Myles Miller: We're going to talk a lot about Wall Street, talk about the budget, but first, get to a headline from the New York Post that says that the NYPD and [the Department of] Sanitation were ordered to clear out some homeless encampments weeks before the cold. And of course, during that cold snap, we lost 10 New Yorkers. Can you just talk about anything you may know about that?
Mayor Mamdani: What we have seen so far is that this cold snap might end up becoming the coldest period in recorded history in New York City. And it is a Code Blue here in New York City, which means that every time a New Yorker calls 311, we reroute that to 911. We're looking to bring everyone inside. And I'm proud of city workers that have connected about more than 600 homeless New Yorkers into shelter, safe havens, things of that nature. But the work continues. They're doing incredible work 24-7 getting out there. And that's the key, because right now it is far too cold to have anyone be outside.
Myles Miller: You worry about not clearing encampments or what's the approach you want to take to that?
Mayor Mamdani: I think the approach is that we are looking to make the outreach to each and every person to let them know that there's a safe haven, there's a shelter, there's a warming bus, there's a warming center at a hospital, all of these different options. And if we deem them to be a danger to themselves or to others, then we do also bring them in.
Myles Miller: Yesterday, you presented a bleak outlook for the city's budget with a $12 billion deficit the same week that Wall Street's reporting really strong bonuses. Walk me through that math. How does Wall Street actually help, and where's the rest coming from?
Mayor Mamdani: So, Wall Street's announcement is something that is very encouraging and, frankly, will be helpful in dealing with a $12 billion fiscal deficit. The reason that I can't point to Wall Street and say that the deficit will be taken care of is simply the sheer scale of this deficit. We're talking about something that is larger, frankly, than what the city even faced during the Great Recession.
And that's why it's going to require an all-of-the-above approach. That's why we welcome this news. We also think the city's relationship with the state has to change. The city sends about 54.5 percent, it makes up the gross revenue of the state, [it] only receives 40.5 percent in return. And we also think that the city's relationship with its wealthiest residents, most profitable corporations also has to change so that we can bring the city back to firm financial footing. You know, as the mayor, I am legally required to balance the budget of this fiscal year and the next. That is something we are fully going to do. In order to do so, we have to deal with these structural problems.
Myles Miller: You spoke about Eric Adams and Governor Andrew Cuomo, former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Where does the City Council lay blame – [the] state legislature? You didn't say anything about Donald Trump, who was president during some of this period of sort of instability as well.
Mayor Mamdani: I think there's no question that we are talking about a city's fiscal health also in the context of threatened cuts coming from the federal administration. Those are cuts that we're going to fight with every single tool in our toolbox. However, the $12 billion fiscal deficit, when it comes to the architects of that deficit, we're talking about the former mayor and the former governor. The reason for this is that the former mayor would under-budget the costs of actual city services. When it comes to access to shelter, or we're talking about cash assistance, sometimes even only budgeting half of the cost or 60 percent of the cost, and then here we are seeing a deficit grow to a level we haven't seen before. Amidst all of that, adding close to $2 billion in new expenses. That's the kind of gross fiscal mismanagement that we're talking about.
Myles Miller: You talked a little bit about the potential of these cuts. Saturday is the day where President Trump said sanctuary cities who don't change their policies could see cuts. Federal aid is about $8 to $10 billion annually for the city. What kind of conversations have you been having either with Washington, the White House, or here at City Hall about what the potential of those cuts could be, come Saturday?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, I think we make very clear that our laws and our values are not bargaining chips. We are proud of what we have here in place in New York City, and we will defend it, and we will defend New Yorkers. Look, the president said after our meeting in the Oval Office that the better New York does, the happier he is. My job as the mayor of New York City is to make clear what these kinds of proposed cuts would do to this city that we both love.
They would devastate this city, and so we're going to fight those kinds of threats. And also to make very clear that we have to prepare for every single eventuality, which is why it's so critical to not just turn to all of your reserves and say we can use this for one fiscal deficit if you know that the horizon is one that includes threats of this nature. You have to put yourself on a firm financial footing and ensure that you have the kind of reserves to prepare for a day like this.
Myles Miller: Yeah, you told us a couple of weeks ago that you texted with the president. I want to go to another texting buddy of yours, the governor. You guys have had a really interesting relationship. Are you predicating a potential endorsement of her for her run for re-election on being able to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers?
Mayor Mamdani: Look, I appreciate the relationship that I've been building with Governor Hochul, and frankly, what we've seen from Governor Hochul is a new kind of politics when it comes to New York City. I'm talking about the prior governor and what he created in this fiscal imbalance, and I'm proud to say in just eight days of our administration, we were on stage together, the governor and I, announcing more than a billion dollars in funding for universal childcare. So, I think that what we have now is the potential to address a crisis that has been years, if not more than a decade in the making, and to show New Yorkers that we will be able to resolve a fiscal crisis and do so while advancing an affordability agenda.
Myles Miller: Let's talk about what has moved markets in the past, and that's, of course, big decisions when it comes to Uber and Lyft and all of that. We reported on some of the junk fee crackdowns, some of the regulations within your first month, and some of the work that you were doing with trying to get out junk fees and be upfront about them as it relates to the World Cup. Tell us about your economic approach, and will you be trying to work with business versus looking for these areas to penalize them?
Mayor Mamdani: Absolutely, we're looking to work with business. And what I've also heard from a number of business owners is a sense of exhaustion and frustration that if they play by the rules, they have to watch while another business operates with impunity, and then they lose their market share as a result of that. And so, part of the motivation here is not just to protect workers and consumers, but also businesses that are operating within the bounds of the law. And that's what it looks like when we hold businesses that are flouting those laws accountable.
And so, I think this is a time when, whether it comes to being honest about the fiscal deficit or honest about the regulations that we have, we want to be very straightforward. I think we're proud of the legacy of this city in generating prosperity. We want that prosperity to reach every New Yorker's life. And that's how we're going to approach this question of economic development and ensure that we make it easier to not just start a business here, but to keep that business open.
And I'll just give you one more example. There are a number of real estate leaders who had shared with me the difficulties they have to go through to build housing in this city. We need to build more housing. The housing crisis is the preeminent crisis in this city. And so that's why we've supported measures like SEQRA reform, making it easier to go through that regulation so you can actually build that building much sooner. That's why when I hear from a real estate developer that they have to go to six different agencies to fill one single tree pit, we're looking at that as an example of what [the] government could be doing better.
Myles Miller: Do you look at business as a partner with [the] government? We've looked at the nature of private-public partnerships, obviously a lot of partnerships with J.P. Morgan as it relates to NYCHA and all of that. How would you approach that economic development lens? Will it be through trying to bring business into blighted neighborhoods? Will it be a focus on union jobs and union workers, a sort of different approach to economic development?
Mayor Mamdani: I think for far too long we've been told that these are the only choices. The choice that I'll be making is to look at business as a partner and also to bring labor to the same table, to ensure that workers are also benefiting from this. I'll give you an example of something that I've looked at as the kind of thing that New York City should be doing more of. The partnership that NYCHA had in creating clean energy within NYCHA developments, they put out an RFP where they were able to bring in heat pumps into Woodside Houses. These are heat pumps that transform the quality of life, reduce the cost of energy.
This is a clear example of what we could be doing to resolve some of the longstanding issues in this city. I think that when I sit down with a business leader, sure, we might disagree on fiscal policy where I want to tax millionaires by an additional 2 percent and I want New York State's most profitable corporations to pay a little bit more in taxes. But what we don't disagree on is the importance of this city, the vitality of this city, and how it's going to take all of us to win that future. I look forward to doing that.
Myles Miller: Did you meet with Jamie [Dimon] yet?
Mayor Mamdani: No, but we've spoken on the phone.
Myles Miller: One last thing, last night you were at 770 Eastern Parkway. Chabad was very important to me when I was in college, they kept me fed. And they do quite a lot for the community. So, to see that act of antisemitism, what effect did that have on you? And then secondly, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov has been named one of the chairs of the Antisemitism Committee in the Council. She said some vile stuff about you. She said that you want to see Jews in an oven and you're a terrorist lover.
Can you just tell me, how do those comments make you feel? We often see you react, but I would just love to know how that makes you feel. I saw you two Sundays ago at the Africa Cup situation and you were in a room full of mostly people who are immigrants from Africa. And when they hear those comments, they must feel the same way that you feel. So, how did these comments make you feel? And with the incident that happened yesterday, what was going through your mind meeting with those people?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, I think I'll start with yesterday. It was a horrifying incident where we saw a man intentionally and repeatedly crash his car into the Chabad headquarters. And we know that this occurred, frankly, on a day that was one of immense significance to Jewish New Yorkers and people across the world. We're talking about the yahrzeit of Rabbi Schneerson. And this is a moment when many Jewish New Yorkers are seeing antisemitism rise across the city and across this country.
And as the mayor of this city, we are committed to rooting out antisemitism from across the five boroughs. And I was thankful that no one was injured. And also to be there and to speak with a number of Jewish New Yorkers to make it clear that this city has their back, whether we're speaking about right there at the Chabad headquarters or anywhere across the city.
And I think to your earlier question, you know, in there –
Myles Miller: There's weight on you. You're the first Muslim mayor of this city, which is largely becoming a majority minority.
Mayor Mamdani: I think it's – the difficulty of this is that I know that there are so many in this city who have to deal with similar kinds of smears. And it is all too easy to allow that to color the way that you approach any one issue. But what I know that New Yorkers want to see, what I want to see, is a humanity embodied in our politics, not the language of darkness that has taken hold. And what that humanity requires is to look at each and every New Yorker and say that they are equally deserving of safety, of joy, of belonging in a city that is theirs. And I can tell you as someone who came to the city at the age of seven, who got my citizenship in the city, grew up in the city, that we will not engage in a debate of who belongs here any longer. We will instead engage in the act of delivering for each and every person who calls it home.
Myles Miller: Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for taking the time.
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