Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at The 1199SEIU and League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes Health Care Reform 2.0 Conference

June 3, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you so much. Thank you, everyone. Brothers and sisters, it is so good to be with you, because when we get together good things happen, don’t you agree?

[Cheers]

I want to thank George. I’m fighting with my microphone here – hold on – there. I want to thank George for his extraordinary leadership. I hope you know you are blessed. I like to remind people – there are a lot of different kinds of leaders. There are some leaders, like George, who see the big picture, who do the day-to-day work, but also think about how do we move forward as a larger community? What is the role of labor in progressive social change? And by the way, there’s something I can say about George from the heart – that this union, synonymous with the Civil Rights struggle, synonymous with the economic empowerment of working people, synonymous with organizing workers who people say could not be organized – this union that has blazed trails and continues to in so many ways has a leader who is as good as and as strong as that history, and is taking you to the next level. God bless you and thank you, George Gresham. 

[Applause]

And it is an honor to be at your conference. And it’s a particular honor because George was very kind about his assessment, but I want to give you my own modest reminder – we’ve been together in this new way for 18 months. I had the honor of working with this union when I was public advocate. I had the honor of working with this union when I was a City Council member, even back to when I was a staffer in City Hall for Mayor Dinkins, and we did good work together every step along the way. 

This new phase, we’ve been together 18 months now. What have we done in 18 months? Well, because of you – and I’m saying this literally – I would not be standing here before you, if it wasn’t for you. Let’s start with that.

[Applause]

But we wouldn’t have achieved these changes, because they don’t just happen from who you elect. They happen from a movement. They happen from organizing and building something at the community level. And because of you, we built that movement. We not only started down the road to full-day pre-k for all our children – starting in September, every child who needs full-day pre-k in this city will get it for free. For free.

[Applause]

We didn’t just talk about extending paid sick leave coverage to a half-million more New Yorkers. We organized and we achieved it. 

[Applause]

We didn’t just say we need to build 200,000 units and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. With your help, we are doing that right now today. That work has begun. 

[Applause]

So I want to thank you for not just being friends and allies, but actors – people who get out there and do something to keep changing this city for the better, because together we are doing that, every single day.

I want to thank – of course, I’ve said what I feel about George and I feel it from the heart – I want to thank your tremendous secretary-treasurer, Maria Castenada, for her great work.

[Applause]

And I want to thank those that you work with and who have worked with you on this conference – the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, thank you for that partnership and the work you are doing together here today. 

[Applause]

So this city depends on you. And I believe all of us in public life have an obligation to you to keep improving the lives – your lives, the lives of your family members – keep changing community for the better. That’s our obligation. Anyone who walks in the door of City Hall, as I have, is not supposed to rest. It’s not supposed to be a journey that has an endpoint. We agree, by the very decision to enter in an office like mayor, that our work will never be done. 

Our job is to uplift people, especially working people who have not gotten their fair share. And that work continues day in and day out. And we know that our healthcare workers we depend on profoundly in our society. We still have not gotten to the point where we compensate people sufficiently. We haven’t – and that’s work to be done. Not everyone is a member of a union who should be. That’s work to be done. We know that.

[Applause]

But we know we ask you to be the first line of defense against so much that threatens us. Nowhere and at no time in history was this more clear than during the Ebola crisis. Now, remember we got together during the Ebola crisis? And you – I said at the time, but I want you to remember it – history is an interesting thing. You know, new things happen, people kind of erase their minds, and go on to new things. But just dwell on that moment in history for a moment. I want you to recognize what you did. 

I came to that conference, I think it was the Javitz Center, and you were doing what everyone could only dream of working people and union members would do. You were preparing for crisis, to defend the people of this city. You were trying to figure out how you could get more ready to be in harm’s way to protect other people. You’re another type of first responder. And we should honor our healthcare workers with the same energy we honor all the other first responders.

[Applause]

And what did we show – what did we show our nation? What did we show our – the whole world during the Ebola crisis here in New York City? We showed the bravery of healthcare workers, the professionalism, the intelligence. And look at – you know, when everyone was ready to be scared, because everything that we heard from the media before Ebola came to this city, but you set a tone – and I want you to really appreciate – you were the leaders here. You were at the frontline. You set a tone. You said it’s going to be all right – we’ve got this, it’s going to be all right. And look what happened. Look what happened. We had a case. It was handled by everyone involved with tremendous professionalism. And then the doctor recovered and New York City stayed normal throughout. And we were the marvel of the world. And people in that moment, all over this city, all over this country, got to think for a moment about the people who do the work here in this city. And I think you gained an immense share of respect for the way you handled yourselves. So give yourselves a round of applause.

[Applause]

Now, I wanted a few minutes with you to talk about today. I want to honor all you’ve done in the past, but as I said, this is a union that never sits still. This is a union that is so strong and so effective, because you’re never complacent. I don’t think this is a union that ever thought it was okay to leave the status quo alone. This is a union that believes change is something we work on constantly. So when I ran for office – and I appreciate George invoking where we were around two years ago, because yeah, you took a big chance – and I think one of the reasons you took a chance was this is a union that speaks the truth about the world we’re leaving in. I talked about the tale of two cities. And I talked about the inequalities we were facing that had to be addressed – and by the way, I don’t stop talking about it. We have made progress. I appreciated the way George characterized it. We’ve made progress, there’s no doubt in the world. The things I talked about before are better for people. But inequality is still way too strong, and we have to fight it here in this city. We have to fight it every day. 

[Applause]

And we have to fight it in Albany. We have to fight it in Washington D.C.. 

Let’s be clear, we are living in a deeply unequal society and it’s not healthy, and it is not going to sustain us and it’s not good for the future of this city, or this state, or this nation. And we’re going to fight inequality in all its forms wherever we find it. 

Now, now we have a moment of decision. A lot is going to happen in Albany in just the next couple of weeks. 

Now, this union is no stranger to Albany, New York. From time to time you have boarded a bus or two – or three, or four, or 300, or 400 – and you have made your position clear. And a lot of times you have been a decisive force in favor of progressive change in Albany, and Albany is not a place that necessarily gets to the right decision on their own. Sometimes they need to hear the voice of the people to get there, isn’t that right?

Audience: Yes!

Mayor: So let’s talk about rent control and rent stabilization. 

[Cheers]
[Applause]

Let me try this one on for size. 1 million apartments. Between 2 and two-and-half million people live in those apartments. Their lives depend on that affordable housing. How many people – let’s do a show of hands – you, or a family member, or someone else you are close to lives in rent regulated housing – raise your hand. Okay, the people have spoken. 

Now, if you didn’t have rent regulation – and there are some in Albany who say let’s just get rid of it – do you know how many people would be out on the street in this city in just a year or two if that were to happen? And do you know how destructive that would be to any hope we have of keeping this a city for everyone? 

I’ve said it for a long time. This city has worked for generations because it was open to all. It was not perfect by any stretch. There was too much prejudice. There still is. But at least you could find a place to live you could afford. That was true for generations. You used to be able to find a job that you could make ends meet on. Now we’re fighting for the very notion of people being able to live in their own city, in their own neighborhood that they love that they helped to make great. 

Now, let’s begin by saying we must renew rent control and rent stabilization, but let’s go one better, because with the current approach, we keep losing affordable housing. These laws we have today are just not strong enough. You know, Mayor Bloomberg had an affordable housing plan. It wasn’t everything I wished it would’ve been, but it was still a major affordable housing plan – 168,000 units of affordable housing was his goal. But he, during his watch, lost almost as many units out of affordability because they went out of rent regulation, because the law let that happen, or they went out in Mitchell-Lamas. A lot of people in this room, I bet, either have lived in or know a family member or a friend who was in a Mitchell-Lama that was affordable and then suddenly it got privatized.

This has been happening now for years and years, even decades, and then people say, “Wow, it’s funny we don’t have as much affordable housing.” We don’t have as much affordable housing because the law is not strong enough.  It’s not good enough. It’s not protecting the affordable housing we have. 

Brothers and sisters, we have to send a message to Albany. Simply renewing rent regulation is not enough. It must be strengthened. We need to protect more and more and more units. We can’t keep losing affordable housing in New York City. 

[Applause]

Now, I have been informed of the fact that on June 9, you intend to do something about this. And oh, what a coincidence, you’ll be taking buses to Albany. 

[Laughter] 

Well, if it’s worked before George, I mean, dust it off and use it again, right? 

We need your voices. So I want to say, whether you’re on those buses June 9 – and I hope as many people as possible will go and make your voices clear – I know a lot of our City Council members were up there today – people from all over are going to Albany to make their voices heard – but even if you don’t get on that bus, you’ve got to call our leaders in Albany, and you’ve got to make clear to them that we need this change to protect the city we love. 

If New York City becomes a place where working people can’t live, can’t afford any more, it’s not New York City anymore. It’s not the city we love. A New York City that is only for the chosen few who are wealthy enough to be here, just won’t work. So, make your voices heard on rent regulation.

And while you’re at it, we’re trying to do something that – I want to lay out this to you because it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention but I think you’ll appreciate it. There has been, for years and years, a law in place that provides tax subsidies – tax credits to developers to build housing in New York City. It is known by a very little-known phrase – 421-a. That is the part of the law that gives these tax breaks to developers so they’ll develop. And once upon a time in the 1970s, when it was created, there was some kind of justification for it because in the 1970s, a lot of companies wouldn’t come to New York City. A lot of developers wouldn’t build. It was a tough time. And so, this was put in place to foster development. And guess what happened? In the last 10, 15, 20 years, as New York City has had the strongest real estate market we’ve ever seen, the notion of providing tax breaks to developers has become more and more outmoded.

Well, we have a chance to do something about it. My administration has said to the real estate community, it’s just not right to give tax breaks anymore unless we get affordable housing everywhere that those tax breaks are used.

[Applause]

So brothers and sisters, I’ll say this so simply that anyone in Albany can understand it – no tax breaks without affordable housing – period – period. Now, that’s the plan that I’ve put forward – change the whole thing, reform the whole thing. Here’s what we’d say to developers – if you want a tax break, you’d have to provide, not just a little bit, but a lot of affordable housing. It has to reach an income level that is the reality for so many people in this city, right? A lot of people say to me, affordable housing – what does that mean? Affordable housing means, for families – that’s making $30, or $40, or $50,000 dollars. Now we know there are families that make even less and they need help too. But I’ll tell you something, if a family making $30, or $35, or $40,000 dollars can find a place to live, that’s a great start. And we need to keep reaching down to people who make even less, because there’s a lot of people in this city who make less than $20,000 dollars who need affordable housing too.

[Applause]

So that’s what we’re trying to do. We don’t want affordable housing just for the top end of the spectrum. We want affordable housing for everyday New Yorkers. So, no tax break without affordable housing. And then we said another thing – we said there should be no such thing as a luxury condominium that gets a tax break. Okay?

[Applause]

And I wish – I wish I could tell you that that’s never ever, ever happened. But today, this very minute – under the 421-a law in existence right now, if you’re a developer and you want to build a luxury condominium, you can get a tax break. Is that the world turned upside down or what? So, our plan is simple – you’re building a luxury condominium?  No tax break – period – period. 

[Applause]

And then we say, if someone can afford a high-value home – okay? – we call this – a proposal we put forward called the mansion tax. Why is it called the mansion tax? Because it says, if you can afford a home that’s $1.75 million or more – if you can afford a home that’s $3 million, if you can afford a home that’s $5 million, $10 million – now, I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but it’s true – there are condominiums in the city right now selling for $10 million dollars, $20 million dollars, or more – tens of millions of dollars for a single apartment. I think those folks can pay a little more in taxes so we can build affordable housing for everyone else.

[Applause]

If you take the plan I just laid out – mansion tax – modest, but still very helpful tax on those who buy the high-value homes; plus, reforming 421-a – no more condos, affordable housing everywhere developers develop if they want this tax credit – you combine those ideas, it will allow us to create enough affordable housing for 160,000 New Yorkers – 160,000 New Yorkers.

[Applause]

We need your voices in Albany saying that you will not accept the tax giveaways of the past – and you want the changes in reforms that will produce that kind of affordable housing for the people of this city.

And I’ll finish with one more point. Let me do another show of hands. Anyone in your family – anyone in your family is a New York City public school student – could be a son, daughter, niece, nephew. Anyone in your family a New York City public school student? Raise your hand. 

I am raising my hand because Dante has three more weeks in school, so –

[Laughter]

For three more weeks, I have the honor – I’m finishing out my career as a New York City public school student. And I have to say something – I’m just going to take this juncture, because Dante – I hope people get to know over time. He is a special young man, just like my daughter, Chiara. But that young man worked hard at Brooklyn Tech, and he got accepted to Yale University. And that’s where he’s going in September.

[Applause]

George, you have a new 1199 organizer at Yale now, okay?

[Laughter]

You know, Dante’s first public speaking of his entire life – besides what he’s done in school – was at the rally in the Rockaways at St. John’s Hospital. I couldn’t be there until later, so he just took the microphone and started speaking up for the workers themselves.

[Laughter]

So, 1199 inaugurated Dante’s public speaking career.

[Applause]

So, my last statement is about our public school children – between 1.1 and almost 1.2 million kids in our public schools.

Now, brothers and sisters, we fought for years in this city to determine our own destiny with our own children. We finally got mayoral control of education.  It said, the mayor – who you elect, and is accountable to you, and you get to decide – I can tell you, I have a job contract up in two years. You get to keep me or get rid of me. That’s your choice. That’s the choice of the people.

So, someone accountable to you, and you alone, will make the decisions about the schools – and have to produce.

If I didn’t have mayoral control of education, we would never have been able to achieve those pre-k seats. We would never have been able to do it.

[Applause]

Do you realize – with your help, we fought for the funding in Albany – with your help. But do you realize that that funding was approved on April 1 of last year? Opening day of school was September 4.

We had five months to put together 53,000 full-day pre-k seats. And we did it, because the buck stopped here. And next year, it’s going to be 70,000 pre-k seats – and we’ll have them ready, because the buck stops here.

And a lot of you said to me, when I was campaigning, you believed in afterschool. How many people here think afterschool is a good idea for our children?

[Applause]

So, guess what we did? We started this year, and by next year – literally, listen to this – if you have a middle school child – sixth, seventh, or eighth grade – and I always say, I am a recovering middle school parent, because if you know a middle school child, it is a complicated age.

[Laughter]

Can I get an amen?

[Laughter]

Thank you. So, it’s a complicated age. Young people are going through transitions.

[Laughter]

And, it’s a chance – done right, we reach them. They can get on the right path and stay on the right path. But let’s be blunt also – it’s a time we lose some of our young people. It’s a time when some of our young people start on the wrong path. There’s a lot of trouble out there that can be appealing to them.

So, how do we keep them on the right path? We make sure that when school ends, they go right into afterschool, so they’re safe and secure and they’re learning more during the day.

[Applause]

Because of you! Because of what you did to bring this administration here, because of what  you did to fight shoulder to shoulder with us in Albany, we got the resources so that, starting in September, any middle school child who wants afterschool gets it guaranteed for free – for free!

[Applause]

We couldn’t have done that without mayoral control of education. It wouldn’t have happened. It just wouldn’t have happened. And it wouldn’t have happened within just months of you electing me.

So, brothers and sisters, I need your strong voices to say to Albany you’ve elected a government you believe in. And you want to see this mayor produce for the children of this city, and you will hold the mayor accountable every step of the way. Don’t worry – you got that. You got that.

But the city of New York needs to control its own destiny of its schools. That’s not something that anyone in Albany should undercut.

We have to fix our own schools. We have to create more opportunity for our children. We have to reach our children. And we will – so long as we have the power to do it. We need you to defend that power in Albany.

So, brothers and sisters, I’ll conclude. You’ve been very generous giving me this chance to be with you.

There is so much to do. And I remain profoundly optimistic about what we can do together – because you see the wheels turning already. You see how, with your support and your faith, we’ve been able to already start to move in so many areas.

There’s more to do.

I know, as much as sometimes we see indicators to the contrary, it’s still a functioning democracy. And the voices of the people matter. And your voices are powerful, and you are organized, and you get results.

Help us in these next days to make sure the people who make decisions in Albany actually make decisions on behalf of the people of this city and state the way they should. You can achieve that.

Thank you, and God bless you.

[Applause]