Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good evening, everyone. All day and all night, as planes arrive and land, the hardworking taxi drivers of our city wait here for their next fare. And for too long, as they have waited, their leaders have done the same. The consequences of this inaction have been stark. As cab drivers here at LaGuardia wait for their next passenger to arrive, their minds often wander to thoughts of the debt that many of them hold, the rising childcare and grocery costs that they feel increasingly out of reach, the weight of instability that forces them to work seven days a week.
And still, it isn't enough. These are not abstract concerns. These are in fact the very things that drivers shared with me each of the 15 days we sat on hunger strike during 2021. Our stomachs aching with hunger pangs, our commitment to defeating predatory medallion debt, lending practices unshakable.
We mourned the nine drivers who had been driven to take their own lives, the cruelty and dismissiveness that defined the vast majority of these drivers' interactions with power, and vowed that if we ever had the ability to write a new story, then that is exactly what we would do.
We won that protest, and we won more than $475 million in debt relief. And as I said to one of our hunger strikers, Richard Chow, from the stage on election night on November 4th, my brother, we are in City Hall now. From City Hall, we will deliver meaningful change in the lives of the working people, too often forgotten by our politics, and in the day-to-day existence of the taxi drivers who deserve a forceful champion at the TLC.
That champion, my friends, is the woman to my left, Midori Valdivia, who I am so proud to nominate today to be the commissioner and chair of the TLC. Few New Yorkers can boast the extensive transportation background that Midori possesses. She served as the deputy commissioner for TLC, making historic strides in expanding accessibility across our taxi fleet. She served as the senior advisor to the executive director at the Port Authority. She currently serves as the chief operating officer at the Coro New York Leadership Center.
And most of all, she deeply loves transit in this city, and she sees it as the foundation of the vibrant place that we call home. Midori's work will extend to the more than 200,000 drivers who crisscross this city every day, and the decisions that she will make will reach not only their lives, but each of the New Yorkers who step into one of those cabs. Roughly one million trips [take] place every single day. And I have appointed her not only for her experience, but frankly also for her vision.
It is a vision of a New York City where those who drive our people are not passengers in their own life, but rather one where they are empowered to live with the dignity and the purpose that they deserve. And it is the vision where taxi drivers, for-hire drivers, [and] paratransit drivers have the representation and the voice in government that they have too long been deprived of.
Whether the sun sits at its highest place in the sky, or whether it is dipped beneath the horizon, one of the few constants in this city is that taxi drivers of New York will be here waiting for you, ready to serve you. Let us add a new constant in the story of this place that we call home.
One where those drivers, and every other working person, can expect the same consistency, the same service in return from their government. Thank you so much. And now, our nominee to be the next chair and commissioner for TLC, Midori Valdivia.
Commissioner Midori Valdivia, Taxi and Limousine Commission: Thank you all. First, good evening to the people who move New York. These people are right here. First, let me start by saying thank you, Mayor Mamdani, for this incredible opportunity and this nomination. Tonight feels full circle for me, because I got my professional start in transportation at these very airports, working at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Every night, thousands of New Yorkers, business travelers, tourists, come through LaGuardia Airport, and the people at this taxi lot take them to home, to their business meeting, everywhere they need to go. Our professional drivers play such a big role in our everyday lives. And tonight, I wanna thank the tireless work for always getting people to where they need to go as safely as possible. So thank you to our drivers.
As a young staffer at the Port Authority, I witnessed every day the challenges of service workers earning minimum wage, yellow taxi drivers waiting all day for just one or two fares. More recently in private practice, I have worked alongside gig drivers to tackle wage theft complaints, and to make our New York streets more livable, safer, less congested, and less polluted.
To me, transportation is freedom, how we move, [and] how we navigate this great city of ours. It's our lifeline, it's critical, it's essential. And that's why I've been so committed to improving transportation in New York City for my entire professional career. I've had the unique privilege of working across all the ways we move, from airports, subways, buses, and roads.
I've learned from bus drivers, train operators, station cleaners, and yes, our professional drivers. Yet, working in the taxi and for-hire vehicle industry has been one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my career.
These professionals that stand next to us tonight, they embody resilience, passion, [and] a love and commitment for New York City. Long hours, no problem. In a rush, no problem. These men and women answer the call every day to play a vital role in our economy and keep our city safe.
I'm honored to be nominated today. If confirmed, I commit to an agenda that works to provide a for hire economy that serves all New Yorkers. Putting people first must be at the top of our agenda, whether they are drivers, passengers, [or] small business owners.
And I will dedicate myself to those who upheld these iconic cultural institutions in New York City during a time of great change. I wanna thank my husband, who could not be here tonight. He's a transit worker. I wanna thank him for doing the midnight shifts early in his career to support our family. Sacrificing holidays, being on call for every emergency.
No amount of degrees or meetings in boardrooms compare to the day to day lived experience of being a transportation family. I know that I will take that work, that commitment to the work we do every day. I wanna thank my daughter, who is learning to say gracias or shukran to our taxi drivers when our transit system is delayed or where we're in a place with limited options.
So thank you for this great honor, mayor. Your commitment to affordability and a pro worker agenda brought me back to public service. And I am grateful. And I look forward to engaging with the City Council on my nomination. And now I have the honor of presenting the deputy mayor for Economic Justice, Julie Su.
Deputy Mayor Julie Su, Economic Justice: Thank you so much, Midori. And it's really an honor to be here with you [and] of course [with] Mayor Mamdani, with [], and with so many amazing drivers and activists who have joined us and who are iconic in New York City. I'm really honored to be the first ever deputy mayor for Economic Justice.
It's a position that recognizes that in all that we do, we have to ask ourselves, are we advancing real justice for all New Yorkers? Especially for those who have for too long been left behind or left out. Those who create the wealth but do not share in it.
And the mayor's creation of this position is so central to his vision and is really a game changer. Together, we are already putting workers at the center of what happens at City Hall. Dignity on the job is not a privilege, it's a right. And economic justice should not be abstract.
It should be defined by income that you can live on, a schedule that you can plan your life around, a real voice in the job, and a city under Mayor Mamdani that always has workers' backs. Now, I can think of no better person to fulfill that work at the TLC than our nominee, Midori Valdivia. You've already heard this about her. She has years of experience in every aspect of transportation policy, from the MTA to the Port Authority to right here at the TLC itself. This administration is bringing the historic work of taxi driver organizing into City Hall, and that is economic justice at work.
I know firsthand what it means to organize with drivers and to go up against big companies and big business. And I'm so excited to be partnering with Midori to deliver regulations and an industry that is respectful of drivers, that rewards companies who play by the rules, and who has consequences for those who do not, and an industry that benefits New Yorkers. All of them, no matter where you come from, where you are going, or what work you do.
Now, taxi workers who organize anywhere around the country look to the Taxi Workers Alliance here in New York. And so that is why it is my great pleasure to introduce my old friend, a hero to workers who organize all across the country, and one of the founders of the Taxi Workers Alliance, Bhairavi Desai.
Bhairavi Desai, President, New York Taxi Workers Alliance: Good evening. Greetings from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Thank you so much to the esteemed deputy mayor, Julie Su, and thank you so much to my brother, our mayor, Mayor Mamdani. Our brother, Mayor Mamdani, promised to stand with drivers in our fight for humane and just working conditions. For years, he fought alongside us in the trenches, long before City Hall became his new office.
Today, he delivers on that promise by nominating a public servant who has done the grind of years to work in transportation, and along that path has been a champion of workers. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is proud to support the nomination of Midori Valdivia as the next chairperson of the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Over 180,000 TLC-licensed drivers depend on this job, and close to a million people a day depend on their labor. Yellow Cab, Uber, Lyft, Livery, Green Cab, and Black Car drivers are central to the economic engine of our beautiful city. But for generations, this job has been a bridge to poverty rather than a pathway to a stable middle-class life.
Drivers bear the expenses, they take the risks, sweat the long hours with no guaranteed income or retirement. They've collectively contributed over a billion dollars to the MTA and millions to the maintenance of these airports. Garages have become millionaires, app companies have become billionaires, and all are plodding with the trillionaires to replace drivers with autonomous vehicles.
Instead of modernizing to make a grueling job less hard, a job without hazard pay, without holiday pay, without paid vacations, a job where the companies take the lion's share and can fire you with the click of a button. This work is long hours, hectic hours, it is back-breaking, it is physically and mentally demanding and high risk for homicide and robbery and occupational illness such as kidney failure and heart attacks.
Drivers are parents, they're caretakers, often they're the lifeline of families. Just as in their jobs, they're the first to greet ambassadors and the safe way home for millions of strangers. There is no industry in New York City [where] their labor does not move, yet the families of drivers don't know if their loved one will come home safe at the end of that shift. All of these conditions, they are not a given, they are policy choices. In this new era, we finally have faith that new choices will be made.
We are a workforce without whom this city does not move. A strong TLC, one that champions its licensees, regulates to protect this workforce, stands up to corporate greed, and even competing political pressures between and from the city and the state can ensure labor with dignity and rights with the drivers so justly deserved.
A TLC under the Mamdani administration can right a generational wrong and honor the cab drivers. I believe in the moral fortitude of Midori Valdivia, her deep experience and commitment to transportation, it speaks for itself.
And I stand in support tonight because she has put in that work. But fundamentally, it is because of that moral fortitude, which aligned with the footsteps of our brother, our mayor, [who] will be fair to drivers, and in doing so, make service better for our riding public, more accessible for all, and elevate the standards of our world class industry, so it is responsible equally to transit justice as it is to the environment.
When we win for workers, we win for society. And under the leadership of Midori Valdivia [and] in the Mamdani administration, we will be that example. The TLC looms large in the lives of every single driver. Its actions and its inactions can make or break us. My brothers and sisters, we finally have a TLC under a mayor who has our back. In the city that never goes dark because it is lit up by your headlights. And under this moon that lights up our movement, we see the new era.
Question: The governor wants autonomous vehicles in New York. Do you support Waymo and Robotaxis in New York City?
Mayor Mamdani: I won't speak to legislation affecting those outside New York City, as the legislation that you indicated does. But I take the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously, and we'll always make sure that our policy and our decision making is focused on the drivers who are here alongside me, in front of me, behind me, to keep our city moving.
Question: Mr. Mayor, in response today to President Trump announcing that he's going to be cutting funding starting February 1 to sanctuary cities in the state, what should [inaudible]?
Mayor Mamdani: Our values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips. I will always defend this city and every single person who calls this city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.
Question: Just following up on Linda's question, I know you do speak to President Trump. Have you spoken to President Trump since he announced earlier today that he would cut funding to sanctuary cities including New York? And I know you said that you will fight back, but if there is funding that is dried up, how will the city dig up for [what’s] missing, what could be billions of dollars?
Mayor Mamdani: So I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear. And I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand. I've yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York City.
Question: So what is the plan if the money is cut off?
Mayor Mamdani: There are many threats that are made to New York City on a regular basis, and I am confident in our city's ability to fight those threats back. And we've also seen, whether it be in the courts or whether it be beyond that, our ability to win those fights.
Question: Two questions, but one is super easy. The first one, in Iran, unfortunately 2,000 protesters, reports say 2,000 protesters have died. Do you support the way the Iranian government has responded to that? And if not, what do you think they should do differently?
Mayor Mamdani: I absolutely do not support the way the Iranian government has responded to that. I think that the Iranian government and every government should respect the right of people to express their political opinions, and for people to be able to do so safely.
Question: Second question, on your long distance relationship with Trump. Who texts first, and what do you guys text about?
Mayor Mamdani: I've exchanged a handful of texts with the president since we met in the Oval Office, and those texts, the conversations that we've had, they always come back to New York City and the importance of delivering for the people who call this city home. Thank you guys.
###
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Subject: TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR MAMDANI NOMINATES MIDORI VALDIVIA AS CHAIR AND COMMISSIONER OF NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
NEW YORK, NY 10007
January 13, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: pressoffice@cityhall.nyc.gov
TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR MAMDANI NOMINATES MIDORI VALDIVIA AS CHAIR AND COMMISSIONER OF NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good evening, everyone. All day and all night, as planes arrive and land, the hardworking taxi drivers of our city wait here for their next fare. And for too long, as they have waited, their leaders have done the same. The consequences of this inaction have been stark. As cab drivers here at LaGuardia wait for their next passenger to arrive, their minds often wander to thoughts of the debt that many of them hold, the rising childcare and grocery costs that they feel increasingly out of reach, the weight of instability that forces them to work seven days a week.
And still, it isn't enough. These are not abstract concerns. These are in fact the very things that drivers shared with me each of the 15 days we sat on hunger strike during 2021. Our stomachs aching with hunger pangs, our commitment to defeating predatory medallion debt, lending practices unshakable.
We mourned the nine drivers who had been driven to take their own lives, the cruelty and dismissiveness that defined the vast majority of these drivers' interactions with power, and vowed that if we ever had the ability to write a new story, then that is exactly what we would do.
We won that protest, and we won more than $475 million in debt relief. And as I said to one of our hunger strikers, Richard Chow, from the stage on election night on November 4th, my brother, we are in City Hall now. From City Hall, we will deliver meaningful change in the lives of the working people, too often forgotten by our politics, and in the day-to-day existence of the taxi drivers who deserve a forceful champion at the TLC.
That champion, my friends, is the woman to my left, Midori Valdivia, who I am so proud to nominate today to be the commissioner and chair of the TLC. Few New Yorkers can boast the extensive transportation background that Midori possesses. She served as the deputy commissioner for TLC, making historic strides in expanding accessibility across our taxi fleet. She served as the senior advisor to the executive director at the Port Authority. She currently serves as the chief operating officer at the Coro New York Leadership Center.
And most of all, she deeply loves transit in this city, and she sees it as the foundation of the vibrant place that we call home. Midori's work will extend to the more than 200,000 drivers who crisscross this city every day, and the decisions that she will make will reach not only their lives, but each of the New Yorkers who step into one of those cabs. Roughly one million trips [take] place every single day. And I have appointed her not only for her experience, but frankly also for her vision.
It is a vision of a New York City where those who drive our people are not passengers in their own life, but rather one where they are empowered to live with the dignity and the purpose that they deserve. And it is the vision where taxi drivers, for-hire drivers, [and] paratransit drivers have the representation and the voice in government that they have too long been deprived of.
Whether the sun sits at its highest place in the sky, or whether it is dipped beneath the horizon, one of the few constants in this city is that taxi drivers of New York will be here waiting for you, ready to serve you. Let us add a new constant in the story of this place that we call home.
One where those drivers, and every other working person, can expect the same consistency, the same service in return from their government. Thank you so much. And now, our nominee to be the next chair and commissioner for TLC, Midori Valdivia.
Commissioner Midori Valdivia, Taxi and Limousine Commission: Thank you all. First, good evening to the people who move New York. These people are right here. First, let me start by saying thank you, Mayor Mamdani, for this incredible opportunity and this nomination. Tonight feels full circle for me, because I got my professional start in transportation at these very airports, working at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Every night, thousands of New Yorkers, business travelers, tourists, come through LaGuardia Airport, and the people at this taxi lot take them to home, to their business meeting, everywhere they need to go. Our professional drivers play such a big role in our everyday lives. And tonight, I wanna thank the tireless work for always getting people to where they need to go as safely as possible. So thank you to our drivers.
As a young staffer at the Port Authority, I witnessed every day the challenges of service workers earning minimum wage, yellow taxi drivers waiting all day for just one or two fares. More recently in private practice, I have worked alongside gig drivers to tackle wage theft complaints, and to make our New York streets more livable, safer, less congested, and less polluted.
To me, transportation is freedom, how we move, [and] how we navigate this great city of ours. It's our lifeline, it's critical, it's essential. And that's why I've been so committed to improving transportation in New York City for my entire professional career. I've had the unique privilege of working across all the ways we move, from airports, subways, buses, and roads.
I've learned from bus drivers, train operators, station cleaners, and yes, our professional drivers. Yet, working in the taxi and for-hire vehicle industry has been one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my career.
These professionals that stand next to us tonight, they embody resilience, passion, [and] a love and commitment for New York City. Long hours, no problem. In a rush, no problem. These men and women answer the call every day to play a vital role in our economy and keep our city safe.
I'm honored to be nominated today. If confirmed, I commit to an agenda that works to provide a for hire economy that serves all New Yorkers. Putting people first must be at the top of our agenda, whether they are drivers, passengers, [or] small business owners.
And I will dedicate myself to those who upheld these iconic cultural institutions in New York City during a time of great change. I wanna thank my husband, who could not be here tonight. He's a transit worker. I wanna thank him for doing the midnight shifts early in his career to support our family. Sacrificing holidays, being on call for every emergency.
No amount of degrees or meetings in boardrooms compare to the day to day lived experience of being a transportation family. I know that I will take that work, that commitment to the work we do every day. I wanna thank my daughter, who is learning to say gracias or shukran to our taxi drivers when our transit system is delayed or where we're in a place with limited options.
So thank you for this great honor, mayor. Your commitment to affordability and a pro worker agenda brought me back to public service. And I am grateful. And I look forward to engaging with the City Council on my nomination. And now I have the honor of presenting the deputy mayor for Economic Justice, Julie Su.
Deputy Mayor Julie Su, Economic Justice: Thank you so much, Midori. And it's really an honor to be here with you [and] of course [with] Mayor Mamdani, with [], and with so many amazing drivers and activists who have joined us and who are iconic in New York City. I'm really honored to be the first ever deputy mayor for Economic Justice.
It's a position that recognizes that in all that we do, we have to ask ourselves, are we advancing real justice for all New Yorkers? Especially for those who have for too long been left behind or left out. Those who create the wealth but do not share in it.
And the mayor's creation of this position is so central to his vision and is really a game changer. Together, we are already putting workers at the center of what happens at City Hall. Dignity on the job is not a privilege, it's a right. And economic justice should not be abstract.
It should be defined by income that you can live on, a schedule that you can plan your life around, a real voice in the job, and a city under Mayor Mamdani that always has workers' backs. Now, I can think of no better person to fulfill that work at the TLC than our nominee, Midori Valdivia. You've already heard this about her. She has years of experience in every aspect of transportation policy, from the MTA to the Port Authority to right here at the TLC itself. This administration is bringing the historic work of taxi driver organizing into City Hall, and that is economic justice at work.
I know firsthand what it means to organize with drivers and to go up against big companies and big business. And I'm so excited to be partnering with Midori to deliver regulations and an industry that is respectful of drivers, that rewards companies who play by the rules, and who has consequences for those who do not, and an industry that benefits New Yorkers. All of them, no matter where you come from, where you are going, or what work you do.
Now, taxi workers who organize anywhere around the country look to the Taxi Workers Alliance here in New York. And so that is why it is my great pleasure to introduce my old friend, a hero to workers who organize all across the country, and one of the founders of the Taxi Workers Alliance, Bhairavi Desai.
Bhairavi Desai, President, New York Taxi Workers Alliance: Good evening. Greetings from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Thank you so much to the esteemed deputy mayor, Julie Su, and thank you so much to my brother, our mayor, Mayor Mamdani. Our brother, Mayor Mamdani, promised to stand with drivers in our fight for humane and just working conditions. For years, he fought alongside us in the trenches, long before City Hall became his new office.
Today, he delivers on that promise by nominating a public servant who has done the grind of years to work in transportation, and along that path has been a champion of workers. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is proud to support the nomination of Midori Valdivia as the next chairperson of the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Over 180,000 TLC-licensed drivers depend on this job, and close to a million people a day depend on their labor. Yellow Cab, Uber, Lyft, Livery, Green Cab, and Black Car drivers are central to the economic engine of our beautiful city. But for generations, this job has been a bridge to poverty rather than a pathway to a stable middle-class life.
Drivers bear the expenses, they take the risks, sweat the long hours with no guaranteed income or retirement. They've collectively contributed over a billion dollars to the MTA and millions to the maintenance of these airports. Garages have become millionaires, app companies have become billionaires, and all are plodding with the trillionaires to replace drivers with autonomous vehicles.
Instead of modernizing to make a grueling job less hard, a job without hazard pay, without holiday pay, without paid vacations, a job where the companies take the lion's share and can fire you with the click of a button. This work is long hours, hectic hours, it is back-breaking, it is physically and mentally demanding and high risk for homicide and robbery and occupational illness such as kidney failure and heart attacks.
Drivers are parents, they're caretakers, often they're the lifeline of families. Just as in their jobs, they're the first to greet ambassadors and the safe way home for millions of strangers. There is no industry in New York City [where] their labor does not move, yet the families of drivers don't know if their loved one will come home safe at the end of that shift. All of these conditions, they are not a given, they are policy choices. In this new era, we finally have faith that new choices will be made.
We are a workforce without whom this city does not move. A strong TLC, one that champions its licensees, regulates to protect this workforce, stands up to corporate greed, and even competing political pressures between and from the city and the state can ensure labor with dignity and rights with the drivers so justly deserved.
A TLC under the Mamdani administration can right a generational wrong and honor the cab drivers. I believe in the moral fortitude of Midori Valdivia, her deep experience and commitment to transportation, it speaks for itself.
And I stand in support tonight because she has put in that work. But fundamentally, it is because of that moral fortitude, which aligned with the footsteps of our brother, our mayor, [who] will be fair to drivers, and in doing so, make service better for our riding public, more accessible for all, and elevate the standards of our world class industry, so it is responsible equally to transit justice as it is to the environment.
When we win for workers, we win for society. And under the leadership of Midori Valdivia [and] in the Mamdani administration, we will be that example. The TLC looms large in the lives of every single driver. Its actions and its inactions can make or break us. My brothers and sisters, we finally have a TLC under a mayor who has our back. In the city that never goes dark because it is lit up by your headlights. And under this moon that lights up our movement, we see the new era.
Question: The governor wants autonomous vehicles in New York. Do you support Waymo and Robotaxis in New York City?
Mayor Mamdani: I won't speak to legislation affecting those outside New York City, as the legislation that you indicated does. But I take the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously, and we'll always make sure that our policy and our decision making is focused on the drivers who are here alongside me, in front of me, behind me, to keep our city moving.
Question: Mr. Mayor, in response today to President Trump announcing that he's going to be cutting funding starting February 1 to sanctuary cities in the state, what should [inaudible]?
Mayor Mamdani: Our values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips. I will always defend this city and every single person who calls this city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.
Question: Just following up on Linda's question, I know you do speak to President Trump. Have you spoken to President Trump since he announced earlier today that he would cut funding to sanctuary cities including New York? And I know you said that you will fight back, but if there is funding that is dried up, how will the city dig up for [what’s] missing, what could be billions of dollars?
Mayor Mamdani: So I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear. And I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand. I've yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York City.
Question: So what is the plan if the money is cut off?
Mayor Mamdani: There are many threats that are made to New York City on a regular basis, and I am confident in our city's ability to fight those threats back. And we've also seen, whether it be in the courts or whether it be beyond that, our ability to win those fights.
Question: Two questions, but one is super easy. The first one, in Iran, unfortunately 2,000 protesters, reports say 2,000 protesters have died. Do you support the way the Iranian government has responded to that? And if not, what do you think they should do differently?
Mayor Mamdani: I absolutely do not support the way the Iranian government has responded to that. I think that the Iranian government and every government should respect the right of people to express their political opinions, and for people to be able to do so safely.
Question: Second question, on your long distance relationship with Trump. Who texts first, and what do you guys text about?
Mayor Mamdani: I've exchanged a handful of texts with the president since we met in the Oval Office, and those texts, the conversations that we've had, they always come back to New York City and the importance of delivering for the people who call this city home. Thank you guys.
###