Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Announces One Million NYC Ferry Riders Since May 1

July 26, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Claudia, thank you so much for giving voice to what the 3,000 people you represent experience every day. So I want to thank you for all the public service you’ve done when you worked at transit, and your service as the leader of the Residents Association, and I got to thank you because I know Astoria Houses became a better place the day you became the head of the Residents Association. And I know what you’ve done has made a huge, huge difference. And Claudia just laid out a history of inequity and unanswered needs that we know too well in this city. Remember we got together with a lot of you in Red Hook when we started that line, we talked about another community rich in public housing but very sadly cut off from so much of what people need in this city. When we started the Rockaways line we surly talked about a place that had been cutoff unfairly and needed more access including for folks who lived in public housing and folks who needed economic opportunity. So there’s a pattern here that’s quite clear. NYC Ferry opens doors for people and it’s being located in many of the locations that have been problems in this city for decades, areas that just didn’t have enough transportation; that were deprived of the mass transit they needed.

So we’re righting a lot of wrongs here in this process. And NYC Ferry is a success if you talk about righting those wrongs and creating more equality, creating more opportunity. It’s certainly also a success if you talk about ridership. And as you all know by now ridership has immediately and far exceeded what we projected, and that is a very, very good thing. I want to thank everyone who’s here with us; you’re going to hear from a number of the people around me. I want to give a special thank you to the folks who have worked so hard; everyone here who has been a part of making NYC Ferry work. Remember, this is a brand new enterprise, started from scratch and begun just months ago. Big thanks to James Patchett, the President of EDC, and everyone at EDC, thank you for your great work.

[Applause]

And a big thanks to Cameron Clark who’s with us, Vice President of Hornblower, for the great work everyone at Hornblower has done to create these ferries.

[Applause]

So, I think we understand that if people can’t get around everything that is great about New York City becomes a lot less great for them. If you can’t get to a job interview, or a job, if you can’t get to educational opportunities, if you can’t get to health care, if you’re cut off or if it takes way too long to get places your quality of life is diminished and you just don’t have as much opportunity to get ahead economically. We don’t want to see that happen. The whole goal of this administration has been to increase fairness and equality and opportunity. Now, here’s what dawned on us as we thought about all the things we had to do around this city, and you’re getting a great example right here. Here’s one of our greatest assets, one of the great coastal cities of the world. Here’s the East River, we’ve got the Hudson River on the other side, we’ve got the harbor, but look, you see very few vessels on it right now. Back in our history you would have seen hundreds and hundreds of vessels flying these waters. We as a city, as a society we turned away from the water for a variety of reasons, and it was a mistake. The false idol was the automobile, and obviously during the time of Robert Moses in particular everything was focused on making life easier for the automobile, and highways were built everywhere but mass transit was not built where it was needed. And we didn’t take advantage of the waterways which gave us a chance to move people around without congestion. There’s no traffic jams, there’s no stoplights or stop signs, there’s no cars that breakdown and jam up the road. There’s –you can see there’s all that open space right there.

We wanted to change the dynamics. The idea of NYC Ferry was to be a game changer. We’re just a few months into it, but this is the beginning of something potentially very, very big for this city, because you know the classic phrase if you build it they will come, well people are coming. People are choosing the ferry, and the more people that choose the ferry the more people who get off the roads, and reduce congestion. The more people who choose the ferry, the more people that get out of the subways which in so many cases have become congestion. We’ve obviously believe deeply in mass transit, but we know there are some lines including lines that serve communities near here that are constantly crowded. We’re giving another option, another way that will help people have a choice that can work for them.

So, this morning there was some very important news. This morning NYC Ferry transported its one millionth rider. Big day for NYC Ferry.

[Applause]

Now that’s been less than three months of a brand new service that a lot of people don’t even know is there yet, have not had a chance to experience. In less than three months, a million riders already. This is before all of the routes have been begun, and it is a month ahead of the projected time when we would hit that number. This obviously suggests a much faster growth rate than anyone expected. So we celebrate that because we see more and more people deciding the best way to get to work is on the ferry, we see more and more people deciding the best way to get to the things that they want to do on the weekends and have fun with their family and friends is to take the ferry. This is going to be a great thing for this city, more and more people make that choice.

Now, we know there’s been some challenges. The blessing is a lot of people like it. The challenge is a lot of people have shown up, more than expected. So to make sure we do not have long lines and that we address the demand, we’ve been chartering boats to add capacity and keep the system flexible. That is largely addressing the problem. We’ve also particularly had a huge interest in the Rockaways line on summer weekends, not surprising, you predicted it, and we’ve gotten larger ferries and charter boats to address that situation. We also have decided as a result of already seeing just these first few months of success to increase the size of the boats that are now coming into production that will be part of our fleet. So they’ll – each of these boats will be increased by 67 percent in terms of their capacity. Much bigger boats is going to help us address demand, and we’re going to keep building the system. More routes are being added as we speak, and I announced today the specific news that we’re opening the Astoria line on August 29th. So good news for Astoria, good news for Long Island City, good news for Roosevelt Island. Now you heard from Claudia, for folks in Astoria Houses right now they have a 15 or 20 minute walk to the subway. This ferry services going to be right next door to Astoria Houses, that’s going to be fantastic for people who live there. And it means for them, now instead of 20 minutes to walk to the subway, 20 minutes on the ferry and they’re in Midtown Manhattan. That’s the difference it’s going to be.

[Applause]

As I said in addition to Astoria, Long Island City will be a winner. Long Island City, everyone can see amazing things are happening here. A growing neighborhood, a lot of demand, people are using the ferry here at this stop already. Another stop will be created farther north in Long Island City to give even more options to people who live here. And obviously every time you add another stop and you add more service it takes pressure off other stops and other routes and it allows us to keep running things smoother. So that expansion we think is going to be help to make everything more smoothly and on time.

Finally, Roosevelt Island will get a ferry stop and this is a very big deal because it coincides with the opening of the Cornell-Technion Campus. Now this is a very important thing that onto itself, the Cornell-Technion campus, which I give the Bloomberg administration tremendous credit for initiating, is going to be a key element in our strategy to keep building our technology sector in this city. It’s already 350,000 jobs; we want to see it get up to 400 or even 500,000 jobs. Having Cornell-Technion there is going to be a centerpiece but let’s face it, it’s not the easiest place to get to. The ferry service is going to make it even easier for folks in the tech community to be a part of Cornell-Technion and vice versa, for folks coming out of that campus to connect to the larger city. So this is all about creating more access around the city, giving people opportunity regardless of zip code, creating a transportation system that actually can work for the 21st century.

And before I conclude, I just want to note, all of the new elements that we need in mass transit in this city, we need more ferries, we need more select bus service and that’s been a big priority of the administration, we’re investing in that, working with the MTA on that, and that’s been a great success. We need light rail, and that initial effort we’re making from Astoria down to Sunset Park we believe that’s going to be a game changer and then a model for doing more light rail in places that need it. And we need further access to Citi Bike. All of those things are, again different pieces of the equation, but all new over the course of the last decade, giving New Yorkers lots and lots more options and we are going to have to keep building on all those fronts to keep up with the needs of this city. So we look forward to doing that, and we know we have the capacity to get the job done. A few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish.]
With that, it’s a good – good news in English and Spanish both. A new line opening in Astoria, more service for Queens, I know someone who likes it when there’s more for the people of Queens, the Borough President Melinda Katz.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you very much. So, Western Queens is energetically represented at City Hall. Jimmy Van Bramer does not have a shyness problem. And it seems like whenever we do something good for his district, there’s an immediate additional demand which is quite impressive. So – but the truth is in addition to him being Majority Leader and energetically representing his district, this is a part of the city that’s growing so rapidly and needs more options for people. And that’s why it’s so important that we’re going to have a new stop for Long Island City coming in real soon at the end of August. My pleasure to introduce to you, the Majority Leader of the Council Jimmy Van Bramer.

[…]

Mayor: And finally, I had the joy of doing a town hall meeting last week in Astoria, my old stomping ground, and we talked about a lot of the issues people care about in the community. We definitely heard from Astoria Houses about a number of concerns, and as Claudia said earlier, the need for more access to the things that matter. So I know this is an important day for the Councilman who represents Astoria, my pleasure to bring forward Councilman Costa Constantinides.

[…]

Mayor: Alright, so we’re going to take questions on today’s announcement on the ferries, then I’ve got another update I want to give you after that. And then we’ll go into questions on all topics. So first, anything on the ferries? Juliet.

Question: Mr. Mayor did you identify the [inaudible] when you [inaudible]?

Mayor: I fear we didn’t do that, and we should have. So, heads will roll at EDC.  I don’t know if we –

[Laughter]

Did we identify the millionth rider? James Patchett?

President and CEO James Patchett, Economic Development Cooperation:  We have not yet identified the specific millionth rider, but we are – Hornblower has kindly offered, offer half priced drafts on board all day. So, in all seriousness –

Mayor: Just the millionth rider?

President Patchett: No, for all riders on the millionth day of service, yes.

Mayor: Okay, this should have been on top of my announcement. Could you repeat that please?

President Patchett: Half-priced drafts all NYC Ferry, all NYC Ferry.

Mayor: James I am going to teach you something about public relations.

[Laugher]

Mayor: So, we do not know the millionth rider. We’re going to make at the two millionth rider, we’re going to be smart enough to find the person. But I am very happy that Hornblower is celebrating in such a generous fashion. You want to add or no?

President Patchett: Eighty percent.

Question: Of the million riders, do you have any estimate as to the number of the percentage of people who are residents of New York City and how many are tourists?

Mayor: James is going to speak to that, because we – obviously we’re early on in the process, but we have been looking at that. The number one reason we created this of course is for people getting to work, getting to school, getting to medical appointments and that means for everyday New Yorkers. But, James will speak to what we know so far from an initial survey.

President Patchett: Yep, so we ran an initial survey over the last couple of weeks, so we don’t know every rider, but we do know is that over 80 percent of riders identified as being New Yorkers and that survey was conducted both during the day and on the weekend. And the total was slightly over 80 percent were New Yorkers.

Mayor: Okay, other questions on ferry, on the new service, on the millionth rider? Any questions on the ferry? Question, yes.

Question: Do you have any updates on whether or not this particular network might be expanded to Staten Island?

Mayor:  So it’s the same reality we’ve talked about before. Now, I will say the speed with which we’re surpassing the goals is an important factor in this discussion. Because what I’ve said is before we take next steps, there is obvious interest in Staten Island and other parts of the city of adding additional lines. But I wanted to see how ridership went. So this is a promising sign so far. But my message has been, let’s get through the build out of this set of lines into the beginning of 2018 and that’s the natural time to then decide if we’re ready to go the next distance and add additional lines. So, it is not a formal update, but the news is encouraging based on what we’ve seen so far.

Question: And just in terms of – you know I know the Borough President has proposed a private, privately funded ferry service between Saint George and Midtown. Are you going to be looking – assuming any of that happens, are going to be looking at that in terms of whether it makes sense for the city to jump in? Or do you think your timeline is maybe ahead of that?

Mayor: Well, no, I think it’s different. I think it’s a very fair question but I’d say, I think they’re running on very different tracks if you will. The private service discussion is obviously about the development that’s occurring on the North Shore, and so there’s different realities here about the private sectors role that could be obvious they’re going to benefit, and you know there’s been ferry service to other private sector dynamics, like Ikea in Red Hook and things like that. So that I would say needs to be looked at onto itself. There has been some discussion to connect it to New Jersey. That’s obviously a whole different discussion. We’re going to look at further expansion based on what we have been seeing so far and what we’re trying to do. First and foremost – again for New York City commuters, and then also for weekend use. And there is a number of nominations that have been made from around city for different lines. So were going to look at all that from scratch. The effort the Borough President is undertaking is a good one. But I think it’s a different kind of approach because it connects to the private sector development and we’re going to keep working on that on its own track. Would you like to add to that? Okay, yes Juliet?

Question: Are there still [inaudible] or the lines for the Rockaways ferries, and is there is a way to really raise that?

Mayor: Yeah, we have a lot of improvement on that front. This one was one of the things we underestimated that the demand would be quite so high. So, I think I’ll start and James can give you some specific facts, but I’d say we have two realities. The week day reality for the different routes running during the weekday we feel very good about. We’ve added some back up boats. So in some places where we saw particular crowding at like particular moment of the rush hour, we have the ability to come in with a back boat and pick up more folks. But the real challenge has been the Rockaways and then also Governors Island. And that key times in the morning, key times in the afternoon when people are coming back. So there’s been a lot of additional capacity rented, you know leased to be able to do that. We’ve substantially reduced the weights. There is still going to be times when people who into the beach, or coming from the beach are going to have weights, but it’s much less. And we’ll keep making adjustments as we go along. You want to speak to the numbers or the new service you’ve added?

President Patchett: Sure, so the – we started the original plan was to run two vessels on the Rockaways, 250 person vessels. Since that time we’ve added two additional regular services on the weekends. So that’s four total vessels that are running. So we’ve doubled the capacity in the last two weekends we ran – we were experimenting with running a 500 person vessel. The last two weekends on top of the 450 person vessels, when we were doing that we we’re – people were not waiting very long at all, we were able to clear all of the lines. So, we’ve had good success last couple of weekends. We’re looking to extend that and other options as well to ensure that we’re meeting the demands on the weekends.

Question: Can you discuss how you’re meeting the demand at these stops, [inaudible] NYC Ferry they also have by demand, especially more in rush hour [inaudible]?

Mayor: Yeah and that’s where we did need to add additional boats to relieve some of that demand. Because it was particular moments in the rush hour that we found were challenging. So why don’t you speak to that.

President Patchett: Hi, so we – the original vessel route planned three vessels along the East River. We had added a fourth a vessel, just initially to deal with demand issues. And then we were running a fifth vessel which we what we called a sweeper vessel, which was being used to essentially when we identify people who had been left behind in the dock, we ran the vessel out there. But over time what we discovered to no one’s surprise was that everyone wanted to get to work around 9 am, which meant that everyone was showing up at the docks right around you know, between the 8 and 8:15 and 8:30. So, instead of continuing to just run a vessel that was waiting to show up when people were going to be left behind. We’ve instead now temporally added an additional vessel to show up at those docks about five minutes after the initial vessel on those key rush hour routes. In the last few mornings we’ve been running that very successfully, and that vessel has been successfully able to pick everyone who came for those first boats. So overall actually it’s been a very successful new solution to this, and we’re going to continue to have to evolve. Obviously, also the demand will change by seasons. This is what we’re seeing during the summer, but you know when it comes to October or January it could be very different.

Mayor: Okay, last call on ferries? Yep.

Question: Would the Metrocard ever be connected to the system?

Mayor: That is a live issue, meaning, I think there would a lot to be said for that at the appropriate time. There is a lot to work out. You know, technology and cost and everything else. But that’s certainly something we’re looking at strongly as we get down the line. I think the simple way to think about this is, phase one here is to build out the routes that have already been announced through the begging of 2018. See how that’s going, see what have to make in the wake of adjustments. Decide if we want to add additional routes. That’s the first set of things we have to deal with. We’re definitely going to have discussions with the MTA. We’ve started them broadly, but we want to get into a detailed discussion about whether we can find a way to connect this to it. Obviously, the same with light rail when that comes on board. But I do want to emphasize it’s a good idea, but it’s also a complicated idea. And it’s something that’s going to take real work to resolve. Yes, Mara?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Okay, going ahead. Last call on this because I said I have another thing I have another thing I want to talk about before we go to general questions. Going once on ferries, twice.

Okay, obviously want to talk about what happened in Washington, D.C. yesterday. So look, the sad fact is that the vote in the U.S. Senate took us one step closer to over a million New Yorkers being robbed of their health insurance. That’s what’s going on here. The most fundamental understanding is we woke up yesterday morning with a situation that was very, very gray in the Senate. By the end of the day, the Senate had started decisively on the road to repealing the Affordable Care Act.

I want to remind people what that means – estimates as high as 1.6 million New Yorkers who could lose their health insurance. A huge strain it will create on our public hospital system – on HHC, on our hospitals and clinics, which already serve a huge number of people who don’t have health insurance. So there’s hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are eligible and don’t have health insurance. They go largely to public hospitals. Undocumented folks – that’s almost a half-million people – go largely to public hospitals. Right now, one of the only things that’s keeping our public hospital system afloat is the folks who do come in with insurance, whether it’s Medicaid, or insurance they got under the ACA, or any other source. When you talk about well over a million people – again possibly as high as 1.6 million – not having that insurance, going to their public hospitals as the last resort option for health care. All of those visits – we New York City taxpayers are going to have to pay for. And we have to understand, that’s going to greatly increase costs at Health + Hospitals. There’s also direct money our hospitals receive through Medicaid that is endangered both by the vote on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and on the budget proposals that will be debated in the fall.

So this is a dangerous, dangerous moment for New York City, and obviously for people all over the country. We don’t know where it’s going to say the least. If there’s a reason for hope, it’s that the situation is so chaotic in Washington, and there’s so much opposition around the country, and there’s so much mixed feelings even in the Republican Party, that there’s still a chance to beat this back. So the ballgame is still on. Again, we wake up this morning in a worse situation than we were yesterday morning, but this is still an open situation. So look, it is a fair statement to say – the repeal of the Affordable Care Act has never been closer, but it’s also a fair statement to say – we have never had a better chance to stop the repeal once and for all than we’re going to have in these next few weeks. There’s going to be a battle royal.

And my message to New Yorkers is to make your voices heard. There are now lots of organizations that are giving people the opportunity to call in to key states, and talk to people in those states, and ask them to reach their senators, and explain how devastating it would be for millions of people to lose health care. We need people to be a part of that. We need people to reach out to their friends and families, and relatives – everyone they know in other states. This has to be a fight that people take very, very personally because it will be about whether families can afford health care.

And the last thing I want to say is – remember, anytime the federal government takes something away, local taxpayers end up paying for it. It’s a really simple, painful formula. There’s no free lunch. So if a lot of people are getting health care now because of a federal initiative and that is taken away, we here in New York City, will end up getting the bill. And we’ll end up paying the price. And that’s going to be true in cities and towns all over America, so many of which are stressed already with all the things they have to do. So big fight ahead – it could be weeks, it could be longer. But it’s a chance to avert disaster and everyone’s got to get in this fight.

So questions on that or any other topics. Mara?

Question: Mr. Mayor, going to the subways for a moment. Last night, we were at the R train station with you. Overheard a passerby kind of call out to you – fix the subways. I’m aware that it’s largely the State’s responsibility. Why not just put aside the fight for now over who’s funding responsibility this is, and say well, if you support the plan, just put up the money now, and be the bigger person, and then worry about the money later when New Yorkers –

Mayor: It’s not about – it’s not about how big a person any of us is, it’s about what fair for New York City and our taxpayers. So plan is a good start, the money’s there.

I’m not going to see almost half-a-billion money that was meant for the MTA diverted away from it and stay silent about that. That’s not fair to New York City subway riders. That’s not fair to New York City taxpayers. And I don’t understand, respectfully, why the media is not more interested in why that money was diverted, and where it is now, and why it isn’t being given back in a moment of crisis. That’s what we should be focused on. So that’s the right thing to do.

In addition, we’ve obviously talked about things like – which I didn’t know about until you raised it to me, a lot of you last week – the lights for the Kosciuszko Bridge, which is easy, obvious money that should be diverted to the immediate crisis. The State has to take responsibility for the thing it runs. It’s as simple as that. They tried – as you saw in the last few weeks – to muddy the waters on who really ran it. I think that was pretty soundly beaten back by folks who looked at the facts and looked at the history. It’s the State’s responsibility to fix the situation. They have the resources available – use them.

Now we will absolutely put forward real resources through our agencies. I’ve said very clearly – if they need more help – Joe Lhota put in his plan he needed more help from NYPD in terms of addressing littering and other things in the subways – we’ll happily do that. We can add additional resources there. We can add additional resources for FDNY to help address issues in the subways, when passengers are sick or whatever it may be. We’re happy to do more to help them address the homeless problem they have in the subways. We’ll go in with our resources on that. That’s going to add up to some real money. That’s the kind of thing I think is appropriate given the responsibilities we have currently.

But I just want the MTA to own up to its own responsibilities and use the money it has. That’s the other thing. I think it’s a great question how so much money is sitting there and not being used effectively. And I think Joe Lhota was pretty honest yesterday that one of his key missions is to figure out how to make that agency spend its money better – let’s see that happen. And then we can all work together on the bigger future.

Dave?

Question: Mayor – related to that though – why not yesterday, when you came out with your response to Lhota’s plan say – okay, we’ll give you this money from the City if you give us some control over the subway system?

Mayor: It’s a fair question because right now I think we have a chance for the current structure to work because finally responsibility is being taken. Remember, we’ve talked about this before, Dave. The history of the MTA is a very unfortunate one because part of what motivated the creation of the MTA was to insulate its decisions from the will of the people and make it easier to do things without anyone knowing who the hell’s in charge. And lo and behold, you ask most New Yorkers, they’re not clear who’s in charge, more and more they understand it is the State and the Governor, but there’s still a lot of gray. I think it’s most effective in anything in government if one person is responsible that you can hold accountable and the people can hold accountable.

So what I think happened in these last weeks, as a result of this crisis, is this question has been called, which is a good thing for New York City. And now it’s clear, the State’s responsible for the MTA, the Governor ultimately – Governor names the head of the MTA. Good choice – Joe Lhota. Joe Lhota did a good thing yesterday – he stepped up, took charge, offered a plan. That’s what we’ve been needing. I think that could work. And we will work going forward on the ways to make all of that work for the long-term. But the best of all worlds would be to get the current structure to work. If it doesn’t, then it’s a very live discussion of what should happen in the future – if we need to restructure the whole thing. But I’m at least encouraged, since yesterday, that Joe Lhota, I think, does have the skills to get the job done and did offer a plan that started to address some of the real problems.

Gloria?

Question: So you say you’re not willing to negotiate in any way with the MTA or with Joe Lhota. He seemed to take a more friendly approach yesterday when he delivered his plan. He seemed to be offering to you an olive branch to figure this out. You went out and had the press conference. Is that what you’re saying – you don’t want to negotiate –

Mayor: Gloria, it’s not – again, I’m – I’m always interested in why that is the subtext of the question – isn’t it good to give City money away. I don’t think it is good to give City money away, not when we’re facing challenges that I’ve just described a moment ago on health care alone. I think it’s good to participate when everyone else has done what they were supposed to do. So right now, we gave the MTA $2.5 billion in capital funds. We were not required to. We made that decision working with the City Council. That was above and beyond, and I’ve mentioned – with all due respect to them, and Joe Lhota’s brand new, but all due respect to them – a very, very small percentage of that money has been used after two years. So we did that good faith, haven’t seen a lot of result yet.

On this immediate need – come on, it’s the exact same – I don’t know how they managed to come up with the exact same dollar figure, but it’s the exact same dollar figure as the amount of money that has been diverted away from the MTA to the State budget, literally from taxes earmarked for the MTA. Why would I want to give up New York City taxpayer dollars, which are not abundant – we have huge challenges here and huge new problems coming from Washington – when the State has not even reimbursed the MTA for the money it took. Let’s do that first. And then we can talk about ways to work together going forward.

Question: [Inaudible] talk about unspent capital money. Is that part of – is part of that the fact that capital projects by definition take so long to get done and usually the bigger payment doesn’t get done until that project is completed?

Mayor: There’s some truth in that. But I think – look, I don’t know if you guys have suddenly had a revisionist view of the world, but I think it’s pretty well established over years, in fact decades, the MTA has been historically inefficient. This is part of the problem. And I’ve seen plenty of reporting over time, so I want you to keep that in mind. The MTA has had a problem with its operations for a long, long time. The problem is – over the last years where there was a chance to make the tough choices on things like fixing the signals and all – unfortunately people made the easy choices and deferred, and deferred, and deferred. So no, I actually don’t let them off the hook on that. It’s not been an efficiently run agency. They have not spent the money they have. And they made the wrong choices about where to put their money.

I told you Rahm Emanuel’s op-ed was surprising on one level, but substantively was correct. Chicago made the right choices and they are having the better experience with their subways as a result. Unfortunately, the MTA made the wrong choices.

So this all needs to be brought out in the open. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be an agreement that the MTA has to figure out how to spend money better. I’ll give you an example from here in the city. School Construction Authority used to be incredibly inefficient. A lot of work went into to fixing it, over years. Now, I give money to School Construction Authority, it is stunning how quickly they are building new schools, new pre-K centers, you name it. And I said the other day at one of these gatherings, you know, we’re giving them more and more money because they’re using it so well. Let’s get the MTA to actually do what it should do and take in that money and turn it around as quickly as humanly possible. And that has not been the history.

Jillian?

Question: Mayor, can you just kind of give us some background on the decision – or what went into the decision of having Emma Wolfe be involved in negotiating with Harendra Singh for the lease at Water’s Edge, and whether somebody else who hadn’t donated to your campaign or been on your inaugural committee would have had access to such high-level people in trying to settle it –

Mayor: Yeah, I have no clue about how those specific decisions were made or meetings happened. That was well after I paid any attention to the specific issue. But I do want to note – every day we have community leaders, we have elected officials, we have business leaders come to us with issues. If they’re simple, if it’s easy to understand, yes, no – quick, they get handled quickly. Some are very complex and go on for months and years. It always astounds me how long it can take to resolve some things. But this was a complex issue – long before we knew of his other problems and any of the things he had done wrong. All we knew was here is a business person in Queens with a big establishment, employed a lot of people, and had valid concerns that never got resolved. So that’s why it kept going on and has never got resolved. But there are plenty of cases where my colleagues around me bring issues to us that go on for a long time and we have to bring a lot of people and a lot of agencies to get them finally resolved. Goal is to just get it done and move onto the next.

Question: Your staff said it was untrue that police were directed to sweep the subway platforms of homeless people on Sunday when you took a train ride from Park Slope to Borough Hall. There’s an email that show that directive was given.

Mayor: I have not seen any email that shows that. Look, there are people in any agency who have an axe to grind. And so if someone sends an email saying oh, this was said. I haven’t seen any directive given. And if it was given, it shouldn’t have been. I ride the subways all the time. There’s no sweeps. So if someone – look, I know you guys like to focus on things like this – if someone is doing it because they have an axe to grind politically, God bless them. But that’s not the policy. The policy is not to do sweeps. I get in on the subway – whatever’s happening on the subway, I’m going to experience it with everyone else.

Question: Did you seek out any email trail or any records that might have –

Mayor: I don’t care, my friend, because it does not matter. Read my lips – I don’t care. It’s an irrelevancy. It’s either a fraud because someone is just trying to stir the pot and give the New York Post something to write about. Or if it happened, it shouldn’t have happened, and we’ll make sure people know in the future, it’s not the right thing. We don’t do sweeps. It doesn’t make sense. Any approach taken to homeless in the subways or any other problem, should be the same every single day, regardless of whether I’m around.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I’ve finished it. Go ahead.

Question: You just said you take the subways all the time. Back in June, you told [inaudible] 

Mayor: Yeah, I covered this the other day but I’ll do it for you again. That was a very specific question on WNYC about going to the gym in the morning. And I said, the car is going either way, that’s just the security protocol. If I took the subway all the way, which would take a lot more time, the car’s going either way. The caller was saying, you shouldn’t have the cars go for environmental reasons. I was trying to inform the caller that the car’s going either way. That’s a very different question than whether I ride the subway, which I’ve been riding all my life, and I’ve told you guys for 20 years it was the only thing I rode. I’ve been using the subway throughout – generally, when it was just the better choice because we were trying to get somewhere quick and made more sense than the car. Now, I’ve said I’m going to be out there more on purpose because this issue is of such deep concern to New Yorkers. People’s every-day lives are being affected by this crisis. They need to see results. Yesterday was a good day because the plan came forward, but the plan being put into effect is a whole other matter. So, I’m going to be out there to keep sending a message to the MTA – they’ve got to fix these problems quickly. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Again, my point was if I’m riding every day on a route where my cars are going and the specific question about why don’t you leave your cars behind – I was trying to tell the rider, the cars aren’t going to be left behind. So, his specific concern – that’s why I used that phrase, because what he wanted wasn’t going to happen. But I’m going to go in the subways during this crisis to make a point – the MTA has got to get its act together. Yesterday’s a good start – we need to see more. 

Question: Can I get your reaction on what the President said this morning about banning transgender people? And also, do you think that most Americans care one way or the other on this issue?

Mayor: I do not, Dave. I appreciate the question a lot. I’ll start and I know the Council member has some thoughts too. I was – I wish I could say shocked by anything Donald Trump does nowadays, but I can’t really use that word anymore. I was really troubled though. One – to your point, no, I think the vast majority of Americans are tolerant people, inclusive people, they want to see everyone have a chance to be a part of society. By the way, it’s a volunteer army. Anyone who comes forward and volunteers to serve their country and put themselves in harm’s way, I say God bless them. I don’t care what their identity is, we should welcome them, we should thank them. So, it’s very, very said. But I said this morning on the radio, this is just Donald Trump’s playbook, going back to the 1980s. He has always loved to divide people. He’s always loved to put people down, and he just keeps doing it. But, you know what? He’s out of synch with the American people. No, I don’t think they care. I think they admire anyone who’s willing to put on a uniform and serve their country. 

Councilmember Van Bramer: So, first, I’d like to thank the Mayor for allowing me to address this. I am outraged, as every American should be. My husband enrolled in the U.S. Navy when he was a teenager, before he was even out of the closet. And on the suspicion that he was gay, he was removed from the military, even before his parents knew that he was gay, even though he was honorably serving our country overseas in a very sensitive position. We have left that time behind and now appreciate the courage and the willingness of every American to serve our country and even risk their life for our country. This President is a bully. This President is using his presidency to take the most vulnerable among us, and separate them from us, and deny them their heroism and their courage when they want to serve our country and they want, and are willing to risk their lives so that we can be free. It is outrageous. It is disgraceful. Everyone should be angry that this president is willing to do that to the transgender community. They are in fact very good and effective servants and soldiers and warriors – just as good as anyone else. And for him to say in these ridiculous, silly, juvenile tweets that somehow our people are going to endanger the ability of our military to be effective and forceful and victorious is a disgraceful attempt to label the trans community as not having valor. It’s absolutely outrageous, it’s disgraceful, and we should all be outraged. 

Question: On the Brooklyn-Queens street car –

Mayor: Yes.

Question: Is there any concern that the rising property values that will occur when this is built will displace residents who are already in the neighborhood? Have any estimates been made on that issue?

Mayor: First of all, these are communities that are going through a lot of growth and a lot of change already. We know this. My argument has always been, if the government doesn’t engage in the equation and it’s just private-sector forces, that displacement has been happening. There’s lots of neighborhoods in this city, like Bushwick and Bed-Stuy, and so many other examples around the city – Lower East Side, you name it – that have seen a huge amount of change with no government intervention and displacement did occur. What we’ve proposed in this city now is something different – a very aggressive government effort to build affordable housing, subsidize and keep affordable housing in place, keep people lawyers to stop evictions, protect the 400,000 people who live in public housing, keep it public, keep it strong. Obviously, a lot of those folks like – I think it’s 40,000 live on the proposed light-rail route. So, the whole strategy has changed to take measures that will fight displacement and preserve affordable housing. But, at the same time, people need mass transit – this is a given. They need the opportunity that comes with it. And we also can help people if they can get better jobs, if they can better education. They’ll have the resources to be able to afford to stay in their communities. So, we’ve got to be able to do both at once. My view is, the new light-rail will offer a lot more opportunity and a lot of other measures are being taken to protect affordability. 

Yes, Juliet?

Question: The other day when you released the five points [inaudible subway improvement, one of them was using some sort of CompStat system. Is that something you would devise? Is that something you could measure? 

Mayor: We proposed that – and look, I give Joe Loot credit – he was very much in the same place and said the MTA is going to have to do something like that, that really measure performance much more aggressively, makes better, quicker changes when things aren’t working. I mean, that’s the beauty of CompStat. That is such a live, dynamic system, the exact opposite of what we’ve known from the MTA over years and years. The MTA lets problems fester. CompStat pushes NYPD to address things very quickly. So, I’m glad to hear him embrace it. I think he understand it from his previous experience. Now, the other piece of the equation which we’re calling for is – put it all up publicly. We put up all the CompStat information publicly – MTA should do the same thing. Put up publicly what’s working, what’s not, what you’re doing about it. Show people there are improvements. The plan is a promising plan, but now we have to see it implemented very quickly and we have to see if it actually changes things. All of that should be transparent. 

Question: Mayor, can you point to specific case involving a constituent [inaudible] and that kicks off a month-long [inaudible] involving [inaudible]?

Mayor: This thing’s been covered and covered and covered. I’m sure there’s many experiences and examples where community leaders – I’m just not going to do that. There’s plenty of examples where people have brought complex issues to us – community activists, community residents, leaders – and they take a long time to resolve. The issue has been looked at. It’s been covered. 

Question: But you said there’s so many. 

Mayor: I don’t have one for you today. I’ve experienced many. Go ahead. 

Question: [Inaudible] two aspects of [inaudible] did you speak with [inaudible] about Water’s Edge –

Mayor: It’s been looked at. I’m just not going into it further. It’s been reviewed and looked at. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: You can ask it all you want. 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Again, I’m just not going to speak to it further. It’s been looked at exhaustively. 

Question: You said when Jill asked that you have no clue how [inaudible] Emma Wolfe into [inaudible]. You also said that nothing [inaudible]. So, given that, will you have [inaudible] – because people in your administration do know how those decisions were made – will you have Eric find out for us and tell us who made the decision to involve them –

Mayor: This has been looked at exhaustively. There’s nothing more to know. This is everyday life in government. So, no, I think it’s been covered. Last call. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I have nothing else to say to you about this. 

Question: Do you deny that you spoke to him?

Mayor: I have nothing else to say to you. Go ahead. 

Question: There’s this ping pong back and forth between you and Governor about the MTA. Do you have any plans, or would you be willing to sit down with him and figure out what you’re both looking for on this –

Mayor: Well, sure. I want to separate the immediate crisis form the long-term. You will understand that I was surprised last week not by the ping pong between me and the Governor, but the ping pong within the Governor’s own team and the MTA about who was responsible for the MTA. And you’ve seen that evolve over the last few weeks, right? And we’ve seen definition every few days of who’s actually in charge and what I have been calling for is a clear acknowledgement of the facts – the MTA is responsible for its operations. The head of the MTA is named by the Governor. The State controls the MTA – that’s been true for a long time. I wanted to get that one straight. Finally, I think we’ve seen in the more recent statements from the Governor and the Chair of the MTA that acknowledgement. The second point is – we needed a plan and I think we got a good start. It’s not the whole plan, but we got a good start yesterday. The third point is – there has to be responsibility taken for the resources that are needed. There has to be an acknowledgement the City of New York gave, voluntarily, $2.5 billion and very little of that’s been used. There has to be an acknowledgement that the State of New York took almost a half-billion out of MTA tax money and never returned it. That the money for the Kosciuszko Bridge lights is not a good use of money – that should go to the MTA. The Governor said he’d give a billion dollars – that was June 29th. He said he’s give a billion dollars more to the MTA. Great, let’s see the billion dollars. So, it was all about getting that clarity. Now, let’s say those things hopefully get resolved quickly – we move forward. We all need to sit down – and I’m very ready to sit down with the Governor, and Joe Lhota, and anyone else – to figure out what’s going to happen over the next five, 10 years, etcetera, with the MTA beyond this immediate crisis. We’ve got a bigger decision we have to make about how this MTA is going to be sustainable for the future, and that decision has to go with a real commitment to New York City, which has not been the case. I used the example yesterday – the MTA spends $3 per subway and bus rider in the City – $19 per commuter train rider. There’s been an imbalance for a long time, so we need the MTA to recommit to its first priority, which is New York City. We need the MTA to actually make the big investments in things like the signals – it’s not sexy, but are absolutely necessary – that’s a conversation we’re fully going to be a part of and we’re ready to talk about how to make that work. 

Question: [Inaudible] sticking points. I mean, do you have any –

Mayor: No, I don’t think it’s a sticking point. In other words, if someone’s responsible – just get the logic pattern here – once you’ve established someone’s responsible, then they have to fulfill their responsibilities. So, we all agree now the Governor names the Chair of the MTA. That Chair came forward with a plan. The State of New York has to make sure the MTA is working. They control the agency. And, by the way, since we reminded everyone of the $456 million they took out of MTA revenue and never returned – no one’s denied that. So, I think it’s a good time for everyone to ask, where’s that money? Can we have it back now so we can solve this problem? We know that money is still available and it should go to the MTA.

Question: The Governor is in D.C. now with the education secretary discussing [inaudible]. Do you have any plans to go to DC?

Mayor: I spoke to Secretary Chao two months ago or so when I was down there. And I want to say, of all of the members of the cabinet, I found her to be – of the ones I’ve talked to so far – the most aware of the problems we’re facing and the most open to try and to work together, and I appreciate that. Her reality will be entirely determined by the budget vote in September, what kind of resources she’s going to have, or what’s going to be taken away, and I’m very, very worried about those resources going backwards. The President talks a lot about infrastructure, but his budget proposal takes away a huge amount – billions – for infrastructure. So, yeah, we’ll certainly – I’m going to talk to the Secretary for sure. We’re going to try to build a real partnership. But I think the real ballgame will be determined by the vote in the Congress in September. I’m going to get very actively involved in that. We have votes that matter in New York State – some swing Congressional votes that matter in New York States on those budget matters, including transportation. There are Senators all over the country my fellow mayors are working to switch votes on to get us a real investment in infrastructure. So, that’s going to be a big focus. 

Thanks, everyone.