Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy, Communications: Good morning everybody, thank you all for being here. My name is Fabien Levy and I serve as deputy mayor for Communications for the City of New York. When Mayor Adams appointed me to this role, he was clear that we need to use every tool we have to meet New Yorkers wherever they are. For me, that mission is personal.
Growing up in a community full of immigrants like my own, I learned firsthand how important it is for the government to speak to every person with every tool in every language. Too often, language and cultural barriers have made it hard to understand what's happening in your neighborhood, to know what resources are available to you, and to know where to turn for help. That's why our administration has been laser focused on speaking to all New Yorkers.
We opened up the doors of City Hall to more ethnic and community media outlets, giving them the opportunity to cover the mayor directly. We scheduled regular interviews with the mayor and tried out alternative media. We launched a new podcast and radio program so New Yorkers could hear directly from the mayor. And even appointed a first deputy mayor for Communications in an effort to break down silos between city agencies.
We're committed to delivering information to all New Yorkers, helping them learn about essential services and making it easier to live, work, and raise a family in this city. Today's announcement is an exciting step forward in those efforts. We give city agencies the tools to meet our neighbors where they are, to better serve them in a crisis, and to speak their language.
We all want our city agencies and resources to work better for New Yorkers, regardless of their background. To tell you more, I'm excited to welcome the 110th mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, thank you for that, Fabien. There's many things I did, and this administration, this team, we have done during our time in office. To me, this is the most important item. And we looked at it over and over again. I really want to thank Commissioner Castro, of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and Chancellor Aviles-Ramos for just being on the ground.
And as I moved throughout the city in all of our different communities, our goal was to open city government up to New Yorkers who have really felt as though government was not here. Everything from our flag raisings, to allowing individuals to see themselves in our city, to opening Gracie Mansion and City Hall to different groups that came in for the first time. And so, that government meant a lot to them.
But this initiative we're doing today and starting off with the police commissioner and the chancellor, two significant places for our city. Number one, where our children are. Parents often come to the schools to attempt to communicate the needs of their children, and language is a barrier.
And the second, dealing with law enforcement. The commissioner was excited about finding ways for us to use this technology. We already use some form of this, but it was just important that we say to New Yorkers, “We hear you.” Not only your sounds, but what you are saying.
The barrier of language access, the barrier of being able to communicate, when you go into the Department of Buildings, when you go into HRA, when you go into the school system. When you're the victim of a crime, your inability to communicate really prevents you from wanting to access government services, and it's just unfair.
When someone walks inside a store to purchase something, you're not given a discount because you don't speak English. Your taxes are not impacted based on your inability to speak English. You're charged the same taxes. You're charged the same amount. And that is the reciprocal service. When you pay your taxes, you're supposed to be giving back the goods and services that are associated with the taxes that you pay.
And what we're doing today, and I am hopeful that the next administration continues to expand on the use of technology that is readily available. I use this technology, Google Translate, ChatGPT, and so many others when I go abroad. And it is unbelievable how easy it is to ask for basic services, to talk about what you need in your hotel room, directions. And if it's helpful for me abroad, it could be helpful for New Yorkers here in the city.
And so, from the very start, I've always said that I was a tech mayor. I was willing and unafraid to try a new technology, because the technology is here and it's moving at a fast pace, and our administration has continually expanded our use of technology to keep New Yorkers safe.
A crucial hire on my part was our commissioner of OTI. He has pushed and navigated this insurgent technology in our city, everything from the use of drones to what we're doing with MyCiTi Card, how we're making it easier for individuals to sign up on city services. But this is crucial, to be able to speak to New Yorkers.
An inclusive and a truly accessible city must also be the most language friendly city in the country, because here in New York, we speak probably more languages than any other city on the globe. There's a reason the United Nations sits on our East River, because languages and communities and countries come here. So today, this administration takes another step forward by expanding the use of language technology to improve communications with all New Yorkers, no matter what language they speak.
This is a global city, and we're going to ensure we communicate as a global city. Today, I'm issuing a new directive to our city agencies that would make it possible to expand the use of language apps like Google Translate in their work. We want every New Yorker, every agency to evaluate how they can further incorporate translation technologies into their day-to-day interaction with the public.
Improving communication with all New Yorkers, especially those in non-English speaking communities, is our goal. Together, the Office of Technology and Innovation and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs are testing translation apps to test efficiency and inform city-wide policies.
Now let's be clear, the technology's not perfect, but it is clearly evolving. And perfection comes with the continuous use of technology. That is how you get to the place of perfection. But it's a far cry from having to wait only on the Language Line to be able to communicate with over 140 different languages here in the city.
So, the city will kick start this process by ensuring every city-owned smart device has language apps like Google Translate available at their fingertips. OTI will provide support to city agencies to facilitate downloads and uses of these tools. And we are also updating the NYPD patrol guide policy to allow officers to use translation apps while interacting with the public. This will give our offices on the beat another tool at their disposal to communicate with communities in addition to Language Line.
I cannot tell you [how] responding to a call of emergency, being able to immediately communicate with a description of what happened and decipher what services are needed are crucial. All of this is making it easier to address all New Yorkers' concerns about safety and quality of life.
And this winter, in our public school system, we are developing a new custom app called Hello. This was an initiative that the chancellor put in place on her own after hearing about this idea of utilizing these apps. I'm not going to steal your thunder, chancellor, I'm going to let you talk about it, okay?
Working across agencies, we hope to make it easier than ever for New Yorkers from every corner of the globe to navigate life in our city. From finding housing and employment to opening a small business or enrolling their children in school. There have been many dramatic developments in technology in recent years. And with the advance of AI and other technologies, we have just got started.
We're headed into a new era where technology will be integrated into our lives in all kinds of new ways, streamlining some of the complex work of running a city with this level of complexity and opening up new economic educational opportunities for a million of New Yorkers.
We want to make sure that this technology is implemented safely and fairly, protecting New Yorkers and their privacy. We're very clear on this, that we are not going to allow this to be abused, and that is why it took us time, because we want to make sure that privacy is protected.
So, today's announcement builds on the work that we have done to improve service delivery and make New York City government more inclusive and accessible to all New Yorkers, because we embrace technology. We're not going to run away from technology. This is how we get things done. We'll turn it over to the police commissioner of the city of New York, Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, sir. More than ever before, the members of the NYPD are a direct reflection of the rich diversity of the people that we serve. NYPD officers speak 109 different languages. They hail from more than 140 different countries. But in a city that speaks nearly 200 distinct languages, even our officers might need some help talking to their neighbors.
I'm a huge believer in giving our cops access to the tools that allow them to do their jobs. Nearly a decade ago, we gave every police officer a department phone equipped with translation apps. But the policy at the time restricted their use for official police work. Today, that changes.
Now, the use of basic apps like Google and Apple Translate to communicate clearly and directly with the public is permitted under the revised department policy. These resources now augment our existing Language Line service, which has given our cops access to interpreters in more than 180 languages for over 30 years. That service, which our officers used nearly 244,000 times in 2023, has been invaluable.
Now, with the use of these apps, communicating with everyone in our city will be even easier. In some of these interactions, seconds matter, as the mayor said, and a clear understanding of the situation makes all the difference in the world. So, I thank Mayor Adams for spearheading this common sense update to our department policy and for all of the ways that he has supported the women and men of the NYPD.
Over the past year, our cops have delivered historic results in our fight against gun violence. They've restored order on the subways, and they've driven down crime in every single patrol borough. Now, we are changing policy to expand the public's access to the NYPD and making the safest big city in the nation even safer. Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you, commissioner. Next, we're going to hear from Chief Technology Officer Matt Fraser about how we're going to implement this on all city-owned devices.
Matthew Fraser, Chief Technology Officer, Office of Technology and Innovation: Good morning, everyone. So, the last time we were here, and the last time we had a big conference around technology, we were talking about giving 350,000 devices out to kids so that they had devices to take home with internet.
And when you look at the history of the announcements that we've had around technology, they're about things that work. They're about things that are critical and important to those that live in the city, and here we're having another such announcement.
To be understood is one of the biggest challenges that everyone wants and everyone has. It's like if you have a conversation with someone and you don't feel like they're hearing you, there's a lot of frustration that builds with that. Now, you layer on the bureaucracy of government and interacting with the public sector for government services. You see what level of frustration that is for those that can speak the language. Imagine those that can't, and they're frustrated trying to get services that they critically need.
So, by empowering over 100,000 people with this type of technology, again, it's something that's open, it's on the market today, many people use it. But by mandating it, it lowers the barrier of entry for those types of services, and it also relieves a lot of frustration in that process. Imagine stopping someone on the street, a cop on the street, now you have the capability based on the patrol guide ruling to leverage that phone to help answer a question for a language that you may not speak.
Again, these are things that should be common sense, should be commonplace, and one of the things that we feel like by doing stuff like this today, it will alleviate the burdens that we expect to see in any of these places moving forward. It's another milestone in technology for New York City, and we will continue to deliver on wins like this. Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you very much, CTO. Next, we're going to hear from Chancellor Aviles-Ramos about the new tech we're implementing at the New York City Public Schools.
Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, Department of Education: Good morning y buenos días. It's an honor to be here with all of you. Super orgullosa de estar aquí con todos ustedes, compartiendo este momento.
Translation: Super proud to be here with all of you, sharing this moment.
I didn't need the app for that. But fun fact, the Department of Education, New York City Public Schools vocabulary is one of its own. And even for us native speakers, we sometimes struggle with how to translate nuanced terms.
Today, that ends with the Hello app. So, it is an honor to join Mayor Adams to make this announcement today, furthering his commitment to make New York City accessible to every single New Yorker in every single language. And I'm honored to be here with Commissioner Tisch, following her lead as we heard about the great work that was happening at NYPD. And it prompted us, under Mayor Adams' direction, to really further our support for our multilingual families and children.
And as a lifelong educator and a New York City public school parent myself, I cannot overstate how essential it is that we build strong partnerships between schools and families. Families are our students' first teachers, and they belong at the table when decisions are being made about their children's education. And the connection between families and schools is critically important. And that is especially true for the families who speak a language other than English at home.
So, when our families are connected to our schools, our students are set up to thrive. Families can learn about critical updates on their students' education journeys, and schools can learn about students' experiences at home and about their family's context. New York City's diversity is one of its greatest strengths, and resources like this translation app ensure that language diversity is not a barrier to access.
And so, in this day and age, it's incredibly important that our systems are developed with the utmost security precautions. We recently updated our chancellor's regulation around data privacy. We have heard from a number of parents and advocates about the need to ensure safety for our young people as we navigate and embrace technology.
We are committed to keeping our students' and families' information and data safe. And this app will provide a secure, privacy-compliant experience aligned to our public requirements. Development of this app is ongoing, and I'm eager to share more updates as we have them.
And so, I want to thank, again, Mayor Adams, not only for charging us with this type of project that makes language accessibility better and stronger for families. But also, for appointing a chancellor who is bilingual herself. Thank you.
Deputy Mayor Levy: Thank you very much. I just want to also recognize Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manny Castro and DCAS Commissioner Louis Molina. This is just showing this is a full citywide, a whole government approach to making sure this is the most language friendly city as possible. We’ll take some on-topic questions.
Question: Commissioner Tisch, you mentioned before that nearly a decade ago that officers had phones with apps on them that were sort of translation. What were the restrictions then? Why weren't they able to use it and what has changed going forward?
Police Commissioner Tisch: Sure, so almost a decade ago we gave every officer a smartphone, and on those smartphones were a number of different translation apps, including Google Translate as one example. But the official department policy nonetheless required them to call Language Line in order to do official translation services.
So that means that if they are stopped and, for example, asked for directions on the street, it would have been against the official department policy at the time for them to have used something like Google Translate, which was a tool that was already on their phone. So, this is just expanding the possibilities and options for their officers as they navigate the different circumstances that they come across.
Question: Take out that middle line–
Police Commissioner Tisch: Exactly, they can use Google Translate now if they don't want to conference in Language Line.
Question: So why was Language Line brought in in the first place?
Police Commissioner Tisch: You know, I'm not sure going back that far, but the mayor is a modernizer. And so, he wanted, he challenged us, I think it was this summer when you called me, to expand language accessibility and to use the very basic tools that virtually everyone has on their smartphones, including our officers, to make the service that we provide even stronger. And so that is just a very obvious change that we made, but it took the mayor pushing to have us all see that.
Deputy Mayor Levy: And obviously, Language Line is still available.
Mayor Adams: Yes, you would be surprised how much time that saves. If someone walks up to you who's a victim of a robbery, a shooting, an assault, and if you have to call the Language Line to try to figure out what is going on, you are slowing down the deployment of the description of the person. You're slowing down giving that person first aid, or even our EMS, EMTs responding to a scene and just trying to figure out what is your concern. Now you have a problem breathing, is it a family member at home that is ill?
The inability to communicate directly based on a language impedes the access to emergency services. But when I speak to different groups, they don't want to come into government agencies because it's humiliating that a person doesn't understand what you're saying. So people are not getting basic services because of our inability to communicate with them. And no one knows that better than Commissioner Castro of what he hears from the various people who communicate.
This is a huge thing that we're doing. I think it's probably one of the most significant things that we're doing in this administration. And I'm hoping the incoming administration understands the importance of it.
Question: So, it sounds like the aim of this is to try to help reach out to immigrant New Yorkers. I know there's a hearing going on upstairs. Why isn't your admin present there? If they're present here, I see Commissioner Castro here. Can you explain a little bit about that?
Mayor Adams: City Council's going to do what they're doing. We're going to do what we're doing. We got a lot of work to do before the 31st. I am so interested in keeping things going. And listen, no one in this city is going to question Commissioner Castro's ability to deal with the immigration issue. From traveling with me to the south border of Mexico, to going with me to Ecuador, to Colombia, to various parts of Mexico.
Listen, if there's one public servant around immigrant affairs, this has been a real hero. And I just thank you so much for serving with us. You don't have to sit down in any chair, in any room, but you're in the street getting the job done. Thank you so much. New Yorkers are going to benefit from you.
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