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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Convenes Progressive Leaders at Gracie Mansion, Announces Effort to Bring Income Inequality to Forefront of National Discussion

April 2, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well good afternoon, everyone. I just want to say we’ve just completed an extraordinary gathering here at Gracie Mansion. The conversation revolved around addressing the issue of income inequality in this country, and making sure it is at the forefront of our national discussion. One of the things that unites us all is a belief that the issue of income inequality is a profound threat to this country and its future – that we are experiencing growing divisions that must be addressed. They must be addressed in our national discussion. They must be addressed in the context of the national debate over these next two years that will align to the 2016 elections. And the gathering here of an extraordinary group of progressive leaders from all over the country underscored just how deeply we all feel that this issue is not being acknowledged in the national debate – real solutions are not on the table – and we’re going to use all of our voices and all of our reach to change that.

I want to let you know the people – both standing with me and those who were hear for the discussion who had to go on to other appointments. Standing with me, of course, Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut; Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, who is the co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus; Van Jones, co-founder of Rebuild the Dream; Maria Elena Durazo, the vice president for immigration, and civil rights, and diversity at Unite Here! – do we have Abby? No? Abby went on – ok – Heather McGhee, president of Demos; and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. 

Also with us earlier – and of course, my wife and I were honored to host everyone for this discussion and to be a part of it – earlier with us, Ted Strickland, former governor of Ohio; Jonathan Soros, the senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Who am I missing? Abigail Disney and Deepak – oh, I missed Deepak, I apologize – Deepak is still here – Deepak Bhargava, executive director for the Center for Community Change. So – and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, of course, who was here earlier as well.

I’ll say simply this – I have been involved in work for social change for decades. I’ve rarely seen such a powerful gathering of people. This is a group of people who have had a profound impact on this country in all very different ways, gathered together in common cause. What we have resolved is to formulate in the next few weeks a vision for the way we need to address income inequality in this country. We’ll put together a document in the next few weeks. We will gather again – most likely in Washington DC, in May – to bring together a group of signatories to that document. I will explicitly parallel it to the 1994 Republican contract with America. We, of course, will have a very different idea – different idea, different vision, different approach, different organizing methodology. But the one thing we will share with that historical precedent is that we will gather leaders from all over the country to agree to a specific set of goals and a specific vision for addressing income inequality. 

Later in the year we will sponsor a presidential forum – a bipartisan presidential forum explicitly and specifically on the topic of income inequality. And we will invite all of the declared presidential candidates to participate. 

All of this is focused on the notion that we are not having a discussion of income inequality in this country, and we are not having that discussion at our peril. That we must change the debate and the dialogue, and that that must lead to real policy solutions because too many people are being left behind, the economy is not working for a huge percentage of Americans, and this is not a sustainable economic path to our future. That’s what animates us, and that’s what’s brought this historic gathering together. 

I’d like to ask my co-host, our first lady, to say a few words, and then I’ll turn to governor Malloy and Congressman Grijalva. 

First Lady Chirlane McCray: I am deeply moved by this coalition of our folks gathered here today. I feel as though the prayers of poor people, working people, people of good conscience everywhere, are being answered by the beginning of this very public conversation that we’ve need to have in this country for a long time. And it can only help our children and the future of this country as we go forward. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Governor Malloy?

[…] 

Mayor: We’ll take questions – I just want to invite any and all of the folks who participated in the discussion – about 15 people total in the discussion – I want to invite anyone who wants to respond to any particular question to feel free to. And now we would be happy to take your questions. Yes?

Question: [Inaudible] your contract with America? And tell us what role you hope it’ll play in the 2016 presidential run?

Mayor: We’re going to put together the document over the next month. Again, this is a group of leaders called together from all over the country and from different sectors of our nation. We have elected officials, labor leaders, progressive activists. We’re going to do this work over the next few weeks to come up with a final document, then each and every one of us is going to reach out to others to join in, in signing that document and working with it as a basis. And we will introduce that in May, again, most likely in Washington. The idea then is to make that document a template for the national debate, to ask leaders at all levels to respond to it – those in office already, to act on it. I must shout out Governor Malloy, who raised the minimum wage in this state, who enacted – the first state to enact paid sick leave. There are leaders right now who can act on the core ideas that are necessary to address income inequality. We’re going to use this document as a rallying cry to ask existing leaders to do it. But we’re also going to use it as a method to say to candidates on all levels – here’s something to respond to. We want to know what you say in response to this vision. And we hope that will crystalize a much more powerful national discussion that gets us to real solutions on income inequality.

Question: Just to quickly follow up – are Hillary Clinton’s folks involved in this discussion?

Mayor: In this discussion now? No.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well again, let’s put aside the fact that those who are going to be candidates – first, they of course have to decide if they’re candidates to make their declarations. We’ll be going to candidates on all levels and then saying to them we want you to respond to this. But the work that’s being done here is about presenting that agenda to leaders and candidates at all levels – meaning Senate, House, governor, the whole nine yards.

Question: Mr. Mayor, given your close relationship with Hillary Clinton and the Clintons, does it complicate your efforts here [inaudible] nonpartisan presidential forum [inaudible]?

Mayor: I don’t think it complicates anything to put forward a vision for change in this country. We’ve got to address the issue. Every candidate at every level has to address the issue. Every leader at every level has to address the issue. And I think what has united us is the notion that there’s – as the congressman said, urgency. How is it that it’s already April 2015, and there’s no serious debate about income inequality in this country. We’re not talking about the things that would actually address the situation – you know, tax fairness, progressive taxation – the whole range of options that could make a profound impact on the trajectory of this country. It’s nowhere in the national debate.  And so, what’s uncomplicated to me is that we have to push these issues to the fore, and all candidates and leaders have to speak to them. Please – the ever-shy Van Jones.

Van Jones, Co-founder of Rebuild the Dream: Hi – Van Jones, Rebuild the Dream. The mayor is a big man. This is a big house. This is a big deal. This is a very big deal. The sound you just heard – the sound of jaws dropping and hitting their desks in Washington DC. This is a major development in this country. Very few leaders have the ability to pull together this type of coalition. These are some of the most accomplished progressives in the country, and we are saying we want to be heard. And so, I want to applaud this mayor. I want to applaud the first lady. This is a very significant development. In May, you’re going to see – and you heard it here first – a show of force that you’ve never seen before, of the most concerned, passionate people in this country for working folks and poor folks who have ever assorted themselves in a presidential context under the leadership of a great leader, Mr. de Blasio.  He’s not the – do you want to be the leader? I shouldn’t say the word leader – the convener.

Mayor: The convener.

Van Jones: He has been willing to convene us. Part of the problem has been this – so many people across the country have been organizing, working – the fight for minimum wage increase, the fight for pay equity for women – grassroots voices crying out and the national media has not listened. They will listen in May. I want to thank Mayor de Blasio.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Yes?

Question: Mr. Mayor, can you describe a little bit more about this bipartisan presidential forum could look like and how will you bring, you know, bipartisan participation to the table?

Mayor: Well I think the notion is, again, we intend to bring together at first, dozens, and ultimately hundreds of leaders from all over the country who agree that we have to address income inequality, and will agree to some core ideas of how we do it. And then we’re going to say to leaders and candidates, it’s time to respond. I think there’s a lot of people in this country who are listening carefully for that response, who don’t understand why they haven’t heard a vision already and are going to demand that people who are either are in high office or aspire to high office declare themselves, in terms of these ideas. I think that’s what makes the presidential forum idea powerful. We haven’t decided if it’ll be a single bipartisan forum or if there’ll be a separate one for Democrats and Republicans. Either model might work. But I think the idea is there’ll be real consequences here, because so many meaningful leaders will gather around this idea – that a candidate will probably be smart to participate, not just because of the weight of the coalition that’s been gathered, but because the reality of not participating sends a message of a lack of concern about these issues. And again, we know – especially those of us who run for office – how deeply our constituents feel this. Do you want to join in? Maria Elena –  Maria Elena Durazo

Maria Elena Durazo, Vice President for Immigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity, Unite Here!: Too many people work too hard for too little. And that’s what’s happening on the ground in city and state – all across this nation. Those are the issues that need to be brought to the national debate and to national conversation with leaders. One family owns the wealth that equals the wealth of 43 percent of Americans. One family equals the wealth of 43 percent of American workers. There’s something deeply wrong with that, and we hope that this gets the debate going to real solutions on a national basis. And we thank Mayor de Blasio for this.  

Mayor: Thank you. Yes?

Question: Mayor de Blasio, you’ve handled a lot of things recently like – including this, which [inaudible] national stage, addressing national issues. What would you say [inaudible] you should focus on that, and should we take this that you want some kind of higher office? That you want to run for something –

Mayor: I intend to run for re-election as mayor of New York City. That’s the only thing I’m running for. But I’ll tell you why it’s so important to the people of New York City. And I think we would all say it for the people we represent. Again, there are elected officials here and there are people who have spent their life working on behalf of working people. I think we can all say it in our own way. If we don’t change national policies, we cannot serve our people the way we should. I can’t tell you how many issues – and I imagine the governor has this feeling too – the issues we deal with every day. We’re trying to create affordable housing for our people. We’re trying to provide mass transit so people can get to work. We’re trying to save our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges that are aging rapidly. All of these are areas where an energetic federal government involvement would help our people. But on all those topics, you would be right to say, don’t hold your breath. We’ve got to change the politics of this country to be able to serve our people. And the issue of income inequality is even deeper. So that’s the practical answer to your question – why anyone who represents everyday people needs to be a part of this effort. But the bigger point is, if you will, a moral one. The country is headed in a very dangerous direction. We’re becoming ever more divided. We have now worse income inequality than at the time of the stock market crash in 1929. If we don’t address it, we will look up in a few years and wonder why we didn’t see the warning signs. So I think for all of us, there is a sense of moral urgency that this transcends our day jobs. This is our obligation as Americans to do something about this.

Governor Dannel Malloy: Let’s give a practical example of what we’re talking about. I have said for a long time that no one should – in our country – should work 35 or 40 hours a week at one job or multiple jobs and still live in poverty. It just doesn’t make sense. Somebody gets up and goes to work and works 35 and 40 hours a week – they need to be out of poverty. And we need to get to a situation in our country where that’s recognized again – that no one is expected to devote themselves to hours of labor and then still go home and live in poverty. There are real examples – early childhood education available to children universally in well-to-do communities and not universally in other communities; the housing point that the mayor has made; infrastructure itself, whether it’s transportation or other related. These are all things that can come together to allow us to be a society where more people participate successfully. And that’s what we’re trying to do.

Mayor: Amen. Heather McGhee.

Heather McGhee, President, Demos: Across the country today, the lights are dimming on the American dream. And the meeting today is meant to be a beacon to say that this will not stand anymore. We have a society right now where a cashier who makes $7.25 an hour, not only just gets to buy $7.25 an hour-worth of food for her children, $7.25-worth of education for herself, but she also only seems to merit $7.25-worth of esteem in our political culture – and only $7.25-worth of voice in our democracy. And so when we look at the yawning chasm of opportunity in this country, we have to recognize that this did not happen by accident – that public policy decisions and concerted organized power got us into this place, and public policy decisions and concerted organized power are going to get us out. And I think that that is what we started here today. Thanks very much to the vision and the leadership of the mayor and the first lady.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Okay.

Question: In recent months, something Republicans [inaudible] have made comments about inequality as an issue. Do you take them and genuine and what do you think [inaudible]

Mayor: I think it’s important to recognize that even Republicans – even some conservative Republicans feel they have to talk about the issue. Now, I don’t take those comments personally too seriously because I have not seen a single policy prescription to go with them. But it is a very telling sign that leaders who did not even think of uttering those words a year ago, now feel like they have to address income inequality. That says that things are already moving on the ground. Therefore, those who are serious about the issue, now have to put it front and center, and attach to it very specific proposals for change. I think that’s a bellwether, but now we have to see the next piece. Yes?

Question: I don’t know where to start, but really the big question is how do you win? I mean, [inaudible] I remember [inaudible] I remember your fight for a tax on the rich to pay for pre-k. I remember the fight for a tax on the rich for the U.S. Congress. Given all of that daunting stuff, how do you win?

Mayor: I’m going to offer my view, and I think others may have strong views too. So, let me start and pass the ball around – anyone who wants to join in – because you’ve asked the essential question, Henry. A couple of points – look around this country, look at what’s happening. November 2014 – referenda on minimum wage, including in very red states, passed overwhelmingly. You look at the candidates in 2014 who stood up and spoke out on income inequality and stood their ground. Those candidates won. Dan Malloy is the finest example of that. A guy who took the kind of steps a leader should take in office to address income inequality won with a larger margin in 2014 than he did in 2010. You look at our fight for pre-k – I do remind you, we got the recourses for pre-k. So, I think there’s a lot of different permutations, but I think the essence of the answer to your question is – and I think it picks up on Heather’s point – you change the politics of this country by bringing in an idea to the people, and getting the people to believe in it, and then the leaders have to respond. It has been one hand clapping for too long, where the notion of, in effect, trickle-down economics vision has dominated. We’re suggesting that is time to address income inequality and there’s a series of progressive policies that would actually do it, many of which are being innovated on the ground in places like Connecticut, or New York City, or Seattle – all sorts of parts of this country where real action is happening. It’s time to make this a context for national discussion. And if we don’t, we will keep sliding backwards as a nation. Deepak?

Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community Change: We’ve seen tremendous progress over the last decade on a whole set of issues. When they started, no one thought that they could see the light of day. Marriage equality, immigration – Dan talked today about the huge, seismic change in the debate about criminal justice. I think the premise of this effort is that there is enormous momentum in the country, in public opinion, in policy in states and cities around the country, but that there’s a disconnect between the sentiments of a majority of Americans and the range of policy solutions that are being proposed at the national level. So we want to turn these thousand points of light that are beginning to pop all around the country into a laser beam of focus to bring these issues of inequality to the national level. And I think we are quite close to major breakthroughs. I want to commend the mayor and the first lady for bringing together this group to try to harness this energy that’s manifesting all over the country. 

Mayor: Who wants to add? Governor? Okay.

Governor Malloy: [inaudible] definitely don’t be too frustrated. We’re making progress. And progress will be incremental, it won’t be overnight. But, you know, on the business pages and in financial publications, folks are talking about this as a threat to our democracy – that if – relatively few people resent the rich getting richer, and I certainly don’t. But what I don’t want to live in is a society where the poor get poorer and the middle class gets out of reach. And, you know, that’s what we need to talk about – those concepts. And I think if we do that, then it’s a winning discussion for the American people who are looking for someone to set the table for this discussion on a broader basis. You know, just as a public education system is what’s, in many ways, protected our democracy, fairness also, historically, has been one of the things that has protected our democracy. And if too many people feel that our society becomes closed to job opportunity, to education opportunity, even to the opportunity to move one’s child into the middle class then that democracy is damaged. And I care too much about this country to allow that to happen.

Mayor: Amen. Let me just note –we’ll do a few more – let me note – yeah [inaudible] it is portentous that we happen to meet on the day that McDonalds finally decided to raise its wages as a result of years of sustained activism by fast-food workers. Something’s happening on the ground – another way of answering your point, Henry – something is happening on the ground. Political leadership better catch up with it because it’s already starting to happen. Katrina? 

Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation: The Nation, which I edit, was founded 150 years ago in this good city. It’s the oldest weekly in America. It was founded by abolitionists – committees to ending slavery. Those abolitionists were also told you can’t do it. They were marginalized. Their voices were stigmatized. But over these 150 years, The Nation has always called for bolder ideas. Ideas do move the political process. Let’s not forget, yesterday, I believe, was the first anniversary of paid sick leave legislation in this city. The Nation has made many endorsements over the years. We were proud to endorse Franklin Delano Roosevelt three times. We were also proud in 2013 to endorse Mayor de Blasio because of his commitment to this very issue, which we are talking about today – reimagining boldly how to end inequality in this city. And in Mayor de Blasio who – along with the first lady – convened this meeting today, you have a mayor who is also speaking to other mayors. You have a governor who is also speaking to other governors. So, Henry – forgive my use of your first name – what is the alternative? The alternative is to fight. The alternatives lift us up. And the alternative is to connect with millions of people around this country who seek a way forward toward fairness, toward justice, and toward the American way, which we need to keep in our sights.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Again, she’s not a candidate yet. If she becomes a candidate, I absolutely believe she needs to address this issue. I think all leaders and all candidates need to address this issue. And we as a group will come out with a template next month, giving a very specific vision of how to address these issues best. But the one thing we can say is it’s got to be on the front burner as an issue. Any leader who’s not talking about it is out of synch with the American people and what they’re going through.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: I’d like to keep it to this topic. I don’t have a formal position on that. We can get back to you on some comments on it, but I’d like to keep it to the meeting today.

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: We’ll do an off-topic after. We’ll allow our guests to leave and then we’ll do that.

Question: So, I mean, much of middle-American, much of the south is not exactly in love with New York. You [inaudible] very colorful, political past. What makes you –

Mayor: He’s leading the witness.

[Laughter]

Question: What makes you the right convener or leader for this movement? I mean, are you really the best figurehead? 

Mayor: Convening – convening is exactly what it purports to be. I had an opportunity to bring together a group of leaders from around the country, and I guarantee you this group is going to grow by a lot. Each of these leaders knows best how to speak to their communities. I think part of what you should do as someone who recognizes a problem is find people who share those views and those values, and get them together, and figure out a course of action. That’s what we’re doing. I believe this is going to be something much bigger than any of us. This is going be a coalition that fundamentally changes the debate in this country. Please.

Deepak Bhargava: Many of us traveled from quite some ways and canceled other things in our schedule to come because the mayor and the first lady called. And I think the reason for that is that under their leadership, the city has become a model for progressive governance. And not just running and winning on the issues, but actually delivering on paid sick days, on universal pre-k. So I think all of us felt very honored to be asked to be part of this discussion. And there’s real credibility here as a convener, and we believe that New York can be a shining light. It’s important to say that the other leaders in the meeting – the other electeds – have also fought incredibly hard and brought incredible tenacity, and leadership to this issue. And the partnership between electeds and the civic sector – civic society, and the media is going to be critical to create the critical mass we need. But we all felt incredibly honored to participate and are grateful – very grateful to the mayor and the first lady for their leadership.

Question: [inaudible] 

Mayor: So, first question – progressives were invited to this event. This is not a partisan gather and it goes far beyond the question of electoral politics. This gathering was about how we change the course of our country’s future. And the one thing – and I was the person who came up with the guest list with the first lady, who approves everything that happens in this place – the guest list was determined by a simple notion. I wanted to bring together people who had a very big impact through their work and who were proven progressives who I thought could be part of contracting something much bigger. That’s how I looked at it. And that’s how we’re going to build this out – with similarly minded people. From my point of view, every one of us has a different sense of the electoral construct. I won’t speak for anyone else. We will agree on a core set of ideas. I think every candidate should speak to those ideas. I don’t think anyone sees it necessarily as a 100 percent litmus test, but I can safely say the candidates must speak to the question of income inequality, and must offer meaningful solutions. That certainly will be how I look at endorsement decisions – whether any candidate is addressing the issue that I think is the crucial issue of our times. Anything else? Last call on this and then we’ll do a little bit of local off-topic in a second. On this meeting – go ahead.

Question: [inaudible] you participated in the election in Albany in November. It backfired – there’s a bunch of Republicans got elected. Are you worried it could backfire here?

Mayor: Well, you’re leading the witness also. I think – I’m very, very proud to have supported my fellow Democrats and progressives running for state senate. It makes no sense to me that the state of New York still have a Republican led state senate when you look at everything else that’s happening. And I think there’s a lot of reasons why that’s true, and I thought it was very, very important to support progressive candidates around the state. The reasons those candidates didn’t prevail in several cases, I think, had to do with the local reality of their districts, and lots of other factors. I don’t pretend to have been decisive in any of those races. I’m also proud that we were able to elect a Democratic state senator in Buffalo. But no, I think that is a cowards way – not about you, I’m saying for anyone who looks at things that way – you’re not a coward. Anyone who looks at an issue of social change and says, well, it make not work the first time, therefore we shouldn’t try, or it didn’t work the first time then therefore we must give up – no, I think the whole notion we’re putting forward here is this change has to work. We’re talking about this fundamental change in the national dialogue on income inequality and a fundamental change in national policies relating to income inequality. It’s not do you win it and lose it the very first time. This is going to be a sustained effort until the changes are made. 

Van Jones: I just want to say a couple of things. You may not get this – this is a national hero. This is – I just want to be very, very clear – there are very few leaders in this country that have the stature to call the kind of meeting that this man called. And when you see what happens in May you’re going to be even more impressed. I think sometimes people – the hometown crowd may be a little bit rough. I want to be very, very clear about two things. Number one, we are in a situation now where the average, every day African-American is faced with not just overall crisis of the middle class, but someone in their family probably has been involved in the criminal justice system. We have to talk about how it is that we give people second chances coming home from prison. This mayor is somebody who’s not afraid to talk about that. This mayor is not responsible for the fact that Democrats across the board did poorly in 2014. We did poorly in 2014 because we didn’t speak to the economic issues. I happen to know, talking to people like Newt Gingrich – with whom I had a television show – that there were some conservatives or Republicans that were afraid that Republicans were being so tone-deaf on the economy, they were opening the door for Democrats in 2014. But we did not take advantage of the fact that we had a better economic message. We are fortunate to have a mayor that ran on economic issues, that spoke to the issues of criminal justice, and showed that that’s a winning message. People across the country look to the de Blasio campaign, and to the de Blasio example as a way forward. So, when he calls a meeting – the man who spoke to criminal justice, who spoke to economic issues, and became the mayor of the biggest city in our nation – progressives listen, and ordinary people listen, and we’re proud to listen. So, thank you. 

Mayor: Thank you. That’s a good note to end on.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Alright. Thank –

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: [inaudible] Thank you very much, guys. 

Okay, let me – I’m just going to give – Andrea, I’ll give a couple of updates first. So, everyone is aware of the arrests that occurred earlier today. I’ve been thoroughly briefed on the situation by the NYPD. There is – very, very important to note – there was never any imminent threat to our fellow New Yorkers. This was – and I use my own word here – this was a conspiracy that was undercut before it could turn into something dangerous. And I want to commend the NYPD and commend the FBI for their exceptional effort, and for undercutting this conspiracy. I also want to note – because this an important day to recognize how much we depend on our counter-terrorism efforts by the NYPD, and how much we depend on our partnership with the federal government – we make a huge expenditure in this city on counter-terrorism efforts. About 1,000 of our officers are devoted to them. A tremendous amount of technology is utilized. We need the resources to continue this work. We are the number one terror target in this country, and, in many ways, the number one terror target in the world. I want to thank the Department of Homeland Security for announcing that they’re increasing antiterrorism funding to New York City by $181 million dollars. That is a tremendously important investment in our ongoing efforts. And today is a sad reminder of how important it is to remain vigilant, and how extensive our efforts have to be. We need to continue to deepen the funding by the federal government because this is an ongoing fight. And there’s a bipartisan group of members of the congress, lead by Congressman Crowley and Congressman King, that sent a letter today to the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, and called for fully funding the existing grant programs involving counter-terrorism. I was to commend both Congressman Crowley and Congressman King for the work they’re doing. Every one of these dollars will be needed because we’re in it for the long haul. And sometimes people have asked me when do I think – from a New York City point of view – the war on terror will end. And I say very simply – of every day that I will be mayor, we’ll be in the midst of the war on terror. And we have to be not only vigilant, but continually increasing our capacity. Today is a reminder of that fact. Any questions?

Question: On an unrelated topic –

Mayor: Can we stay on this? Just see if there’s anything on this – are we going to do unrelated or not? Just doing this – [inaudible]

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: No – just – we’re on this. If we’re going to do anything else, we’ll do it separate. Anything else on this question?

Question: How worried are you about a potential ISIS – or ISIS inspired attacking?

Mayor: I’ve said many times, I take the threat of ISIS very seriously. But I also think our defenses are very strong. The fact is, ISIS had added a new element to the terrorist dynamics facing us and we need to take that very seriously. I am particularly concerned about any Americans who may go overseas and fight in Syria, or Iraq, or any place and come back. That’s new phenomenon we rarely saw in the past. I’m certainly concerned about the lone-wolf reality. And we’ve seen a few instances of this already – where individuals – sometimes individuals with mental illness – are inspired by propaganda by Islamic groups. So, I think you have to take all of this seriously. I always say we were already at such a high state of readiness and vigilance that the fundamental work hasn’t changed. But there are new and troubling factors in this equation. That is absolutely why not only will we keep making all the efforts and expenditures we’re making, but that’s why these additional federal resources are so important. If there’s nothing else on this topic, Andrea will figure out if there’s going to be any separate –

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: Say it louder?

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: The arrests today?

Question: [inaudible] 

Mayor: I think they’re all the same pattern. You know, I think this is, again, part of a newer reality where people are either being inspired by the propaganda or in some way energized by the development of ISIS. A year ago we weren’t even talking about ISIS. We didn’t know what it was. So, this is a troubling reality. But I also think it’s very telling that each and every one of these individuals was found, and before they could do any harm. That speaks to just how good the defense are. On this topic?

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: I think the fact that our police force has once again performed so well is an indication of how good it is in its current state. I do believe we need the additional federal funding so we can keeping adding to the technology and the other elements of the equation. I do believe we need a close working relationship with the federal government. The more I have learned in this process – and having to have an opportunity to get a series of briefings in recent weeks – the coordination between the different agencies really is the underlying basis for success. As you know, in the past there were some tensions between NYPD and federal agencies. Those have been resolved and I give great credit to Commissioner Bratton, and Deputy Commissioner Miller, and others for that. I think that’s what defines our success – that coordination with our federal partners, and having the technology and the federal resources we need. But I think our current police force is doing an extraordinary job at fighting terror.

Question: Let me follow on the question you just answered. Are you still contemplating a zero increase in the NYPD headcount or have you concluded – the commissioner’s concluded that there needs to b some increase in the headcount?

Mayor: I’m impressed by your fortitude, and we will have a budget announcement at the time of the executive budget. I think we’ve been over this now for a year and a quarter – we make budget announcements the day we make the budget announcement. We don’t just give you hints. We actually make a budget announcement. 

Question: One of your closest advisors, Jonathan Rosen, advising you –

Mayor: Are you on-topic?

Question: No.

Mayor: So, just one more time – if there’s anything else on this topic, it’s all yours. If not, Andrea will work with you to get you an answer in the short-term. Last call on this question of the incident today and the arrests today.

Okay. Thanks, everyone. 

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