Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Annual Hometown Heroes Event, Holds Press Availability

January 29, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I didn't get to watch you going over the newspaper, so I really don't know what's going on in New York City this morning. I think it is impressive, Pat, that we all associate truth with you and when we don't see those papers, we literally feel disoriented every morning. So, thank you for what you do for New York City. Let's thank Pat for being a great master of ceremony.

[Applause]

Well, I have an all-star team of folks to acknowledge who have been a part of this gathering today. Obviously, my friend TWU Local 100 President John Samuelson, MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast, Daily News editor-in-chief Collin Myler, Daily News publisher Bill Holiber, the 15 MTA employees being honored as the hometown heroes who we are all so proud of today, and the family and friends who have come with them to share this incredible moment. I want to thank our great comptroller, Scott Stringer, and someone who I am so honored to have brought back to New York City's service, Commissioner Bill Bratton of the NYPD. Let's thank them all for what they do.

[Applause]

I’m very proud to present the next award to a true hometown hero, Jihad Abed. This is a man of true courage. This is an extraordinary story. Classic situation – when that moment of truth comes, what does each of us choose to do? This is a man who could have turned away in a difficult situation, who could have minded his own business, but instead, he stood up for the underdog. He broke up a fight on the bus that he was driving through the central Bronx last October – literally stepped in, broke up the fight, threw the vicious attackers out the front door of the bus, locked it shut, stopped the fight from happening and potentially saved a life in the process. This is an example of a person who saw something and did something about it.
Mr. Abed, we thank you for your service and your vigilance. It's people like you who help keep New York City safe. Let's bring Mr. Abed forward.

[Applause]

I'm just going to say a few general points because I want to talk about – not just these extraordinary heroes – but I want to talk about the men and women of the MTA and what the MTA does for us every day. We often hear different things around the world described as the eighth wonder of the world. It's one of the great overused phrases. Some in journalism sometimes use that phrase, Pat. But with the MTA, we may have found a candidate worthy for the title. It really may be the eighth wonder of the world –with enough subway tracks to stretch to Chicago, more than 230 bus routes – one of the greatest transit systems history has ever seen.  Each year, it serves more than 2.3 billion riders – 2.3 billion trips taken on this system. Most impressive about the MTA isn't the numbers, it’s the people behind the wheel of our buses and trains. These are unsung heroes, whose names we don't usually know and whose faces we often don't see but they are the real engines fueling the MTA. Brave men and women often get up earlier in the morning than a lot of us, work longer than many of us, see their families less than many of us because of long shifts and odd hours. These are all hometown heroes. We’re celebrating folks of particular valor today and we should, but there is heroism in the lives of everyday working men and women, putting up with every possible challenge to make that sure our lives go better. Today, we pay tribute to these individuals but also to all the people who do this work.

They not only inspire us with their stories of courage and self-sacrifice, but they motivate us to be a little bit better ourselves. Whether it’s risking one’s life to save someone else, comforting a father of two in his darkest hour – they show us that one brave move, one act of kindness at the right time can literally save someone's life. Take Johnny Goings, he's a guy who can't swim, never had even been in a boat before, and then paddled an inflated raft out to save coworkers trapped by Hurricane Sandy's flood waters. Look at Danny Hay, who did a 100 yard dash for all he was worth, to flag down an oncoming train and keep it from hitting a man who'd fallen onto the subway tracks. Each of these people we’re honoring today is truly a hero. They literally meet the definition. Look, any one of us might feel afraid at any given point, but it’s those who look past their fears and overcome them that have shown us the best that humanity has to offer.  Every one of us could only hope, in that moment, that we are as brave and resolute as the people we are honoring today.

I want to thank the hometown heroes for their extraordinary example. They've given us all a lesson in how to act when the chips are down and when the lives of others are on the line. I want to offer my warmest congratulations to all of them, to their family, their friends who support them. I just want to say on behalf of the people of New York City, we are profoundly grateful. You've set as example for all of us today and something we look forward to learning from each and every day.

And just one more thing I'd like to say that is always important, to say a few words in Spanish. I'm going to share some with you.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Pat asked for a translation of that. I said, many thanks to you, Pat.

[Laughter]

Thank you everyone.

[…]

Mayor: Good morning, everyone.  I just want to say a couple things up front. First of all, it was a real honor to participate in the Hometown Heroes Awards. This something I’ve participated in in the past and it’s really something I hope all New Yorkers focus on – everyday public employees who go so far above and beyond, literally, to the point of saving lives. And we’ve got to also focus on some of the good news stories in this world and this is a profoundly good example of that.

I also want to say something about an issue near and dear to my heart, which is pre-k for all of our students. You know, Commissioner King – the state education commissioner – spoke yesterday in Albany and he said something that I think very clearly validates our plan and our vision for how to get pre-k to every child who needs it in New York City. Commissioner King estimates that every year, statewide, it’s going to take about $1.6 billion dollars to provide full day pre-k to all the children in New York State. I think this is a clear validation from our top state education official that it takes substantial resources to do this right, that full day pre-k will be an extraordinary difference maker in the lives of our children and – as I’ve said many times – will uplift the entire school system. This will be an investment that changes the future trajectory of our school system, that makes all the other resources we put into our schools more effective in the way we use them. This, to me, is something – when we get done and we look back, we’re going to say this was one of the smartest investments we ever made. But it’s a substantial investment. And Commissioner King, who has a very strong vantage point on what we need all over the state, made clear – if you really want to make sure every kid in New York State got full day pre-k, that’s $1.6 billion per year.

Now, the plans have been put forward in Albany and, as alternatives to what I’ve talked about, don’t even come close to that level of pay – excuse me, or of resources, I should say. The fact is, our plan, between the pre-k and the afterschool components – $530 million dollars per year – over five years. Reliable, consistent funding – that would be a total of $2.6 billion over five years. We can put together those resources from our own taxpayers. We should have the right to do that. It’s not Albany’s place to tell New York City what we can and cannot do. In fact, when we have a way to pay for something that we desperately need, Albany should be only too happy to agree and let us do that, as they did just last week with Ulster County, agreeing to their sales tax increase so they could deal with pressing needs.

The bottom line here today is, I’ve put forward a plan, as you saw from the white paper that we issued earlier in the week, that does require substantial resources to do a big job - that’s something we’re ready to do right now. But no alternative has been put forward that would actually reach the levels necessary to provide pre-k full day for every child in this city. This is the only plan that would do that and Commissioner King’s assessment only makes that clearer.

With that, welcome your questions. If you have any on that topic first and then we can go to other topics. Any on the pre-k topic? Just on pre-k since I’m on it already. Yes, go ahead, Grace.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: First of all, there’s been no – with all due respect, with all due respect – there’s been no specific plan put forward with the dollar figures we need. The only plan that was ventured out there was on a much lower dollar figure. Second, there’s been no plan put forward with reliable funding. You can’t start this program up for a year and then have it stall. That’s just unacceptable. My plan is five years of reliable funding. The only thing that’s been put forward by the governor is a broad concept and the few dollar figures that have been bandied about are quite minimal. In fact, his own education commissioner made clear that this is a huge endeavor. And it’s not something that can be achieved with half measures. So, I think it’s important to level with the people and level with the taxpayers  – say, this is what’s going to take to actually fundamentally improve our school system and to reach a lot of kids who are being left behind. And by the way, you know, the more we’ve talked about early childhood education – and I appreciated President Obama’s comments last night on this topic – the more we realize if we don’t make this investment, we’re literally damning a generation of kids not to make it. We know if kids aren’t at grade level by third grade, their chances of ever getting back to grade level are limited. This is a chance to actually reach kids in time and get them on the right track. But you can’t do it with half measures. You need to do the real thing. And my plan is literally, as the white paper makes clear, enough money to do this the right way from the beginning and sustain it. There’s been no alternative plan put forward that would do that. Anything else on pre-k first? Yes?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: No, our staffs are talking all the time. I talk to the governor with some regularity, but our staffs are talking all the time. We made very clear in our public statement that it’s obvious, from Commissioner King’s analysis, that our plan is actually dealing with real numbers. You know, I think it’s really important to be straightforward with people about how much things cost and that there would’ve been no way to achieve this kind of progress on education without a dedicated tax. And so I think, again Commissioner King’s comments said better that I ever could, what the real costs are of doing this right and I think very much validated our plan.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: He’s talking about the state of New York. Look, let’s face it – I have to tell you, there are parts of New York State where there’s still half-day pre-k. I was talking to some of the leaders in Albany when I was there Monday and they said, look, we applaud what you’re doing and we hope to get to that point soon but right now in fact, in a number of our jurisdictions, we’re still not to full-day kindergarten. So I think it’s different. Each jurisdiction is different. Each jurisdiction has different resources. I think that’s part of the point about allowing localities some control over their own destiny. There’ve been times New York City has really been in a tough situation and we’ve had to turn to the state. There’s been times when we’ve had more resources. Some of our communities upstate are really struggling right now. I mean, it’s a different situation for each locality, at each moment in history. But I think the bottom line here is, I think Commissioner King was talking about the fact that if you really want to get to that standard - full day pre-K everywhere in the state – and again, the president’s laid that out as a goal everywhere in the country – it takes real work, it takes a real resource commitment – not rhetoric – a real resource commitment and we’re doing that here. The good news in New York City, which makes us different, again, from other parts of the state, is we have a strong platform to begin with. There are about 20,000 kids getting full-day right now. There are about 40,000 kids getting half-day. As I said throughout the campaign – 10,000 kids who applied and got nothing, which is absolutely inappropriate. So, at least we’re starting with something. But to build that out – the two jumps we’ve discussed – first, bringing the full day number up to 54,000, then bringing the full day number up to 73,000 – that takes a real focused commitment and real resources. We’re in a position to do that here. Other parts of the state it might take longer, but in New York City we can do that now. And that is absolutely in the interest of our children and the future of our city, the future of our economy.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: The President has been so far ahead of the curve on this issue. For years now, he’s been talking about the focus on pre-k and early childhood education in general. And I was very gratified to hear him talk about it last night. In my conversations with him over the last few months, he constantly raises this issue. It’s very much on his mind and I commend him for that. I think it’s actually a great moment in the history of this country when you have a president emphasizing early childhood education. I think it’s incredibly enlightened. And it certainly encourages me, to know that we’re on the right track, that we’re in fact doing what needs to be done everywhere around this country. And the people get it. It wouldn’t be the first time the people are often ahead of their elected leaders. The people get it, and you’ve seen this extraordinary support for this proposal. Anything else on this? Let’s talk about other things, shall we?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: We feel great about this situation across the board. We are making decision on personnel in the same way we said we would from the beginning. We want highly effective people. We want people who share the values of this administration. We want people who reflect the diversity of New York City. One by one, we’re finding folks of the highest quality levels. I had folks tell me, you know different pundits and different folks in public life tell me a few months ago how hard it would be to find really talented folks. I have not found that to be the problem. We’re doing great, and one by one, we’re filling those positions. Next week, you’re going to see a flurry of appointments, which we’re very, very excited about. But we’re also thrilled that coming in to this administration, starting literally mid-year with our schools in the middle of the winter and all the dynamics that happen when you pick up the ball on January 1st  – we think there has been tremendous continuity, great teamwork, and things are functioning really, really well. And we’re going to just keep filling things out over the coming weeks and we feel great about it. Mike?

Question: So will the transition ever do into February…[inaudible]formal committees and…[inaudible]?

Mayor: Well, the transition efforts are being wound down, in terms of that structure. That will be over the next few weeks, and the work will be increasingly done out of City Hall.

Question: Mayor de Blasio, the Daily News has this campaign for airport workers. And there was some movement where they’re raising the pay on for some of them. Could you comment on that?

Mayor: Absolutely. I’ll first – I’ll commend the Daily News. This is really important on many levels. First of all, if we’re going to talk about addressing inequality, it begins with the challenge of wages and benefits. And our airport workers simply are not earning enough money to feed a family in many cases. And they certainly don’t have the security and the benefits necessary for financial stability. So we have to think about this as a larger societal problem, but when it comes to the airport workers, we have a chance to do something about it because the airport is overseen by a public entity – by the Port Authority. And I think all of us in public life need to press for stronger wages and benefits in every way we can. So think right there, because it would be a way of addressing inequality and a way of addressing the decline of the middle class, that’s enough reason to take this action. Again, I commend the Daily News for pointing out that here’s a place where we can really act. There’s a second piece of this, which is the security ramifications. Folks who work at airports – security workers in particular – but everyone who works at airports, is part of a team of people that keeps us safe. And we want folks who have job security, who have good wages and benefits, who are the kind of folks who will stay there long-term and be part of that safety net for us. So I think it’s a particularly sensitive location by definition, and people who work in such a place deserve decent wages and benefits.

Question: Just one thing: Some of the people did get raises, so you’re happy to see –

Mayor: There’s no question, I mean look at this – the pressure that the Daily News and others are putting on is finally yielding fruit, I say god bless that. You know, we want that to happen, but I’m going to keep working to make sure that that’s something across the board at our airports.

Question: Could you explain some a couple expenses from the Transition team – $2,000 in JetBlue tickets in December and $1,100 to stay at the St. Regis?

Mayor: I’ll make sure that the team fills in the blanks – I don’t know all the details of specific expenses. I think the JetBlue tickets were related to some of the trips to see folks in the federal administration but let me get them – let me get them the details to you. Yes?

Question: And did you stay at the St. Regis or was that staff?

Mayor: No, I didn’t. I did not.

Question: What are your thoughts on Rep. Grimm threatening a NY1 reporter?

Mayor: Absolutely inappropriate. Absolutely inappropriate. You know, we’re going to have moments, between all of us in public life and all of you who do your job, where we have disagreements or tensions. But it’s absolutely inappropriate for it to be expressed in that manner. There has to be mutual respect even when your questions are tough. Your job is to ask tough questions, but to physically threaten someone? That’s something that no public servant should do. And I think he owes Mr. Scotto an apology. Yes? Oh wait, I’m sorry. Got you, got you, you.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well, we’re still working out the details, but I could not be more excited about the Super Bowl. I was at the event on Monday night in Jersey City, and there’s just an incredible excitement about the Super Bowl being here. We’re doing a ceremony at the Boulevard later on today, which, and I really want to say – I think this Boulevard is going to be extraordinary. You know, a lot of family activities, a lot of really exciting stuff that’s open to everyone, which is fantastic. I’m thrilled the Super Bowl is here and I’m thrilled that the efforts by the NYPD and all the other city agencies have been so effective. And also, there has been a lot of cooperation with our colleagues in New Jersey to get this done so I feel great about it. I’ll be attending a number of events and we’re still working on the schedule – still working on the schedule. Yes?

Question: Just following up on the Congressman Grimm question, do you think Congress should take any steps, or the House majority leader should take any steps to sanction them over what happened last night?

Mayor: Absolutely. You don’t threaten reporters physically. It was a physical threat. It’s unacceptable. And look, I think all of us who go into public life accept a higher set of standards, by definition. And I think that – think about it from the point of view, we always have to ask the question, what does it say to our constituents? What does it say to the people? What does it say to our young people?’ A leader can’t do that. It’s just absolutely unacceptable, and if the leader does that, those in power or those in the leadership structure have to speak out. So I would hope that the House leadership says very strongly that this is unacceptable behavior.  Thank you everyone.