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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

August 26, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Oh, I'm sorry. I got so caught up in this Marvel comic book, I just didn't realize the press conference had begun. This is amazing. It's limited edition. It's exclusive. It's really special. It's amazing. But you can't just get it anywhere. You can only get it at a vaccination site, a SOMOS vaccination site. And this is where we're going to help make kids safe, and like the Avengers, fight back against evil – in this case, evil is COVID. I think you figured that out. So, here is a great example of an effort to reach our young people with something they care about a lot, reach our families, get people safe, get people vaccinated. Here's one great example, but tomorrow another great example. The official NBA 2K tournament begins at 11:00 am, grand prize: Xbox Series X. A raffle every eight hours Xboxes, Game Pass memberships, amazing stuff. Here are the ground rules: to play, you have to have at least one dose of the vaccine. The vaccination bus will be on site to provide that first dose right then and there. This is another great effort to reach young people and keep them safe. I want to thank the Boys and Girls Club, thank Microsoft, and anyone who wants to be part of it, sign up at smash.gg/nycnba2k.

So, we're going to do all sorts of positive, creative things to reach young people, to reach families, because we got to get young people vaccinated, particularly with school coming on soon, and here's the good news. We have an aggressive, creative vaccination strategy and it's working. New CDC data shows that New York City is leading the nation when it comes to youth vaccination. The vaccination rate for New Yorkers 12 to 17 years old is up 22 percent since July 4th – 22 percent just in a matter of weeks, the biggest jump for any big city in America. Our vaccination rate for these young people is nine percent higher than the national average. 60 percent of New Yorkers over 12 have received at least one dose 60 percent, and we're not going to stop there.

We have a big push this weekend and we've got these superheroes involved, but also another group of superheroes, our clergy, are stepping forward. Houses of worship all over the city, weekend of faith, youth vaccination days. This is going to make a huge difference. Houses of worship working together with our Vax to School campaign, reaching young people in their congregation, giving kids and families good trustworthy information, not the rumors and the misinformation out there, but actually the most trusted voices in so many people's lives, helping them to find the truth. We're going to have mobile vaccination sites at over 50 houses of worship around New York City, all five boroughs. That's first – mobile vaccination sites at houses of worship, as congregants are there, kids getting vaccinated. It's going to be really, really helpful. Second, 5,000 backpacks being given out with school supplies, but also information about how to get kids vaccinated. Third, more and more houses of worship are becoming part of our referral bonus program. Here's a great way to reach our young people, make sure they're healthy and safe. Reassure our families. The families benefit because everyone gets that $100 incentive. The houses of worship benefit too, from a direct incentive. Everyone's a winner.

Our faith leaders, we turn to them in times, good and bad. But particularly in crisis, they mean so much to us and faith leaders speaking up to get our young people vaccinated is going to be a difference maker. I want you to hear from someone I have just immense respect for. We have worked together over the last eight years. I consider him one of the most essential voices in the city. I consider him one of the great leaders who has brought calm and peace in times of trouble. He has been someone I consider personally a friend as well. He is a great faith leader, but he's someone the city depends on as well. And he has done so much for all of us, people of all faiths, and he's helped to bring together people of all faiths in common cause. And he's leading the way in the fight against the coronavirus. My great honor to produce and present to you, the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Dolan.

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Mayor: Thank you, Cardinal. Again, can't thank you enough. And you know, I appreciate that you think in terms of both the spiritual and the temporal, so yes, a little incentive never hurt, right? And we're happy to provide it but thank you for your leadership. And this weekend is going to be amazing. I really appreciate your participation.

All right, everybody. Now, the Cardinal mentioned CORL, the gathering of religious leaders that has made such a difference. People of all faiths, leaders, some of the great leaders of this city who meet together regularly to discuss the issues facing our city and how people of faith can work together in them. One of the leading voices, and he's been a voice for social justice, he’s been a voice for economic empowerment. He works on many, many fronts beyond just the spiritual, and the spiritual is supreme, but he works on all these fronts simultaneously. One the leading voices, also happens to have the single largest congregation of any house of worship in New York City. And it is a stunning place to visit. I've been honored to worship with everyone at Christian Cultural Center, and it is an irreplaceable part of the city, and he is an irreplaceable leader. My honor to produce and present Reverend A.R. Bernard.

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Mayor: Thank you so much, Pastor. I appreciate it. And I have to say you have done so much good for the city, and that you also have another great reality that distinguishes you, your radio presence. So, we've heard from the Rev. Now, we need to hear from the Rabbi, his partner. I don't think there's a more witty and thoughtful duo anywhere in radio in this city or this whole country. And when you think about the work of Rabbi Joe Potasnik, you may know him as Rabbi Emeritus at the congregation at Mount Sinai Brooklyn Heights. You may know him as Executive Vice President of New York Board of Rabbis. You may know him as an FDNY Chaplain. You may know him as a great voice of wisdom. Either way you slice it, my pleasure to introduce Rabbi Joseph Potasnik.

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Mayor: Thank you so much, Rabbi. and thank you again. You're one of the people that brings New Yorkers of all faiths together all the time. And that makes such a difference. You know, you and I have talked about this, how this city, the most diverse place on Earth – we have every faith represented, and we have an extraordinary level of harmony between the faiths and among the faiths. And that's because of leaders like Rabbi Potasnik and Pastor Bernard, Cardinal Dolan, who make it a point to show all of their followers that we're all in this together. So, this weekend of faith is going to make a huge difference. And I want to encourage faith communities get involved. There's still time. Any houses of worship that wants to sign up, we'll get you a mobile vaccination as much as possible. We'll connect you to nearby vaccination sites. We'll get that incentive going for your congregants, individually. We'll get the incentive going, the bonus referral for your house of worship as well. We need the maximum number of New Yorkers vaccinated, particularly our kids, as we get ready to go back to school and houses of worship are going to play a very crucial role and we need you all right.

Now, back to school. Back to school means making sure kids are safe. We know that vaccination’s a way. We know that vaccination saves lives, keeps people healthy, keeps our schools safe. And that's why we made the crucial decision to mandate that all the adults in the school community have to be vaccinated. Now, we also know our kids, absolutely, desperately, must be back in school for their emotional wellbeing, for their physical wellbeing, for their ability to continue to develop socially, for their educational wellbeing. There are so many reasons – it's time. Last year, we did what very few cities did in this country – we reopened our schools and we did it with a gold standard of health and safety measures. By the end of the school year – this is amazing – by the last week of the school year, COVID in the New York City public schools was down to 0.03 percent positivity – almost nonexistent. It was literally one of the safest places to be in New York City. We intend to do that again, with an extraordinary set of health and safety measures, but with a tool we didn't have for most of last year, vaccination, and vaccination on a massive, massive scale. I want you to think about, as we prepare for the school year, think about what families have been through. Think about the pain, think about the disruption, but particularly think about a child who has not seen inside of a classroom in a year and a half. That's not supposed to happen. We can't let that happen anymore. That takes away from every single child has been deprived of that opportunity. I'm telling you as a parent, we cannot let that anymore. That's why we are so devoted to bringing our school back, 100 percent.

Now, today we're publishing a guide which is going to help parents, going to help families all over the city, kids, everyone know how this new school year is going to go. There's a lot of material in here, and there's a lot of references to other more detailed material online, and there will be updates over the next few weeks as additional information comes in. But this gives you the template, and it makes clear our commitment to health and safety. We are talking about how to maximize vaccination before the school year begins. And you heard that 60 percent figure for kids. That's great. And we want to keep building on that. We have a universal mask mandate, daily health screening, ventilation, air filtration extensively, every night disinfection, regular COVID testing in schools. The situation room, which did such great work last year, back monitoring every single school, special options for immunocompromised students and medically frail students to get alternative instruction. And of course, what we announced a few days ago, in addition to the mandate for adults to be vaccinated, for young people participating in high-risk PSAL sports, a vaccine mandate as well. All of these things together, layer, upon layer, upon layer are going to keep the school community safe, keep our kids safe.

Now, it's really important as we talk about this today to understand what the latest information is, the latest research, the latest data about COVID and our kids, because that's the base from which we work. And I want you to hear this update, that he is the Executive Director of our New York City Test and Trace Corps. And he's done extraordinary work, been one of the great leaders fighting COVID, during this crisis. He's also a parent and he thinks about children and their needs all day long. My pleasure to introduce Dr. Ted Long.

Executive Director Ted Long, NYC Test and Trace Corps: Thank you, sir. As you said, as a father of two small children, myself, Dave and Zoe, nothing is more important to me than the safety of my children. I'm proud that we were the only big city in the country last fall to open our schools up for in-person learning. We proved in New York City that the layers of protections that we had in our schools kept our students safe. In fact, when we studied this in New York City, we found that students and teachers who were in remote learning had the same, if not a greater risk, of contracting COVID than our students and teachers who were in-person in our schools last year. Now, there's two data points I want to highlight going into this new school year now. First, hospitalization rates among children in New York City are well below average hospitalizations for all ages. And we have only had a very modest increase during the Delta wave.

First, hospitalization rates among children in New York City are well below average hospitalizations for all ages. And we have only had a very modest increase during the Delta wave. Among children ages five to 12, in our last full week of data, only 1.2 per 100,000 were hospitalized. This is more than 80 percent lower than the hospitalization rate for all ages in New York City. Second, throughout Summer Rising and the Delta wave, our percent positivity in our schools was only 0.3 percent, much lower than our other city-wide numbers. Now, our schools have proven to be safe. Our children deserve an in-person education, and I am so proud of the City can offer this to them. Thank you, sir.

Mayor: Thank you so much. And Ted, it's so important to recognize that our kids, who we cherish, thank God, have not had the experience with COVID that particularly older adults have had. And yet we are putting every conceivable health and safety measure in place. And we proved last year it can work. And, this year, we're going even farther. I want you to hear from the Chancellor she has been adamant about ensuring the very best health and safety standards are in place. And she knows that the efforts of our school communities focus on kids make such a difference. And she's been giving the message to everyone, health and safety first. We saw it last year. We're going to see it again this year even more. My pleasure to introduce Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter.

Chancellor, are you there?

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter: Can you hear me?

Mayor: There you go.

Chancellor Ross Porter: All right. Perfect. Good morning. It's so good to be here, and so good to be here with this amazing panel. You know, as an educator and a New York City public school parent, there is no more important day than September 13th. And I want to take a moment to reflect on what bringing all of our students back means. It means the return of math lessons and comfort [inaudible] of sports and reading and of school plays in school friends. Simply, it is the return of New York City public schools. Over the past several months, we have met with school leaders across the city to understand what worked last year. We worked with public health officials to understand the science of safely bringing all our children back to school. It has not been easy, but nothing worth doing is easy, and opening our schools is worth doing. This school year, we have something we did not have last year – vaccinations. These incredible vaccines keep our school community safe. To that end, everyone who works in our schools will receive their first dose by September 27th. Currently, every student over the age of 12 is eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine and 66 percent of New Yorkers are already vaccinated.

Prevention begins at the school door with required health screenings for anyone entering a DOE building. We are asking families to fill out these screenings and perform temperature checks at homes. We will equip all schools with thermometers so that if any family needs one, they can get one. More importantly, if you are feeling ill, please stay home. There is no penalty for keeping your school community safe. Communicate with your school and come back when you were feeling better. As we announced in May, masks will be required for all people inside and outside of DOE buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Wearing a mask is a simple, effective way to keep everyone safe. Following CDC and State guidance, schools will provide three of physical distancing where possible. This can be done in the vast majority of our classrooms. And we have been working hand in hand with our amazing principals to ensure that distancing is maximized to the fullest extent possible. It is important to note, physical distancing is one part of our multi-layered strategy and additional safety is provided by vaccinations, masks, improved ventilation, a focus on hygiene, testing, and surveillance by the situation room.

Last year, our amazing, professional engineers surveyed every room and building across the city to identify any repairs that needed to be made. Our incredible facilities team made those repairs and continues to maintain that high level of ventilation. This year, every classroom will have two air purifiers that meet and exceed HEPA standards, providing an added level of protection. Additionally, we are purchasing extra-large purifiers and window exhaust fans for high school cafeterias. Similarly, we are continuing our enhanced cleaning techniques put in place last year and we'll continue to make sure every building always has a full 30 days of PPE available.

Since the early days of the pandemic, our custodial engineers and facility staff have been hard at work, making sure our buildings are safe. With a year-and-a-half of experience under their belts, they will continue that hard work this year. Random surveillance testing provides public health experts with an important stream of information to understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools. This year, every single school will have 10 percent of their school population tested twice a month. The information from those tests and all other reports of positive COVID-19 tests will be called into the situation room, which will continue to perform contact tracing and provide health and safety guidance to school leaders in a timely and efficient manner.

Our health and safety strategies are built on providing multiple layers of scientifically proven prevention strategies. Last year proved to us public schools were some of the safest places to be during the pandemic. And with the vaccination rates continuing to rise every day, we expect far fewer disruptions to learning. This year, we are continuing the successful policies that kept our schools safe during Summer Rising. We will move to close a classroom and quarantine close contacts for 10 days with confirmation of a positive test. Fully vaccinated individuals will not have to quarantine as long as they are asymptomatic. And out of an abundance of caution, these vaccinated students are encouraged to take a COVID-19 tests three to five days after potential exposure. Unvaccinated middle and high school students may test back into their classrooms out of quarantine after the seventh day if they provide proof of a negative COVID-19 tests, which could be uploaded to the DOE vaccination portal. A school will close if there is evidence of widespread in-school transmission as determined by the situation room and the Department of Health. This summer, we only had two buildings closed out of over 800 open. We want our babies in school and we want them there every day. And these measures have proven to keep them safe.

While quarantining, learning will not stop. Our educators have over a year of experience teaching both online and in-person during a pandemic. The elementary school students quarantining, live online instruction will be provided full-time. Middle and high school students will have access to remote learning while quarantining. Providing a high-quality learning environment for medically fragile students has always been a focus at the DOE. I know this from firsthand experience from my over 20 years here. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our preexisting home instruction program is being expanded to include more students who need medically necessary home instruction. It can include individual in-person instruction by a certified teacher or individual and small group instruction by certified teachers through digital platforms. We are taking what we learned during the pandemic and leveraging that to accommodate our students. I know families are concerned about the safety of their babies this year, and we are intent on making this process easy and accessible.

Today's announcement does not mark the beginning of our work or the end of it. Our entire school system is hard at work, preparing our schools for safe opening and a joyous homecoming for every student. I want to personally think every educator, every administrator, paraprofessional, custodian, food, service employees, social worker, guidance counselor, every member of our district and central staff, all were working around the clock to make this year a success. And I want to thank our parents, our families, and students for being with us in this moment. I look forward to seeing you all in school September 13th. Thank you so much.

Mayor: Thank you, Chancellor. And, Chancellor, I want to emphasize key point you made. During Summer Rising, which ended very recently, we had only two building closures. We had relatively few classroom closures. We saw that the health and safety measures work. We've seen a lot more vaccination since then of adults and young people. We, obviously, are going to have the new vaccination mandate in place for our schools. Here's the bottom line – we do not expect a lot of building closures. We will have some classroom quarantines, that's true. But we're also going to see a lot of people able to stay when others have to quarantine. This is crucial to remember – anyone vaccinated who is not symptomatic, adult or child, even if there's been contact, they're going to stay in school. So, I don't want people thinking of last year's model and assuming everything's the same now. It's not the same. Why? Because of vaccination. The sheer magnitude of the vaccination effort in this city has changed the entire reality. As you heard before, 5.3 million New Yorkers who have had at least one dose – entirely different ballgame, even with the challenges of Delta. So, our commitment to parents is to minimize disruption this year, keep as much continuity as possible, and make sure that all those health and safety measures are in place. I want you to hear from a parent now, because it's all about our kids and our parents and serving them. And we have a parent from P.S. 71, mother of two, one child who was in in-person instruction, one child who was in remote instruction. So, she has great perspective on both of the realities. And she has reviewed the various announcements today of how we're going to guarantee health and safety, and it's going to give you a parent's perspective on this approach to keeping our kids safe. My pleasure to introduce Michelle Perez.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you so much, Michelle. Thank you for being with us and thank you for doing some of the most important work anyone can do, which is to be a parent and to be there for your kids through everything. And I know it's been real hard but thank you for your positive spirit. We're going to make this work together and we're going to work closely with parents. And we're also going to work closely with our elected leaders in every community who care so deeply about our schools who do so much to help our schools. And so many elected officials are very personally connected to the schools in their district to help get additional funding and support, work on these issues all the time. And the next person I want you to hear from is also herself a New York City public school parent, so it's real personal for her. And she's making sure that all the right health and safety measures are in place. My pleasure to introduce New York State Assembly Member Carmen De La Rosa.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you, Assembly Member. I can tell this is a happy parent, that kids will be back in school. By the way, the most important thing is it's the right thing for our kids. There's a lot of parents who could use a break too, and it's time that everyone get back to something good, which is every child being in school together. And so, now we're going to go from the community the Assembly Member represents in Washington Heights, we're going to go a little farther south down to Harlem, to someone who epitomizes Harlem and the greatness of that community. And she fights for the community and she knows very well how much parents in the Harlem community want to see their kids back in school the right way. And that's what we're doing. I want you to hear from Assembly Member Inez Dickens.

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Mayor: Thank you so much Assembly Member. Let me tell you, thank you for what you said, because we do believe getting the community engaged in the conversation is a difference maker, and we've seen that in Harlem and all over the city. That conversation has grown. More and more people have bought into vaccination, more and more people getting the answers they need, more and more community leaders coming forward. Thank you for being one of those leaders who's made a big difference, but also thank you for raising a young woman who is giving back to our city as a teacher. So, you're a public servant in many, many ways and I really want to thank you for being a part of this today.

All right, everybody, this is Staten Island Week – City Hall In Your Borough for Staten Island. It's been an amazing week already and a lot more will happen. And this is our last press conference of the week, so I want to make sure we get some important matters in. But, first, just talking about yesterday – what a great moment. Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter and I went to join the Curtis High School football team, the Warriors. The Warriors are a hell of a team. They have had great success in recent years, great spirit, great coaches, but also great vaccination effort. And we were there as one of the players got vaccinated. We were there as one of the team captains spoke about why they believe in vaccination. They want to keep everyone safe. So, let's go Warriors. Very, very impressive group of young men and a great, great school. And we're going to be celebrating later in another sport. We're going to be celebrating later on, baseball – professional baseball, returning to Staten Island. I won't scoop us on that, Borough President. We're going to have a lot to say about that later on and very, very exciting.

Yesterday, also a very important moment – a victory for the rights of working people and, particularly, working women – signed a major piece of legislation to protect domestic workers Staten Island’s own, Council Member, Debbie Rose sponsored. And the legislation made it illegal to discriminate against domestic workers under our New York City human rights law. Such an important step forward. Domestic workers, so often ignored, so often not given the respect and the legal protection they deserve, but, like all working people, they deserve their rights and this new law does it. And I want to turn now at someone who championed this fight for years, not only here but around the country. Co-founder and Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo,

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Mayor: [Inaudible] we thought you'd like this message. So, let's make sure this gets around. This is the way to understand it – our domestic workers do so much for us. They should be respected, valued, and the legislation really makes a difference. So, congratulations to you and all your colleagues.

Okay. Everybody, as I said, it's a continuing with our City Hall In Your Borough for Staten Island. This is our last press conference at Borough Hall, so we wanted to take a special moment to honor a great Staten Islander. And when we think about it, some people devote their whole lives to helping others and someone who loved this borough, loved the people of Staten Island and did so much for them was Bill Murphy. The longest serving district attorney in the history of Staten Island, he fought for justice every day. He fought to keep people safe. A brilliant mind, a brilliant legal mind but also a heart and empathy for everyday Staten Islanders. Amazing, amazing contributions to this borough and it's time to recognize them. Now, we lost Bill, but his wife of 41 years has kept his legacy alive. And she's never let up. And she and I have talked several times about the need to really honor him the right way and enshrine his legacy, his impact on the people of this island. So, from now on, I'm very proud to announce today, some place that epitomizes his good values, the Family Justice Center on Stuyvesant Place does so much good for families in moments of crisis and makes sure that justice is served. From this day forward, it will be known as the William L. Murphy Family Justice Center, a fitting tribute to someone who worked every day in the cause of justice. His extraordinary and relentless wife – and I mean that as a tremendous compliment. Kathy Murphy is here and thank you for never forgetting and for believing that we needed to honor his legacy. And your wish has been granted. My pleasure to introduce Kathy Murphy.

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Mayor: 34 years – extraordinary. And thank you, I want to give you credit too, because you really worked hard at this and you understood that when someone's done great things, we have to remember them. For all of us, we have to remember them. And for your family as well, which deserves that honor. Thank you very much.

I want you to hear from someone who understands how powerful this is and why it's so important to honor Bill Murphy. My pleasure introduce someone I've worked with years and years. He does great work in the State of New York, looking out for New York City, looking out for Staten Island, and I say, thank you to him for that because we've needed him many a time. He's done great work. Assembly Member Mike Cusick.

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Mayor: Thank you so much, Assembly Member. And now, we're going to turn to the always, always colorful, always pertinent, always has something to say, always has an opinion – Borough President. We're going to give him a moment to speak about this honor for Bill Murphy, but then I'm going to bring them back on another really, really important topic. My pleasure, one more time, to introduce Staten Island Borough President Jimmy Oddo.

Staten Island Borough President James S. Oddo: Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for this. And I just want to add one thing and follow up on the last point that my buddy Mike Cusick just made, and that is to honor Kathy Murphy. As I told you the other night, Mayor, when we were at dinner talking about the possibility of the naming, Mrs. Murphy, and I first met each other when I was a young staffer for John Fusco at a Republican-Democrat softball game. And, as you know, Mr. Mayor, that probably meant some, probably some chewing tobacco on my part, definitely some salty language on my part. And Mrs. Murphy's reaction was who is that madman? And I am proud all these years –

Mayor: She showed good judgment at that time.

[Laughter]

Borough President Oddo: All these years later to counter as a friend. And Murph Mrs. Murphy's love and devotion to each other was amazing. And she is still devoted to Murph and his legacy. She willed this to happen and she's an inspiration. And I'm thankful to you, Mr. Mayor, for giving her this victory.

Mayor: Well deserved. And, Kathy, congratulations to you and your family. Thank you so much. And now, as I said, we've got another important announcement for the people of Staten Island. And this one, again, we're going to give credit where credit is due. Jimmy Oddo fought for this. He saw a need, and he had a vision, and he's putting some of the resources that he has in his command into it, and we are putting a lot of additional resources into match his commitment and add to it. Because one thing that's become clear is that we have kids who have really special needs who go through a lot who need a place where their needs can be addressed. I'm talking this case about long-term pediatric care. Kids dealing with profound physical challenges that need long-term support. There aren't enough facilities that do that in the city. And so, we're announcing today at the Sea View Campus here on Staten island, Health + Hospitals will create a long-term pediatric care facility to be there for our kids and families. This will be a major, major investment to provide a type of health care that isn't being provided enough to answer a need here on Staten Island, to answer the need of families going through so much. I'm proud to announce an investment of $125 million to bring this vision to life. And, again, credit where credit is due. I turn to my friend, Jimmy Oddo.

Borough President Oddo: That just blows me away, Mr. Mayor. $125 million investment in the kids of this borough and this city. When we had dinner the other night, your team tweeted out that every dinner with me is a working dinner. And I want to tell the people of Staten Island that – how literal that was. I sat across from you in Lydon, and right before the cauliflower –

Mayor: [Inaudible] it’s very modern. They don’t do that that way in Italy, but, hey, we’re into it.

Borough President Oddo: And you put the white earbuds in your ears and you had the Deputy – First Deputy Mayor and Mitch Katz on the phone. And you did what only a Mayor can do and push an issue across the goal line. And I am so appreciative of that. When we got here in office, Mayor, you and I, I approached you in 2014 about creating a health and wellness campus at Sea View. You put in a quarter-of-a-million dollars for feasibility study, eventually led to an RFP, did a lot of work with our friends at EDC. Not surprisingly, sir, they came back with a product that I wasn't particularly thrilled with – a little too much housing and not enough health and wellness. But we are going to fulfill that mission, if not directly, organically. And this institution jumpstarts that. And $125 million investment blows me away. And I will conclude with just a thank you for allowing me yet one more Tim Russert whiteboard.

Mayor: If anyone, if anyone out there understands this whiteboard, we should have cash prizes for anyone who could figure it out.

Borough President Oddo: It's such a wonderful moment. I'm actually going to write on the board. So, here is the $100 million dollars that we had talked about, about an aquatic center. And we broke that down to the higher purpose, right? We talked about [inaudible] Meals on Wheels is working. We talked about the diabetes center at Sea View. We announced early in the week, that's being shifted to Gotham.

Mayor: To Vanderbilt –

Borough President Oddo: Gotham-Vanderbilt. So, we don't need that capital money. That capital money – now, let's add to it, Mr. Mayor – goes to the long-term facility and it does jumpstart that health and wellness campus. And because every good TV series needs a cliffhanger, there is a balance of money that you and I have. We won't talk about it today, but there's one other big fish out there you and I are working on.

Mayor: You’re teasing it. I like that. You're going to create, kind of, momentum. So, what is that question mark. People are going to want to know.

Borough President Oddo: To, yet again, serve kids.

Mayor: That's good. Keep them in suspense. As you can see, Jimmy Oddo working that board there, I want you to know that the coaches at Curtis High School specifically asked me not to let Jimmy draw plays for the team because no one would understand them. He likes plays that people can actually remember. Okay. So, Jimmy, congratulations again. Thank you. I really want to give you credit. What did you care about? You cared about people with diabetes. You cared about kids with long-term care needs. You cared about kids who are less advantaged and need a pool that they could swim in even in the cooler months. This is what a public servant should care about. So, it's been a real pleasure to work with you case by case, getting these things done. And as your question mark there indicates, maybe there's still a little more in the tank before we're all done here.

All right, everyone, want to just give you an update before we go to indicators, just reminding everyone it continues to be hot out there. Two more days of heat advisory. So, today, maximum of the heat index – that's the real feel – it’s going to be up somewhere between 95 and 100. Tomorrow, they’re projecting between 95 and 99. So, everyone, please, stay in as much as possible. Stay hydrated, be careful about anything you do outdoors. We have 344 cooling centers activated. Pools on extended hours. Lot of support out there for people. You can call 3-1-1 of course. Go to nyc.gov/beattheheat for any information need. But, everyone, stay cool, stay hydrated. Look out for your neighbors. Look out for your kids.

Okay. Here we go to indicators, and begins with my favorite, which is the number of doses administered to-date. And this keeps growing and we're seeing real good movement, real good momentum. As of today, from the beginning 10,555,002 vaccination doses given. Number two, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 135 patients. Confirmed positivity, 35.17 percent. Hospitalization rate, 1.37 per 100,000. And then, number three, new reported cases on a seven-day average – today’s report, 100 – excuse me, 1,644 cases. Finally, going to do a few words in Spanish about vax to school – the vaccination effort to reach our young people.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, we turn to our colleagues in the media. And please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We’ll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined today by Dr. Mitch Katz, by Dr. Ted Long, by doing Commissioner Jesse Tisch, and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today, it goes to Paul Liotta from the Staten Island Advance.

Question: Hey. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. How are you doing?

Mayor: Good, Paul. How have you been?

Question: I’m well, sir. So, regarding the school document as it relates to the COVID procedures this year with building closures – can be determined by the Department of Health. Is there any kind of metric that the City can share what that – you know, how that determination will be made?

Mayor: It's going to be based on the specifics of each situation, Paul. What we saw last year in a very different environment, there were a lot of closures. We looked at the facts, we looked at the approach, and we said there's a way to focus on health and safety but also minimize disruption. So, it's going to be case by case, but with a very different environment now because of the high level of vaccination. And that has changed the playing field from the point of view of the doctors. But the situation room will be constantly monitoring. We'll have the regular testing and we can do additional testing anytime we needed in any given school. But it's going to be done on a case by case basis. Go ahead, Paul.

Question: And regarding the Sea View pediatric hospital, do we have a sense of when that will be operational and what kind of work will need to be done to get it up and running?

Mayor: I'll turn to the Borough President. I don't think we have Mitch Katz on – we do have Mitch Katz on. Okay. I'll turn to – actually, let me do Mitch Katz first and then the Borough President. So, Dr. Katz, in terms of that initial – I know nothing's 100 percent final, but the initial timeline for getting that long-term care facility started, what can you tell us?

President and CEO Mitch Katz, Health + Hospitals: Thank you, sir. And this is so great that I get an opportunity to thank you and the Borough President for making this amazing commitment to disabled children. These are some of the most vulnerable of New Yorkers, children who were born very premature, children with spinal cord injuries, with unusual neurological conditions, children who really need that special long-term care. It is a several year capital project. They require special facilities, so it's not a case where I can just take a hospital ward and put in a fresh coat of paint and some couches. I need to construct the rooms. We're looking at about three years from now on opening. But while that's far away, it would never happen, this would never be a dream come true without you and the Borough President. So, thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Well, I'm going to give the credit to the Borough President. He started it. So, do you want to add?

Borough President Oddo: I just want to say thank you through a few people that I had in my notes and I got too caught up in the emotion of it. And that's a thank you to Mitch Katz, Maureen McClusky, Christine Flaherty, and Deb Brown at H + H. This is their win.

Mayor: Amen. Okay.

Moderator: The next is Michael Gartland from the Daily News.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Hey Michael, how you been, man?

Question: I'm good. I have a question about – relates to what's been going on in Afghanistan. Given the bombing there this morning, is there an elevated terror threat in the city now, related to the events there?

Mayor: We are watching that very closely. We do not have a specific and credible threat directed at New York City right now. But we are watching closely and obviously our counter-terrorism apparatus can move very quickly if we see anything of direct concern to us. Go ahead, Michael.

Question: All right. Thank you for that. I'll say on the new guidelines, you said that middle and high school students in quarantine will have access to remote learning. What does that mean exactly? Who's going to be teaching if the regular teachers, you know, in school and with the kids that aren't, who aren't quarantining?

Mayor: Yeah. I'll start and I'll turn to the Chancellor. So, Michael, bottom line is, again, we expect a very different reality than last year. We do not expect a lot of building closures based on everything we're seeing now. We do expect some quarantine classrooms, but it certainly will not be like last year because a lot of both adults and kids will be able to stay in school if there has been a case in their classroom if they're not symptomatic and they are vaccinated. So, I just want to emphasize it is going to be a very different environment. But we of course need to be ready to provide help for anyone who is quarantining. So, we have a variety of materials ready, different approaches depending on the grade level. We laid out some of it in the booklet. The Chancellor will summarize. But we're going to be adding updates in the coming weeks. This is the baseline that we're announcing today, but there's some ongoing conversations, both within the DOE and with our labor partners. And we're going to have more to say in the next few days with some additional updates. But to start, go ahead, Chancellor.

Chancellor Porter: Yes, definitely. You got it, Mr. Mayor. You know, we have spent the last really year and a half building out remote learning muscle. And so, we look forward to the ways that we now know as a system, how to pivot should we need to. But we also have additional health and safety measures that we didn't have a year ago that will allow us to be in school as opposed to having to leave our school buildings. But we have materials both online, our children, we have over 500,000 devices, wifi enabled, LTE enabled devices in the hands of our children. And so, you know, we spent the last year and a half getting ready, but we are going to build on what we learned last year. But we had to have the added measure of vaccines in arms, and the added measure of an entire workforce that's vaccinated, to provide a protective bubble around our students so that we can keep them in school.

Mayor: Thank you.

Moderator: The next is Jillian Jorgensen from NY1.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, and I hope you're having a nice time on beautiful Staten Island, my beloved native borough.

Mayor: Jillian, where are you? We expected to see you for our celebration of the Rock?

Question: We should all go get some pizza at Deninos or Lee’s. I think I know which one the Borough President would pick. But to a more serious subject, the school reopening. Who's going to be doing the teaching for the remote learning when students are quarantined? Is, you know, if only part of a class might be quarantined and the teacher might still be in the building, if they're vaccinated, how is that going to work logistically? Who's going to be doing the remote learning particularly for elementary school students during a quarantine?

Mayor: Okay. So, let me start again. I'm going to go back to the Chancellor again. I really think this is a crucial area of concern, I really do. And what we're trying to make clear today is we can tell you some pieces today, and we're going to be filling in a few more blanks in the next few days, because there's still a couple of issues being worked out. We're still a few weeks out from getting a school and we have time to resolve these issues and then give people a fuller picture. But the most important thing to say is, from what we're seeing right now, we expect a lot more continuity than what we had in the last school year. So, I think you'll see many cases where kids don't experience school building closures and quarantining. Remember there are kids who, since we do not expect a lot of building closures, if they're vaccinated, even if they're exposed to someone else positive, they're still going to stay in school unless they themselves are symptomatic. That's a really, really different situation than what we had last year. So, point one, I expect a lot less disruption, a lot more kids just staying in school throughout. When a child does need a temporary instruction, because they're quarantining we have a variety of tools available to keep the continuity. Obviously, goal one is just keep those disruptions to a minimum, keep kids in the classroom. So, the Chancellor, again, will summarize what we can tell you now and what's in the handbook that we announced today. But this is definitely, Jillian, a stay tuned. This'll be updated online regularly as new developments occur. And I think we'll have some additional points on this in just the next few days. But Chancellor, why don't you summarize where we are now?

Chancellor Porter: Sure. And good to hear from you, Jill. I feel – we met in Staten Island, so it's good to be back there virtually today. So, elementary school is easy. In the event of a quarantine there, the classroom teacher would quarantine with the class and they will have continued instruction from the regular classroom teacher. We're still working with our labor partners on high school and middle school, where you may have partial closures because of vaccinated students. But like the Mayor said, we're also continuing our Vax To School campaign, increasing the numbers every day of students and faculty members that are vaccinated so that they are less interruptions to instruction and more days in school, very different environment than we were in a year ago today.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Jillian.

Question: Thank you. That's helpful. And on the testing, this is less testing than was being done last year. Obviously, the vaccine is a factor now, but it's not available to children under 12, that's all elementary school students pretty much in the city. Why the decision to test with less frequency than last year?

Mayor: Because we have an entirely different reality. So again, I want people to remember that what happens in the schools reflects the larger reality of the city. As of this hour, 5.3 million New Yorkers. I mean, this is just a staggering number, 5.3 million New Yorkers have had at least one dose. School is still a few weeks away. You're going to see a lot more New Yorkers vaccinated. Then remember all the incentives, the mandates for public employees, the plan around indoor dining, all of these things are contributing to an uptick rapidly in vaccination levels. And the Vax To School campaign, we know we're going to reach a lot more 12 to 17-year-olds in the next few weeks. In fact, parent focus on getting their kids vaccinated is going to intensify as school comes near. So, when you have an environment with that kind of level of vaccination, even for the kids, not able to be vaccinated yet, they are affected by everything around them. If every adult in the building is vaccinated, that has a lot to say with the safety of those kids who are younger than 12. On top of that, the health and safety measures that worked. They didn't just work Jillian, during the school year, where again, by the end of the school year, 0.03 percent positivity, unbelievably low. But they worked during Summer Rising. We saw very little disruption during Summer Rising, and that just ended. So, we're really confident here about the ability to keep kids safe. The bi-weekly testing, constant, every school. And if we see in any school a need to do more, we can easily send more testing in literally the same day, if we want to in any case. We always have that option.

Moderator: The next is Dana from the New York Times.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. Just a bit of a follow up question. I'm curious if you could explain how the City spent the federal funding it received to ease the reopening of schools? And why more of that isn't being spent on testing?

Mayor: That's a big question. Good question. But we'll have to really get you a breakout Dana, a lot of different elements to it. Obviously, everything we're doing on vaccination, which is the strategy, everything we've been doing to support kids with Summer Rising to get them ready to come back. And there's many, many answers to that question. We'll get you a breakout, but it's been intense. And remember when our kids come back, we're doing a mental health screening for every child. We're doing academic screening. We're bringing in 500 more social workers. There's a lot of big pieces moving here to support the comeback of our schools. But the testing, again, this is a high level of testing. This is every single school, every two weeks, with the ability to add any time anywhere we need to. Go ahead, Dana.

Question: Thank you. That's all I've got.

Mayor: Thank you.

Moderator: The next is Alex Zimmerman from Chalkbeat.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. Thanks so much for taking my question.

Mayor: How are you doing Alex?

Question: I'm doing well. So, I wanted to ask about one aspect of the safety plan for schools, where there's a pretty significant discrepancy between what the City is planning and what the CDC recommends? So, the CDC, the current CDC guidance says that unvaccinated students should not have to quarantine if they were properly masked, even if they were exposed to a student who tested positive? You know, given that both students in that case were properly masked, were in a classroom, and were at least three feet apart from each other. But according to the plan the City released today, you're planning to quarantine entire elementary school classrooms, even if only one student tests positive. So, I'm wondering if you could explain why the City's plan here deviates so much from what the CDC recommends?

Mayor: Well, I appreciate the question. I'm going to turn to Dr. Chokshi and Dr. Varma, but I want to caution, we're always trying to strike a balance. We, absolutely, positively, it's an imperative to have every child back in school and the maximum time in school. Obviously at the same time, health and safety first. So, those are the balance – that's the balance we try and strike. I also want to make sure that you're, I respect you a lot, but that your interpretation of the CDC guidance is the same as our doctors. So, let's start with that. Dr. Chokshi, Dr. Varma, could you speak to whether you see it the same way as Alex and talk about your reasoning on this?

Commissioner Chokshi: Certainly sir, I'm happy to start. And as you said, you know, there's a balance to be struck here between keeping kids in school but of course, when cases are identified ensuring that kids are kept safe. And particularly in settings where there is lower vaccination, not of the staff because of course all staff will have to be vaccinated. But when children are not yet eligible for vaccination, that does tip the balance more strongly toward ensuring that we aggressively try to break any chains of transmission within classrooms and schools. And so that is how we have decided to enact the isolation and quarantine policies that we have. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma, anything to add?

Question: Well, just to clarify that, the reporter is correct, that we have chosen an approach that is more conservative than what the CDC guidance says, specifically about that issue. We all know that New York City is different and we chose a layering of different protections so that we can ensure that, you know, health and safety is at the forefront as it's been since the beginning of the pandemic. So, that is really the reason and really fundamentally one of the big issues that concerned us to be very specific was the emergence of the Delta variant and the differences that we don't know about in terms of how it may or may not affect transmission in a school setting. So again, we've put health and safety at the forefront, and in this situation we chose a practice that is a bit more conservative than CDC, but I think aligns with our concerns about the situation here in New York City.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Alex.

Question: I'm also curious there's some, it looks like to me, there's some mention in the plan about there could be certain circumstances where a school building would be shut down if there was some kind of uncontrolled spread? And I'm just wondering if there is like, a specific benchmark for that?
Like, if there's a specific number of cases, I know there was a specific number for that over the summer, and I'm just wondering if that still exists now? 

Mayor: I’m going to turn to Dr. Ted Long, but with just a quick preface – again, Alex, we had to learn by doing last year to say the least and we tried different approaches and clearly took a very cautious approach and a very good one in the sense of we got great outcomes in terms of health and safety, but we also saw a lot of disruption and it was before we had a high level of vaccination. We now have an extraordinarily high level of vaccination and is growing all the time, and we need to balance all the factors, but we want less disruption this year while maintaining health and safety. So, it, again, it's going to be much more case by case based on the facts, any school, and Test and Trace is going to take the lead determining that Dr. Long, you want to give an update on that. 

Executive Director Long: Yeah, I'd love to, sir. So, I appreciate the question because keeping our students and our teachers safe is our highest priority along with keeping our students and teachers in school, which is so critical as we've talked about to the social, emotional, and educational developments of our future generation in New York City. We have an opportunity and we've been a leader so far, we need to continue to be a leader. So, what we're doing is we're doing an evaluation that's comprehensive to look for widespread transmission at any given school. That's triggered by if there are cases in that school, we then look for evidence of multiple sources of infection, in multiple spaces or cohorts within a school, based on that investigation if there's a reasonably high likelihood that ongoing transmission is occurring within the school, that's where we make the decision together, DOE, Test and Trace, the Department of Health about potentially closing that school if all of those criteria are met. And I hope that helps. Thank you.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.  

Moderator: The next is Elizabeth Kim from Gothamist.  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.  

Mayor: Hey Elizabeth, how you been? 

Question: I'm good. I have some questions on schools too, regarding vaccinated middle and high school students, will they be required to show proof of their vaccination, or will it be some kind of honor system that they indicate on their health screening? 

Mayor: Again, I'll turn to the Chancellor to update how the DOE portal is working. I was asked this several times, just want to emphasize, the mandate is for all adults who work in schools. There's not a mandate for kids, but it's going to be a very, very strong effort to get kids vaccinated, and we want the information, of course, on vaccinated kids. We're going to push real hard these next few weeks, even into the beginning of school to maximize vaccination for 12 and up. I also want to emphasize, we're going to keep pushing the Biden administration to move the vaccinations for the five to 11-year-olds. This is the big missing link, and this should be what literally one of the number one priorities of the federal government right now, get that vaccination ready for five to 11-year-olds, and we can then secure the entire school community, ideally. But as to the portal and how we're going to make sure that kids provide their information, Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter. 

Chancellor Porter: Yep, so families can go to vaccines at @schools.nyc and upload their vaccination status right now. That's what we are going to be asking families to do. And on September 9th, they can start to upload negative tests. So, we are ready to start collecting that information from families. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Elizabeth. 

Question: My second question is about kids who may be seeking accommodations because of medical conditions. Do you - does the city have an estimate on how large that pool is going to be and who is going to be staffing that alternative instruction? 

Mayor: Yeah, it's a very important question. Thank you. I'm going to start, and I want to get the Chancellor into this as well. Just to emphasize, Elizabeth, page nine of this guide lays out the kinds of health situations where we expect to see medically necessary instruction. Kids with these challenges, kids who are immunocompromised, this is an area – by the way, this predates the pandemic, obviously, DOE has provided this kind of support for thousands of kids each year as needed, sometimes only for part of the year, if it's only a temporary need. But this is something we intend to do. Department of Health will work and look at each case to confirm the situation, make sure it's appropriate. In terms of the instruction will be provided, the Chancellor will tell you where we stand right now, but this is another area like we've talked about before, where we're going to tell you what the situation is now, and then some additional work is being done in the next few weeks before school begins, and we'll keep updating this guide with further information. Chancellor? 

Chancellor Porter: So, we've been working with our partners at DOH and H+H to anticipate what numbers could potentially be, and we estimate 3,000 to 5,000 students might need the support. What's important to note is that this structure has been in place prior to this moment. It was formerly known as Home Instruction, leaning into our lessons from the pandemic, we have transitioned it to medically necessary instruction and are expanding it to include the use of our in-person teachers going to students' homes, but also leveraging virtual class platforms to provide online learning. And so, we are still building this out, but really excited that we already have certified teachers that already connected to home instruction, and we're looking forward to leveraging those certified teachers to provide this level of instruction that is required at this moment. 

Mayor: Thank you.  

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. The next is Julia Marsh from The Post. 

Question: Hey, Mr. Mayor can you talk a little bit more, you said, you know, this is kind of a stay tuned situation on many of these details about the reopening. Can you talk about, you know, what details are left to be ironed out? And is it an issue with the unions? Is it an issue with staffing? What's going on here? 

Mayor: No, I appreciate it very helpful. First of all, Julia, you'll look through – there's a lot in here, again, what's in this handbook for parents itself and then there's a lot of references to other resources available. So, I think this is going to answer a lot of the concerns, very valid concerns parents have had. There are a few areas where the issue still is some conversations with union partners, some final details to work through, but I want to note, it's really important, and again, your question is both fair and important, we're in a very different atmosphere, honestly than last year. There's a high level of agreement on what needs to happen. There are some specifics that need to be worked out. This is normal, unions, of course, are going to have some concerns and we have to finalize a few of the details, but I do think that's literally a few days away and we'll be able to update. It is not about staffing level. Staffing, we're very, very secure right now about our staffing levels. Go ahead. 

Question: Okay, and then just to follow-up to a question I asked yesterday, this is from my colleague Craig McCarthy who covers NYPD. When I mentioned Commissioner Shea and some other brass going unmasked, you said, you know, as long as they're vaccinating – that's vaccinated, that's okay, but the NYPD actually put out a memo to everyone at the department saying that all members, regardless of COVID vaccine status, must wear a face covering in elevators and when interacting with members of the public. We had Commissioner Shea, again, yesterday, interacting with members of the public without a mask on. So, you know, what's your comment given that, and isn't it important for these leaders to lead by example? 

Mayor: Yeah, I think he does. Yeah, I really do believe this. I haven't seen the picture and, you know, we're all going to do our best always, and sometimes we just have a moment where we miss something, but if you talk about what he's done overall, I mean, he made a very powerful plea to the men and women of the NYPD to get vaccinated. I think it was heard and respected by many members of service. I think it's having an impact. He's been out there working hard to get people vaccinated, making sure that people wearing their masks, cares deeply about the health and safety of his members. Whenever we lose a member to this disease, I've talked to Commissioner Shea, he feels it very, very personally. So, I think he has set the right tone and the right approach, and we all have to work every day to keep reminding people and doing the best to set a good example.  

Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to Bobby Calvan from the Associated Press. 

Question: Yeah, hi, Mr. Mayor on a mandatory vaccination at schools - and I hope you can elaborate on staffing levels a little bit. So, some teachers have said they would quit, or risk being fired the city followed through with the requiring mandatory vaccinations. How many teachers do you expect to lose? And what are your contingency plans for any loss of teachers, and how do you kind of address any potential chaos or disruption? 

Mayor: Yeah, Bobby, respect the question, but we do not expect – again, I understand people like to use colorful terms, “we do not expect” the two words that you just used. We expect the vast, vast majority of the adults who take care of kids to be there for our kids. It's as simple as that. This is to keep everyone safe. This is to ensure that the children we all cherish are safe, that their families are reassured, it's the right thing to do for the health of our employees. I think the vast, vast majority are going to act on this guidance, by the way, we have a high level of vaccination already in the Department of Education. So, we don't see – they'll always be some loud voices – but we don't see any evidence of a major change in the staffing reality. Go ahead, Bobby. 

Question: Well, you've got about 72 percent of your teachers vaccinated, which means that, you know, if my math is correct, 28 percent aren’t vaccinated. So, is the school district prepared to possibly lose a quarter of its teaching staff?  

Mayor: Again, that's just not going to happen. I'll have the Chancellor weigh in because she's been talking to the people she leads, and she's been an educator for decades. There's just that math doesn't reflect the reality. We are a full month away from the mandate taking effect. More and more of the adults who work with our kids are getting vaccinated all the time, in general, let alone because of the mandate. We are quite confident that we're going to have a very good response, and we also have a lot of additional support ready. We’re looked at this carefully. We looked at it very carefully before we made the decision, and we feel very good about where we stand. Chancellor, you want to add. 

Chancellor Porter: Yeah, sure. I agree with the Mayor. We expect our staff to comply. They've always shown up to take care of our babies and they continue to. The 72 percent number is – we got their pre, you know, having a mandate in place, and so we are looking forward to the rest of our workforce complying. We're also excited about, we built a really strong sub pool throughout the pandemic that supported us through that, and they're getting vaccinated as well. And so, we are ready to serve our children. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Chancellor, and everyone as we wrap up today, it's first of all, the answer to all things, it keeps coming back to vaccination. We want to put the COVID era behind us. We want to do right by our kids and our families. We need everyone to go get vaccinated. This is what's going to make New York City stand out in this nation and avoid ever having to go back to those restrictions we all hated, but I also want to say last press conference of Staten Island week, we're going to be doing some really wonderful events the next day or two to continue to celebrate major investments in Staten Island. Great things happening in Staten Island. Staten Island is going to be a crucial part of what we like to call a Recovery For All of Us. Thank you, everybody. 

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