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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

October 4, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. We're going to talk today about the biggest challenge we have ever faced, which is COVID. We are going to talk about how we bring back New York City, stronger than ever. We're going to talk about how we restore public health, restore public safety, bring our schools back.  All roads lead to the same place: vaccination. Everything that we need to do for each other, everything we need to do for our city depends on increasing the number of vaccinations all the time. And that's what we've been focused on ow this whole time, over almost a year now.  Getting ready for the vaccinations, then making sure that they were reaching as many New Yorkers as possible, as quickly as possible. That work continues every single day. 

Now, New York City – people should be proud. You should be proud that we've really doubled down on vaccination, but it's against the backdrop that's really troubling. We saw just in the last three days, few days, a really horrible milestone for our country – 700,000 COVID deaths. It's painful, it's awful, and so many of them were avoidable with vaccination. As of today, 99 percent of the deaths in this country have been from among those who are unvaccinated. 99 percent of those who we've lost were unvaccinated. It's horrible. And you look at the map on the screen that's from the New York Times, and it shows where we're losing thousands and thousands of Americans in the places where people are less vaccinated. I keep saying we have got to end the COVID era and I believe it. We can end the COVID era. We can make COVID, like so many other diseases that we deal with, don't dominate our lives. We can do that. But we can only do that through vaccination. New York City has been one of the great national leaders in the vaccination effort. 

I want to give credit to all New Yorkers who have participated. To the vaccinators, to our health care team, everyone out there. Our Test and Trace Corps., everyone who has been a part of that. The bottom line is if you are vaccinated, your chance of getting through this is overwhelmingly good. If you're unvaccinated, you're 10 times more likely to be hospitalized. And we've seen every day our vaccination levels increase. We've seen our hospitalization rate go down and it's really gone down in a big way in the last days. We're going to talk about that. It's very exciting to see the impact of all these vaccinations.  

Now, we said months ago we're going to use the strategy of mandates and incentives. We needed both. Incentives play a role. Mandates play a role. We've had three key elements. We've been doing this since July. The hundred-dollar incentive, the workforce vaccine mandates for our public workforce, and the Key to NYC requirement for indoor dining and entertainment and fitness. These three strategies together have had a profound impact. As of today, in New York City, from the beginning of our effort, we're past 11.5 million doses of vaccine given. And a lot of that is because of what we did in recent months with incentives and mandates. Since we announced the incentives and the mandate starting in July, over 1.7 million doses. This is from late July to now. So, just over two months, over 1.7 million more doses – a 45 percent increase in the daily rate for vaccination in this city since we announced these new approaches.  

Look, here's my message to all the mayors of America. Here's my message to all the governors of America. Put these mandates in place, put these incentives in place. They work. Do it now, save lives and ultimately save this country from a longer crisis that could hold us down for months or even years. If we don't stop COVID, we could have a prolonged problem. As opposed to really ending the COVID era by next year, which we could do with enough vaccination. We're going into the winter. We know the winter is a really challenging time with COVID. Across this country, from last December to February, 200,000 deaths. We can't let that happen again. It can be stopped. People can be saved with vaccination. There are 70 million people in this country who remain unvaccinated. That is a staggering figure, but it can be overcome. But cities and states need to step up, put that a hundred-dollar incentive in place. It clearly works. We've proven it. Put the mandates in place for public workforces. Put the mandates in place for indoor dining. Do the things that people will respond to.  

Now, one of the most important actions we took was the mandate for our schools. Our parents needed to know their kids would be safe. They in trust us with their children. It's one of the most sacred things that happens when a parent says to a school community, I'm letting you have my child for the school day. Please help them to grow. Please help them to learn, but you've got to keep them safe. That is what this mandate is all about. Every adult in our schools is now vaccinated and that's going to be the rule going forward. And that's the way to keep kids safe. And the whole school community safe. This has been now looked at by the court system over and over and over again. New York City vaccination mandate for our schools has been upheld over and over in State Court, Federal Court. There was an appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday, the Supreme Court made clear the previous court decisions stand. And so consistently what courts have said is New York City has a right to put this mandate in place for our schools, for the adults in our schools. It’s the right thing today. It's the right thing to do. And as of today, all the employees in our 1600 schools are vaccinated and that is unprecedented. And that's on top of all of the layers of protection, all the health and safety measures that make up that gold standard that we put in place last year. That's continued to deepen this year.  

Here are the facts as of this morning. And I think everyone's going to be pleased to hear this report. As of now, 95 percent of all full-time DOE employees are vaccinated; 96 percent of all teachers; 99 percent of all principals – an amazing effort. And I want everyone to know, since the mandate was announced for our schools, August 23rd, over 43,000 doses given to employees of our public schools. So much has been done. Thank you to everyone who participated, but I really want to thank the leader of the effort because she believed from the beginning, this was the way to go. And she made clear to everyone we had to get there together and she achieved it. My great pleasure to introduce our Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter. 

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter: Thank you, Mayor de Blasio. And as you've said, we've been climbing the ladder to this moment for months, and now 95 percent of all full-time DOE employees are vaccinated. This morning, I visited P.S. 5 in Bed-Stuy. A true, hidden gem in District 16, where Principal Gates shared that 100 percent of her staff got vaccinated, no staffing losses at all. It was just like a regular day for them. Parents dropping off their babies, educators, welcoming their students into class and every single staff member in the building vaccinated. It was wonderful. 

What does 95 percent vaccinated mean? It means our employees and staff members, as we've said, are doing their part to keep their community safe. It means there is an actual bubble of safety around our children in their school buildings. Beginning today and every day, going forward, with 100% of adults in buildings, vaccinated, New York City schools are the safest places to be. And our incredible vaccination mandate made this possible. Every employee from pre-K to adult education, from the Bronx to Far Rockway cares deeply about our students. And that's how we got to this moment. Now, this used to mean staying at the class with the student or bringing in school supplies for those in need. But in the age of COVID-19, it also means getting vaccinated. And I want to personally think everyone. Every educator, every food service worker, every school safety agent, every principal, assistant principal, every substitute teacher, every custodial worker and every single employee in our system who stepped up and took this vital step to keep our children safe.  

18,000 new shots were given out since last Friday – that's an incredible surge. To those who have not yet gotten vaccinated, it's never too late to get the life-saving vaccine. Get your first dose today. You are more than welcome to come back to work. Our students need you. Our city needs you. To parents who are worried about disruption and our babies’ schools this week, we are prepared for this moment. We've been working so hard to get to this moment. We have thousands of vaccinated substitutes on-hand and we are working hand in hand to support and ensure the continuity of instruction in every school, every day. A benefit of being the largest district in the nation is that we have the largest village of dedicated adults prepared to step up for our young people. This week, vaccination sites will continue to be in every single school with students, ages 12 and over. They are there to provide both first and second doses. And we're happy to announce it today that we're starting our first round of second doses in our schools for our students. If you are a mom or dad who's been sitting on the fence, now is the time to have your baby get vaccinated and be protected from COVID-19. Vaccination means more time in school, access to sports and extracurriculars, and more importantly, a faster return to our normal. 

Once again, thank you to every staff member who got vaccinated. Every single one of you is such an important piece in the armor, protecting us from this pandemic. And thank you, Mayor de Blasio, for making sure school staff are vaccinated and reassuring parents citywide. Together, we are making sure our kids can stay in school safely and get the excellent public school education they deserve in each and every one of our New York City public schools. 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Chancellor. Chancellor, I know that a huge amount of work went in with you and your team to get ready for today. I'm hearing really good reports from around our school system, our 1,600 schools, that the right steps were taken to keep everything moving forward. But it all begins with that amazing fact, 95 percent of full-time DOE employees have now received at least one dose of the vaccine. That's amazing. 

I want you to now hear what this means to families. What it means to parents. What means to kids. Want you to hear from a parent from the Bronx. And she went through like all of us, all the challenges of COVID in the last year and a half. But parents went through particularly tough challenges, trying to make sure that our kids could keep learning and growing even with all the problems surrounding them. And parents want to make sure that that environment is safe going forward because they want their kids in school. Paula Ellis has a 7 old and a 13-year-old at P.S./M.S. 5 in the Bronx. I want you to hear her story welcome, Paula Ellis. 

[…] 

Mayor: Well, we've lost her sound. Hey Paula, can you hear us? We lost your sound there. I don't know if something got muted? It’s the video connection. Okay, well, Paula, thank you. I'm sorry we lost the end of what you said. But I want to amplify your thanks to all of our educators and all of our staff who did the right thing and got vaccinated. Because hearing your voice, Paula, I can hear the reassurance that you now feel as a parent. So, thank you for speaking up for your fellow parents and thank you to everyone at DOE who did the right thing and got vaccinated. And I got to tell you, having a mandate, having some clear rules, having a deadline really makes a difference. Powerful tweet this morning from the White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, and he was responding to the news of the success of the New York City Department of Education with 95 percent of employees now vaccinated. He said, this simply this morning, we all know it. There are people who just wait until the deadline. It's a reality. And it's why vaccine requirements are needed and effective. Exactly right. And this is why all over the country, schools should do it. Cities should do it. Mayors should step up. Governors should step up for their states. These mandates work. It's what's going to save this country. And I want you now to hear from someone who is absolutely an expert, because he has the wellbeing of all the children of America, is his responsibility. He is leading this country's efforts to educate our children, but he has an additional job now to lead the way in keeping them safe. And he was here with us on the first day of school. He's back with us on this very important day. And he’s supported us every step of the way as Secretary of Education of the United States of America. My pleasure to introduce Dr. Miguel Cardona. 
  
[…] 
  
Mr. Secretary, thank you so much. I got to tell you, it has helped us every step of the way to have your support, to have President Biden's support for these mandates, for these strong measures. It's made a world of difference to have leadership in Washington, backing us up every step along the way. So, all I can say to you is muchisimas gracias, it has been tremendously helpful. And we look forward to hosting you again soon in New York City. 
  
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona: Thank you, [inaudible]. 
  
Mayor: Everybody, I want you now to hear from a leader who is an elected official, but for years and years, he was a public school teacher. He understands how important it is to protect our kids. He can give the perspective as a teacher, but also as someone serving a whole district in the Bronx. And he's stood by us every step of the way as we put these crucial mandates in place to get everyone vaccinated, get everyone safe. My pleasure to introduce Council Member Eric Dinowitz. 
  
[…] 
  
Thank you so much, Council Member. That was really powerful. First of all, I'm glad that you know how to still give homework. But second – 
  
City Council Member Eric Dinowitz: I can’t check the assignment, but I can still assign it. 
  
Mayor: But you can still assign it, that's right. But it says something powerful. People trust the educators in their life, the school staff, the crossing guards, you name it. And of course, the principals, administrators, when those folks who make up our school community get vaccinated, they send a message of respect to parents and kids. They also can help ensure that more parents, more kids get vaccinated. It's a virtuous circle. But today we're so happy to be able to say that 95 percent number. I'm going to keep saying it. You're right. That is a grade – congratulations. Chancellor, that’s a great grade and more to come. Because we still welcome everyone who's not vaccinated, get vaccinated, move forward with us. Thank you, Council Member. Thank you for your strong voice. 
  
Council Member Dinowitz: Thank you. 
  
Mayor: Okay. So, now we've talked about the impact of the workforce mandates, huge, clear. It's really, really made a difference. Key To NYC, we know that's made a difference. And the $100 incentive. So, many people have focused on getting vaccinated the minute they heard that. And we have a milestone today, a really big milestone. Since we started the $100 incentive, a quarter million New Yorkers have taken advantage of it. 250,000 New Yorkers who got their first coronavirus dose, excuse me, coronavirus vaccine dose. 250,000 New Yorkers got vaccinated for the first time because of that $100 incentive. That's a staggering number. You know, around here, we're used to big numbers. 250,000 is even a big number for New York City. And we know when we put out the idea of the $100 incentive it just caught like wildfire. You could tell people heard it. It made sense to them. It gave them an incentive. Literally the same day, President Biden grabbed onto it and said, this is something we need to do all over the country. Listen to what we've achieved because we wanted to reach people. And we wanted to close disparities every step of the way. Since then, since the $100 incentive, 45 percent of the recipients of that incentive had been Latino. That is one of the reasons why the Latino community is now the second most vaccinated demographic in New York City. It went from a community that was very much under vaccinated to now a surge in the number of vaccinations. A community that's well vaccinated. And that's continuing. 
  
Another key goal was to reach younger New Yorkers. That was the incentive. But also of course, the Key to NYC. We knew a lot of the younger New Yorkers valued getting into restaurants, indoor entertainment, fitness. Well, listen to this. 40 percent of the recipients of that $100 bonus have been in the 18-year-old to 35-year-old range. So, the whole idea was to reach people who weren't getting reached and it worked like a charm, massive amount of uptake, making people safer. 
  
We also have the referral bonus initiative, a different kind of bonus. Working with community organizations, houses of worship, community businesses, restaurants, you name it, even barbershops. The idea has been, go where the people are. And if a community business like a barbershop wants to encourage people and get people to sign up to be vaccinated. If that barbershop is going to help get more New Yorkers safe and all of us safe? We want to reward them with a $100 referral bonus for each person they bring in. Well, there's someone who heard the message loud and clear and acted on it. He is the owner of the Barber Factory in the Bronx. I want to tell you, I'm proud of him, 100 percent of his staff, fully vaccinated. He believed he could make a difference. And because of him, 157 more New Yorkers are now vaccinated. What a great story. And it's my pleasure to introduce an entrepreneur who has done right for his community, Nestor Lebron. 
  
[…] 
  
Mayor: Nestor, I am so proud of you. I got to tell you, I'm proud of you, you've done something great for the Bronx, something great for New York City. You and your stylish group of guys there, you know, you've done, you obviously know how to give a good haircut, but you also really made an impact on the community. And I want to tell everyone, this is a kind of business that we should thank. Nestor, tell everyone where you're located. 

[…] 

Mayor: Well, that's the place to be in the Bronx obviously. And listen, you did something great. It's making an impact. There's a lot of people who are going to be safer because of what you did and the word's going to spread. And also, the small businesses listening right now. You could be like the Barber Factory. You could sign up and make a huge impact for yourself and your community. So, Nestor you're – I'm going to give you a, a big applause to tell you're a role model by what you're doing, and we got to spread the word. We need more community leaders like you to step up. Really want to thank you. 

[…] 

Mayor: Amen. Good job guys, good job. All right, now everybody, this referral approach is making a big difference. I want to encourage if you're a community organization, house of worship, a community business, sign up and go to nyc.gov/VaccineReferralBonus, nyc.gov/VaccineReferralBonus. This is a win-win. It's a good news story. Everyone jump in because it could really make a difference for this whole city. Now, I want to give you the indicators for the day and this – they are very, very powerful information as indicators, and it is going to prove the power of vaccination once again. First of all, on the doses administered, we're actually pushing up now towards almost 11.6 million, 11,578,200 – excuse me - 522. Amazing number. Number two, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, today's report 131 patients with a confirmed positivity level of 16.45 percent. But here is the number that we are all – all of us at City Hall, Health Department, Health + Hospitals, everyone is very, very struck by this number today, the hospitalization rate per 100,000 keeps going down, and what we're seeing today is 0.88 per 100,000. That is getting lower all the time. That's a really important to get under one per 100,000 New Yorkers is a very, very big deal and proves the impact of vaccination. And then, number three, new reported case on a seven-day-average, today's report, 1,073 cases. Look at that downward drop. Vaccination making a difference. Okay, few words in Spanish, on the Department of Education vaccine mandate. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 
  
With that, we are going to turn to our colleagues in the media, but just before I do, I want to say a special salute to a member of the media, I hear he's going on to other things and we really want to thank him because Henry Goldman has been a mainstay of the City Hall Press Corps. He has been one of the deans of our press corps and of the Inner Circle. He is a guy who always, always asked probing intelligent, thoughtful questions and cares deeply for this city. So, Henry, I don't know if you're going to be asked in a question they are not, but I wanted to salute you and thank you for everything you've done for New York City and wish you well in your next endeavors. And with that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media and please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist. 

Moderator: We will now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder today, we're joined by Chancellor Meisha Porter, Dr. Dave Chokshi, Health Commissioner, Dr. Mitch Katz, President and CEO of Health + Hospitals, Steve Banks, DSS Commissioner, Marcos Soler MOCJ Director, and with that, we're going to, to our first question from Andrew from NBC. 

Question: Good morning, I have to admit Mayor. I'm surprised that you're not letting Henry lead off on this day of all days – 

Mayor: Andrew, I would, he's not there. He obviously has taken seriously going on to whatever's next because he's not putting up his hand today, but if he does, he will get right into the lineup. You can carry on his tradition. 

Question: I will try to make him proud. My question is about staffing at schools today. We understand all the good news that you've reported in terms of the vaccination rates, but I am wondering if there are any specific schools where there are staffing challenges today, in particular we've heard that at New Dorp High School on Staten Island, there was a gap of about 20 teachers going into today, 20 unvaccinated teachers, and that doesn't include food service workers and security officers. So, if you or the Chancellor can update what the situation is at that school and whether or not there are any other trouble spots across the city. 

Mayor: I’ll give you the opening and then turn to the Chancellor. Andrew, look, we're looking forward the day where anyone who is not yet vaccinated decides to change their mind, get vaccinated and rejoin us. But in the meantime, we were ready with thousands and thousands of substitute teachers and other personnel ready to go in, obviously, some of our central staff. The bottom line is that's a number in that school we can handle, that's a big school, but in terms of the overall picture today and how it's being managed, I'll turn to the Chancellor. 

Chancellor Porter: Yeah, so like the Mayor said, you know, we've been first of all, monitoring every school throughout the last week, you know, since our last decision, the last decision in our favor to monitor vaccination locations that were sites that were low. And while New Dorp, you know, 20 staff members in the school of that size, while not insignificant, was fully covered by the work of the superintendent, by the work of the central staff, and by subs. And what we want to continue to do is encourage our staff members. We want them in our buildings. We want them in our schools. We want them when our students. We want to continue to encourage them to be vaccinated, and we're going to continue to work with every single school to make sure we're covered. 

Mayor: Amen. Go ahead, Andrew 

Question: Mayor, a political question for you. I know last week you talked about still wanting to serve. The timeline on the Governor's race seems to be accelerating rapidly. This morning, the head of the Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, making a speech in which we understand he's urging folks to sort of line up behind Kathy Hochul. Wondering, you yourself, why would you not want to give the first woman in New York State history a longer chance to serve? Why would you not want to make your intentions move sooner rather than later? 

Mayor: You know, look, Andrew, I appreciate the question. First, I'd say, I think you can tell today what we're focused on. We just achieved something a lot of folks said would be impossible by getting our school system, now all the adults to 95 percent vaccinated. That's what I'm focused on, fighting back COVID, ending the COVID era, keeping the city safe. There are definitely still time to talk about the future. I've made very clear, I want to keep serving the people of the City and the State. There'll be plenty of time to talk about that. There's also, you know, good people who are considering running for different roles. That's part of the democratic process, and I think that's healthy because it helps us all to have the kind of debate we need on where this city, where the state are going in the future. There's a lot that needs to be fixed. So, I look forward to being a part of that discussion. 

Moderator: Next, we have Juliet from 1010 WINS. 

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, and like you, I do salute Henry Goldman if he's listening, and I hope I get to see him soon. But to you, Mr. Mayor, given the success of the mandate in schools, will you be applying the mandate now to all city agencies and government employees? 

Mayor: Juliet, we've been – throughout this whole process over months and months said, we're looking at any and all options. We've been climbing the ladder, as I like to say, very, very steadily. This one was particularly important to get it right. We also had obviously a number of court challenges, but what's come through very, very clearly is we've won every single one of those court challenges. So, these mandates work, we're going to consider in the days ahead what else makes sense to do? Go ahead, Juliet. 

Question: Yeah, just to follow up on that. So, are there any particular agencies that you feel would have priorities or given that there are lower skewing numbers, let's say with the NYPD, that you would mandate that? 

Mayor: Again, Juliet, we’re going to look at the whole picture. We really – this became very clear, both in terms of showing we could make the logistics work, making sure we could serve people properly, serve our kids, serve our families, and also deal with all the court challenges. This has been where our focus has been. We're going to look at everything else now, and as we make decisions, we'll certainly give updates. 

Moderator: Next, we have James from PIX-11. 

Question: And good morning, Mr. Mayor, and to everyone on the call, I was going to begin with some kind of comment about Fenway tomorrow night, but lucky for you, I'll also pay tribute to Henry Goldman, an excellent, excellent human being. 

Mayor: And I want to pay tribute to you, James, you're the number three hitter today, which means power, grace under pressure. A guy who always – 

Question: Hey – 

Mayor: In the clutch. 

Question: I will do my level best. Why don't we start this, UFT President Mulgrew criticized you for not implementing the vaccine mandate sooner in a statement he made about an hour and a half ago. I'd welcome getting your and Ms. Ross Porter's reaction to that, please? 

Mayor: I haven't seen the quote. I'll start, I'll turn the chancellor. I – you know what, God bless is what I want to say. 95 percent of full-time staff vaccinated. We pulled this off in the way we believe would work for our kids, for our families, for our school communities. We've got this success now, you know, you can always do hypotheticals and be Monday morning quarterback, but we've got the success now, I think it speaks for itself, James.  Chancellor, what would you like to say? 

Chancellor Porter: I would just add – having not seen the quote either –I am elated at what we were able to accomplish today with the help of our entire DOE family stepping up and getting vaccinated. And so, this was the moment we were supposed to get to, this was the day this was supposed to happen, and you know, I just will say thank you to the 95 percent of our workforce that's vaccinated and protecting our children. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, James. 

Question: Thank you both, also for both of you somewhat related, the numbers that we're seeing, it's about 20 percent of school safety agents remain unvaccinated. What assurances can you give that there's enough school safety coverage with the number of agents available now? And how do you intend to increase their presence?

Mayor: Yeah, James, the number that I have right now is that the level of vaccination has reached at least 84 percent with school safety agents. And we expect that number to climb. We've seen this here and around the country. A lot of people get vaccinated. Most people get vaccinated by the deadline, and then you do see some others get vaccinated in the days immediately after. So, we're at least, at 84 percent now. I think that number will go up. We had a long discussion yesterday about the deployments that were being made prioritizing certain schools, making sure that the school safety agents we had were in the right places. And I think the DOE working with NYPD did that effectively, but I'll let the Chancellor give any other update on that.

Chancellor Porter: Yeah. No, we’ve been again, working really closely with school safety and making sure that our buildings are covered. We pulled staff members who were not working in school buildings into school buildings. And again, we've seen jumps every single day. And so, we're going to continue to encourage our staff to get vaccinated. We're going to continue to work together and expect to watch those numbers continue to go up.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead.

Moderator: Next, we have Katie from The City.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mayor de Blasio. And I'll play [inaudible] I hope for his sake, [inaudible]

Mayor: Wait, Katie. I really couldn't – I can't make out your words well. Let's start that again. I don't know – is that on our side or her side because I couldn't hear it? Try again, Katie.

Question: Can you hear me now?

Mayor: Yes.

Question: Can you hear me now?

Mayor: Yes.

Question: I just wish you a good morning and well-wishes to Henry Goldman. Although I hope for his sake, he's not listening today. He's doing something more fun.

Mayor: Amen. Amen.

Question: But I wanted to ask you, there was some reporting this weekend from my colleagues at the New York Times and at the New York Post about CORE Services Group, which has multiple homeless contracts with the City. And I and a colleague had written last week about how the Parks Department was going to give it in part, some involvement in the Ferry Point golf links. So, my question, knowing what we now know about the City and what it was doing with CORE, including ordering it's subcontractor franchise to cease operations, why was your Parks Department about to give a major franchise for this golf course to a CORE company after your Department of Homeless Services, what we've now learned had already ordered other CORE companies to shut down? Especially given the controversial nature of the golf course.?

Mayor: Yeah. Well, what I'd say is this, the golf course itself is not the problem. The problem is who used to run it. And we needed a serious national provider. And as you know that there was some misunderstanding about what even the role would be around personnel. There's a national company that runs golf courses. They are coming in to run the golf course. That's the most important thing for people to know. There was going to be a staffing contract, apparently that Parks Department is working on to try and recruit community members to that work. I share your frustration. I don't understand why CORE was in that mix. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't have all the facts in front of me, but it doesn't make sense to me is the honest, truth. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Just for a point of clarification, the LLC that was filed that was going to get the franchise was actually filed by Jack Brown III who's the CORE person. So, I don't know how that involvement was. But was it something that your administration had anything to do with this arrangement? And have you known, we've been trying to get to the bottom of why this was involved. I don't know, maybe Commissioner Banks could speak on it too? I don't know if they were not properly flagged, was there some interagency communication that did not work? So, maybe Commissioner Banks wants to speak about this as well?

Mayor: Yeah, and I think it's a very fair and important question. What I do think, sometimes agencies don't communicate properly and information is not shared properly. That is my suspicion here too, because it wouldn't have made sense to pursue something with this non-profit. Commissioner Banks, you want to speak to that at all?

Commissioner Steven Banks, Department of Social Services: All I can say is that with this particular non-for--profit, we've been working with DOI, with MOCS and as Katie, I appreciate your acknowledgement of the actions that we've taken to deal with this situation. Also want to, just for the record, make sure it's really clear that we work with more than 60 shelter providers. And I don't want the actions of particular executives in this instance to denigrate the work that those other great providers do.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead.

Commissioner Banks: And I don't want the actions of particular executives in this instance to denigrate the work that those other great providers do.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Next, we have Michael from the Daily News. 

Question: Good morning, guys. 

Mayor: Hey, Michael. How are you doing? 

Question: I'm good. I'm wanted to give a shout out to Henry as well. He's a great guy, a mensch, and it's been great working with them. So, I just second what everybody else has said on Henry. I wanted to ask about the Department of Education staffing situation. How many people at this point have been suspended without pay? Just the actual number of personnel. 

Mayor: I don't have the exact number in front of me. I'll see if the Chancellor does, and, if she does not, we will get it to you certainly today. But, again, it's – I want to use the right term of art – they're put on unpaid leave – different reality. Unpaid leave. Go ahead, Chancellor. 

Chancellor Porter: I don't have the exact number right now, because we also – folks are showing up this morning with vaccine cards. So, we're – again, we remain proud of the 95 percent of our workforce that's vaccinated. We're going to continue to encourage folks to be, like the Mayor said, people – folks are put on unpaid leave and will be welcomed back in our system, should they decide to comply with the mandate. But we'll get more specific numbers later. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Michael. 

Question: Second question on, you know, the $100 incentives the City's been using. And I'm not necessarily questioning the merits of that and the – what you've achieved on it. But, you know, do you find it like a bit – does it bother you at all that the City has had to pay $25 million to, kind of, get people to do something that's – I think that you would agree, is a commonsense move is to get vaccinated. I'm just wondering kind of what you – what you think about that? I mean, it's $25 million. I think you could argue it's money well spent, but, at the same time, still, it's $25 million. 

Mayor: Look, it's money well-spent unquestionably. Picking up another quarter-million vaccinated people, that's incredibly helpful to the city. And you can see it in the reduction in COVID in this city. You can see it in the hospitalization rate going down. You can see it in our recovery speeding up. It was absolutely worth it. I understand your point, I really wish people had heard all of the science, all of the facts, all the information that was being offered to them and done, you know, the right thing before the incentive. But I do want to say with some sympathy, people have been fed a nonstop diet of misinformation very much coming out of the reality of the rise of Donald Trump and all the forces unleashed by it. And, beyond that, there's a lot of distrust out there. There's a lot of this trust of authority that has grown and grown and grown in my lifetime. I'm kind of shocked, honestly, that we went from too – too little questioning of authority to the point where now, even when the authorities are right, they are not believed by lots of people just for showing up. You know, there's just literally an inability to hear even our health care leaders when they're telling the truth. And that's sad to me. So, I think, Michael, it's a reflection of the times we're living in. I don't think it has to be this way forever. I think people will get it at some point and start to give a little more respect to the folks out there who really are offering them the truth. But a lot has happened to cause distrust and misunderstanding and we've had to fight against that. This has been one of the tools that's worked. 

Moderator: Next, we have Emma from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi. Good morning, Mayor. My colleague did – her story ran over the weekend about this shelter operator. And I guess I just wanted to ask you the bigger question, should a shelter operator be making a million dollars a year from side companies? How is this able to happen on your watch? 

Mayor: Emma, I don't think nonprofit folks in general should be making that kind of money. I can assure you, there's way too many nonprofit leaders making big salaries. But, to be fair, most of them are doing very good work and work that's absolutely necessary for the every-day life of New York City. I mean, we depend on our nonprofit sector intensely. How did this individual achieve what he did? I'd like that answer too, and I don't find it acceptable if someone's doing the wrong thing, they should not be rewarded. So, there is an audit going on right now. We're ready to claw back money from CORE. Any improprieties we find, we're going to – excuse me, claw back money. Anyone who should not be working with us anymore, we have a history of using our powers to make sure that nonprofits don't work with us anymore or individuals don't. So, we need to see a lot of change there. If they make changes, we'll keep working with them. If they don't make changes, we'll stop working with them. Go ahead, Emma. 

Question: And then, more broadly, how do you plan to address self-dealing and nepotism within the shelter system? The story focused on the executive – on this executive who hired members of his family and intermingled his personal business with his nonprofit, but he wasn't alone. How does – how do you intend to crack down on the financial abuses within the shelter system?  

Mayor: Yeah. Emma, it's not acceptable and I'm going to have Commissioner Banks speak to this. It's not acceptable at all. It's against a very tough complex backdrop where we need more good providers and they are in short supply. But we have an obligation to provide shelter, it's the law in this city. Thank God, it’s the law. It's the reason we don't have the tent cities that you see all over the west coast and so many people on the streets. You know, we have several thousand people on the streets, we're working every day to get them in. In west coast cities, that's tens of thousands of people. So, right to shelter comes with the obligation to provide all the services – that is hard to achieve. But any self-dealing executive or any nonprofit doing the wrong thing, we’ve got to either get them to change or get them out. Commissioner Banks, do you want to speak to that?  

Commissioner Banks: I do. Thank you, Mayor. I completely agree with what you said, but I want to add a few other aspects to this, Emma. First, I said this earlier in response to Katie's question, I think it's very important to emphasize this, that we have more than 60 not-for-profit providers who do extraordinary work and I don't want them tarred with this broad brush, because there are individual bad actors. I think what is important here as well are two things. One is, before we integrated the Department of Homeless Services into the Department of Social Services several years ago, we didn't have the full range of tools that we now have to uncover conduct that isn’t appropriate. And, as was reported over the weekend, we did uncover that there was inappropriate subcontracting and directed that that be addressed. And, as the Mayor indicates, we'll be focusing on whether we were overcharged and taking action with respect to that, following the continuing review. But we have directed and court has agreed to undo these subcontract arrangements. Second of all, the Mayor was very clear about this several months ago, that we should work with DOI and obtain an independent monitor to review all of the various practices in regard to conflicts of interest, nepotism. That review is ongoing. We have a goal of completing it by the end of the year, even though it's the kind of review that might – should take a much longer. But I think that the steps have been laid in place [inaudible] the Mayor directed several months ago, building on the steps that we had put in praise place previously, which, after all, did find this conduct that the paper reported on. And we then took the actions that the paper reported on. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. 

Moderator: We have time for two more today. Next, we have Elizabeth from WNYC. 

Mayor: Elizabeth? 

Question: Hello? There I am. I’d like to ask a follow-up to Emma’s question about the shelter operator. So, you're saying that if CORE doesn't make changes, we'll stop working with them. It seems as if they've already – you know, the Commissioner just said that the City did uncover inappropriate contracting. How many chances does a shelter operator get before the City stops working with them? 

Mayor: It's a great question, Elizabeth. And I do want to emphasize, again, I think it's respectful to the people of New York City and respectful to the members of the media to not dumb this down and point out this is one of the really tough realities we face. There are only so many organizations that provide the services. We have a legal obligation to provide shelter. We have to do it as best we can. If an organization is unacceptable, we get rid of them. If they can be fixed, if we can work with them to make reforms and they provide a good enough product to serve people who are homeless, we are going to keep trying to fix that if we can. It's not as simple as just get rid of everyone that does anything wrong anytime they do it, because there would be very few left. We’ve got to get it right. That is a high bar. I want to be clear, we will not accept self-dealing, we will not accept any corruption, we will not accept anyone that doesn't serve our homeless folks right. But we also have to provide support to all homeless people, it's the law. So, with that preface, Commissioner Banks, please add on. 

Commissioner Banks: Thank you, Mayor. Just to amplify a little bit further – look, since the integration of the Department of Homeless Services into the Department of Social Services, our track record has been to phase out and stop doing business with providers that we did not believe we could reform. Also, it's important to know that – look, one-strike-and-you’re-out policies haven't worked in many different contexts. And it's important when we discover information about potential wrongdoing that we not rush to judgment. Sometimes it can just be a mistake. Other times it can be nefarious. In this instance, we found information that was troubling. We took prompt action and the provider has agreed to restructure the way that it does business to eliminate the subcontracting problem. The providers also agreed to a review that we directed of executive compensation. And, as the Mayor indicated and we've indicated, where there is improper funds that were used for the conduct that we flagged and directed them to stop, we will call that back. In the meantime, every night, there are thousands of people that are getting shelter from frontline staff at this organization and other organizations around the city. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Elizabeth. 

Question: Our education reporter, Jessica Gould, is hearing from principals who say that substitutes are not applying for or filling in for teachers. Can you and-or the Chancellor confirm and clarify what's going on there?  

Mayor: Well, look, let's, again, not dumb it down. Some of the principals who are talking are those who might have ideological reasons to oppose the vaccine mandate, that's just the blunt truth. But, overall, what we're seeing all over the system is, since the vast majority of employees, including 96 percent of teachers got vaccinated, there's relatively few substitutions necessary. They were worked on and ready in place on Friday, they’ve been applied. If, at any point – you don't have to name any names – you have a school that's saying they don't have a substitute, please let our team know and we'll confirm to either if they've gotten a substitute or if they're on the way. But I'm not hearing that problem in any substantial way. I think a lot of work was done to make sure that the help that was needed would be where it needed to be. Go ahead, Chancellor. 

Chancellor Porter: I agree with you, Mr. Mayor. We were creating sub jobs as early as last Monday, because schools had information about who was vaccinated and unvaccinated. They knew where the gaps were. Our superintendents, our central office teams have covered – we've sent folks out to – we redeployed people, had subs in place, and we have an escalation process in place right now as we speak. I haven't heard of any place that has a significant sub gap that can't be covered. And so, again, we're going to continue to encourage folks and we're going to continue to work to make sure we are supporting every single school in New York City throughout this process.  

Mayor: Amen. 

Moderator: Our final question for today goes to Alex from Chalkbeat. 

Question: Hey, everyone. Thanks so much for taking my question. I sort of a broader question about the places where there are, you know, teachers or school safety agents who have not been vaccinated and are now on leave – sort of, what the long-term plan is for filling those roles? You know, will there, sort of, be a rotating cadre of subs who rotate into those classrooms? Can families expect there to be like long-term coverage? What's the City's plan for that? 

Mayor: Yeah, I'll start and I'll turn to the Chancellor. It’s a great question, Alex. Look, the bottom line is, we’ve got a couple of different moving parts here. Again, what we've seen around the country as mandates are applied, you get that huge wave of people who do get vaccinated by the deadline. And then, in the days after, some additional folks who decide they need to give it a second look, and they come back, and they get vaccinated. So, I do expect you're going to see some more movement in that direction. Second of all, you might have some folks who, you know, go a month, two months and say, wait a minute, this is not having a paycheck thing isn't so good, and I miss my kids, I miss my school, they come back. But when it comes to the longer term, we’ve got lot of talented young people who are ready to take those jobs and they're getting more experience now. And some of those subs, undoubtedly, are going to get hired as permanent teachers as part of our school system. There's plenty of people. This is an amazingly good job, working for the New York City public schools. So, there's – there are, literally, people lined up, waiting to grab those opportunities. Chancellor? 

Chancellor Porter: Again, I agree. And I would also say, no one expected us to get to this place, but we did, because we knew that our staff members would show up for all of our children. And just like last year, we built an amazing sub pool to support us through the pandemic. And those folks got a lot of experience last year. And we look forward to making them permanent teachers in our system. Our principals also – you know, we have received an enormous amount of resources from both the federal government and the State. And so, principals have been interviewing where teachers have made clear their intentions to not come back and working on, you know, finding permanent teachers, as well as long-term sub. So, we're confident that we're going to be able to fill the gaps and continue and make sure our students get the education they deserve. 

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Alex. 

Question: Can you hear me?  

Mayor: Yeah. Go ahead, Alex. 

Question: Okay, great. I just wanted to follow up on the WNYC question that was formulated by Jessica, and just ask – so, are you all saying that you're not aware of any instances of like schools having trouble finding subs to fill today? 

Mayor: All I can say is that we went through this in great detail last night and checked in again this morning. I'm not hearing anything that hasn't either been covered or as being addressed as we speak. So, you know, the specific instances we've heard so far, none of them are, if you will, hard to address. They're all being addressed, but Chancellor – 

Chancellor Porter: I would just add that if there was a school that had a gap due to a sub – first of all, there are thousands of sub jobs that go out every day that go unfilled. It's a part of the sub process. But we worked really hard to make sure we identified subs, we solidified positions, and, where we could not, we also redeployed central staff. But getting to 95 percent of our system vaccinated really changed the game this morning and we expect it to continue to change every day.  

Mayor: Yeah. And that's the point I want to close on today. We – 

Moderator: Sir, there's been a breach in protocol. We have a final word – 

Mayor: Oh, wait – 

Moderator: From the one and only, Henry Goldman. 

Mayor: Henry Goldman, ladies and gentlemen. Henry, did you get to hear the nice things that I was obligated to say about you, because they're true? Did you get to hear them? 

Henry Goldman: I did hear those things that you felt obligated to say and I appreciate them very much. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure covering you. And the few private moments we've had a conversation, you've heard me tell you that I respect so much your devotion to the issues of income inequality. And it's been a great experience engaging with the members of your administration and the reporters who cover you. And I've got plenty of things ahead that I'm very excited to be doing now that I have the time and the freedom to get these things done. 

Mayor: Well, Henry, you’ve done a great job. And I will – as I said, you you've asked plenty of tough question, but they've always been thoughtful and always from the heart. And so, I can praise you with a whole heart and thank you, because that's the kind of discourse we need more of. And, you know, I remain hopeful that people like you have set a good example of what we can do to have the kind of conversation we need to lead us out of some of this morass. I also want to say, thank you for the Straight Outta Grassano t-shirt, honoring my ancestors. I thank you for that. 

Goldman: [Inaudible] when you come back, make sure you visit Matera – the town of Matera. 

Mayor: It’s on my list, brother. It's on my list. Right down the road, I'm going to be going there. But, listen, thank you for everything that you've done and really want to wish you well in whatever's next for you. 

Goldman: Thank you. Thank you very much. Godspeed.  

Mayor: Godspeed, indeed. And as we conclude, just, everyone, that 95 percent number. I love what Council Member Dinowitz said – that's a grade for all of New York City. That's a grade for our schools, our educators, our staff – 95 percent. Unbelievably strong effort, thank you to everyone who's a part of it. Our kids are going to get what they deserve – a positive, safe environment. Our families are going to rest easier, and this is what's going to allow us to achieve a recovery for all of us. Thank you, everybody. 

 

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