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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on the Brian Lehrer Show

June 7, 2019

Brian Lehrer: It’s the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone – and we'll start our weekly Ask the Mayor segment in just a minute, my questions and yours for Mayor Bill de Blasio. But first this historic piece of audio as prelude – New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill issued an apology yesterday for the violent police raid 50 years ago this month on the gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. The resulting Stonewall uprising is credited for helping to launch the modern LGBTQ rights movement, as many of you know, with the anniversary being celebrated in New York right now as World Pride Month. Here is Commissioner O’Neill’s one-minute statement.

Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill: I think it would be irresponsible of me as we go through World Pride Month not to speak of the events at the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969. While I'm certainly not going to stand up here and pretend to be an expert on what happened at Stonewall, I do know what happened should not have happened. The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple. The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive, and for that I apologize.

[Applause]

I vow to the LGBTQ community that this would never happen in NYPD 2019. We have and we do embrace all New Yorkers and we are a department that is inclusive. We understand to move forward and to keep our great city safe, every culture and every community must be treated as equals and with respect. We are not perfect. But from what I see and what I know, the NYPD is made up of human beings that want nothing more to fight crime and to keep everyone safe.

Lehrer: New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill yesterday – and joining us now is the man who appointed him, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who will take your calls on that and more in our weekly Ask the Mayor segment at 2-1-2-4-3-3-WNYC, 4-3-3-9-6-9-2 or you can tweet a question, just use the hashtag #AskTheMayor. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good Morning, Brian. I'm so glad you played that because I'm just so proud of Jimmy O'Neill. I'm so proud of the NYPD. That was so touching and powerful and necessary to hear on this 50th anniversary. Our Police Commissioner, Police Commissioner of the greatest police department in the world, made clear that what happened at Stonewall 50 years ago was wrong and should never, ever happen again. And look, I think Jimmy O'Neill – history is going to really show that this man did so much to move forward the relationship between our police and our communities and believes deeply in healing the wounds of the past and, you know, creating a whole new reality. He has created literally an entirely different approach to policing in this city. And it shows in so many ways. And that was just an extraordinarily powerful example. And I think for folks in our LGBT community and all over the world, that's going to be heard everywhere as an example to police forces, to leaders all over the world of how to show respect and how to move past the horrible discrimination of – that we use to know, that used to be commonplace, it used to be accepted – and actually build a whole community. So this is a really important moment and a very, very good day for this city and for the whole community.

Lehrer: Did you order the Commissioner to issue the apology and if not, how did it come about?

Mayor: I absolutely did not have to order – Jimmy. No, Jimmy O'Neill is someone who believes fundamentally in human rights and civil rights and respect for all. When I chose him we had very substantial conversations. I remember very vividly Chirlane and I sat down with him at the – the night before the final decision and really got to know his deeper thinking and how much he believed that change was necessary and how much he loves. He loves deeply the NYPD and the policing profession, and he believes the whole idea of policing is to be a force for good and a force for change in many ways.

Lehrer: Right. But specifically on this, did the Commissioner, as an individual, wake up one morning with an epiphany that the Stonewall raid was wrong or was there some kind of institutional process for and an apology by the department or how did this come about?

Mayor: No, Brian, I think it's organic. The 50th anniversary has everyone focused. We've talked a lot about changing the approach in general. This is a broad conversation we've been having. I think it just grew organically out of that. I think he's been thinking about what the right thing to do is at this moment in history. And I'm really glad he did. I think it speaks volumes. So it's who he is. It's who we are as an administration. It's who the NYPD is today.

Lehrer: On the second part of his statement where he said this would not happen in 2019 and we respect all communities, activists say that while things have certainly gotten a lot better between the police and LGBT New Yorkers, the NYPD has not completely adopted unbiased policing to this day, citing things like a 2017 internal report about lack of training to deal optimally with LGBT New Yorkers who called the police. There was also a lawsuit by a trans woman about being harassed during an arrest, including being told she marked the wrong gender on a form. So what is the work left to do? It's not zero, right?

Mayor: It's never zero with human beings, Brian. But we – it's night and day from where we were. The entire force is being given implicit bias training. We have the most diverse police force we've ever had. More and more of our officers come from the five boroughs come from every walk of life, every background. We have a lot of LGBT community members who are officers. Things are changing profoundly. I'm sure there'll be mistakes and I'm sure there'll be people who, you know, need to get more information, more training and, we want those complaints. I really want to emphasize this, Brian. The only way we get better is to hear from folks who they think something was not done well. But this is – you know, the immense focus in this NYPD on retraining, on de-escalating, on addressing bias on – you know, in every way promoting people of all different backgrounds within the department into positions of leadership that helps everyone to get better, there's no question things are moving very, very rapidly.

Getting away from stop-and-frisk was important for the LGBT community as well. Getting away from that whole idea of invasive policing, and getting into a cooperative, respectful kind of policing that works better for officers and community – this is moving very rapidly and I'm very satisfied. But if there's ever something that's wrong, we want to hear about it.

And one more thing, Brian, it’s very important and another related matter for police. This has been a very tough few days for our officers. We had a one-star chief who took his life. We had a detective in Brooklyn who took his life. I want New Yorkers to understand this is a painful moment for the members of NYPD. To see folks right in the middle of serving us and protecting us – it's something in their lives, something in their mental health had gotten to a point where they took their own lives. And I want to emphasize to anybody, whether you have a police officer in your family or you are a police officer or anybody in our larger community, if you are feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling depressed, if you don't know where to turn, for our officers, the NYPD has a specialized effort to help folks who have any kind of challenges. That number they can call is 6-4-6-6-1-0-6-7-3-0. Again, 6-4-6-6-1-0-6-7-3-0. For all New Yorkers, 1-8-8-8-NYC-WELL, 24 hours a day, 8-8-8-NYC-WELL.

We have to help people in need. If you see any sign that someone's struggling, please reach out so we can get people to help they need.

Lehrer: And with all respect to all the officers doing a very hard job and in grief over the two suicides – I know the second one, in particular, was a shock to people – but with all of that said, and with full respect, all the evidence has been heard now in the trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Should the NYPD apologize for the treatment of Eric Garner?

Mayor: What happened to Eric Garner was unquestionably wrong. And I have said many times I've gotten to know his mom, Gwen Carr and his family, and it is horrible, the pain they've gone through. We will have closure. They've never gotten closure from the place it should have come from, the Department of Justice, which has dominated this whole process in an, I think, incredibly unhelpful, painful way. No family has gone through this previously, Brian. No family has spent five years waiting for the Department of Justice to say anything and they still haven't.

But the NYPD is finishing its process now. A final judgment will be delivered soon. And that will be the closure point, at least from the perspective of the City of New York. But this whole thing has been so painful for all of us and most especially for this family, I just wish the Department of Justice had done their job either way and just made a decision.

Lehrer: Well, there's still a job on you, potentially, which is after the findings of this trial are announced – I guess in a couple of days, several days, or I don't know, maybe it could be today after closing arguments are heard – Commissioner O'Neill will have to make a decision about if and how to discipline Officer Pantaleo. With all the evidence in now, what do you think should be done? And if the Commissioner doesn't fire him, should you?

Mayor: Brian, I'm not going to entertain hypotheticals and I'm not going to, in the middle of a due process procedure, I'm not going to in any way, shape, or form be disrespectful of that process. You know, everyone – and I want to say this to everyone listening, including many, many people like me who are progressives, we you have to always respect due process. We all want due process for ourselves. We need it for everyone. So that is what's happening right now. And then the ultimate decision will go to the Police Commissioner and I think he is someone who will be very, very mindful and will think in terms of fairness and justice as I've seen them do many times.

Lehrer: Are you saying you won't overrule his decision [inaudible] –

Mayor: Again, I’m not doing hypotheticals. Brian, this is – respectfully, this very, very serious stuff. This is a legal proceeding. I understand what you're trying to do and I know you're a good journalist, but you have to understand this is serious stuff. This is about people's lives. I am not commenting on due process. It has to take its course.

Lehrer: Tiffani in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with Mayor Bill de Blasio – hi, Tiffani.

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. My name is Tiffani Torres, and I'm a leader of the Direct Action Team at Teens Take Charge, it’s nice to speak with you again.

Mayor: Hey, Tiffani, how are you doing today?

Question: I'm doing well. So, since our meeting on May 17th, the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board, with your cabinet we have heard radio silence for over 20 days from your administration, which inevitably led to our protest yesterday. We had over 400 students and allies on
the DOE steps yesterday representing over 100 high schools – Asian, white, black, Latinx, poor, rich students and supporters, and our message to you was, how much longer will it take? How much longer will it take before you make the choice to end the segregationist enrollment policies in our high schools and how much more time do you need to study the issue?

And before you talk about District 15 or the SHSAT, understand that we're not talking about middle schools or specialized high schools, we're talking about the 480 public high schools in the city that 95 percent of students attend. So, to repeat my question, how much longer will it take?

Mayor: Tiffani, with all due respect – and I do admire you as an activist, and you will be doing a lot of good in the world, and I hope you run for office one day as well – but I really think you're not hearing what we're saying to you, so I'll repeat it. There is a task force – an extraordinary task force which I've met with who are focusing on all the issues around diversity. It includes student members who I think are doing a great job. They are coming forward with their next report in a matter of weeks. I'm going to respond once they come forward with their recommendations. We are moving a whole plan around addressing diversity, addressing segregation on many, many fronts. You may feel it's not important to address the specialized high schools. I do feel it's important. I think what's happening in the specialized high schools is a massive injustice.

We have precisely two weeks to try and address it in Albany. That's where my attention is because we have a chance to change something right now that we don't get to decide, but Albany does, and that's where I'm putting my energy and that is called making priorities because we have to change everything piece by piece. It doesn't all happen overnight, but it does have to happen. So I am really comfortable that we are moving aggressively and we're [inaudible] the right priorities and you're going to see all the products of this in the end. And I'm very comfortable it's going to lead to a lot of change. No previous mayor has ever focused on these issues the way I am and my team is and we're making a lot of changes already and many more to come.

Lehrer: So what comes specifically after the specialized high school process?

Mayor: Well that, you know – Brian, as you know, Albany, in principal is leaving the – meaning the legislative session ends on June 19th. So we are very intensely focused on that. Right after that [inaudible] –

Lehrer: Right, but I mean to Tiffani’s question – what happens beyond that issue?

Mayor: Respectfully, my friend, I said really clearly the diversity task force comes out with their report in a matter of weeks. And then we're going to respond to that. And on top of District 1, District 3, District 15 and everything else we're trying to do to address – and we'll be speaking to this more, the screened school issue – there's a lot of energy and attention being put on this while we're running the biggest school system in America for any city.

So, I'm going to be really clear about this. This has been a high-level focus with a lot of specific product already and more to come. But I also want to remind everyone who has an issue they care about deeply, in the meantime, we are running a host of other key matters throughout our whole school system to address a host of other issues that need to be addressed. And we're doing it systematically. So when that diversity task force comes out with their report – I think they're amazing, I think they've done fantastic work, and so far there's a high level of agreement, not on every single thing, but on a whole lot of what they've done, that's going to be – that's based on a systematic effort by activists and leaders and experts, local and national, that have been looking at these issues and the best way to address it.

And these are tough, tough issues based on 400 years of unjust – unjust history and economic injustice and housing injustice and so many other things. We're doing this the right way, in a way that will be lasting and a way that will win people over to the changes. And Brian, this is real important – I always say to you, I'd like to have some bigger discussions about what's going on in New York City. I want to see an effort to diversification and desegregation that win the support of people in communities all over New York City and will be lasting and will create unity and understanding – and that takes dialogue and that takes a lot of work at the grass roots. But I'm doing this so it will stick and it will last and it will change us for the long term.

Lehrer: Lisa in Harlem, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Lisa.

Question: Yes, I'm calling to complain about a street naming. I'm sorry but I need to say something that will sound offensive on the air, but sometimes we need to speak up. About 15 years ago on 125th Street, I spotted a DVD with a photograph, caricature sort of, of an old Jewish rabbi and, in my opinion, a kind of a degrading representation of a Menorah. And the headline on it was to get people to buy it, I'm so sorry to have to say this, ‘Dr. Ben debates white Jew boy from the ADL.’ The man named Dr. Ben, was not a PHD, the [inaudible] was a nickname. He said he was born in North Africa. He said he was of North African Jewish parentage. People close to him said that they doubted it, he was from the Caribbean. He said he was Bar Mitzvahed. He produced no evidence.

He said he was at Cambridge and at the University of Puerto Rico. Their administration said they had no record of it. And he wrote a book that said the Judaism originated in North Africa and was brought to ancient Israel, Palestine by North African Jewish traders. Now the man said he wouldn't let white scholars review his research and I don't believe they should name a corner of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard after him. I think that false scholarship is an imposition on all New Yorkers and I think that if there's anything left of the Statues and Monuments Commission we had in 2017, there should at least be a public hearing about this because false scholarship, no matter what a person's intentions are, is a bad thing. We just –

Lehrer: And let me, forgive me, Lisa, let me take this seriously and ask the Mayor for a response. I'm not personally familiar with the man or the street naming, Mr. Mayor, are you?

Mayor: No, Brian not at all. And Lisa, I appreciate, you're obviously heartfelt on this. I have no information about this and I'll have my team look at it. It's absolutely news to me.

Lehrer: Lisa, thank you for your call. We were going to look – ask you to follow up on this for next week.

Mayor: And obviously let's get Lisa to give her situation, excuse me, her information to a WNYC so our team can follow up with her directly and hear her concerns in more detail.

Lehrer: Lisa, hang on and we will do that. So with that as a jumping off point to a larger issue, the NYPD reports that while crime in general is going down, as you know, hate crimes are on the rise in the city, mostly property damages as opposed to physical violence and disproportionately anti-Semitic hate crimes like swastikas and anti-Jewish slurs, but also knocking hats off Orthodox men in a number of cases, And also other things regarding other groups like burning two rainbow flags in front of the gay bar Alibi. What do you make of it?

Mayor: A couple of different things, Brian. First of all, I really want to note how you began. Crime continues to go down, intensely. And that's actually very important to the question you're asking because the more serious crime goes down, the more time we have for our officers to focus on issues like hate crimes. So we had something happen in the month of May that has not happened in the entire time since CompStat began, which is we had a week in the month of May where there are only three shootings in all the New York City. That's never happened in the last 25 years, it’s a record. It was about the safest May in the history of New York City since we've been keeping statistics, something very good and important is happening. A lot of credit to the NYPD and the many, many people at the community level who are helping the NYPD drive down crime.

But as I said, that's going to allow us even more attention and focus on stopping hate crimes. I think two things are happening, Brian. I think we've got a problem in New York City that must be addressed.  There is an increase in hate crimes, particularly anti-Semitic crimes. They cannot be tolerated. Any hate crime cannot be tolerated. And I emphasize to everyone, consequences of the way to address this, arrests and prosecutions. We need anyone who has any information about a hate crime that happened or someone even talking about committing a hate crime. We need to hear about it, you need to call and alert the NYPD. But I think nationally, and I think it is different in New York then nationally – nationally, the forces of white supremacism have been unleashed from what's happening in Washington, particularly with President Trump. And that is unquestionably causing a rise in hate crimes around the country, including violent hate crimes.
And that is directly related to this increase in the ability of white supremacist movements to feel like they're being given permission directly from Washington to come out in the open and purvey, you know, put hate out in the atmosphere.

But here in New York City NYPD says they don't see that as the cause here they see something much more varied, as you said, affecting many communities in different ways. There's no particular pattern, but we do know a lot of it is anti-Semitic. And the best way to address it is to educate people, to report it, to show results and consequences. And our new Hate Crime Prevention Office which the City Council pushed hard for, we agreed to it, starting up this summer. That will focus on prevention. That will focus on deeper education and information for community, getting people to report more, helping victims of hate crimes more. There's a lot more that we can do to fight this back. I have no doubt we will ultimately prevail because New York City, I think we're at the highest mark in our history in terms of positive social fabric and mutual respect among communities. And I think that New Yorkers want to stop this pattern right dead in its tracks, but it's going to take the involvement of the people to really shut this down.

Lehrer: Does this new office have a commissioner or a head that you've appointed already?

Mayor: It's just been worked through with the Council, it was originally going to open in November and we're going to speed that up now in light of this reality to this summer. So we'll open it, we'll announce who’s in charge and all in the coming weeks.

Lehrer: Lauren in Manhattan, you're on WNYC with a Mayor. Hello, Lauren.

Question: Good morning, Mayor de Blasio, thank you so much for taking my call. I'm wondering if you are aware of the situation at LaGuardia High School and the demonstrations that the students have been conducting so beautifully in peace – peacefully, sit-ins, this last Friday, May 31st and the vote of no confidence from the whole faculty of  the high school – no confidence in the principal, Dr. Mars. And that we've been really trying to, for many years, express our discontent and disappointment in the way in which she's running the school.  In our opinion, you need both an educator to run the very robust academic rigor that we want there as the dual mission school is. But you also need an arts administrator, someone who understands the way in which art is created, the way in which you need to talk and create dialogue between teachers, students, and the administration to make sure that the very high level of the amazing art that comes out of LaGuardia High School continues on that track.

She's been there for six years and it has been a slow decline of positive energy – the energy is quite, inside it's toxic and the children are under distress. I had a graduating senior this year, so I've been there for four years and it's been an amazing school, but it can be so much better and we are really fighting hard to get both your attention and the Chancellor’s attention to really seriously address what's happening. And please listen to these children and please listen to these teachers who are telling you flat out what's happening and what we need. And we don't need band aids and we don't need diversion. We need real action –

Lehrer: And so let’s get a response for you, forgive me, Lauren. Mr. Mayor – on LaGuardia High School?

Mayor: No, I'm quite aware of the situation, Lauren. I appreciate your call. You know, we have mayoral control of education and I watch very closely what's going on and when a parent brings a concern to me, I take it very seriously. I was a public school parent myself and I'm worried, you know, I see a situation like this at LaGuardia, something has to be addressed here. So I'm not going to pass judgment on any specific individual or any specific concern because I need to get more facts. But I will say this, something has to be done here. Something has to be addressed. If it's come to this situation, it means there's something that was missed or something wasn't handled right. And I know Chancellor Carranza is aware as well. We are having the higher level leadership – the Superintendent and the Executive Superintendent, who oversee LaGuardia are already getting very deeply and directly involved in the school to address these issues. So it's very much on our radar screen and I also appreciate anytime our students make their voices heard. And I appreciate what you said about them doing it in a respectful, dignified way. So very much on my radar screen and the Chancellor’s – a lot's being done immediately to try and improve the situation and then we're going to figure out what makes sense for the future.

Lehrer: Lauren thank you for your call. Last week, Mr. Mayor, in a response to a caller asking about taxpayer subsidies to develop Hudson Yards on Manhattan's West Side – you said you wanted to emphasize that Hudson Yards was approved during the Bloomberg administration and it's not the same plan you would have agreed to. That drew a letter to us and to your office that I think you've seen from Jay Kriegel of the developer, the related companies raising several objections. One of them was that you were in City Council at the time the plan was approved and you voted for it. Another is that in their opinion, the alleged $7 billion tax payer subsidy does not exist because it was money spent on things like extending the 7 subway line, developing the Hudson Park and Boulevard and the nonprofit performance space The Shed. And those are all traditional public goods – transit, roads, nonprofit performance space, not private subsidies. Does he have a point?

Mayor: I have a lot of respect for Jay Kriegel and I have not seen his letter so I can't give you a point by point response. I can say that the city property tax abatements as I understand it, we're about a billion dollars, separate from the investments in infrastructure. Look, I think it's true and when you think about the decision all of us had to make at the time, I certainly supported the notion of a subway extension and more jobs and the opportunity for people both in the construction jobs, the permanent jobs and having a more park space. I mean, there were very good things that were part of the plan. The question is always, was the subsidy level appropriate? And I think what's fair to say is that in the past – it's not just the Bloomberg administration, it's many, many governments in the past – used to provide overly generous subsidies.

And I think the way going forward is not only have we stopped the subsidies to individual companies – that’s something this administration won't do and we don't make the kind of tailor made subsidies that used to be normal in the past and we don't provide retention subsidies and all those things I think were huge mistakes, but we drive a harder bargain. When we came into office immediately we looked at Hudson Yards and said this is not good enough. We got more – we got living wage job commitments, we got more affordable housing commitments. I think more could've been done on the front end to either provide less subsidy or get more back for the subsidy. But I also think there's still a lot of good in what's coming to the city from Hudson Yards. Just the question is always, could we have gotten more on behalf of the people?

When we're doing land use decisions now, first of all, we passed the law, which is the strongest in the nation to require affordable housing anytime there's a rezoning, as much as 30 percent of the apartments have to be affordable. That was not true in the past. I worked very hard to get that law passed and we also have really clear, legally binding agreements with developers that they must deliver affordable housing and other public benefits. That did not happen in the past many a time. And I think Williamsburg is a great example of that – commitments were made and not followed through on developers and the City didn't do anything about it. So it would have been a very different reality if I had been there. That doesn't mean there isn't still some real good in the, in what's happening at Hudson Yards.

Lehrer: Zoe in Co-Op City, in the Bronx, you're on WNYC.  Hello Zoe. Zoe, are you there?

Mayor: Zoe, can you hear us?

Lehrer: Zoe, once – Zoe, twice? Alright, I'll ask you a Bronx question. I see you're going to Illinois, is it, later today in your presidential campaign and –

Mayor: Well, on the way to Iowa.

Lehrer: On the way to Iowa, I see. And I saw this tweet from David Cruz, editor of the Norwood News in the Bronx, who reports, “Just got off the phone with an irate Reverend Ruben Diaz,” – Bronx City Councilman – “complaining the Mayor's abandoning the Puerto Rican Day parade,” – which is this Sunday – “doesn't understand why this should have conflicted with the Mayor's campaign schedule since the parade date is usually scheduled around this time with folks knowing for months.” So why are you skipping the Puerto Rican Day Parade?

Mayor: First of all, Brian, I have many, many areas where I disagree with Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr., and this is another one of them. I do not turn to him for advice, I assure you. The bottom line is we've been doing a lot to celebrate the community. We had a huge reception at Gracie Mansion last night for the Puerto Rican community. I'm going to the parade banquet tonight. We announced that we're going to create a memorial and a sculpture on behalf – or in honor of Roberto Clemente in the Hub area of the South Bronx, which folks are really excited about. We've already done another great sculpture for Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias. We're going to be doing a lot to celebrate the Puerto Rican community and I have obviously stood by the community and stood by the people of Puerto Rico intensely over these last years of crisis as well.

What's happening is on Sunday is one of the biggest Democratic Party events of the year in Iowa. Iowa's obviously the first, you know, election of the season for Democratic presidential candidates. It’s some place that I think, veritably, every presidential candidate is going to be amongst the Democrats and it was important to be there. But my respect, my commitment to the Puerto Rican community is very, very well known in the community and it will continue deeply.

Lehrer: Have you ever missed the Puerto Rican Day Parade as Mayor before?

Mayor: No, I've gone to the parade as Mayor, as a Public Advocate, as Councilmember, I’ve gone many, many years. But when you're running for President of the United States, this is always a challenge to try and balance the schedules. Again, we are focused intensely this week on honoring the Puerto Rican community and we’re – more important than just this week – we’re working on behalf of the Puerto Rican people every single day.

Lehrer: Last thing, I see there's a crackdown on illegal parking by ice cream trucks. What's the issue?

Mayor: You know, you’d like to think that the one place we wouldn't have a problem was ice cream trucks, Brian, but—

Lehrer: In June.

Mayor: In June, the timing – but this is what – our Department of Finance looked into this and found that a lot of these owners had created shell companies to avoid paying parking tickets, and they had been, you know, a lot of these trucks had been driving recklessly, running red lights, blocking cross walks, a lot of really bad stuff, and they had evaded detection by creating these shell companies, which is insult to injury. So there was $4.5 million in outstanding fines, but again, not just fines, fines for doing things that could be downright dangerous, especially the kids who goes to the – runs to the ice cream truck, kids. And this is – even though it doesn't sound like on the first blush, the kind of thing that has serious consequences, it really does – $4.5 million is a lot of money. The safety of our kids is paramount.

So, I want to give a lot credit to Department of Finance, a lot of credit to the Sheriff's Office, the New York City Sheriff's Office and these companies – this is astounding, between them over an almost 10-year period, they got 22,000 violations that they attempted to evade. So they are getting the book thrown at them and it's called, I think someone called it Operation Meltdown or something like that. Colorful, but you know, to the families of New York City, to the children in New York City, I, like everybody else, respond when I hear that ice cream truck song. There will be plenty of other ice cream trucks taking their place this summer, plenty of other operators out there to serve our kids. So summer will still be great in New York City, but these guys – these guys deserve their Operation Meltdown because they've really tried to cheat the people in New York City.

Lehrer: What are they allowed to do in terms of parking? Like can you plant an ice cream truck and sit there as long as customers are coming up to you in any legal parking spot?

Mayor: I am not a perfect expert on how long you're allowed to be in a legal parking spot, but I know the reverse, you're not allowed to run a red light. You're not allowed to block a hydrant, you're not allowed the block across walk under any condition. And unfortunately that's a lot of what they did.

Lehrer: And coincidentally a friend was just complaining to me about persistent jingles from an ice cream truck in their neighborhood. Is there – there's a law about that, right? Isn't there some time limit? Do you happen to know this?

Mayor: Well, let me say – I do not, but I'll say this, we are going to be doing some more work on noise pollution, which is a huge issue in the city still and one I hear about from a lot of my constituents and I experienced myself. So we're going to be doing more on that coming up. I – the jingle to me is part of life in New York City. I think there obviously should be some limit. I don't know what the rules are – we'll look into that. But it's something that is part of our life and culture here, so long as it's, you know – all good things in moderation.

Lehrer: I think there is some kind of time limit, but I didn't look that one up. So we will do that and listeners get back to you on that. Mr. Mayor, thank you as always – talk to you next week.

Mayor: Thank you, Brian.

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