Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Announces Preliminary Progress Report on Neighborhood Policing

April 10, 2017

Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan, NYPD: Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to be out here today in Staten Island with the Mayor, Borough President; Chief Delatorre, the Borough Commander.

We’re out here today to announce that on April 24th the 1-2-3 precinct will be joining in as one of our neighborhood policing commands. They will be one of four more commands that will be rolling out on the 24th including the 6-3 – excuse me, including the 2-5, the 7-6, the 9-4. On April 24th, that will give us 43 out of our 77 police commands that will be running under this philosophy. In the summer, we are going to be announcing four more commands in July. It will be the 6-3, the 8-3, the 1-0-6, and the 1-1-5. So by summer we will have 47 out of our 77 police precincts and all nine of our housing PSAs will be running under this philosophy.

Neighborhood policing is a philosophical change in the way that we police. It’s tying out cops to specific areas, specific geographies within their commands. It is our neighborhood coordination officers working in conjunction [inaudible] creating a team that it is within its command that has ownership. We allow our cops to resolve problems; we allow our cops to figure out how to provide services, working together with the community. Before we put these cops out we do extensive training with them, and that is currently where the officers that are going to be the neighborhood coordination offices here in the 1-2-3 are today. They are receiving our criminal investigation course. This is the same course that every new detective gets. They will be able to respond to and investigate crime in a manner similar to our detectives and working in close conjunction with the detectives up in the squad. This is the change that we’ve given to our officers; we trust our officers to have their discretion and to be able to resolve problems on their own. So, we are very glad to have to 1-2-3 involved in this program starting on April 24th. Thank you. Mayor –

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well thank you, Chief. Thank you for the good news and I want to first of all say really happy to be starting this week here in Staten Island and starting with good news for all the residents of the 1-2-3 precinct. Chief – Chief I want to thank you for the leadership role you play as chief of patrol in taking the vision that began when Commissioner Bratton was commissioner and Jimmy O’Neill was chief of department and has continued to grow. Our neighborhood policing vision has deepened throughout the City – has a lot of elements, the NCO program is a key piece of it. But under Chief Monahan’s leadership it has really deepened all over the City. And look, this is part of how we keep people safer. We believe in neighborhood policing for many reasons; we believe it will bring community and police closer together. We believe it will make our officers safer. We believe it will increase the flow of information to our officers from communities. Overall, we believe it is the right path for public safety. And it is something very powerful when we can bring it to another precinct. Neighborhood policing, overall, affects how we train all our new officers and it affects, obviously, the retraining we do on a regular basis. It has to do with everything we are now doing in the police department. But one of the leading elements is the neighborhood coordination officers. And to have the NCOs here in the 1-2-3 will deepen the already extraordinary efforts that are happening all the time in this precinct. This has been a precinct where the precinct leadership and the men and women who patrol these streets have done an extraordinary job. And we want to keep building on those gains – as an example of the fact that we believe even when he NYPD has found great success that we have to keep go farther.

You know, we have talked in the last couple of weeks about big changes we are going to make in the city. Obviously we have talked about the decision to close the jail facility on Rikers Island in the coming years. That was predicated on the idea that we can keep driving down crime. And we have to do that in every single one of our precincts. So we are dedicated to – even in places that have seen great success – going farther because we are depending on the NYPD and all of their partners in neighborhood all over New York City to continue this success; to keep deepening it year after year.

Let me tell you that the NCO relationship – what the neighborhood coordination officers do – the relationship they have to the people they serve, I have seen it all over the City now and it is extraordinary to me. You talk to the officers – the level of satisfaction they have doing their work is striking because they really get to know the community; they really bond with not only community leaders but everyday people in the community. And they hear what is going on in a way that they didn’t have an opportunity to before. They learn about a lot of problems even before problems emerge; they are getting the kinds of tips that allow them to stop crimes before they happen. They are getting the kind of information that allows them to get to illegal weapons. They are getting a lot of thank yous from the people they serve because that relationship helps bring out the best in everyone.

And I tell you, when I talk to neighborhood residents they are so appreciative to have that personal relationship with the officers who serve them. So, this is the wave of the future. This is how policing will continue to get better. And we are convinced that the numbers are now backing up – we felt all along this was an idea that was going to work and it has gone along we have said many times – Commissioner O’Neill and I have said – we have heard from so many community residents, so many officers that we knew anecdotally that it was working. But now we are in a position to give you some numbers to further clarify the success already of neighborhood policing overall and specifically of the neighborhood coordination officer program.

So let’s look at the first quarter of 2017 – the first three months of this year – the precincts that had NCOs saw a 6.2 percent drop in index crimes versus the same quarter a year ago – 6.2 percent drop in crime in those precincts. Now, that compares to a 5.2 percent decline in the citywide crime statistics. So we’re very proud of what has been achieved citywide – 5.2 percent decrease in index crimes from last quarter to this is amazing to begin with, but the fact that we have even gone farther in the precincts that had NCOs is something that really makes clear why this is the idea we needed to keep [inaudible]. And remember a lot of those precincts are some of the ones that have had he toughest problems with crime over the years. When we rolled out the NCO initiative we focused it on precincts that had the most violent crime. So even though that is the history – at the same time we have seen even greater decreases in the crime than the citywide average.

And now, I want to give you one example that I think really puts – gives you a real clear sense of why this initiative works and it is from the 7-1 precinct in Central Brooklyn. So the NCO program was initiated there and we started to see the way that it could solve crimes in a different way. So in the 7-1 precinct there was a major uptick in car break-ins last fall and the NCOs who were assigned to the area worked with neighborhood contacts they had; they worked with neighborhood resident who were helping them to get the information they needed and they found a way to get video of some of the break-ins. They used the video to identify the suspects and to determine the pattern of the crimes. And then the NCOs – because this is a program that focuses on being strategic and flexible – they adjusted their schedules. They worked the midnight shift when most of the break-ins were happening. By staying in close contact with community members, constantly updating their information, they were able to pinpoint where the suspects would be and they were able to catch them in the act of breaking into vehicles. And that meant that that crime pattern was immediately stopped. To make matters even better, one of the suspects had a loaded gun on him. So you got a gun collar in the bargain – an illegal weapon taken off the streets at the same time. This is an example of why this model is so powerful. It allows the NYPD – already the greatest police force in the country to go even farther and to focus resources even better and use that community information in a way that solves crimes like never before.

So it is a great joy that the 1-2-3 precinct will benefit from the NCO initiative. Again, this is a precinct – everyone should be very proud of this precinct; the safest residential precinct in the city for the last six years. The people who live here should be proud, elected officials should be proud, first and foremost the men and women of the NYPD should be proud. But you don’t rest on your laurels. We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to keep driving down crime. So, this is a place that benefits from this initiative too.

I got to tell you it is exciting to see how all these pieces are coming together because the NCO program was made possible – just like our anti-terror efforts, our Critical Response Command and other units were able to be as strong as they are because we added 2,000 more officers on patrol; because we have added the technology, we have added the training. All of these pieces are adding up to make us safer. And we are convinced this is the way of the future. This is the first time we have been able to see statistics from such a wide sample of the city. But if the first quarter of this year is any indication, neighborhood policing is well on its way to making us safer and the NCO component, in particular, is really leading the way.

Just a few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Now, I should do it in Italian next to honor our common heritage.

I want to bring forward the Borough President. I want to thank him again for his hospitality and he has gone out of his way sharing Borough Hall with my entire team. I want to thank him for all the partnership and for feeding us this morning. Anyone who brings cannoli deserves special treatment I think. Thank you, Borough President.

[…]

Mayor: Thank you very much Borough President. Let me tell you, that last piece is so important. Something that both Commissioner Bratton and Commissioner O’Neill believed in deeply was [inaudible] the police force toward that ownership model the borough president talked about; giving our officers more opportunity to use their own discretion, treating them like the professionals they are – giving them the best training, constant opportunity for more training just as we see with so many other professionals when you’re talking about lawyers and doctors and airline pilots. They are being trained and retrained all the time. Now, our officers are getting that same opportunity, that same respect – the best technology, the best strategic approaches like the NCO initiative. It really makes a difference when people who have devoted their lives to public safety get to use all of their skills and all of their judgement in this manner. It is a big step forward. Now, I would like you to hear from the gentleman who has the honor of representing this part of Staten Island in the City Council, Councilmember Joe Borelli.

[..]

You know, I – know I know the slogan of this council district – come for the pizza, stay for the tacos. Okay – include that in your coverage, please, that’s crucial. We’re going to take questions about the NCO program and anything else police-related then we’ll go to other topics.

Anna –

Question: Why would you guys roll this out on the 1-2-3 before the 1-2-1, given that the 1-2-3 has the lowest crime and the 1-2-1 has like the second highest crime in the borough?

Mayor: We anticipated your question.

Chief Monahan: A lot of what we’re doing is very strategic. We have to take a look at the personnel that are in the command currently. When we looked at the 1-2-3 we were able to reallocate resources that are currently assigned to the command to be able to get this running properly where we can get out cops time of the radio. 1-2-1 we’re going to have to look to get some more personnel before we’ll be able to run it.

Question: Do you think this year maybe we’ll get it?

Chief Monahan: We’ve only mapped it out through July. With each class that comes out we’re moving the personnel into the command so that we can get this rolling. So we evaluate every three months we’re we are going to go next.

Mayor: And I think that that is a key point that this depends on being creative about the personnel we have and tailor making what we are doing to each precinct. It has also been a very deliberative expansion. Our goal is to keep going and we think the other thing that really needs to be understood is this is broader initiative. Neighborhood policing has many components, NCO is one of them. But the overall training that our officers are receiving is in the neighborhood policing model and a lot of the other ways we’re orienting precincts even that did not yet have NCO officers aligns to neighborhood policing.

You want to add to that point just to help people understand it?

Chief Monahan: Again, I said this earlier it is a philosophical change in the way we police. Discretion – allowing our cops to have ownership for an area, make decisions, use their own initiative, and come up with ideas. I’ve been doing this business for 36 years. I may be out of ideas, but a lot of the young cops out there they‘ve got great ideas working together with people. And that is kind of wat we are pushing forward;  come out with the new ideas, come out with ways to look at your community and feel the pride when actually your neighborhood that you’re working is continuing to go down in crime.

Mayor: Other questions? Yes.

Question: I didn’t hear any precincts mentioned in the Bronx. Is there a reason for that?

Chief Monahan: Because we’re almost down with the Bronx. The only ones in the Bronx that don’t have the neighborhood policing right now is the 4-5, the 4-9, and the 5-0. Every other command is up and running. We went through the Bronx – they were one of the first boroughs that we started in.

Question: What’s the status of this system to get feedback from the neighbors and when will that be rolled out? And how will you make sure that it accurately reflects the community that you are policing?

Chief Monahan: Again, it is a new system [inaudible] that we have been working on. We’re rolling it out currently to all our commanders. We’re going out to each and every command that is in the city – because we have it done not just for neighborhood policing command but everything – teaching them how to utilize it. And it is a [inaudible] about trust and safety; how safe do you feel in your neighborhood. It is done off of apps off of phones where they can document where it is coming from, what neighborhoods the phones are. It is a whole system trying to figure it out. So I can go by sector citywide and see exactly what the level trust is and how safe people feel so that we can move resources or go up there and do things differently within the sectors that don’t have the same amount of trust.

Mayor: And that, you know, that allows us to keep making sure this initiative is working. We want that feedback. We are convinced it is the right model, but we still have to see it work precinct by precinct, sector by sector. And we got to make sure everyone is a part of it is getting the most out of it. So that kind of feedback helps us immensely. So far, we have been really pleased about what we see. But we got to always keep our ears open to make sure it is working. Jillian, I know you are having dinner with your mom this week. I just want to commend you for remembering your mother while you’re here on Staten Island. Tell her I am supporting her.

Question: Some of the police unions – the non PBA police unions, the SBA and the others – have been airing some grievances over the body camera program. They have talked about potentially filing a lawsuit. They have also sent a letter to City Hall outlining some issues that they have including the money that the PBA got for their members to wear cameras and they want their contracts amended to reflect that. Could you comment at all about the back and forth that is going on here?

Mayor: I’ll start and if the Chief wants to add – look, it is really straightforward. Right now, there is only one group of members of members of the NYPD who will be wearing body cameras – that’s our patrol officers who are members of the PBA. And the members of the other unions simply are not, at this moment, planned to be using body cameras. So that answers that piece. I think the body camera concept is now sweeping the nation. When we looked at design – and you saw the announcement a few days ago about how we’re going to approach it that was based on researching dozens and dozens of police forces around the country already using them. So this is the shape of things to come. If anybody wants to challenge us we can win that challenge, I am confident. But in terms of the question on representing those who will be wearing the cameras only patrol officer are part of that plan right now.

You want to add?

Chief Monahan: Again, this is something they’re just trying to play before going to collective bargaining. It’s a collective bargaining issue. But as the Mayor said, it is only the cops that are going to be wearing the cameras. They are the ones that are going to be turning it on and off. So, we don’t foresee any issue with this. I’m ready to roll it out in another couple of weeks.

Question: Are you hopeful that it will stay out of court?

Mayor: I always prefer things stay out of court, but I don’t fear it. We have a great plan here. It’s going to make the City safer. I am connived because it is going to help improve the bond between police and community, the sense of transparency, the sense of accountability will increase. I think we have found a lot of parts of the country – this is something Commissioner Bratton used to talk about. At first some officers were hesitant and then when they experienced it they realized it actually was very good for them at every level including validating what they had done in different encounters. So, this will ultimately happen. And if anyone wants to challenge it we will deal with it.

Yes.

Question: Picking up on the question about body cameras, the inspector general had recommended certain guidelines about how to use the body cameras, access them, turn them on, turn them off, and releasing footage on certain instances. The NYPD in their guidelines didn’t accept a number of those recommendations. So the first question is, as a person who fought to get the inspector general, how you sort of adjudicate those policy differences? And then secondly, can you just explain God forbid something bad happens and there is an officer involved in fatal encounter what is going to happen to the video from the body camera?

Mayor: I can’t give you the chapter and verse. The Chief can maybe give you some of it. I mean, obviously I had extensive discussions with the leadership of the NYPD and with our legal folks about how we would put together that policy and I approved it before it was announced. But I want to be careful not to try to recount exact scenarios that I am not familiar enough with. But look, in terms of the police IG the whole notion of the office is to be another set of eyes and, of course, by nature to be critical and offer different ideas. That doesn’t mean we always accept those ideas as would be true of any other oversight entity. But I think to have – it is a brand new area, obviously, for this city. It is good to have extra eyes on it. It is something that is going to evolve. I think the other thing we recognize – it has been true in other cities as well – you start with a set of policies and you put them into action and you may have to amend some of them over time. I have not, to be fair, seen the exact recommendations from the IG, but there is nothing about the notion that they weren’t all accepted immediately that seems to me inconsistent with the role.

Yes?

Question: If there is an incident when an officer encounters –

Mayor: Like I said, I just can’t give you the chapter verse; if you want to speak to that?

Chief Monahan: In every incident that we have an officer involved shooting the tape will be immediately taken by our force investigation division. It will be held and then the decision of whether or not it is going to be released will be on a case by case basis up to the police commissioner, in consultation with the district attorney’s office. So it will all be case by case.

Question: Why is it hard to say shooting incident, fatality this is what is going to happen. Some people may be incentivized to say if it is on a case by case basis than we have to protest and yell in the streets and do things like that.

Chief Monahan: Every incident involves the prosecution one way or the other. It is important that we don’t disrupt the possible prosecution, statements coming out before everyone has been interviewed by having those tapes. So we really can’t just come forward and say every incident. It has to be taken a look at in its entirety and have a real consultation with whatever attorney – district attorney is going to be prosecuting the case.

Question: The district attorney here wants ShotSpotter to be expanded to more of the North Shore than just the 1-2-0. I was wondering where you stand on potentially expanding it and when is ShotSpotter is supposed to start on the North Shore?

Mayor: I’ll let Chief Monahan or Chief Delatorre speak to specific timing, but on the broader point – look, I have been a fan of ShotSpotter for a long time even back as long ago as – an innocent time as when I was writing my platform and running for office I thought it was going to be an important step forward. And I think it has proven itself. So, we want to keep expanding it as much as makes sense. I certainly love what I have seen so far.

Do you want to speak to exact timelines?

Chief Monahan: The ShotSpotter process for installation is ongoing now. It is not – Mariners Harbor which is the other part of the North Shore I believe we’re talking about – we all agree that that would be a great place to continue it, but I think it is a cost factor at this point. So as we go across the island and take care of the 1-2-0 part of the North Shore we're all hoping that at some point we do get to the rest of the North Shore which would be that piece of Mariner’s Harbor you’re talking about.

Question: [Inaudible]

Chief Monahan: Well, we have a history of shootings. We’re not having a lot of shootings there now, but we do have a history of shootings there as well.

Question: Another policing-related question; during your week here in Staten Island do you plan on [inaudible] Eric Garner [inaudible]?

Mayor: I don’t have a specific plan for that, no.

Question: Why not go there and address some of the lingering concerns that were raised by [inaudible]?

Mayor: You know I have obviously spoken to that tragedy now over years. And I think I have said what we can say for now. We’re waiting to see, obviously, what the justice department is going to do. And that is the next step in this process.

Anything else on police matters, and then we’ll go to – yes.

Question: Could you talk a little bit about the increased patrols this week in light of the church bombings in Egypt?

Mayor: Yes, I will just start and pass to Chief Monahan. The – look, this is horrible, horrible situation in Egypt. And the footage, if you have seen it is very, very disturbing. We now, again, have come to a point where the NYPD moves almost instantaneously. It’s so fast, unfortunately they have gotten – the NYPD has become so expert at dealing with these situations because there have been so many of them around the world. So, you know, an immediate action is taking to reinforce the community that is under attack. So if it happens to be, for example, the attack that happened in Sweden, we reinforce the Swedish government locations in New York City. If it is an attack on a catholic church, you reinforce the catholic churches in this city and get that presence out front immediately. And just to make sure there is no danger of a copycat attack or some larger plot underway. But we also often reinforce other key public sites as a matter of caution.

Chief do you want to speak to it?

Chief Monahan: Obviously with Passover this week we have already had plans set up where would be visiting synagogues and everything starting there. So we have house of worship cars and all of commands making visits starting now. Good Friday, obviously, we’re going to be out at all processions. We’re going to have our CRC, our SRG personnel assigned to various different commands, churches throughout that and obviously again on Easter Sunday we’ll be out in full force covering all the masses. So, we’re going to have all of resources out there.

Question: [Inaudible]

Chief Monahan: Well, we’re stepping it up obviously in light of the incident that just happened.

Mayor: Anything else on police? Going once, twice – on police? Go ahead.

Question: For Inspector Delatorre, there have been a couple of articles –

Mayor: Chief, chief.

Question: Chief, chief – sorry, I apologize. There have been a couple of articles in WNYC about some of you financial relationship and dealings. I am wondering if you wanted to address it.

Mayor: I will speak to something which is, I want to say whenever an issue comes up it is naturally going to be looked at. We have a very clear process for that, but I have been working now for three years with Chief Delatorre and I have found him to be an outstanding police leader. And I have heard so much from people all over Staten Island about how much they appreciate and respect him. So, I just want to thank him for the great work he has been doing.

Let me say two things upfront as we go to other topics. And one of them is very personal. I think a lot of you have seen this morning that our colleague Karen Hinton had a horrible accident and is now in a medically induced coma. I communicated with her husband, Howard Glazer, earlier and offered him the thoughts and prayers of everyone at City Hall and offered any assistance we could. We don’t have a further medical update at this moment. But it is weighing on all of us because to see one of our own in such a situation is just painful. And we’re going to do everything we can to support her family and praying for her full recovery.

One other thing I want to say upfront – when we come to a borough, and this is again something we’re starting with in Staten Island. We will be going in turn to – I do not know the exact sequence yet – but Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. We’ll be doing that in the future if the people retain me we will be doing that every year going forward. It gives us a chance to focus on the concerns and needs of each borough. It gives us a chance to talk about the things we’re doing, but also to hear from people, of course, about what more we have to do.

But I do want to say, in terms of Staten Island, there is some information I want to share with you that I think is very promising and really speaks to the extraordinary work of the men and women of the NYPD who serve us on Staten Island. First of all, these are all going to be year-to-date examples, but for homicides, overall, in this borough, year-to-date there has been four to date in 2017. The same period in 2016 there had been 13, so that is a 69 percent decrease in homicide; an extraordinary number and congratulations to Chief Delatorre and all the men and women under his command.

In traffic fatalities there has been one so far this year in 2017. There were four in the same time frame in 2016; so again, great progress. When it comes to opioid deaths, an area we’re all focused on and the borough president has been leading the way on this issue. 17 – and that is obviously 17 too many – but 17 so far in 2017, compared to 30 in the same time frame in 2016 – and those extraordinary efforts to use Naloxone, Narcan to reverse overdoses that has been a key part of it. And then one thing that is less about NYPD, but is about other efforts that are certainly abut public safety. And a statistic that has been worrisome for a long time, how many times vehicles are colliding with deer on Staten Island. Well, so far this year, and I think our efforts are having an impact – so far, seven collisions compared to in the same time frame last year, 63. So maybe the deer are not happy about our particular strategic approach.

[Laughter]

I think our video on Saturday last at Inner Circle spoke volumes on this, but that is an example where some of these policies are really working for Staten Island. We’re very, very proud of them. Let me take questions on other topics.

Yes, Bridgette.

Question: Mr. Mayor, what prompted the timing for City Hall in you borough this week, why now?

Mayor: It was an idea that I had seen work in the past as a way to connect better to the grassroots. And I thought about it off and on and just in the rush of events we never really focused on it. And I said to folks we’ve got a lot of our major policy initiatives underway and it was a good time to start going out. And it is a model I think will prove to be that should be repeated in the future again, if the people retain me. So an idea that was around that we finally got to focus on.

Question: One of the challenges running against you, Paul Massey, has a press conference scheduled for today. He has called this a cheap political stunt. What do you say to folks who say why time something like this for a reelection year? Why not done do it three years ago?

Mayor: I think it would have been great to do it three years ago, but again, in the combination of the idea just didn’t come to the floor and we had a lot of other things we were focused on. But we’re doing it now, and I think what it’s allowing us to do is to go out and hear from people all over Staten Island about their concerns and needs, tell them the things we’re doing, connect more deeply to the grassroots, work with the local elected officials. So, it’s just a good idea, and sometimes, you know, good ideas happen when they happen. I think it’s something that’s going to help us focus energy and resources in Staten Island. The entire government is on Staten Island today, and will be throughout the week. And I think the Borough President would agree this is what he’d like to see 365 days of the year, and having it for a whole week is certainly going to focus a lot of time and energy on the needs of Staten Island.

Question: There’s been some discussion and a little tension over where you’re going to put the new pool and-or aquatic center that you promised during the town hall last year. I’m just wondering where you’re standing on this issue now and whether you think there might need to be more public discussion about where that resource will be placed?

Mayor: Well, I have not come to a final decision. I’ve had a lot of conversations with the Borough President and his team, and obviously our folks from Parks Department. We’re all still looking at the options – and we welcome public input. I would also say, one of the things that the Borough President has promoted is the idea of multiple recreation facilities, and we’re looking at how all those pieces may fit together. So, as soon as we have a decision, we’ll talk about it, and we welcome for sure ideas from the people of Staten Island and where it would be best. 

Question: Mayor, going back to [inaudible] Staten Island this week. I know that Mayor Dinkins had done something similar when he was mayor. Is that where you got the idea? Were you with him when he –

Mayor: I was indeed.

Question: His relationship with the Borough President at the time perhaps is not as friendly. 

Unknown: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Yes. See? We were young and we were free. I was working for Mayor Dinkins at the time. I thought it was a great idea. It kind of never left my mind in the years after. From my vantage point, it was a positive – remember, it was all the different boroughs. Honestly, from the [inaudible] of so many years, I can’t remember the details of what happened in each borough, but I still thought it was a good idea. And there is something powerful – I walked into Borough Hall this morning, and looked around, and, you know, every one of every prominent position of city government was sitting there, and I thought, you know, this is the whole point. It just breaks people out of the norm, helps them to think about what a five-borough government needs to be. You always – you know, spend time around this guy – and I think I could say the same about Councilman Borelli – you’re going to get not only ideas, you’re going to get exhorted to do more for their borough and their district – and that’s good, you want that. And so – and a lot of, I have to say, the Borough President’s hit-rate in terms of offering ideas that we’ve found to be very worthy that might not have occurred otherwise – it’s pretty impressive. So, I think getting out in proximity to the neighborhoods and to the people who serve them has a real powerful impact. 

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: I’ll say two things. The first is, that matter’s being looked at and when we have a bigger sense of things or a clearer sense of things, we’ll certainly share it. But I also want to frame the situation, because I spent a lot of time recruiting Richard Buery to take this job and it was a job that was crucial to the work we’re going to do, particularly starting with the Pre-K and after school initiative. And you’ll remember that this was a big, challenging initiative to achieve, and given what he had achieved at the Children’s Aid Society, I felt he brought particular capacity to the task, but it meant asking him to leave his home in another county, uproot his family in the middle of a school year – all sorts of things that were challenging – and obviously, take a big pay cut in the bargain. So, I’m very, very sensitive to all concerns about schools and school admissions because I went through it, you know, with Chiara and Dante. I went through middle school admissions. I went through high school admissions. I understand how much it means to parents. And so, I’m very, very clear about those processes have to be handled the right way. But I think we also have to put into context, I was asking this guy to uproot his family, take a pay cut, and get involved in public service, and I think it’s important to recognize that we have to be sensitive to that situation too. 

Question: How are you feeling about mayoral control, given that it wasn’t in the budget, and given that upstate Republicans who are [inaudible]?

Mayor: I would say on the whole mayoral control discussion – I mean, I never had the illusion that it would be easy to get it done in the budget. I would have liked to get it done in the budget, but I understood the way it’s played out the previous years was the most likely outcome again. And it’s true there are some who are critics, but I would also say there are a lot of people in the Senate who, you know, are clear – at least privately – that they’re not promoting an alternative. It’s not like they say they want to go back to the old school boards, which, as I remind people, was a system plagued with chaos and corruption. I don’t hear anyone saying that. And I don’t hear anyone proposing a third way. So, you know, in the end, I think if we’re going to play it out again over months, we’ll play it over months, but I think the same voices will come to the fore as have in the past. We had a real, strong bipartisan coalition here in the city, including a lot of business leaders who were very forceful in telling the State Senate how important mayoral control was. And then, on top of that, you know, we have another year under our belt where the graduation rate continued to go up, the test scores continue to go up, the dropout rate continue to go down. You know, I don’t know what some people need to be impressed, but we continue to show them the system works. 

Question: Are you more or less hopeful that mayoral control will be renewed given that there are Democrats in the city who are working with Senate Republicans?

Mayor: When you say that, I don’t understand that [inaudible].

Question: IDC – are you more or less –

Mayor: I don’t think the IDC dynamic affects the mayoral control trajectory in any profound way. Again, I think we’ve – at a certain point, you see something happen three years in a row, it’s not surprising it’s going to happen a fourth year in a row. I don’t think it’s right. I think it should be extended for a longer period of time given all the success that’s been achieved. But I think the bottom line is, there is no alternative structure that would work – this is the only thing that does work – we’re proving it every day. And, in the end, you know, the most likely outcome is the same old result. 

Question: [Inaudible] could you please talk about 421-a [inaudible] was passed in the budget. What other things the budget are you concerned about [inaudible]?

Mayor: The 421-a outcome – although it wasn’t the exact model we offered a few years ago, it was much closer to that model than what 421-a used to be. The old 421-a was a giveaway to real estate developers, funded luxury condos, wasn’t fair to taxpayers, didn’t create enough affordable housing. This plan that emerged was based on the model we proposed a few years ago, added a few additional elements, which, although they put some additional burdens on city taxpayers, it certainly didn’t take us back to what we used to experience. So, on balance, it’s certainly an outcome we can live with. In terms of the rest of the budget – look, simple pros and cons – you know, very good news in terms of additional school aid and in terms of the passage of raise the age. We’re still concerned about how that’s going to be funded going forward, but there’s time to work on that. You know, again, not shocked on mayoral control. I think it could have and should have been dealt with here in the budget, but I’m not shocked at the outcome. Mansion tax didn’t make it at this point, but that discussion is far from over. There’s a lot of people in this State who are looking at both the mansion tax and the expansion of the millionaires tax as an ongoing discussion as we await what’s going to happen in terms of the federal budget, starting with the continuing resolution that we’re going to know a lot more in the coming days in Washington. So, that fight’s going to continue. You know, I think we had some areas where things worked out, some other areas less so, but we’re going to continue to fight through the legislative session on some of these items. 

Question: Do you have any concerns about the extension of the tax abatement under 421-a from [inaudible]?

Mayor: Again, this is not the plan that we originally proposed, which I still think was superior. But I understand that in Albany a lot of things happen. There were changes made to the plan that weren’t the changes I would have thought of, but they still left us with a plan we could live with and we were able to push back some of the ideas that I think would have taken us back towards the old 421-a. You know there were some who wanted to create much deeper subsidies for luxury buildings and a much greater cost to the taxpayer. Those efforts were rejected. So, it’s not our plan, but it’s a plan we can live with. 

Question: [Inaudible] during the cannoli exchange –

Borough President Oddo: The cannoli exchange as it has now come to be known.

Question: You said that the Mayor’s poll numbers in Staten Island aren’t great. Tell me why you brought that up and –

Borough President Oddo: First, I would like to say, I appreciate the appearance of Mike Pence at today’s presser. Joey, you know really do have [inaudible] with the administration. I brought it up in the context of trying to underscore our approach at Borough Hall. I’ve been in this business a long time, and there are some elected officials who will take the easy shot. It’s easy to criticize. It’s harder to build bridges. Go to any zoo, you can find a chimpanzee who grabs its own feces who throws it at the passersby – it doesn’t take a whole lot of talent. What’s hard is to have a borough that is center-right, to have a Mayor that’s progressive, and to work and find common ground. So, I referenced the Mayor’s poll numbers to tell his administration, his commissioners, I haven’t done what others have. I’ve tried hard to focus on the mission, and the mission is to improve the lives of Staten Islanders – that was the context I brought it up. 

Question: Is it [inaudible] reception he’s going to get here? Are you letting him –

Borough President Oddo: No, it was relative to me trying to take advantage of a moment to remind the commissioners of the personal relationship I have with the Mayor. The Mayor has heard me voice frustration with sort of the permanent government. Well, I will run into a brick wall not with the Mayor, not with the Mayor’s team, but I will run into brick wall, or my staff will run into a brick wall with a particular agency. Every time the Mayor talks to his team about the relationship we have, I think it [inaudible] to the benefit of the people of Staten Island. So, I wanted to be candid with the team, to put it in a context that we do have a good working relationship, and I’m all about business, I’m not about the politics. 

Mayor: Let me just add – you know, maybe there’s something a little traditional happening here too. I was struck – I had a meeting with one of my fellow mayors last year – the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma – his father had been a Republican member of the US Senate and he talked about the stories his father would tell of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate – this would have been in the 50s and 60s – you know, having dinner together, having lunch together, disagreeing on some core issues, but having a very open channel, and when they could find some common ground, looking for it. Look, I think it’s well-known, if we listed the position on bunch of issues that the Borough President and I had had disagreements – but the fact that we can talk, we can break bread, we can compare notes that when he says I’ve got a bureaucratic problem, I take him on his word because neither one of us likes bureaucracy and likes to break through. I think that’s what people should want. You know, maybe it doesn’t happen a lot in Washington, but, you know, I don’t feel – and I would say the same for Councilman Borelli. If he calls up and says there’s a problem, you know, I’m going take it as something I need to focus on, I don’t care what party he is. And to his credit, if he thinks we’ve done something right – as you have said originally when we moved the repaving initiative – you know, it’s an important thing when someone can say, you know, I disagree with you on a lot of things, but that was the right thing to do, that builds that kind of trust and relationship. I think they’re serving their constituents by building that kind of relationship, but I also think, honestly, you know, this is something we should celebrate a little bit, and if we had it in Washington, we might have a different country right now. 

Question: What would you say to conservatives on Staten Island who have not been supportive maybe of your term over the last few years, and are you here to try to win them over before the election? 

Mayor: No, I’m not here to try and win over folks who philosophically disagree. I really respect folks who have an ideology and see the world through it. And I don’t think anyone should be rigid. Like I said, it should never be impossible to work with other people even if they have different views. But there are folks who just look at what I believe in and disagree with it. They shouldn’t vote for me, I think that’s fair. If they want to see a different vision, that’s fine, you know? I don’t feel bad about that. I think it’s normal. Simple point – it’s the most Republican borough. Well, people who are Republicans might not agree with me as a Democrat. This just in – news flash, you know? It doesn’t bother me one bit. But I think what would be bothersome is if started ignoring this borough because of political differences. I think I owe it to the people here that are just as much my constituents as anyone else, its half a million people. I’ve been here –this is my 60th visit since I became mayor. I’m proud of that and I think, you know, you should show up in the places where people agree with you and you should show up in the places where people don’t agree with you.

Yes? Anna

Question: There’s actually more Democrats on Staten Island registered than Republicans. What you think of that since the Democrats here like didn’t vote for you either?

Mayor: Well, again it’s the – that is not inconstant with the fact it’s the most Republican borough, and it’s obviously the only borough that has a Republican Congressmen for example. But yes there’s a lot of Democrats who also have a philosophy that might be different version than what I have, and that’s fine. You know, there’s Democrats who are more conservative, there’s Democrats who are more progressive. That’s – we’ve known that for decades about the Democratic Party, it’s a big tent party. But people are going to make decisions according to their values, what I want to do is show people not – again that’s not what this week is about, but in terms of the separate question which is re-election campaign, my job is to show people what we’ve done and let them judge for themselves. I think a lot of people in the city when they see safer streets, when they see better relationship between police and community, you know higher graduation rate, more jobs, more affordable housing, I think they’ll want more of that. But I also respect that some people are going to be motivated by philosophical differences and I think that’s normal. I don’t – that doesn’t surprise me.

Yes?

Question: When you were here with Mayor Dinkins all those years ago –

Mayor: Yes.

Question: – from what you’re hearing today so far how are the needs and concerns of Staten Island changed? What stands out to you that’s different from the way it was then?

Mayor: It’s a big question. I could say at the outset, I mean I think this relationship that we’re talking about is one example. I don’t know if it’s of how Staten Island has changed, but certainly how the assumptions and leaders have changed. You know, I – maybe it’s because I’m a Brooklynite, and there’s a special relationship, it’s like the United States and England. There’s a special relationship between Brooklyn and State Island. You know, I have, over many, many years, had a lot of connections to Staten Island. And I would not feel good if I wasn’t focused on this borough along with everyone else. And I think in the past there was more sense of separation. I think you know, slowly but surely people have found more common ground. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I think that is one thing that has happened over the last 25 years or more. And look, I mean, back when, Staten Island had some particular grievances. Obviously, you know, fresh kills being one of the most powerful examples, where people really did feel like they were being treated different than everybody else. I think over years a lot has changed to reduce that sense of separation. It doesn’t mean people are going to say everything’s perfect, I just think it’s a better situation than it used to be.

See if there’s anything else, Azi.

Question: You referenced that you’d like to see more cooperation in Washington between you know, people that might not agree –

Mayor: Let me separate the concepts because I think they are profoundly different. First of all, the example I gave was in the context of the Congress. There are a lot of folks – I hear this all the time from my fellow mayors who have close relationships with Senators and Congress Members. Consistently they say if you talk to these folks off record, they actually would like to find more common ground; they actually agree, for example, the discussion over health care and some other issues, or immigration. But for a lot the Republican members of the House and Senate, the Tea Party dynamics, the Freedom Caucus dynamics have really been hard for them. And so they have, you know, a public stance where as their private views might be more moderate, if you will, and more focused on working together. Whatever your ideological view, I think in the context of legislature, we’ve got to help people find a way toward each other, so we can get things done. And again, you know, the Council in New York City is very different, but I got to tell you, I mean, I found particularly with Jimmy, but with other members as well, it’s like we knew we had to get stuff done and we kind of had those times when we put aside party affiliation. We got to get that happening again in the Congress. Trump is a different matter. And I have absolute respect for – you know, everyone here may have a different  view, and I know the Councilmen was an early supporter. But, my view is I want to see something from the Trump administration that’s very different from what I’ve seen to even begin to even think about how to work with them, because I’ve been sorely disappointed. I thought there might be an atmosphere of cooperation, I haven’t seen it. That’s my view. The Congress though, that’s almost an eternal question, that has to be changed no matter who’s President.

Question: Your relationship with the Borough President here seems to be in stark contrast with your relationship with the Governor, who you’ve also known for many years. You probably agree on more policy issues, at least on paper –

Mayor: We’re all Italian. Keep going; a lot of vowels in our names.

Question: Why is it that you think that you’re able to foster this kind of relationship with the Borough President and yet, your relationship with the Governor seems to maybe not be going in that same direction?

Mayor: That is a very – that is an understatement there. Look, I’m not going to psycho-analyze it, I’m going to – I think everything is based on personal experience. My experience with Jimmy Oddo has been one of absolute and total consistency. What you see is what you get, man of his word, and you know, and I just like him as a human being. He also is exceptionally good at predicting Major League Baseball prospects so if you’re a true baseball fan as I am, you just want to spend time with him to know what the future holds.

Oddo: Ask Emma Wolfe about Manuel Margo.

Mayor: Okay that’s going to be like the secret question a week. Ask Emma Wolfe about –

Oddo: Manuel Margo

Mayor: Manuel Margo. First one –

Oddo: Red Sox [inaudible].

Mayor: First one to figure it out wins. But, so I just think it’s a totally different situation Azi, that’s been this experience. The other experience has obviously been very different.

Question: [inaudible] you were on Staten Island; you go to a Jewish community center to talk about the anti-Sematic expression and crime. Tonight is Passover, but on your schedule you have TV appearance, and a road repaving, why not include a seder in your schedule?

Mayor: Well we’re not doing a seder, but I will be doing an appearance in the Jewish Community to respect and celebrate the holiday. It just doesn’t happen to be a seder. I don’t think its tonight, just not a seder.

Yes?

Question: My colleague Marcia Kramer has been doing a series of reports on disgusting, molded school cafeteria food. Follow up to her reports, have parents been notified number one, and number two, what have you all been doing to ensure that this doesn’t happen again and the food is safe for the children to eat?

Mayor: First of all, I share the outrage that our kids should never have to eat food that isn’t healthy and isn’t right. And I said to everyone on my team after I heard that report it’s our obligation to tell parents whenever something like that happens. And you know, we are often in the business of having to tell people truths whether they’re pleasant or not but we – it’s our job to tell parents, and I’m saying this as a parent, as a follow public school parent myself. You want to know as soon as something is happening. So we’ve got to do better at that. And my instruction to the Department of Education is I want immediate notification. Meanwhile we’ve got to get to the root of the problem and make sure it doesn’t happen again. It has been pretty isolated in the scheme of things, in a school system of 1.1 million kids. But that doesn’t mean I take it lightly. So my understanding is there’s been vendors whose contracts have been cancelled and you know, supply chains that have been closed off for one thing or another. But we got to do better. That shouldn’t happen and God forbid ever it does happen in such a big system, parents got to know right away.

Okay let me get a couple – who has not gotten one? Go ahead.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I don’t know how indicative this guy down the street is of the reception you might be getting this week –

Mayor: He’s a particular individual. In fact one of the members of my detail said they knew him from ten year ago in Midtown doing a similar thing, so I think he’s got a long rich history.

Question: You know, if and when you are confronted by like hecklers, does that bother you? What is your sort of attitude towards that sort of thing?

Mayor: I think when it’s a professional heckler it doesn’t bother me. That’s what someone, you know, effectively does with their life, God bless them. You know, their commitment to democracy is striking. No look, people are going to have different views and everyone – everyone in New York City has an opinion and everyone in New York City lets it out, doesn’t hold it back right, so I expect it. I expect it. I also have a wonderful experience of people who appreciate things that are happening and come up and say thank you, you get both. So it’s fine. It’s part of life.

Question: [inaudible] IDNYC –

Mayor: I might do a little more Eric, I’m sorry. I’m sorry Eric.

Question: On IDNYC the city won the suit last week to be able to delete the data but the Judge,
you know, called it [inaudible] –

Mayor: Right.

Question: Is there any worry that the federal government might try to get records before then?

Mayor: No – at this moment, no. We believe we’re governed by city law and any such action obviously would result in a different legal action. But, look, we think the result was very positive, very clear; maximizes the chance that this will be resolved very soon in favor of our position. And you know we’re ready to defend it come what may.

Yes?

Question: How many people are going to be able to attend your town hall?

Mayor: The town hall is whatever the gymnasium can hold. That’s the way we do them.

Question: [inaudible] spokeswoman wouldn’t tell me how many –

Mayor: I don’t know how many people the gymnasium holds, but we’ll make sure to let you know.

Question: Mr. Mayor, you’ve got a bunch of things that you still are – will be asking Albany for, mayoral control. Among the things that Governor Cuomo proposed in his State of the State, and his budget were a series of electoral reforms. When I asked him about it, he said that’s policy, we’ll deal with that after we have the budget. So, in terms of your own advocacy where do these electoral reforms sort of rank in terms of your priorities, and do you think this year they’ll actually get anything done?

Mayor: Look. I think they’re huge priorities. They’re major, major priority from my point of view. I think electoral reform will cause a lot of other changes we need in this state. Anyone who thinks our government in this state is not transparent enough, that our campaign finance system in this state is broken, the key to changing that is electoral reform. And I certainly, I think there’s a lot of challenges, a lot of problems with our state government that need to be addresses. Same day voter registration will help, early voting will help, electronic poll books will help, we’re going for all of it. And my argument will be that this is a crucial, sort of priceless moment to do it because you know, so much energy was generated before November 8th particularly by Bernie Sander’s candidacy on issues of electoral reform, and then the results of November 8th regardless what you believe, the results left people roiled and a lot of people wanting to get much more involved. So I think this is going to be huge pressure in Albany for electoral reform. We’re going to make it a major part of what we do.

Question: [inaudible] I mean if you’re up there and you’re advocating for Mayoral control and the mansion tax, does electoral reform fall to the bottom of that list?

Mayor: I don’t sort of think of them as on a grading system. It’s a major priority. And we’re looking for – we’re looking to get done as much as we can get done. And we’re looking for every opportunity. You know these sessions have a life of their own. My job here is to really bang the drum for electoral reform, and I know a lot of other folks who are going to as well, and sort of create the momentum that makes this the year we can get it done.

One more.

Question: Mr. Mayor, with the perspective of a few days can you tell us what your thinking is about the missile strike in Syria? Also, the Supreme Court got a new Justice today and I [inaudible].

Mayor: Look in terms of Justice Gorsuch obviously I don’t agree with him on a lot of his beliefs, but now we get to see who he is. If he takes after his mentor Justice Kennedy from my perspective, again I won’t speak for my Republican colleagues, but from my perspective you know, we might be pleasantly surprised if he shows the kind of independence that Justice Kennedy has. But I have no such assumption. I think his decisions to date have been substantially more right-wing than what we’ve seen from Justice Kennedy. You know, you just don’t know until you get there as you know, famous, famous examples like Justice Warren and Justice Souter point out. You don’t know until someone actually serves, who they are. So we’ll have to see now.

In terms of, the second part was, I’m sorry –

Question: [inaudible]

Mayor: The missile strike. It’s time to go to Congress.  I mean, I think we’re all outraged at the notion of the use of chemical weapons. I think even people who disagree with each other on a lot of other matters could find common ground on the notion that we have to draw a line in the sand on that. But, now this matter must go to the Congress. I’m a big believer in the War Powers Act, I grew up you know, in a family that was very, very aware of what the Vietnam War meant including having, you know, draft aged members of my family. The War Powers Act as a result of the Vietnam War made really clear that the Congress has to make any decision about going to war. So, if the administration is considering any further action they have to go to the Congress for authorization at this point.

Thanks, everyone.