Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability to Discuss The 2016 Democratic National Convention

February 12, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good afternoon, everyone. We’re going to talk about the decision related to the Democratic National Convention, but first, I want to address what’s become an area of greater concern – the weather updates that we’re getting now. 

And I want to make sure all New Yorkers are aware of what we’re facing the next few days because it’s serious stuff. Starting tonight and going through Sunday, we’re going to be experiencing extraordinarily cold weather, and people should take appropriate precautions. Temperatures are expected to plummet to near-record lows, and remain dangerously cold through the weekend. On Sunday, it could be the coldest in at least 20 years, so this is something to take very, very seriously. Tonight, a low of 8 degrees projected right now, wind chill values between 0 and -10 – that’s tonight. Friday, the high will be, during the day, 16 degrees. Wind chill – I’m sorry, Friday evening – 16 degrees, wind chill between 0 and -10. Saturday night, 14 degrees, wind chills between 0 and -5. But then, Sunday – which I really want to warn people about – the high at this point we’re hearing for Sunday night is 3 degrees – that’s the high – wind chills between -15 and -20 degrees. So, this is serious stuff. We expect some very light snow. We’ve all talked about this many times. Things change with weather. We’re going to be in regular contact with the National Weather Service, but at this moment, we expect very light snow. Sanitation department will have its full complement of equipment available in the event that the snow is enough that accumulates and can be plowed, and – or if conditions become icy, they’ll have 424 salt spreaders available – 1,600 plows. But that’s going to be a game-time decision, depending on how much accumulation we have, whether all that apparatus is put into motion. But it will all be ready and available.

So, the kind of precautions we’ve talked about before – stay indoors if you don’t have to be out. Really, any prolonged exposure could be dangerous, particularly for anyone with health challenges. If there’s any problems with heat or hot water, please call 3-1-1 immediately. Any problems with heat or hot water, call 3-1-1. Anyone who needs shelter will automatically be provided shelter. The Code Blue status is in effect. If you know folks who need shelter, you can call 3-1-1. Again, if you think it’s a life-threatening situation, call 9-1-1. And as always, please check on your neighbors. The next few nights, again, will be bitterly, bitterly cold. Check on your neighbors, particularly if they happen to be ill or if they are senior citizens. Make sure they have what they need. So this will be with us through, at least, Sunday evening. And we’ll give you other updates as conditions warrant. Let me just say a quick summary in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Again, stay off the streets unless you really have to be out there, particularly at the night time.

Okay, let’s talk about DNC. I’m joined by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Council Member Laurie Cumbo, whose district encompasses the Barclays Center and the surrounding area. Both of these folks were champions of this effort. I want to thank you both. You did extraordinary work over the last year, and your energy and your spirit was infectious, and people all over the city felt it. And certainly the folks who were part of the decision-making process appreciate and saw tremendous support – from you, from other elected officials, from the community. I want to thank Laura Santucci and the whole team that put together a great effort with our bid and our host committee, and everyone at NYC & Company who played a key role. It’s a tremendous team effort.

I definitely want to congratulate our friends in Philadelphia. I spoke to Mayor Nutter a few hours ago. He is a good friend of long standing. I’ve known him for many years. I’m very happy for him. I’m not happy at the outcome. I’m disappointed, by definition. But, I’m happy for him. He is a great guy. It’s a great city. And I am certainly – can say we had a very warm conversation. And we know this was a tough decision. We knew from the beginning that this was going to be a highly competitive dynamic. That was something that was clear over and over again, not just with Philly, but with Columbus – obviously, Columbus being in the politically most central state of the entire nation. So, we knew this would be a tough, tough fight and we gave it our all. And people all over this city participated. We got a great outpouring of support from elected officials, community leaders, business community, labor community. I could not be prouder of that effort. And the host committee was just an all-star team, of folks who represent so much of what’s good about this city and join together in common cause.

So, an extraordinary effort, and I really do believe that a convention in Brooklyn would’ve sent a great message about what this country has historically been, and can be, and needs to be in the future – an inclusive place, an open place, a place for everyone, a place where immigrants are welcome and acknowledged as the source of our strength. This is the Brooklyn story. And I think it would’ve been a great, great story to tell the nation. 

And by the way, even though we didn’t prevail, we got to tell that story through last year. We got to tell the story – not just of all that’s great about New York City, but what’s great about the outer boroughs, what’s great about Brooklyn in particular.  We set out in the beginning of this endeavor to say, we’re going to show the world what a five-borough city is like – what a five-borough city means, what a thriving economy that touches each of the boroughs looks like. And we were able to get a lot of that message across and that means something in and of itself. I think folks in Brooklyn felt a particular pride about this bid, but I know people in Queens and the Bronx and Staten Island also felt a special sense of honor that the convention might be in one of the outer boroughs. So, we’re proud of having sent that message. 

We are also proud of everything that we’re trying to do to both uplift our people here but hopefully, to provide a positive example of what a more inclusive society looks like. We’ve seen recently the response to IDNYC as just one indicator of the hunger out there for an acknowledgement of a truly diverse and inclusive society. That’s what this city has always stood for. The Statue of Liberty – our great symbol of welcome and inclusion – that is something we wanted to project throughout this process. We wanted to project diversity as a great positive now and for the future for our country. We got our message across. We didn't prevail, but we’re very, very proud of the message we sent, of the organizing that was done, and the extraordinary effort. And, you know, I’ve been around this work a long time. I really honor the people who are part of this effort. I thank Laura and the whole team because they left no stone unturned. And a competition is a competition, but they really went for it. They did an extraordinary job putting all the pieces together. Again, these two leaders – who you’ll hear from in a minute – did an amazing job.

So many people went above and beyond. Our two U.S. senators – I would just want to single them out because they were constantly calling and saying what could we do next? You know, who can we call? What can do? Where could we go? And both Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand had great energy for this. Chuck, obviously, as a Brooklynite and someone who lives within walking distance of Barclays Center took a particular pride and put great energy in. But it was throughout the 120-person host committee and the extraordinary co-chairs we put together for that – everyone shared that enthusiasm.

And I also want to thank everyone at the Barclays Center because they could not have been a more wonderful host in the sense that so much of what was being looked at had to do with their facility, and they did everything asked of them, and it was a great effort on their part as well.

So, we’re proud – we’re obviously disappointed, but we’re proud. But we’ve got a lot of other work to get back to now. But we do tip our caps to our friends in Philadelphia. I want to say a couple of words in Spanish, and then to Eric and Laurie, and then we’ll take your questions on both the convention and the weather.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, I’d like to welcome our Brooklyn borough president, Eric Adams.

[Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams speaks]

[Council Member Laurie Cumbo speaks]

Mayor: Thank you very much. In the good news category, before we take your questions, I just have another announcement – related to the weather – that the Department of Transportation has just suspended alternate side parking for tomorrow, Friday, and for Saturday. So, please let all of your audiences know – alternate side parking suspended for Friday and Saturday.
All right, the floor is open.

Question: Mayor, on the convention front, we've been out in Brooklyn this morning, and we must have talked to several dozen Brooklynites. Not one of them expressed disappointment at this decision. They all said to us, what a relief, or I'm glad it's going somewhere else, or talked about the parking and the security, et cetera. Can you address that sort of New Yorker mentality about this? We didn't sense a –

Mayor: Well, I don't know if I'd call that a scientific sample, my friend. I'm glad you found those individuals. But I mean – I've been at this now for most of the year, and the response I've gotten has been incredibly energetic and positive. I think, particularly for Brooklynites, this was a source of a lot of pride. I heard from any number of people, all over the city, who really wanted it – thought it would be an exciting and historic moment. Obviously, it's a convention that could make some particular history. So, no, I really heard tremendous enthusiasm – and remember, I come from that part of Brooklyn. And I was not going to be surprised to [inaudible] – I wasn't going to be surprised if there were some organized opposition, and that did not emerge, because I think people actually saw it as a positive. So, I feel great about the effort. We would have liked to have prevailed, but I feel great about the effort, and the response from the grassroots.

Question: What would you have done differently, and what's the total cost to taxpayers for the [inaudible] bid?

Mayor: We'll have Laura and her team get back on anything specific – the work was done with both donations to the host committee, and through the regular work done by NYC & Company to promote New York City. And again, a lot of promotion of New York City, and of Brooklyn, happened in this process. So, I think the taxpayer exposure is very, very limited here. But in terms of, you know – looking back now over much of a year – we feel very good about what we did. It clearly – you know, we went through a first round, and were one of the three finalists. So, in terms of the basic layout of what we had to offer, it was a strong bid, or we never would have been a finalist. By all accounts, it went down to the wire. I don't think – I literally don't think there could have been a better host committee. You know, I think the people who gathered together were absolutely an all-star team. Again, the on the ground energy – I would turn Andrew's question on its head – it's New York City, where a lot of people speak up about a lot of things, but I felt there was a pretty extraordinary consensus about why this would be good, and why it was particularly powerful to have it in an outer borough. I think the team did a great job. I think sometimes, you do everything you know how to do, and you know, you still come a little short. But I feel great about the effort. 

Question: So, you would have done nothing different?

Mayor: I can't identify the thing – I mean, I'm saying this very straight up – I can't identify, based on everything we've been told – and to the – to be fair to the DNC, they said in the beginning, middle, and end of the process that three things were on their mind – resources, logistics, and security. Everyone's going to have a different interpretation. We're humans. You know, they're going to have their own grading scoring system. By my measure, we did very, very well on all those accounts. So, I would just say, I think, by any objective measure, we should have prevailed if those were the standards, and I do think they were the standards, but I think each individual looks at those standards somewhat differently. But if those were the three things to satisfy – the $100 million dollars was guaranteed with great energy, the host committee – no one doubted, and I talked to people at the White House, I talked to people at the DNC – everyone said when they looked at that host committee, they did not doubt the capacity of this city to raise $100 million dollars. Everyone knew I'd be deeply involved. On the logistics, I think we showed, you know, here were world-class hotels, plenty of them, union hotels in close proximity to the convention compared to previous conventions; and we were going to have the dedicated lanes, and the dedicated trains to get people there; plus, as Eric was alluding to, the greatest mass transit system in the whole country, which I was convinced, bluntly, many, many delegates would have just taken advantage of it, they just would have loved being on the subways, and done their own thing to get there; and then, the security – the finest police force in the country. So, my sense is, we checked all those boxes, and I can't figure out something that could have been done differently, but you know, sometimes you play the game right, and another team still wins.
Sally.

Question: Can you talk about what role you think you're going to have in 2016?

Mayor: Well, we – first of all – don't know who the candidates are. I will be supporting a Democrat. I can tell you that much. Republicans are off my list. No, we don't know who the candidates are. We don't know how this is going to play out yet. I will certainly be speaking forcefully, as I have since the November election in 2014, about the kind of message the Democrats need to have, and the kind of ideas we have to put forward, and I think you've seen, in recent weeks, a real intensification of the debate around income inequality in this country, and I had a little fun during the budget presentation, showing you the sudden spate of quotes from Republicans on the same topic. It's not accidental when every leading Republican suddenly starts talking about something. It means they know they have to address it. Democrats have to address this energetically. I'm going to push that very hard over the next two years. 

Question: [inaudible] you'll be going to the convention?

Mayor: Oh, of course. Of course. 

Question: How much did this security perimeter that apparently [inaudible] parking lot around – [inaudible] – how did that affect it, and also touching on what [inaudible] – New York City is seen as progressive political, maybe the nominee for the Democrats wants to be more middle of the road [inaudible]?

Mayor: Well, first of all, we don't know even who the candidates are yet. Certainly, the one thing we can say about our party right now – our party leader is President Obama, and he just gave a State of the Union Address that was strikingly progressive, and focused in on the question of income inequality. I thought it was an amazing speech that really gave us a great blueprint of how we have to talk about this. And I don't think he did that unknowingly. I think he did that to push for real tangible actions now from the Congress, but I think he knew he was framing the discussion for 2015 and 2016. So, no, I actually think progressive values fit where the party is right now, and where more and more people see the party as going, and what a lot of people in the Democratic party believe has to be addressed to prevail – beyond the moral question, is it the right thing to talk about, is it right to talk about income inequality, and have economic solutions for the suffering that people are going through – all the folks who were in the middle class and are slipping out of it. I think we have to do that substantively, morally, for every reason, but also on a very practical level – a candidate who doesn't talk about that is not going to win, and I think the 2014 election showed that really clearly. So, no, I think the values here were a plus. Again, I take the DNC at its word that they had three things that they were fixated on, and they had a different scorecard than we might have had. 

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Look, I – again, we made it to the finalist round, and Columbus did too. Both of us had the situation with arenas that were in the center of things. If I remember Charlotte, the arena was right in the middle of downtown – you know, a lot of arenas are nowadays. So, I think, from our perspective, we did answer that – because of the quality of our police force, because the mass transit to that location had so many different elements to it – you know, you could accommodate the security needs. I was very satisfied with our answer. If there was a philosophical model – and I mean, this is sort of the philosophy of how you do an event – if the DNC just had a real preference for, kind of, a classic American stadium or arena with a giant parking lot surrounding it – I don't have that to offer them in a place that we could do a convention. But if that had been the only consideration, I don't think we could have gotten to the finalist round, so that's why, I thought we really did answer that question well. 

Question: Mayor, do you think that the recent problems with the police unions and that rank-and-file, especially with the opposition of Ed Mullins [inaudible] –

Mayor: No.

Question: – played any role in the –

Mayor: Nope, and I talked to countless people in Washington, as did the team, and it was not raised by a single person. And, you know, the facts on the ground right now – a lot of good things are happening in New York City economically; and in terms of the life of the city right now, that’s quite visible what’s going on with our economy, as I outlined the other day; and, as everyone knows, an extraordinary streak in the last few days of safety – plus first six weeks of this year even safer than the first six weeks of last year. So, no, it did not play a role. 

Question: [inaudible] I saw the numbers that Chuck Schumer gave me that showed that a much faster trip to get for our hotel to the Barclay’s Center – that we’re much more – that more hotels were easier to get to. He said that New York Democrats offered to subsidize the delegates so that they would pay less for a hotel room in New York City than in Philadelphia. So with all the things going for it, why do you think we didn't win?

Mayor: Again, when people make a decision based on a matrix – and the three factors were logistics, security, and resources – in the end, that’s still going to be through the prism of the decision makers. From my perspective, if those were the three factors – and I really do believe they said it so many times throughout the process, I really do believe it was – it would have been obvious that we scored the highest across the board. But if, for example, as a convention planner, you have a strong preference for an arena surrounded by parking lots, and you like the logistical ease that comes with that – okay, I don’t have that. You know, and I understand if that’s really what they preferred in the final analysis – that was something we couldn’t offer. I thought the other things we had to offer more than made up for that. And I agree with Senator Schumer – we showed what great proximity there was between an abundant supply of hotels – and union hotels in particular – and the convention center, compared to the experience people had in Charlotte or Denver. But in the end, it’s in the eye of the beholder and the decision-makers had a different way of looking at it. Yes?

Question: Just given what we’ve heard about some of the logistical concerns of Barclays being in a dense residential neighborhood – just wondering if there was any consideration given to [inaudible] the convention at Madison Square Garden where some of the logistics [inaudible]?

Mayor: Look, first of all, that doesn’t answer – I mean, that’s a fair question – but it doesn’t answer the point that if there was a preference for the kind of, you know, classic arena surrounded by parking lots – clearly, Madison Square Garden is not that either. And I think this is an issue of, sort of, event philosophy, if you will. If that’s what they ultimately decided they valued, New York City per se did not offer that option. I think what the plus side here was, we got tremendous feedback, positive feedback, on Barclays for a variety of reasons – one, it’s one of the newest arenas in America, which really did register with the folks who looked at it because it came with all the latest technology and they were very, very pleased with just the functionality of it; two, you know, outside that narrow matrix – and this is something we felt really should be talked about – there was the message of Brooklyn. Here is a place that epitomizes immigration, inclusion, diversity, you know, economic possibility, youthfulness. You know, we thought that that was a very powerful x-factor. And, in fact, the arena being right in the epicenter of that was a plus. But, again, if the event planners just wanted a lot of big open spaces around an arena, that wasn’t going to happen in New York City.

Question: There’s been talk about Hillary Clinton putting her presidential headquarters in Brooklyn, essentially, and is seen as sort of a consolation prize for New York. Do you see it that way? That if that happened it would be a sort of – a silver medal?

Mayor: A perfectly fair question, but it’s a hypothetical wrapped in another hypothetical, and first of all, she has gone out of her way to say she has not made a decision yet on whether she will run. Second – clearly, there’s been nothing communicated to us on where the headquarters will be. So, I think that is premature on two levels. If she gets to the point of running, I would strongly encourage her to have her headquarters in New York City, in any of our boroughs. But, you know, that’s still a ways off.

Question: Mr. Mayor –

Mayor: Councilmember is off to do other government activities. Thank you.

Question: Could you say a couple of nice things about Philadelphia? 

Mayor: Yes.

Question: What do you think of cheesesteaks? 

Mayor: I love cheesesteaks. I am pro-cheesesteak. No, Philadelphia’s a great town – it really is. And Michael Nutter’s a great guy who’ve I had the privilege of working with now for years. He’s been a mayor who, you know, has been really generous in offering his support and advice as I came into this office, and I’m very happy for him in particular. He’s, you know, only going to be there a short time more but that’s – for him, this is obviously a crowning achievement and I commend him for that. But it’s a great town. It’s a town that does have some of the great attributes of New York City, in terms of, you know, a great mix of people and wonderful cuisines. So, you know, I’m sure delegates are really going to have a good time there.

Question: I know what you said about logistics being important – do you think the – Pennsylvania as a potential swing state was a factor – 

Mayor: Yeah.

Question: – and I know what you said about [inaudible] Clinton not being a declared candidate, but do you think she, or do you know, whether she had any input into this choice?

Mayor: I have no evidence of specific input, but I don’t pretend to have all the, you know, facts, either. I got a very consistent response – of course, there’s been, you know, thousands of conversations over the last, you know, much of the year. And we all know lots of people in Washington. Everyone’s trying to get a sense of who’s thinking what. I heard this phrase repeatedly – if Pennsylvania’s a swing state, we as Democrats have bigger problems. That was often put forward. I don’t think anyone would have doubted that about Columbus, Ohio, to be fair. That would have been a strong rationale. But I don’t get the sense that that was an overwhelming factor based on, again, what we do know. But we don’t pretend to know everything. I think it was those three criteria. Again, three criteria we might judge differently than our friends in Washington. 

Question: [inaudible] money spent [inaudible] cash on hand. Can you say what [inaudible]?

Mayor: Yeah, over the next few weeks, we’re going to publish a report on all the money that came in, and it will be returned – the money that we had put in escrow – you know, the $6 million-plus to show the energy of the fundraising effort. And again, I want to thank everyone who was involved, because a lot of people came forward with real energy. So, that money will be returned and it will be published. There was a small amount of additional money raised for day-to-day operations, of course, again, we will publish who provided that money.

Question: Now that you’ve been through this process, assuming four years from now that you’re still in office, would you consider making another bid for 2020?

Mayor: First of all, you said the question exactly right. I have a lot of work to do over the next few years, and then I have to get my employment contract renewed. And there’s a very elaborate process around that. So I don’t take any of that lightly. We’ll certainly consider it. I think it’s premature to make decisions about years from now, but we'll certainly consider it.

Question: Mr. Mayor, this became such a large part of your agenda in your first year in office – do you feel like this is a bit of a personal defeat, especially as you were the national figurehead – you know, you’ve become a kind of voice for some people for progressive politics in the Democratic Party?

Mayor: Look, I think this is about one piece of a much more complicated equation – meaning the convention does not represent the totality of the Democratic Party, or the debate over the future of our country. It’s one piece for four days. It’s an important piece. It’s a piece we would’ve loved to have. But no, I think the ideas that I put forward and a lot of other good people are putting forward are really going to be important in this debate, because we’re talking about the issues on the minds of the people. The income inequality crisis is deepening – let’s be clear – deepening as we speak. The people of this city, this state, this country, want to see responses. They want to see actual policies that's going to change their lives and improve their economic opportunities. This is what the whole election is going to be about. I’m going to speak very forcefully on those issues. I’m going to join together with others who feel the same way. So no, I think this was a decision made according to some specific criteria. It does not change one iota the debate that we have to have.

Question: You talked about research, logistics, and security –

Mayor: Resources.

Question: Sorry. Are you surprised that the committee didn’t wait until after the All-Star Weekend to see how Brooklyn deals with those logistics?

Mayor: No, I actually think to – again, I respect greatly everyone in the process. I don’t agree with the final decision, but I respect them. I think they had gotten plenty of evidence from the Super Bowl last year, from a lot of other events. Obviously, the ’92 Democratic Convention was a huge success. I think the jury had already come back on our ability to handle big events. So I don’t think the All-Star game was a part of the factor.

Question: Do you blame at all the media coverage of the DNC for losing out on this?

Mayor: No, I think at times, it was a little perplexing. But I don’t think it was dispositive. I think in the end, you know, the three factors were the three factors. And that’s how the decision was made.

Question: It would’ve been a lot of work to do this –

Mayor: Yes!

Question: – you have a lot of other big ambitious plans. Are there any, like – relief or upside to this?

Mayor: Relief wouldn’t be the right word, because obviously it’s something we believed in and we worked hard for. I do think it’s a fair statement to say, okay, there’s some time and energy freed up. We’re going to put it into other big and bold things we have planned. You know, one door closes, another one opens.

Question: Is there any indication that the tension with police unions and the protests had an effect on fundraising efforts –

Mayor: No. In fact, the – there was stories attempting to make that case, which again, I found perplexing, because they left out the fact that it the holidays, when all fundraising slows down. And immediately, you saw the fundraising shoot back up again once we came off the holidays. The figures that we ended our process with – almost $7 million in the bank, $20 million-plus in commitments, based on a $100 million dollar commitment from an all-star host committee with a mayor who is going to be in office, versus two mayors who are leaving office – you couldn’t have done a better closing argument, in my opinion. So no, I think, to be fair to everyone in Washington, I think they did not doubt that we would achieve those goals.

Question: A quick question about the weather –

Mayor: Please.

Question: You mentioned the dangerous cold this weekend.

Mayor: Yes.

Question: How aggressively will the city be checking a) to those exposed to the elements; and b) for folks who might be in buildings with no heat – it’s over a holiday weekend, when they might not get the response of a landlord or HPD response. What’s your message to folks who worry about this cold?

Mayor: Call now – a very good question – if you’re having a heat and hot water problem, call 3-1-1 right now. Do not wait. The quicker you report the problem, the quicker the city can respond. What the city does is immediately pushes the landlord to fix the problem, and depending on the circumstance, if the landlord is not moving fast enough, we fix it and charge the landlord. So – but we can’t do it if we don’t know about it. If anyone in the city right now is not getting heat and hot water, call 3-1-1 right now.

Question: [inaudible] and folks who might be exposed – whether it’s the homeless or anybody who is out there –

Mayor: Right. Obviously, you know, all of our first responders are going to be watching out for anyone suffering from exposure. In terms of homeless folks, two things – emphasizing to anyone who may be homeless – they can walk into any of our shelters. They will automatically be admitted because of the Code Blue status. It’s a no-questions-asked situation. Second, our outreach teams, which do a tremendous job, will be out, you know, on special alert looking for anyone that might be in a dangerous situation. So, we’ll really deepen our outreach efforts. Okay. Thank you everyone.