that notice has come. We today start a whole new chapter in this city. God forbid anyone gets that notice; the next thing they’re going to do is they’re going to reach for their phone and they’re going to call 3-1-1 and they’re going to get a lawyer to defend them. It’s going to be as simple as that.

[Applause]

And I want you to understand that that is not only going to change the lives of individuals and families but it’s also going to send a message to unscrupulous landlords. The message is don’t even try it. Don’t even try to illegally evict a tenant. Don’t even try to illegally harass a tenant, or illegally deprive them of repairs, or illegally deprive them of heat and hot water.

[Applause]

Because the game is up, used to be that a landlord the lawyers and a tenant didn’t. It was not a fair fight, and a landlord depends on an unleveled playing field. The game was rigged and families suffered. But now when you have a lawyer you can win. When a tenant has a lawyers a tenant can win, when a tenant has a lawyer then everything the landlord is doing gets looked at. And if they’re committing illegal act, well, they’ve got a bigger problem on their hand if they’re caught, committing an illegal act. Because more and more of what we’re doing is when we find harassment, when we find people deprived of what they deserve because a landlord is trying to flip that apartment. Sometimes that rises to the level of being a criminal charge. And we want to send a very clear message fly right, do the right thing, and treat your tenants with respect. There is not going to be any problem. But if you treat a tenant in an illegal manner, you the unscrupulous landlord, you will pay the price for what you do to these tenants. That’s the message we’re sending, because now everyone has a lawyer.

[Applause]

Law is very simple, everyone has access to legal assistance, and the household makes up to $50,000, or $50,000 less you get a full free lawyer at your disposal. I want you to know, we started down this road, providing more and more lawyers to tenants. I want you to understand something extraordinary. As we have given lawyers to tenants, more and more tenants walk into court represented. So, just a few years ago in 2013, only one percent of tenants had a lawyer when they went to housing court – one percent. We started giving out lawyers that went up to 27 percent of tenants walked in the door with a lawyer. Before even this bill, more and more tenants got a lawyer. What happened, we saw a 24 percent reduction in evictions. Thousands and thousands of families got to stay in their apartment.

[Applause]

And as this legislation takes effect, we predict that it will reach as much as 125,000 New Yorkers each year. And everyone in this room, everyone who works so hard for this day, everyone who’s been dreaming of this moment now think about, not just the thousands, the hundreds of thousands of people who are going to benefit from all the work you put in. That’s what starts today.

[Applause]

So ill conclude with an important point right now. If there is anyone in this room who needs help or knows of someone who needs help, pick up that phone and call 3-1-1. If there is anyone who needs help, we have our tenant support team. City government representatives who go out and talk to tenants and fight for their rights. These are new things; these are things that didn’t used to exist in this city. But together we’ve created a new way of protecting working New Yorkers and struggling New Yorkers and helping people to make it in this city. That’s what today is about. My friends, everyone here should be very proud. Sometimes it’s really frustrating fighting City Hall, but sometimes it actually works, okay.

[Applause]

Before I introduce my colleagues a few words in Español por favor

[Mayor speaks in Spanish]

It’s as simple as that, just call 3-1-1. Sounds good in both languages, and now she has with her leadership with the City Council set a whole different tone in this city and made clear that legislation like this was a priority. And I want to really thank our speaker for extraordinary leadership, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

[Applause]

[…]

Alright, I’m going to sign the bill in a moment, but we’ve got the two leaders here from the Council who lead the charge on this legislation, and we thank them, and we’re going to hear from the Public Advocate and the Borough President as well. And at some point they’re going to – my staff – tell me when I have to sign before I have to depart, so if everyone speaks quickly we can get everyone in before I sign. But we want to sign it because it takes effect, apparently according to the lawyers, now.

[Applause]

So first I want to introduce – he has been an extraordinary force for change and I’ll tell you he was incredibly persistent, and every time I turned around Mark Levine was reminding me he needed action on this bill, and the leadership that got us to this day. Let’s thank Council member Mark Levine.

[Applause]

[…]

Okay, now the Bronx’s own – a lot to be proud of today, let’s give a big around of applause to – Council member Vanessa Gibson.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Alright, now I want to bring up two more speakers and then we’re going to turn this into law right now.

[Applause]

Instant gratification speaker – I have served beside Tish James for a long, long time. And she, she’s a lawyer – a long, long time Tish. She’s a lawyer who understands the power of a lawyer to do good, and to empower people who have been left behind too often. So I know this is a big day for our Public Advocate. That’s the kind of thing she’s been fighting for, for a long, long time – Public Advocate Tish James.

[…]

Mayor: I did not think of that Oprah Winfrey idea. That was very, very good. Finally, for years the Borough President has spoken about the challenge of people deserving things like a living wage, and a decent place to live. And this fits with so many of the efforts you’ve seen in the last few years in this city to finally respect the needs of everyday people and of hard working people. So I know this is a gratifying day, and I know the Borough President worked long and hard to see this moment. Let’s welcome Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

[…]

Mayor: Okay, I have two questions before we move over to the desk to sign. I have two questions and I believe the answer to both questions is the same. When do you want me to sign this bill?

Audience: Now!

Mayor: When do you want this bill to take effect?

Audience: Now!

Mayor: Okay, let’s do it.

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