Transcript: Mayor Adams Signs Legislation to Improve Health Insurance Enrollment Process for City Employees, Help Private Schools Employ Security Guards

January 13, 2025

Watch video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP3XY3W4I-M

Mayor Eric Adams: Good afternoon, excited about both these bills. Really, hats off to Councilwoman Joseph and Councilman Brannan for bringing these two bills into law that I will be signing. We'll hold hearings and sign on both of them. Our continued fight for working class people as well as building on our promise to make New York City the best place to raise a family.  

Intro 265 will improve the health insurance enrollment process when city employees transfer between agencies. Every day, our brothers and sisters that are civil servants are on the front lines and working hard to make life in the city possible. Our teachers and police officers, doctors and sanitation workers, our clerical workers, they have always had the backs of New Yorkers. And today, we are making sure the city has theirs by removing the roadblocks of bureaucracy to ensure they have the healthcare coverage they deserve.  

And Intro. 532 will establish a program for non-public schools to receive reimbursement for costs related to employing security guards. Parents should feel the comfort of knowing that their children are safe while their children are in school. The schools should not have to decide between our children's education and their safety.  

Today, we won't have to make that choice. And law by law, we're making New York City the best place to raise a family. So I want to thank Speaker Adams and both Councilmember Joseph and Councilmember Brannan for both these bills. Now I will invite the public to comment. And the first speaker would be Joseph Rosenberg. 

Joseph Rosenberg, Director, Catholic Community Relations Council: Good afternoon, Mayor Adams. On behalf of the schools of the– I'm Joseph Rosenberg, director of the Catholic Community Relations Council. On behalf of the schools of both the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, thank you for signing into law Intro. 532-A, a bill that allows all non-public schools with enrollments of 150 or more students to be reimbursed by New York City for the hiring of school security guards.  

Local law two of 2016 created this successful program but restricted its eligibility to only schools with 300 or more students. The legislation before you goes much further. It allows many more Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and other non-public schools to be eligible to hire school guards. This will provide security for students, faculty, and staff, as well as peace of mind for parents who will now know that their children are protected. All children in our city, especially during these perilous times, deserve to be safe. So signing this bill into law will help achieve this absolutely important outcome. And thanks, of course, to Councilmember Brannan for being the strong supporter of this legislation as well. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you so much. And the next speaker is Sydney Altfield. 

Sydney Altfield, Executive Director, Teach NYS: Good afternoon. Thank you, mayor, for signing in this important bill and this law. Like we heard, it is going to help so many more students feel safe without the financial burden on their families of having to pay for these costs.  

At a time where our communities, our faith communities, feel like they're being pulled apart and there's so much hate in this world and unsureness of what the next day is to come. This is a time that has brought together the faith communities of Islamic, Jewish, Catholic, under this understanding that our kids must be safe no matter where they go to school, no matter the size of the school. And at a time that we're pulled apart, we've come together in understanding that New York City must be a place for our children to be safe no matter where they go to school. So thank you for signing this into law. Thank you, Councilmember Brannan, for really pushing this over the edge. It's something we've been working on for a very long time, and I'm really proud to see this pass today. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, very good point you raised. And Erik Joerss? 

Erik Joerss, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs, New York City Charter School Center: Thank you Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, you may remember, you stood with us in the New York City Charter School Center back in 2018 at Brooklyn Borough Hall in a press conference trying to get this through, and you gave your word then that all kids would be protected, and you honored your word. Thank you for signing this bill, sir, and thank you, Councilmember Brannan, for really pushing this through the council. Charter school kids in private space, in addition to the kids that are in non-public schools, now all have that peace of mind. Thanks to the council and the Mayor's Office. Thanks to you both. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you very much. And lastly, Rafeek Mohamed. 

Rafeek Mohamed: Good afternoon, mayor. I want to join with Eric in saying that I was at that meeting when you were borough president, and we did ask you to help us to bring this down from 300 to 150, 100, and I'm so happy that today we have accomplished that. Thank you very much. I represent the Islamic Schools Association, and when it was 300, only three of our schools benefited. Now we have about 18 schools within the five boroughs, and 15 of them will benefit from this new bill.  

And we want to thank you very much, because as all of us are aware, there is so much hate, there's so much danger, our kids need to be protected, they need to be safe, and this bill will indeed benefit us tremendously. Thank you, mayor, and thank you to the members of the City Council and everyone who has made this possible. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you. I'm going to now turn it over to Councilmember Joseph, the sponsor of Intro.265, to say a few words. 

Councilmember Rita Joseph: Thank you, mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Councilmember Joseph, representing the 40th Council District and the Education Chair in the New York City Council. Today is an exciting moment for our city, our workforce, and our commitment to fairness and efficiency. As someone who's always been deeply passionate about advocating for the rights and well-being of our public servants, I am thrilled that Intro. 265 will be signed into law today.  

As I transitioned from New York City public school educator a few years ago to councilmember, I was directly impacted by interrupted access to health insurance. This legislation addressed the fundamental issue many of our city employees face, maintaining uninterrupted access to health insurance when transitioning between agencies. For far too long, workers navigating these transitions have faced unnecessary delay and confusion, adding stress during an already challenging time. With Intro 265, we are changing that.  

This bill streamlines the process, ensures better communication, and prioritizes the need of the people to keep our city running every single day. Public servants, whether they're teachers, sanitation workers, or first responders, deserve the security of knowing that the health and well-being of their families won't be compromised by bureaucracy and inefficiencies. Intro. 265 is more than just a policy fix. It's a statement of our values right here in New York City. It says to our workforce, we see you, we respect you, and we are committed to standing by you as you're dedicated your lives, yourselves, to serving our communities.  

I want to thank my colleagues in the council, along with New York City Council Speaker Adams, Mayor Adams, for signing this bill, supporting this legislation, and recognizing the importance of safeguarding the health and stability of our employees. Thank you, Mayor Adams, again, for signing the bill into law, and the advocates and public servants who share their experiences and inspired this change. This is a win for our city and our workers. Let's continue to build a future where every employee feels valued, supported, and equipped to thrive in their roles. Together, we're making New York City a model of fairness, dignity, and progress. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you, councilmember. And Councilman Brannan for Intro. 532, to say a few words. 

Councilman Justin Brannan: Thank you, mayor. I bring good wishes from Southern Brooklyn, from Bay Ridge to Coney Island. As a kid who went to public school until high school, my mom sent me to all-boys Catholic school. She tried to set me on the straight and narrow. It didn't work, but Mama tried. This is a great day. This was a bill that was originally passed in 2015 by my good friend, Councilmember David Greenfield, but it only applied to schools of 300 or more. So the smaller schools, some of our most vulnerable schools, were left out. So we fought really hard to get this done.  

Look, there's no higher priority than public safety in this city, and making sure our kids stay safe in school has got to be the utmost priority of every elected official. So what we're doing here is making sure, giving parents that peace of mind, giving kids that peace of mind, that when they go to school, all they should worry about is learning and having a good time and growing up, not about staying safe. So thank you, Mr. Mayor, for signing this bill, and this is a very good day for our city. 

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