Mayor de Blasio Joins U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan to Announce Rebuild By Design Competition Winners

June 2, 2014

Video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JxBS1fDJk&feature=share

Governor Andrew Cuomo: Who starts?

Senator Charles Schumer: Who is supposed to start?

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I thought you knew the batting order.

Senator Schumer: You.

Mayor: Oh I start, that's right. I'm thinking – I put myself second in my mind since – I can do this.

Governor Cuomo: Luckily, we rehearsed it three times.

Mayor: How many Democrats does it take to –

[Laughter]

Senator Schumer: Depends who.

Mayor: That's right, exactly.

Senator Schumer: Sometimes one.

Mayor: [Laughs] Good morning, everybody. We up here are having a really good time, because this is an extraordinary day for New York, and it's an incredibly beautiful day. We all feel blessed today to be able to share this extraordinary progress with the people of New York. We want to – I'm going to talk about everyone, but just want to, of course, thank Governor Cuomo, Senator Schumer, and Secretary Donovan, and Zia Khan of the Rockefeller Foundation, all standing with me, for the extraordinary work everyone has done together. And I'd like to remind everyone at the outset – Governor Cuomo talked about this on Staten Island the other day – this is an instance of different levels of government, and people who play different roles – some legislative, some executive branch – but everyone coming together in common cause, to address what we learned from Sandy, and make sure we are ready for the future. And it's an extraordinary group effort that has led to this day. So many wonderful elected officials and community leaders are with us – too numerous to name, so I thank you all for being a part of this today.

The issue before us is resiliency – protecting our city, our state, against an ever-changing climate. And in that instance, we think about the technical ramifications, the budgetary ramifications, the technological challenges – but first, let's think about this in human terms. Because we're here, in a part of Manhattan that was hit very hard by Sandy, it's one of many parts of the city that was hit hard, and for people who experienced those days – those weeks, in many cases – it was a time of incredible uncertainty, a lot of suffering, and it was a reminder of how people felt left without the help they needed, and facing an uncertain future, and facing the possibility it could happen again.

Well, let's put this in very human terms. With us today is a woman named Melba Torres. Melba, are you here? Melba, right over there. Thank you, Melba. Thank you so much for being with us today. Melba lives in the Wald Houses, very close to here. And she is beloved there in the Wald Houses. We heard about her story. She's lived in the Lower East Side for her entire life. Melba happens to have cerebral palsy. She has a 500-pound motorized wheelchair to get around. When Sandy hit, the power went out, the elevators stopped. It was a time of incredible challenge for Melba, and so many other people who happen to have disabilities, who were in buildings all over this city. She was trapped in her eighth floor apartment. She was there for six days and could not get out. But you know what? Because Melba is who she is, and she has a personality that attracts such loyalty from those around her, the aides who had been working with her moved heaven and earth to get to her, no matter what they had to go through. One walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to her. The aides and her fellow residents made sure that she was taken care of in those difficult moments.

So, that's one story, one of thousands and thousands of stories, that it's all of our job to make sure don't happen again. And you're going to see today the steps being taken to make sure that the flooding doesn't happen again, to make sure – in coordination with so many other actions taken with the help of HUD, with the housing authority, with FEMA, with so many other agencies, with the state – so many other actions to make sure generators are placed beyond the reach of potential floodwaters, to make sure all of our buildings are more resilient and prepared – but the beauty of this project is, we are working to ensure that we fight against the floodwaters before they happen, with real protections for people of the east side of Manhattan, thousands and thousands of people, tens of thousands of people, in public housing and private buildings alike. And as these projects move forward, people like Melba are going to know they have the security they deserve going forward.

This is, for all of us – and there's been, again, an extraordinary partnership here – part of a much bigger effort. For the City of New York alone, a $3.7 billion dollar overall plan to protect neighborhoods all over the five boroughs. We're making great progress in the Rockaways already – a plan for up to 3.5 million cubic yards of sand, right away, for protection of the Rockaways now, working with the Army Corps. There's a $400 million dollar project, working with the Army Corps as well, to protect the east shore of Staten Island. There's a major project for Coney Island and Seagate. All over, because of these individuals and others, we have major plans moving now, physical movement to protect our neighborhoods. And what's being announced today will have a profound impact for the people of Manhattan, the people of Staten Island, the people of the Bronx – and it will be a perfect combination with so many other efforts that are underway.

We also know we have to help those who are still suffering the effects of Sandy. Again, here in New York City, we made a pledge on construction sites, and construction starts, for people who needed their homes built back. Forty-two constructions starts have now begun, compared to zero on January 1. We sent out 208 reimbursement checks to families in need, compared to zero on January 1. This progress is moving now. This process is moving forward. With the help of HUD, now a billion dollars more, available both for recovery and resiliency in this city. The reason for that is the individuals I'm standing with. Let's start with the facts and the history – we would never have gotten the Sandy bill – that this city, this state, and the State of New Jersey deserve – if it weren't for Senator Chuck Schumer. He made it happen, with his colleagues. Thank you. Thank you to Congresswoman Velazquez. Thank you to Congresswoman Maloney. They all fought.

[Applause]

I think we can safely say that Chuck brought a certain something to the fight that helped propel it forward. A certain panache, a certain chutzpah.

Senator Schumer: Ah.

Mayor: A certain fuerza.

Senator Schumer: Ohhh. Excelente.

Mayor: Si, si. Governor Cuomo fought from the beginning to make sure New York State got its fair share, and I can say from my long experience with Governor Cuomo – to make sure the projects actually happened. One of his attributes I appreciate is he's not interested in abstraction, he's interested in actually getting the shovels in the ground. And so much of the progress we've made in New York State is because of the governor's leadership. We thank him for that.

[Applause]

And then, it's a little bit of a reunion, because three of us used to work in the same 1960s-era building in Washington, DC, Governor Cuomo, Secretary Donovan and I. Shaun and I were young idealists. We're older idealists now. But, Shaun Donovan was tasked by President Obama with taking the lead in the recovery effort for this region, while having to do his day job of running efforts all over the United States of America. He did that with tremendous energy and focus. He remembered his day job, but he also remembered where he came from. And we all appreciate that. And this package – almost $640 million for Build it Back, allowing us now to reach every individual in the Build it Back pipeline who needs help. Every family still waiting for help will be reached. And $355 million for resiliency projects to protect key areas of the city. This is exactly what we dreamed of happening. It's finally happening today. It's going to make a huge change for this city.

I'm going to finish real quick, but I want to give up the sobering fact – just to let you know how important this announcement is today – 400,000 New Yorkers live in the floodplain. In this city alone, 400,000 people live in the floodplain, more than any other major city in America. We are the ultimate coastal city. We are who we are because we're the ultimate coastal city. We wouldn't trade that in for anything in the world. But it requires of us a new level of preparation and resiliency.

You know, I saw – all over this city in the days after Sandy – what people went through, what Melba went through, and so many other people went through – in Red Hook and Coney Island and Howard Beach and Canarsie, all over Staten Island, here in Lower Manhattan, the east side of Manhattan. It's such a cautionary tale of how differently we have to do things. And we're all committed, a unified front to getting this done, and getting it done fast. The Rebuild by Design program is a crucial tool in that effort. It happened because of Shaun, and because of HUD, but it also happened because an extraordinary public-private partnership. The Rockefeller Foundation was a key player in that partnership, helping to foster collaboration, and push for boldness in the plan, something we here in New York City like a lot – boldness.

It's my pleasure to introduce the man who was a driving force in so much of this effort, the vice president for initiatives and strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation, Zia Khan.

[BREAK]

Mayor: So to our friends in the media, we will take questions on topic only. I'll be doing a separate avail on other topics thereafter. But on topic only here. And since we were able to acknowledge some of the folks here, let me just take a quick moment to acknowledge some of the others. Our members of the City Council are here. I want to thank them for all their support in all these efforts. You've heard Vinny Ignizio, who is applauding the whole way through for Staten Island, Margaret Chin, Rosie Mendez – I think you represent this very place, yes? Who represents [inaudible]. I also want to thank – you know, we in the city, so much of the work we're doing on resiliency is led by the team we've put together. I want to thank Bill Goldstein who's here. I want to thank Dan Zarrilli and Amy Peterson. They are doing an extraordinary job.

[Applause]

And finally, this location reminds us so much of the work that we have to do in the Housing Authority. Senator Schumer and Governor Cuomo have been very focused on this effort with us to get the generators out of harm's way, to do the work building by building to protect the housing authority. There's a lot more to come. I want to thank the chair of the New York City Housing Authority – and Senator Schumer, you'll say this along with me – Shola Olatoye [inaudible]

[Applause]

We want to thank Cecil House, the general manager of NYCHA. And I see we've been joined by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Thank you for all your support for these initiatives.

So to our friends in the media, you've got a wonderful line up here. Direct your questions as you wish. Go.

Question: I have a question for the secretary. Obviously you couldn't pick every one of these finalists, but a couple boroughs not in the mix. I'm wondering if you feel confident that the resiliency efforts that are being taken by other jurisdictions suffice to keep away the floodwaters in this era of rising seas?

Shaun Donovan, secretary, Housing and Urban Development: So let's be clear, as you've heard, we're living in a different world. And beyond what was hit and destroyed back then, there is tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure throughout the region that we need to think differently about. So is what we're announcing today going to take care of every piece of infrastructure, make us the resilient region that we need to be just through the announcement today? No. But what we are doing is through this effort to create new models – and one of the things we were very focused on throughout the whole competition – is to take things that were replicable. These oyster beds that you heard about, FEMA is watching this project very closely, thinking about not just whether it can be repeated throughout the region, but in Florida and many other places that are susceptible. The kind of approach that we're taking here, we're actually speaking to insurance companies who are looking at this to say, ‘Well, if we can bring the insurance costs down for every building in the region that – in the place that's protected, we could actually use those savings and invest them into building much more infrastructure like this. So the models that we're talking about here were specifically designed to be replicable, to bring not just more government funding, but to bring private sector funding as well. And when you combine that with the smart things that the governor, the mayor are doing to look at our energy infrastructure, to look at protecting other parts of the city through the investments that they're going to be making in other parts of the state. I believe you will see a region that is prepared for the next storm when we have something like Sandy happen again.

Senator Schumer: Let me just say one more thing, because I know you were probably saying, 'What about Brooklyn and Queens? A place that Cuomo, de Blasio and Schumer seem to care about quite a bit.' This is not the only money for resiliency. There's FEMA money and there's Army Corps money, both of which are being spent in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as in the other boroughs. These were the rebuild by design projects that won. They're very needed. But that doesn't mean the other boroughs are being neglected.

Governor Cuomo: [Inaudible] this is several hundred million dollars worth of projects that we're discussing today. Overall, we're doing billions and billions. And almost every project has a resiliency component to it. So at the end of the day, the entire affected area is going to have adequate resiliency work.

Question: [Inaudible] will the majority of Build it Back houses be rebuilt?

Mayor: So on Build it Back, as we've said we're going to have 500 construction starts by Labor Day, and we're going to have 500 reimbursement checks, separate for other families, by labor day. And then we're going to continue relentlessly from that point on. I mean the bottom line is, this funding – and again, the Rebuild by Design is one piece. The other funding that we announced last week from the federal government allows us to reach each and every homeowner in need. So right now it is about getting those first commitments done and then just continuing from there until everyone is reached. But we don't – have not yet put out a final timetable for when every last person will be reached. But it is our commitment to reach every last person. In terms of the kinds of projects we're talking about here, I know my colleagues can fill in some of the blanks too. But you know, our goal here – remember some of these projects of course take very extensive design. They're very sensitive and complicated projects. But we want to get that up and running immediately. We want to get these in place over the next few years. It's hard to give you a final date on that, but I certainly think in the next four or five years you're going to see the physical manifestation of everything we're talking about here. And then as Senator Schumer said, as I indicated at the beginning, all the other projects we're doing right now with the Army Corps, with FEMA – the Rockaways, Coney Island, the east shore of Staten Island – all of that is progressing simultaneously. So I think you're going to see over four or five years a hugely different physical reality in this city. Do you want to add?

Question: [inaudible] A follow up question for Secretary Donovan, if I may. A few months ago, you were testifying to the [inaudible] Committee on [inaudible] and you said that the reason it was taking a long time for Build It Back [inaudible] program design [inaudible] you had a role, I imagine, in approving such a program. Did you see, when you approved this program, that it would [inaudible]

Secretary Donovan: We have worked very closely with Mayor de Blasio to make changes to the program, to streamline it, and to allow decisions to move faster. Ultimately, we can provide that kind of technical assistance, but it is really the mayor and his team who had to just dig in, make a set of changes and accelerate. So I want to recognize, since the first day he was on the job, the mayor was focused on this. And we've had almost daily calls with his team to try to find ways to cut red tape, to accelerate this. But ultimately it's been the mayor and his leadership that has allowed this process to begin to move faster.

Question: [inaudible] Just to follow up, [inaudible] asking about the original program approval a year ago, [inaudible]

Secretary Donovan: What we do at HUD is we approve funding for programs, we don't necessarily approve specific program elements or designs. So we'd be happy to follow up with you to talk more specifically about what we reviewed and what we approved in terms of the program. But again, our job is to provide the funding, to make sure that it's spent on the right things, and then to work closely with grantees to bring them best practices from other parts of the country, to cut red tape where the federal government's getting in the way, and that's what we've done.

Question: So [inaudible] another follow up, Senator Schumer, you mentioned that homeowners in Nassau and Suffolk County have [inaudible]. What are your thoughts on the last [inaudible]? Why is it [inaudible]?

Senator Schumer: Well, yeah, there are different priorities and there's so much to do. There's infrastructure – New York City had the subway problems and all of the others. There's all of the cleanup costs and everything else. And so the way it was ordered, the state put the homeowners at the very beginning, the city put them further back. And when Mayor de Blasio came in, we talked and he decided to accelerate and put the homeowners at the top of the list. Until December 31, I don't think a single homeowner had actually gotten any money. Now you're going to start to see that money flowing, and as a result of the negotiations the three of us had over the last few weeks on this Tranche 3, every homeowner will be taken care of in New York City as well. I know they've been waiting a long time – much too long in my opinion, I didn't like the prioritization the way it was. Homeowners in my – when we crafted the Sandy bill we wanted homeowners to be first – and with Mayor de Blasio, that's what's happening now in New York City.

Mayor: Thanks everyone.

[BREAK]

Off-topic Q&A:

Mayor: I hardly even started before you told me you couldn't hear me.

[Inaudible]

Can you hear me? I will speak in a strong voice. I first want to speak as a parent and a New Yorker. We lost a young child yesterday, PJ Avitto. A horrible crime, and I think parents all over this city are feeling pain today and our hearts go out to his family. Thank God Mikayla Capers is alive. She's getting exceptional care. We are praying and hoping that she can pull through. And there is a massive effort underway to find the perpetrator. And there's been a huge amount of reinforcement by police in the area of the Boulevard Houses and surrounding housing developments to protect people and give them a sense of security as we grapple with this moment. But first and foremost, to find this perpetrator immediately. A huge effort is underway with a lot of personnel to do that. I want to urge all New Yorkers, anyone who has information that might lead to the arrest of the perpetrator in this horrific stabbing of these two children, please call 1-800-577-TIPS. Again, 1-800-577-TIPS. I've been in regular touch with Commissioner Bratton. Every effort is being expended by the NYPD to find this heinous individual immediately and end any threat he might pose to the people of New York City.

Question: Mayor, there weren't any security cameras in the building. Is there something that you are going to do [inaudible]

Mayor: There's going to be a series of steps. We are going to have an update at the City Council hearing on Wednesday with the housing authority, and much more to say after. But the bottom line is, Commissioner Bratton was already in the process of moving a substantial number of police into some of the areas where we've been having additional trouble. So impact operations are being launched as we speak. Some of them started even last week in some key precincts. We're going to build upon that. So first and foremost, the thing we can do most quickly is put additional police personnel where they're needed most, as we've seen some of these trends. Beyond that, we're going to look at what we can do with cameras. There are certainly some areas where I think cameras would be very beneficial, but I think the number one thing we can do is add additional police presence and we will.

Question: Mr. Mayor, on the minimum wage now that it looks like the governor might support localities going up to [inaudible] are you pursuing a $13 minimum wage?

Mayor: Well first of all we've got to get that bill passed. So what I want to focus on is getting the bill passed, because that will automatically take us to $10.10, which is the standard President Obama rightly proposed for the country. We need it here in New York City. We will then have a process, working with all the stakeholders in this city to determine where we want to go beyond that. I am certain we want to go beyond that, but we're going to have to figure out exactly what that dollar figure is.

Question: And Mr. Mayor, does the governor support that?

Mayor: Say again?

Question: The governor does support that?

Mayor: I've spoken to him directly. He's said it in public in various settings. It's quite clear. Let me reemphasize for everyone, because I was deeply involved in these discussions. And the governor made clear previously, his concern was that there'd be a governing state law that was the fulcrum for all of this, and that's exactly what he is proposing. There's legislation in Albany that makes this clear already, that's been proposed. The state minimum wage goes to $10.10 an hour. Indexing is attached, so there's automatic adjustments for inflation, and localities then are authorized to go up to 30 percent more if they choose to through their local legislative process. So, the state takes the first action, absolutely consistent with what the governor has said, and then localities can take additional action if they choose. I think this is a historic moment. I've talked a lot about inequality, I've talked about a lot about how much people are suffering, and how much – how difficult it is to make ends meet in this city – how people cannot afford the cost of living, they can't afford housing. The minimum wage of $7.25 has been a huge part of that problem. Getting to $10.10 immediately, in the next session in 2015, next year, and then giving localities the ability to go farther, is a huge step forward. It's a historic step forward. It's going to make a huge difference for New Yorkers.

Question:[inaudible]

Mayor: Again, let's be clear – as the governor said, everything that was talked about on Saturday night had been put forward in a variety of ways previously. The governor has said for quite a while, he has lost patience with the governing coalition in the State Senate. I certainly have. And I think it's become clear to everyone that that coalition cannot serve New York City's needs, and I think it's crucial to change that coalition and put the Democrats in power in the State senate. The governor said on Staten Island just the other day that he had already seen that coalition fail to produce two of his most important priorities, the DREAM Act and the Women's Reproductive Health Equality Act, and that they had made clear that there was no real chance of passing public financing. So the governor has made clear that he's lost patience. I've lost patience. A lot of people in the state have lost patience. On the substantive items, everything that was ticked off the other night – the governor had already committed to the public financing bill, already committed to the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, had already committed to the bill in terms of – what's my words here [inaudible]

On the minimum wage he said that he wanted to make sure the state process led the action. So, again, just to finish the list – the Women's Reproductive – the ten point plan, that is what the governor had always stood for. That's what they wouldn't do in the State Senate. The DREAM Act. So you go down this whole list of things, very consistent with his agenda. On the minimum wage, he said his crucial concern was whether it would be led by state action. And this plan will work for the state, but it will also work for localities.

Phil Walzak: Two more, guys.

Question: [Inaudible] fatal accident in Brooklyn this morning that involved a child that died, and the neighbors said that it's not – that intersection is not part of the Vision Zero plan. Do you think that it would have prevented that –

Mayor: Vision Zero – I don't know the details of the accident or which intersection – I can tell you Vision Zero is continuing to add areas and will continue. You look at the plan we put forward on Vision Zero, it has many elements. And every year, we will be adding other intersections as we find problem areas. But we can say safely already, the actions taken on Vision Zero by the administration – and now added to by the City Council – are going to have a huge impact on safety. It's already happening. And you're going to see a number of intersections change. You're seeing already a lot more police enforcement when it comes to reckless driving, I think it's going to add up. We're obviously thrilled the speed cameras are coming that were authorized by Albany – this is going to add up quite a bit.

Question: And your reaction to this accident? It was a student, 14-year-old.

Mayor: The same reaction – the same reaction I have in all of these situations – I think as a parent. As a parent, anytime we lose a child it is a tragedy. Anytime we can find a way to protect children, we have to. It's our moral obligation. And so we're going to make sure that Vision Zero continues to build so that the kids are protected.

Walzak: Last question guys.

Question: It's been a violent weekend. Do you see this as being a long summer?

Mayor: I think the efforts in place already have had a powerful impact for years now in bringing down crime. I think there's some very encouraging signs in terms of some of the progress we've made. But a lot more has to happen. I've spoken to Commissioner Bratton in detail. He has a number of operational plans that are going to take effect very quickly that I think will continue to deepen safety. We're very focused on certain precincts where we've seen increased problems. We're very focused on public housing. You're going to see a lot of moves over these next weeks to intensify our public safety efforts, and I'm convinced they'll work. Thanks everyone.