Contact: Cristyne Lategano or Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958
In his fourth State of the City address, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today heralded New York as a vibrant, growing City -- a City of pride and success. The Mayor charted a new course for the next four years -- a course that will lead New York City into the new millennium as a City that has replaced the "culture of unaccountability with a culture of performance."
"Two weeks ago, with a half million people gathered in Times Square, as I watched the New Year arrive, I couldn't help but imagine: what will New York be like on the night of December 31st, 1999," Mayor Giuliani asked. "Imagine the excitement when the ball begins to drop. The eyes of the entire world will be watching New York City. I can't help but wonder... what kind of city will they see? More importantly, what kind of city will we be?"
"Time and again we have shown that together we can move New York City in the right direction. We've begun to make landmark reforms in our school system. We've lowered taxes and controlled government spending. We've added more than 110,000 jobs to our private sector economy. "We've reduced the welfare rolls by more than 220,000. We've improved our quality of life, and we've made New York the model for crime reduction throughout America and much of the world.
"We've made more changes in the last three years than ever before, but bigger challenges lie ahead as we prepare for the 21st century. My enthusiasm for meeting these challenges, and for creating a better quality of life for all New Yorkers, is greater today than it was on the day I took office. If you think we've been an agent for change in the last three years, fasten your seat belts. Because there are a lot more changes to come," the Mayor said.
"Today we must put the same focus and achieve the same success in making the Police Department and all our communities partners in protection as we have had in reducing crime. Substantive training in respect and courtesy is now an important part of the education of every police officer. And just as our successful CompStat program evaluates our progress in reducing crime, from now on it will also be used to promote respect and courtesy. It is a major priority of my administration that our police understand all of our people and be representative of the entire City," the Mayor said.
The Police Department has also instituted a policy of "zero tolerance" for corruption, brutality and disrespect. The Mayor said that a good record of respect and courtesy is just as important as a good record of reducing crime.
The Mayor announced that he will work with the City Council to freeze property taxes in accordance with Governor Pataki's newest education proposal in order to make New York City eligible for its fair share of State Education funding.
The Mayor also urged the State Legislature to approve the Infrastructure Finance Authority which would add $1.4 billion to this year's budget specifically for school construction projects.
Mayor Giuliani announced that $125 million of City money, made available through the Municipal Assistance Corporation, will fund the establishment of Project Read -- a special fund, specifically earmarked to help New York City public school children improve their ability to read.
"Project Read" will provide the Chancellor with the resources and flexibility to give students in grade schools six hours of additional reading instruction per week as well as other programs, so that all children will have the opportunity to improve their reading.
The Mayor added, " This is what we mean when we say that we will replace a culture of unaccountability with a culture of performance. Just as we have become a national leader in fighting crime and restoring quality of life, I want New York City to be a national leader in education. We can reach that goal by applying the same dedication and management expertise that have improved so many other areas of New York. I believe we can jump-start all of these efforts and give our schools the same opportunity to improve reading scores as dramatically and as quickly as we have reduced crime."
The tools children need today, and will need in the year 2000, have become more complex, and now include computer literacy and proficiency in technology.
"To provide these new tools for our children, Chancellor Crew and I are proposing an all-encompassing partnership -- City Hall, the City Council, the Board of Education, and most importantly our business leaders -- to help finance and implement a program that will furnish computers to all of the public schools of our city," the Mayor announced.
The program, called Project Smart Schools, will also provide computer training for teachers, and provide necessary staff and professional personnel, so that all students can learn to use computers, and thereby be able to compete and win in this new era of advanced technology.
The City and the Board will provide capital and expense dollars to initiate this new program. The City's goal will be that every child in public school has access to a computer. The program will cost approximately $150 million, including $115 million in capital costs. To help reduce the expense to the City, the Mayor has asked the business community to help lead the effort to raise matching funds and to guide the choices we make in technology and its applications.
Richard Grasso, Chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and Stephen Robert, Chairman of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., have agreed to recruit a broad cross-section of business leaders to assist us in giving these opportunities to all our children by the year 2000.
The Mayor said, "Together we have done more to reform our school system in the last six months than in the previous 28 years. We now have real hope that the problems can be solved and that we can bring about real improvement in the education of our young people."
The Mayor also noted that for the first time, the State of the City Address
was being carried live on the World Wide Web via AudioNet -- the world's largest
and most comprehensive audio site on the Internet www.audionet.com which can
be accessed through NYC.gov http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us.
The Mayor also renewed his call for the New York City Police Department to have ultimate responsibility for school security.
"One problem that cannot be solved by computers, textbooks or money is school security. If parents are afraid their children will be harmed in school, or if teachers are afraid in their classrooms, the whole school system will deteriorate, just as the city did in the early 1990s, when records were set for murder. The safety of our schools and our children must be paramount. When it comes to improving school safety, we have many areas of agreement and one remaining difference I am hopeful we will be able to resolve. I am hopeful we can set aside issues of turf and join together to make our children and teachers safe. "
If a child or young adult displays threatening behavior, there should be the option to remove that child from the school, so that others are not impeded in their desire to learn. The Mayor announced that he will work with Chancellor Crew to develop six schools for students who threaten other students or teachers, so that students can learn and teachers can teach without fear.
With the help of the Annenberg Foundation, and in partnership with Commissioner Schuyler Chapin and the Department of Cultural Affairs, the City and the Board of Education are working with many talented artists and cultural institutions to restore arts education to all of our public schools.
The Mayor said that as we look to the future, the City must continue to rebalance its economy, so that new jobs and new development become a permanent part of New York City in the 21st Century.
"I won't rest, and I know you won't, until we restore all of the nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs lost from 1990 through 1993. We've made a lot of progress by restoring 110,000 jobs to our private-sector economy, but there are a lot more changes necessary to get us to our goal of a job for every New Yorker, " the Mayor said.
The Mayor urged that the balance of his tax reduction plan must be implemented in order to provide permanent relief in the sales tax, reductions in the coop and condo property tax, in the unincorporated business tax, and certain reductions in the income tax.
The Mayor thanked Speaker Vallone and the Council for the tax reductions already achieved. By the year 2000 these tax cuts will have saved New Yorkers more than $2.5 billion. In just the last three years the City has achieved a net reduction in taxes greater than in all of the 14 years between 1979 and 1993. In fact, the Giuliani Administration has enacted more tax reductions than at any time in the history of this City.
The Mayor announced that the City of New York is committing the necessary resources to determine where to build a freight-rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey.
"Ironically," the Mayor said, '"the Port Authority was founded in 1921 specifically to build a rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey... and they never built it. Which means that today New York City has to haul in most of our food on trucks. That makes food more expensive and adds to pollution, traffic congestion and damage to City roadways."
The Mayor also announced that he will commit the necessary resources to determine where to locate a hub-port to complement the freight rail link. Benefits from the proposed tunnel and port would outweigh costs by as much as $1.6 billion.
Renewing his commitment to gain control of New York's airports, the Mayor said,. "We don't need New Jersey as a partner in running LaGuardia and Kennedy, and frankly New Jersey doesn't need us as a partner in running Newark. When the ball drops in 1999, New York City should be well on its way to controlling our own airports."
"Based on our success, when I look to the future I see a City where a culture of dependency and a culture of hopelessness is replaced by a culture of self-sufficiency and a culture of self-respect," the Mayor said. He vowed to accelerate the reduction of the City's welfare rolls and the movement of people from welfare to permanent jobs.
New York City's Workfare Program recognizes the value and potential of the individual and has returned to the welfare system a sense of the social contract: that for every benefit there is an obligation; for every right a duty.
The Mayor acknowledged the presence of Lola Armand, who successfully completed the City's Work Experience Program and who is now a member of Local 372. "Ms. Armand, today I would like to thank you, not only for succeeding in your new job, but for being a role model and an inspiration for our entire City. Congratulations. In the year 2000 I see many more people like Ms. Armand who take advantage of the opportunity to show that they are willing, reliable, trusted employees, and prove their value to employers. When people have jobs, our city has hope, " the Mayor added.
In conclusion the Mayor said, " As we mark the 100th Anniversary of the uniting of New York City, and as we prepare for the year 2000, we must now build on the momentum of our success. History is not predestined or preordained. The world of tomorrow is created by the choices we make today... choices that reflect the importance of every human being.
"And on the morning of January 1st, 2000, when the sun rises on a new century in New York City, New Yorkers will continue to feel a spirit of courage, confidence and pride. When the sun rises on that historic day, New York will have restored to the heart and soul of our nation a fuller, more equitable and more decent understanding of immigration and welfare reform. And we will have helped to ensure that America and New York City remain a "City on the hill."
"When the sun rises on the 21st century, we will see New Yorkers who have taken advantage of the opportunity to work, and who are contributing to their society, in control of their own lives, and feeling proud. We will see a City where the concept of entitlement has been replaced by the concept of the social contract, where people are reinforcing their self-worth by taking care of themselves and their families.
"We will see our City maintaining and strengthening its tradition of compassion and caring for our sick and our poor. We will see communities with new jobs and opportunities.
"When the sun rises in the year 2000, we will see a school system that has been restored as the best in the nation, preparing our children to compete and succeed.
"In the sunlight of that great day, we will see a New York City that is proud, vibrant, growing, and optimistic, a city that is the capital of the world in the millennium to come."