Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Senator Schumer, Commissioners Menin and Trottenberg Remind Employers, Straphangers - Commuter Benefits Law in Effect as of January 1

January 4, 2016

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Alright, good morning, everyone – a very happy New Year to you. It is great to be joined by Senator Schumer. And we’re here as well with Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, Council Member Steve Levin. You’re going to hear from Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez and Dan Garodnick in a moment. And we have Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin, and HRA Commissioner Steve Banks with us as well.

So, we are starting the new year off right thanks to the City Council, thanks to Senator Schumer and his great work in Washington for us. We are starting the year off right by putting hundreds of dollars back in the pocket of straphangers and commuters, who work very, very hard and need every break they can get. And this is an important moment because the actions that were taken by the Congress, by the City Council, the bill I signed a few weeks back now allow new benefits for commuters as part of our commuter benefits law, which went into effect just a few days ago, on January 1st. 

This law requires – and I want to make sure everyone I get this – it requires businesses with 20 or more full-time employees to allow workers to use pre-tax income to pay for their commuting costs. Before, this was voluntary – a lot of employers did not choose to make this benefit available – and we believe there’s almost half-a-million New Yorkers who therefore didn’t have a right to this benefit. It meant hundreds and hundreds of dollars they couldn’t access. But now, because of the new law, they have this opportunity. 

It also means, because of the extraordinary actions by the Congress, led by Senator Schumer, that more costs can be covered than ever before. You can use, now, up to $255 dollars per month of pre-tax income to pay for these qualifying commuter costs. That could mean as much as $800 to $1,000 dollars a year for some of our commuters. It basically means they’ll be paying less for transportation – they can use that money to make ends meet in so many other ways.

This is something we know means a lot to people. A lot of people, a few hundred dollars makes a world of difference in their lives – and we’re proud that we’re able to do this. 

Now, it’s so important that everyone realize they can take advantage of this benefit. So, from this point on, if you have – if you work for a company with 20 or more employees, you go and you take advantage of that benefit. Anyone who needs information can call 3-1-1 or go to our website – www.nyc.gov – and signup right away.

It’s important to recognize this is now almost double the amount of money that people can use in pre-tax income, thanks to the actions of Senator Schumer. He fought for this in Congress. He achieved a great victory for our straphangers and our commuters – and it’s a permanent victory. From this point on, that number will continue to grow with inflation, and it’s a permanent benefit that will make a huge difference.

Now, for some folks in this city it will particularly make a difference. And those are the straphangers and the commuters who come from communities where you have to pay even more to get to your jobs, particularly if they’re in the city. So, for example, a New Yorker commuting from Staten Island to Manhattan pays about $57 dollars each week for an unlimited express bus pass. That was more than was covered previously under this kind of benefit. Thanks to the efforts of Senator Schumer, thanks to the efforts of the Council, that Staten Islander now can have all of their mass transit costs covered. Someone who comes from Laurelton in southeast Queens and takes the LIRR into Penn Station – well, that person pays about $218 dollars a month – used to be, again, they couldn’t have all that covered. Now, because of these changes, all of their transit costs are being covered by this benefit.

So, this is a really good day for New York City, particularly for a lot of folks who live in the outer boroughs and had those longer commutes. Again, 3-1-1 or nyc.gov for more information. Before I turn to Senator Schumer, just a quick moment in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, we have a lot to be thankful for as we start the New Year. We are always thankful for Chuck Schumer and what he achieves for us every day in Washington. He has bought home a victory here for the working people of this city. And he’s making people’s lives a little bit easier because of the actions that he made the Congress achieve for all of us. Senator Schumer, we thank you.

[…]

Mayor: We are going to take questions on this topic. I know Senator Schumer has a tight timeline, so he’ll stick around for those questions. Then we’re going to go to off-topic questions after that. But while we still have the senator, let’s do the on-topic questions on this new benefit. 

Questions? Yes.

Question: – the reaction of the commuters when you spoke to them this morning?

Mayor: They were happy that we – you know, a lot of people felt it was a happy New Year because they were going to get hundreds of dollars back in their pocket. And these are, as you know, hardworking people, in many cases struggling to make ends meet. It’s a big deal that they’re getting that money back, so great reaction today. 

Question: One of the biggest complaints that I hear, and I’m sure you hear from elected officials on Staten Island, is that there isn’t enough existing mass transit there, and you can’t really use this new deduction if there isn’t enough mass transit. And you mentioned the express buses cost more. Like, what would you say to someone who just wants more mass transit options there?

Mayor: Look, it’s something we keep working. We obviously – I’m very proud of the fact that we really instituted 24-hour service for the Staten Island Ferry. That’s a step forward. I’m proud of the fact that, with Senator Schumer, with the Council, we’re making the commute less expensive for Staten Islanders through this benefit. There’s more to be done – we’ve talked about it for a long time. There’s more to be done, and we’re going to keep working on expanding options. But right now, it’s a big deal that people are going to be able to put hundreds of dollars back in their pockets. 

Senator Charles Schumer: And we also, in the –

Mayor: Please.

Senator Schumer: In the transportation bill, for the first time, there is more money for mass transit, for commuter rail, for things like the rail on the North Shore and the South Shore that we’ve been seeking on Staten Island for a long time. So for the first time, the transportation budget is not flat, but gets a significant increase. So that’ll give us some more room to get some of these dollars and send them to Staten Island.

Question: I mean, that – that North Shore bus – the rail, that’s just a study, and people have been waiting for that for, like, a decade.

Senator Schumer: Well, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

Mayor: You’ve got to start somewhere, and –

Senator Schumer: And one other point I would just make on this, and that is that, first, even if you already have this benefit, it’s going to double.

Mayor: Right.

Senator Schumer: There are a good number of people who have it, but this is going to double it for them, because it was $130 dollars, and it’s now $255. It’s indexed. Furthermore, it’s retroactive for last year. It wan’t in existence for all of 2015 because Congress had let it lapse. So now it’s not only in the future permanently, but it’s for 2015. So if you can get your employer to file backwards, you can get extra money. 

Mayor: Amen. I just want to note – this – this point the senator just made, we really need to look at it for a second. Because of Senator Schumer’s leadership – and I’m proud to say, mayors all over the country gathered together on a bipartisan basis –

Senator Schumer: Very helpful.

Mayor: – and pushed hard for a new mass transit and highway bill. For the first time in years, mass transit funding is going up from the federal government that New York City will receive. For the first time in years, we’re going to get more money for our roads and bridges and highways. For many years, that funding didn’t move on inch. It was the same amount each year, even though our infrastructure got older and older and there were more and more challenges. Thanks to Senator Schumer’s leadership, we finally see the federal government starting to take more responsibility for mass transit and for roads and bridges and highways. That’s going to make a big difference all over the five boroughs.

On this – go ahead.

Question: What changed this year – this is probably for Senator Schumer – what changed this year to make Congress pass this permanently?

Senator Schumer: Here’s what changed. I think we did a very good job at telling our Republican colleagues – not so many from New York, but from the west and south – that we weren’t just going to do what’s called sequestration – flat-level funding. And we weren’t going to let go through any of these corporate benefits, which they’ve extended year after year unless we got some things for average, middle-class families. So not only did we get the mass transit benefit permanent. We got the EITC permanent – the Earned Income Tax Credit, which really benefits millions of New Yorkers. We got the childcare – Child Tax Credit permanent, which helps lots of families where the mother – where there’s either a single-parent family or both parents work and they need childcare. So we – we were tough. And we got a lot in return. 

Question: How hard do you think that is, to have this now be permanent?

Senator Schumer: Well, it’s – you know, every year, I’d have to fight for it. And now I can fight for good new things instead of trying to get something that we should’ve had to begin with. You can fight for other things. You know, I – whatever clout I have here in the Senate, I try to use for New York, and now, going forward, we don’t have to worry about this anymore and we’ll go on to the next step and make things better and better.

Question: And just one more question for both of you – what do you say to people who hear this and say just another thing I have to spend more tax money on?

Senator Schumer: Well, this benefits people. I mean, people don’t mind tax breaks if they go to themselves, not the top – top 0.0001 percent. This benefits average folks. It benefits working-class people – and particularly New York, because in – in most places, almost everyone commutes by car – if you Dallas or someplace like that. They’re all deducting right now. But most of our commuters can’t deduct, whether you’re in New York City and take mass transit or on Long Island and take the Long Island Railroad or Westchester and Rockland and take Metro-North. You couldn’t deduct the way a car driver could. Now you can. So I think this is something that all New Yorkers will like. And if you an employer, as Dan Garodnick mentioned, there’s actually a benefit to employers to do it. So anyone – you just go to your employer and say, you know, work this for me, and it’s easy for them and they benefit and they have to do it in New York City.

Mayor: So, let me add on point – so let’s be clear. This is a tax break for working- and middle-class people. This is a very good thing. This is exactly what we need to see more of. The difference here is, first of all, before the federal government wasn’t bringing it to the level it needed to be for people here in New York City – the senator took care of that. Working with the City Council, we made it mandatory – this is the key point. Up to half-a-million people weren’t getting a right to this benefit simply because their employer was not offering it. We said no, that’s not fair. Working people deserve this tax break, so we insisted and we made it mandatory that the employers provide it, and that’s now the law of this city. We’re very proud of that. 

On this topic. Going once. Yes. 

Question: So the – the benefits, though, don’t apply to Citi Bike commuters, is that right?

Mayor: No, and we want them to. We want them to.

Question: [inaudible] senator could also speak to [inaudible] –

Mayor: Senator – and Polly might have something to say on this too. 

Senator Schumer: We tried to get a deduction for Citi Bike. It was one of the things that our House Republican colleagues blocked, and we’ll be working on that in the next bill.

Mayor: And look, we – we are very proud of what we’ve done to strengthen Citi Bike. More and more people are using it – it’s obviously going to reach more and more parts of the city. It should be a part of this package. And we look forward to working with the senator in getting that done. 

Last call on this topic. I know the senator is off to Long Island.

Senator Schumer: She has one.

Mayor: Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Senator Schumer: The lady in the red. 

Mayor: That’s alright.

Question: Can you just a little bit about how this benefits the employers?

Mayor: How it benefits the employers? Take it away. 

Senator Schumer: Yeah, go ahead, Dan. It’s – it’s his law. 

Council Member Daniel Garodnick: It’s very simple. When an employee takes off of the table and puts them aside for their own mass transit, that is money that the employer does not have to pay payroll taxes on. So when you reduce your payroll tax obligation as an employer, that’s less money that you have to spend. So this becomes a win-win, both for the employee and for the employer in the situation, something which we strive to do always. We’re not always successful. In this situation, we were able to give a benefit to the employer and to the employee at the same time, and to promote the broad public policy goal of use of mass transit and support of mass transit.

Senator Schumer: So in other words, if the salary was $1,000 dollars a week, and now the employee has $100 dollars of commuting expense a week, the employer only has to payroll tax on $900 dollars, not $1,000 – so they benefit. 

Mayor: Okay, last call on this topic. Going once. Going twice. Thank you, Senator. Let’s give him a round of applause. Thank you.

[Applause]

Okay. We appreciate it very, very much. 

Alright, let’s do some off topic – it’s the first off-topic of the new year. What do you got? Go ahead. 

Question: How about the executive order from Governor Cuomo about the homeless policy?

Mayor: Well, again, we appreciate the intent of that executive order, but what we believe is, right now, we have the tools to get people off the street who are in danger. That’s the bottom line. You know, our HOME-STAT effort that we announced last week – hundreds of outreach workers will be working constantly to get to homeless folks all over the city, working closely with a new NYPD unit that’s specially trained. We have the power right now – if someone’s in danger, we have the power right now to get them off the streets. We have our Code Blue effort, which I put into effect literally days after I took office – this is something that was not used in the past, but I’m proud that we put it into effect, that says if it’s very cold weather – by the way, if it’s very hot weather also – the same approach, if there’s a heat warning or a cold warning – anyone can walk in to one of our shelters, no questions asked, and be provided shelter immediately for as long as that warning is in effect. And as you know, and we talked about this a few months ago, we also more aggressively than any previous administration are addressing people who have mental health challenges, who have had any kind of history of violence. That is our NYC Safe effort. We are very aggressively making sure that there’s follow-up on those people. So we have the tools and we are using the tools. Right now, if anyone is in danger – and we know we’re going to have very cold weather going into tonight – if anyone’s in danger, our outreach workers through DHS, our NYPD officers have the ability to bring them in right now. 

Yes. 

Question: Mayor, is your concern the – in terms of civil liberties though, if somebody says listen, I don’t want to be taken off the street – is there a concern on your part in that regard?

Mayor: Look, I think the goal here is to get people off the street across the board – let’s be clear. Our goal – and this is what HOME-STAT is all about – is to get people off the street. There’s been 3,000 and 4,000 New Yorkers on the streets of our city 24/7. We don’t want anyone living that way. And HOME-STAT is about systematically figuring out what will get them off the street permanently – permanently. That’s the goal here. The fact is, we live in a nation of laws, and people do have constitutional rights. But if someone is in danger – if someone’s in danger, we do have the right to bring them in. 

Question: Presidential candidate Ben Carson is going to be on Staten Island tonight doing a town hall. You haven’t had one on Staten Island yet. I was wondering –

Mayor: I’m looking forward – there will be a lot of town halls in 2016, including Staten Island. You’re going to start to see them scheduled quite soon. 

Question: Mayor, back to the executive order, you said you appreciate the intent of it. Is there anything within the content of the order itself that isn’t redundant or is new?

Mayor: Well, of course we’re just seeing this for the first time. But at this point, it seems to simply reiterate what’s already in the law and the power we already have to bring people in off the streets. And we use that power – let’s be clear. If any NYPD officer thinks someone’s in danger, they have the right to bring them in – same with our outreach workers and our health workers. So we have the power. We use the power right now. We will continue to use that power. The intention, again, I think, is good. Now, we need more resources – there’s no two ways about that. We need more resources from the state to continue to do the work we’re doing to get people off the street and get people out of shelter. 

Question: On the danger – the danger point – is the – is the temperature reaching a certain level sort of a blanket definition of danger for somebody sleeping on the street or are police making sort of a case-by-case analysis? And how equipped can they be to determine whether somebody who may be bundled up, you know, actually has the capacity to survive a cold night out on the street?

Mayor: It’s a great question – and Steve Banks is here, who has a lot of history on this, so I’ll – I’ll start, and, Steve, feel free to add. And I want to thank Steve Levin for joining us, who’s the chair of the General Welfare Committee in the City Council that has oversight over homelessness issues. Look, I think you’re getting at the heart of the matter. It is a decision that a police officer has to make, as with many other things, or one of our Homeless Services outreach workers have to make. They have to judge whether someone is in danger, and if they are, then exercise the ability to get them in. Now, I think it’s fair to say, the temperature alone doesn’t necessarily constitute that danger, but if we see someone we think may be in harm’s way, that’s when we act. 

Question: A lot of – most of the homeless people we spoke to did not like the idea of this order, mandatory, having to go to the shelters. So they didn’t like Governor Cuomo’s policies, but one of the main things they said was, you know, the shelters are dangerous, they’re not safe, they’re not clean, etcetera. Can you speak a little bit to what you’re doing to make that more hospitable? 

Mayor: Yeah, we have to fix that – there’s no two ways about it. Look, for – and, again, Steve, jump in any time you like – the fact is, for decades, our shelters have not been safe enough and have not been clean enough. And it’s quite clear that a lot of homeless people chose not to go there. And look, some of the people that didn’t go there had very serious mental health and substance abuse issues, but some people didn’t go to shelter for, unfortunately, logical reasons that you’re pointing out – they didn’t think they were safe enough. We’ve got to fix that. We’ve added a lot more peace officers – several hundred more peace officers to our homeless shelters to make them safer. We’re more closely coordinating between NYPD and Homeless Services to make sure, if there’s any wrongdoers in our shelter, that they are acted on. The whole effort we’re making to identify people with mental health problems and a history of violence also helps weed people out of our shelters who may be dangerous to others. But the real goal is of course to stop people from getting into shelter to begin with – and that’s what our preventative efforts are more and more doing – and to get people out of shelter – 22,000 people we got out of shelter by the end of last year through our actions, our new initiatives – getting people out of shelter and to better housing. So we definitely have a challenge here that we have to address. We want people who are in need to feel comfortable that shelter is a safe place to be. I’ll also remind you about our Safe Haven effort, which are smaller facilities, often in houses of worship – that’s been an example of something where even folks who’ve been resistant to shelter will go to a Safe Haven because they feel they’re safer. 

Commissioner Steven Banks, Human Resources Administration: Thank you. I would just add that the tools that are being put in place now are unprecedented – a ten-fold increase in legal assistance, dramatic increases in rental assistance, the additional funding and support for safe havens, which are, as the mayor said, not institutional settings that are part of the pathway off the streets back into society, and the commitment for supportive housing – an unprecedented commitment to provide supportive housing, which, again, is part of that pathway off the streets. And it’s important to remember that the workers that are on the streets come from reputable, well-known organizations – [inaudible], Breaking Ground, Project Hospitality – and their staff has years of training, years of experience and training to be able to work with people and bring them back off the streets, particularly in these cold, cold nights. They’re out there, they’re on the streets, and they’re helping people get off the streets by providing the kinds of resources that the mayor’s been making available to make the kind of dramatic changes that we want to make for the shelter system.

Mayor: And let me add two things. One, as we made very clear last week, anyone in shelter is welcome to stay in shelter – this is a very important point and I want to thank Steve Banks for his leadership on this – meaning, if you’re in a shelter, the policy in the past was to push people out during the day and they had to be on the streets. That wasn’t fair to folks who were homeless and it wasn’t fair to people in the surrounding communities. We’ve changed that policy. What we now say is if you have a shelter that you live in, you can be there all day if that’s what’s right for you. We’re also adding a lot more productive time to the day – for example, job training – and opportunities for people who are in shelter to get skills training during the day in the very same shelter where they’re staying. So it’s important to recognize, if someone’s in our shelters, they are welcome to stay there, regardless of the weather – particularly if the weather’s bad, they can stay inside, they are not forced back out on the street. Second, we’re talking today about cold, obviously we’re worried about the temperatures tonight, but I think everyone knows, we have a growing problem with heat during the warmer months, so this same approach – that we are going to be very aggressive when it’s very hot out. When there’s a heat advisory, we’re going to be out on the streets in force. Homeless outreach workers, NYPD, etcetera – if we see anyone in distress, again, under existing law, we’ll use our power to bring them in and keep them safe. 

Coming over. 

Question: Some analysts call this a power-grab by the governor – an effort to try to [inaudible] assert his authority in the city. So I’d like to hear what kind of ways you agree with that, and also hear about how the city will react if the governor deploys state troopers within city limits to enforce –

Mayor: I don’t want to talk about hypotheticals. Right now, obviously the NYPD protects New York City. That’s pretty clear. And again, we appreciate the intent of the executive order, but it simply reiterates what’s already in state law. 

Emily. 

Question: I’m wondering if, when you speak about the city needing resources from the state, if you could speak specifically to what that might be? The executive order says they’re willing to provide assistance if needed, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.

Mayor: Right, look, we obviously want to see the resources that were cut in the last state budget for Homeless Services restored, and we obviously want to see progress on supportive housing. We’re very proud of having committed the biggest – the biggest amount of supportive housing that’s ever been committed to by the city government – 15,000 apartments. We need help from the state as well. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, what will happen if it’s a freezing night like tonight so the police officer or your outreach people say you need to come to shelter, the homeless person says no, I don’t want to go – will you make that person go forcibly?

Mayor: If someone’s in danger, we will bring them in. Period. If someone’s in danger, right now, the NYPD has the right to bring that person in and get them evaluated. 

Question: Are you willing to use force if necessary?

Mayor: We have used it for years – that’s the point. Now, look, I want to be very, very clear – for years, the NYPD and our outreach workers, if they believe someone’s in real danger, they have the right to bring them in, and they have been bringing them in, and we will continue to do that for sure. 

Question: How long do you make them stay in shelter, if they go against their will?

Mayor: Steve will go into the details, and that’s a very good question because we have a right to evaluate people under law, but the law also puts some limitations here.

Commissioner Banks: The outreach teams as well as the police have had great success bringing people in voluntarily into shelter, but as the governor’s counsel clarified, the mental health law provides for bringing someone in to be evaluated by a doctor in a mental health setting. That’s different from taking someone to a shelter. And the governor’s counsel really made that very clear later in the day yesterday – that for somebody who’s in imminent danger, we’re not to take them to shelters – we’re to take them to be evaluated. And that’s just, as the mayor said, what the police and what the outreach workers have been doing for years.

Question: You said be evaluated – so they won’t go to a shelter, they’ll go to a mental health facility instead?

Commissioner Banks: Well, just as we’ve been doing for years, if someone will come voluntarily to a shelter, that’s a great outcome in order to get someone out of danger. But for somebody who won’t come, under the mental hygiene law, we will bring them, as we have been doing for years, to be evaluated by a medical professional as to whether or not they need psychiatric care.

Mayor: Let me get Steve Levin in here.

Council Member Stephen Levin: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to – I just wanted to reiterate that the efforts that this administration has done around safe-haven beds, which is a very successful model of a low threshold of getting individuals off the street and into, in particular, faith-based safe-haven beds, the expansion has been significant of 500 additional beds that are going to be bought on with partners from – from the religious community. And that’s going to have a real impact. And so, I want to just acknowledge that, and say that that’s one of the many different things that this administration has been doing to address this issue over the last two years.

Mayor: And let me just – one addition on that. Our goal is not just to get people off the street when the weather’s bad. Our goal is to get people off the street permanently – to literally get folks who have been on the streets for a long time off the street and into a long-term solution for them. That’s why the 15,000 supportive apartments are a crucial part of this equation. Look, we’ve got 3,000 to 4,000 people living permanently on the streets – that shouldn’t be. It’s been tolerated for years and years – we will not tolerate it. We’re changing the entire approach here – the biggest outreach effort of any city in the country. Daily, we will be circulating all over the city, particularly Manhattan between Canal Street and 145th Street, contacting each and every homeless person who is on the street and trying to convince them to come in permanently off the street – permanently. And this is something that has never been done before on this scale. We’ve never had as many safe-haven beds, we’ve never had as many supportive housing units. We’re changing the whole game plan now, because we do not accept the concept of in the greatest city in this country that 3,000 or 4,000 people would live on the streets permanently. We’re just not going to allow it. We’re certainly are not going to allow encampments. You heard about the fact that there were as many 30 encampments, again, tolerated for years. We have taken those down. They will not come back. So, we are very committed to changing things for the long term.

Question: You and the governor worked together at HUD on homelessness and a lot of other issues. What’s keeping you from just sitting down together and saying, hey, this is an important issue for New York, we should work together?

Mayor: We are very willing to work with the state. And as everyone knows, there were ongoing discussions about supportive housing. We hope those discussions can start again and we can move forward, but we thought the smart thing to do was put our commitment on the table publicly, and show that we really believe in making the investment.

Question: [inaudible] know if there’s going to be state policies on homeless, city policies on homeless – just you know –

Mayor: Again, it’s the same point I’ve made many times. The door is always open to work together for the good of the people of New York City. We did that on the MTA funding. We did that on the new rules and laws related to Legionnaires’. We’re ready to do that on homelessness and a lot of other issues.

Question: You said that you don’t believe the temperature alone constituents a danger that allows you to bring people in. What else has to be there to demonstrate [inaudible]?

Mayor: Again, this is the reality, both under the law and in the way that we have to do things to help people. This comes down to a judgement by an NYPD officer, by a health professional, or an outreach worker. If someone’s in danger – and that could be any number of things – but if someone is in danger, we bring them in. Period. If someone’s not in danger, again, the law says that they still have rights to make that decision themselves.

Question: The – the Israeli Prime Minister was under fire recently.

Mayor: Say that again.

Question: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was under fire again for a comment about Israeli-Arabs. How concerned are you that this kind of rhetoric by Donald Trump and others would affect the coexistence between Jews and Muslims?

Mayor: Look, I haven’t seen the specific comments. I’ll make a broad point. The only way we’re going to solve a lot of the challenges we face is with an inclusive approach and a respectful approach. This city is a great example of that. I – I mentioned the other day, you know, in this city we have 900 Muslim-American members of the NYPD. Some of the most effective, committed members of the NYPD – Muslim-Americans. It doesn’t get a lot of attention, but they do great work for all of us. They also are a positive symbol to members of the Muslim-American community that everyone is included here, that everyone’s respected here. I think that’s an approach that’s needed in Israel and every other multi-cultural society.

Okay. Grace, you get the last word.

Question: So, to be clear, it doesn’t sound like, but I just want to be absolutely sure, that there are any changes that the city is making in regard to how it treats the street homeless population as a result of the executive order from the governor.

Mayor: The change – okay, let’s be clear, there have been changes over the last two years. I want to be – there’s three big changes – HOME-STAT, biggest outreach effort ever, literally contacting each and every homeless person each and every day; Code Blue, which, as Steve knows, was instituted within days of us taking office, did not exist before – anyone who needs shelter can walk in in the middle of either a cold or heat emergency and automatically be granted shelter no questions asked; and the effort we’re making, NYC Safe, to identify anyone with a mental health problem who is also a danger either to themselves or others, and making sure that aggressively we get those folks treatment. Those are all new policies that were put in effect over these last two years – and that combination has straightened our hand. But to be very clear, to Steve’s point, even for years before that, if an NYPD officer or a health worker or an outreach worker saw someone in danger, they had the right to bring them in, to mandate that they come in, and they have used that right before – and we will continue to use that right.

Question: So no change tonight or this week with the cold temperatures as a result of the executive order in the way the city is –

Mayor: Under the law, we will continue to look at each and every situation, and if we think someone is in danger, we will bring them in.

Thanks, everyone.