Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on WNYC With Brian Lehrer

May 11, 2017

Brian Lehrer: Meanwhile, add former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the list of independents publicly ripping Trump. In an opinion piece today, Bloomberg writes, “Firing Comey without recognizing the obvious conflict-of-interest inherent in the decision reflects Trump’s modus operandi: refusing to release his tax returns, refusing to sufficiently distance himself from his business interests, refusing to rein in family members who are profiting from the Trump name and connections. When elected officials refuse to be bound by the ethical practices and norms that we have come to expect of them, it’s up to the public -- and their representatives -- to hold them accountable. This is only the beginning.” Ominously writes Michael Bloomberg.

And no daylight there I suspect between Bloomberg and his successor who is our first guest today for our weekly Ask the Mayor segment. Mayor Bill de Blasio joins us now as we move our usual Friday session to Thursday this week to accommodate a conflict in the Mayor’s schedule.

Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, Brian. And you are absolutely right. No daylight between me and Michael Bloomberg on this one. I agree with his analysis entirely. And this is so far outside the norm of American democracy that people can’t accept it, and they have to reflect it in everything they do now, and also in what they do in 2018 and 2020.

Look, he – it’s very clear, Trump did this to stop the investigation of the Russian meddling in the election. It’s as simple as that. And that’s such an audacious move on his part. We can’t accept it. We can’t treat it as business as usual. It’s an attempt to stop the American people from knowing whether another country subverted our electoral process. It’s as simple as that.

Lehrer: And listeners anything you want to ask the Mayor from anywhere in the city. Our phones are open at 2-1-2-4-3-3-WNYC, 2-1-2-4-3-3-9-6-9-2, or you can tweet a question. Just use the hashtag #AskTheMayor.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from the East Side, is saying Bloomberg’s and David Dinkin’s Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, could make a good next FBI Director. You know that Bill Clinton considered him for the job way back when but of course you dismantled Kelly’s stop-and-frisk policies. So, what would you think about Ray Kelly for that job?

Mayor: Look, I think he’s accomplished a lot and I think he would be independent but I fundamentally disagree with how approached policing in his last term as Commissioner, and that’s a problem. We need an FBI Director who is going to get down to the bottom of what happened with Russian interference in the American elections. But we also need an FBI Director who is going to act as one of the leading law enforcement officials in the country and heal the relationship between police and community, and heal the relationship with the Muslim community in this country that we need to be our allies every single day in all that we do to keep people safe.

I met with James Comey a year or two ago on this topic of the relationship between police and community, and I thought he was right on the money on the focus on a better approach to communication between police and community and law enforcement community, and understanding that we needed full participation from communities in order to really have the information we need and to keep people safe.

So, that would be my hesitation there. But if the question where independence, I would give Ray Kelly high points for independence.

Lehrer: But wait, are you saying Ray Kelly would be the wrong person to repair police and community relations –

Mayor: Brian, it’s not an area I’m going to get into because I don’t know enough about people who might be FBI Director. I’m just giving you my analysis not having considered the issue previously. I think high points for independence and we need an independent FBI Director right now. Disagree with a lot of his strategic approach to crime fighting and I think that would be a concern in a new FBI Director –

Lehrer: And –

Mayor: Simple as that. I don’t have a bigger judgment.

Lehrer: And on your praise of Comey in that area. He got a lot of blowback for citing what I think he called Ferguson effect, in which he said it was his impression – at least without data –
maybe that police officers around the country were not doing their job as aggressively as they should out of fear of media backlash.

Did you get that –

Mayor: I don’t know what data he used or what information he had. I think the bottom line is we need to train police all over this country – we need to retrain police literally in every police department in the country just like we’re doing here in the NYPD. Here we’re doing retraining on de-escalation [inaudible]. Here we’re implementing body cameras for all our patrol officers by 2019. Here we’re doing implicit bias training.

That should be the norm all over the country. And the next FBI Director can be a very, very important voice in getting that done if it’s an independent FBI Director. That’s the big question now.

And the fact that Jeff Sessions is interviewing people for the job that has to be one where there’s independence and a willingness to pursue the facts on Russia’s interference in the election – that’s profoundly troubling. I think members of the Congress should be really focused on getting Jeff Sessions out of the process of selecting the next FBI Director.

Lehrer: And I was just trying to clarify if you think Comey was good for police-community relations.

Mayor: I don’t have enough of a vantage point on everything that Comey did. I have a vantage point on what he did with us here in New York City. I think he was a very good partner in terms of our work against terrorism. I think he was a good partner in terms of understanding we needed to change the relationship between police and community and heal it. I have, like anyone, concerns about how handled the entire 2016 election process.

But in the end it’s as simple as this – he was fired because he was looking into the Russian interference in the election. That’s what it was. And that’s unacceptable. And we can’t have a new FBI Director come in who is a lackey of Donald Trump and won’t pursue that investigation. I think that should be the central concern right now.

Lehrer: Alright, let me touch on a few more things, then we’ll get to our phone calls. Now it’s City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito calling for the resignation of your Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte over his use of a City car and how much time he’s spent outside of the City. I’m going to play a 20-second clip of the Speaker yesterday –

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito: I do believe that Commissioner Ponte should step down, and obviously there’s just been a lot that has been going on in the agency, and I think that it’s demonstrated that it’s compromised, right, the ability to move forward. And I think that he should consider that seriously at this point.

Lehrer: So, will Ponte still be Commissioner by the time you’re back here next week?

Mayor: I have a lot of respect for Melissa Mark-Viverito – totally disagree with her on this. I think this agency has done extraordinary work with dealing with decades of mistakes that they inherited. And finally, it’s making profound changes on Rikers Island in particular.

You know, I’m really, Brian, I think people are missing the forest for the trees. Joe Ponte made a mistake. He’s acknowledged it. He’s paying back for the mileage. I am convinced he did not mean to do anything wrong.

Meanwhile, this is the guy who reduced mass incarceration in this city – 23 percent less, fewer inmates at Rikers Island, the end of punitive segregation or solitary confinement on Rikers Island for folks from 16 to 21 years old.

No one did that before Joe Ponte. Joe Ponte got it done. He’s reduced violence in a host of ways on Rikers Island. He’s retraining the entire staff. He’s added security cameras to stop weapons from coming in and contraband from coming in. He’s done everything that we asked him to do.

It’s one of the toughest jobs in City government and all people want to talk about is the God-forsaken cars. I feel like when Bernie Sanders said in that debate, “Enough with the damn emails.”

The car isn’t the issue. The issue is has he made our Correction system better? This is the guy who is implementing five hours of education and training for every inmate when they used to get less than one hour a day.

This is the guy who is implementing transitional jobs for folks who do a sentence on Rikers and come out so they can actually get rehabilitated.

That is so much more important than whether he accidentally used his car the wrong way.

So, he has my confidence and I think he’s done really good work for this city.

Lehrer: And the Speaker expressed concerned that neither Commissioner Ponte nor you had read the full Lippman report – Judge Lippman’s report that she commissioned on closing Rikers. Have you read the report all the way through yet?

Mayor: I’ve gone – I’ve done a thorough briefing with my staff on the report and I remain where I was when I first discussed it. There are some areas of that report that I think are very, very helpful and insightful, and some things we agree with and are acting on.

There’s other areas I disagree with. But the bottom line is what everyone did together – Speaker and the judge and his commission, and my administration, is we agreed on a plan to close Rikers Island.

That was the entire intent of that commission to figure out if there was a way to do it. We found a way to do it and we’re doing it.

Lehrer: Why not read that report, considering its significance, all through?

Mayor: Brian, I know you have a good vantage point on what it’s like to do this job I do. I have to deal with literally hundreds and hundreds of different issues all the time. I have to use my time the right way. I’ve been thoroughly briefed on the report. I know what I need to know from that report, I assure you.

Lehrer: Mary-Beth in Boerum Hill, you’re on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello.

Question: Hi, there. Thanks for taking my call.

Lehrer: Sure.

Question: My question regards development and essential services. Here in Boerum Hill, our post office was in a building that was once owned by the government, I guess, and was sold to a developer and now our post office is split between a storefront across from the old location and a parcel pick-up location that’s a mile away. And I think the same thing happened in Fort Greene or is happening –

Lehrer: Is your question about large buildings, high-rise buildings?

Question: My question is – these buildings are coming in. The developers are getting tax abatements, reductions, favors of all sorts, but there don’t seem to be any concessions to provide essential public services like a local post office.

Mayor: So, Mary-Beth, I don’t know – I don’t live far from there, but I don’t know of this specific situation. Obviously, the Postal Service is run by the federal government. I’m not familiar with this, and I don’t why the Postal Service would have sold a building they had a post office in without replacing the post office fully on the site. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

So, again, I’m sorry I don’t know the details. I agree with your concern. It seems to me if there’s development that involves a service like a post office – the smart thing to do would be to keep it there in the new development. An updated post office, that’s fine, if you put it back on the site.

But I am not familiar with this case, and I’m sorry that this happened. And if we could figure out any way to work with the federal government to improve service with the community, we certainly will. I’ll have my folks follow up on that with you.

Lehrer: Mary-Beth, thank you. We can take your contact information off the air for that. And Christine in Harlem, you’re on WNYC. Hi, Christine.

Question: Yes, hi, good morning, Mr – Good morning to you, Brian. And good morning to Mr. de Blasio –

Mayor: Good morning, Christine.

Question: Thank you for the wonderful job that you guys are doing. My concern, and I have two main points that I want the Mayor to answer for me. The first one is what are your – I wrote you letter and I asked in my letter, what are you going to be doing to address the issue in NYCHA? I am a NYCHA resident. I live in NYCHA. NYCHA has been neglected at every level. Management is not able to do anything, and they don’t do anything. I mean the quality of life at NYCHA is an absolute horror story of every degree.

My second point is – in the Clinton-era there were pilot programs to allow people who wanted to exit out of NYCHA, who could afford and have the money to home ownership. I know I have asked the manager in my building about that, and she said she is going to look into it.

Are they planning to revamp that program and bring it back or create ways for people who want to move out of NYCHA who can afford to – to leave NYCHA and be homeowners?

Lehrer: Mr. Mayor –

Mayor: Christine, I appreciate the questions. And I want to make sure – you said you sent a letter previously to my office. I’d like you to leave your information with WNYC because I want to make sure that was properly responded to unto itself.

But here’s the bigger point. One – we just added in this current City budget that’s going to be voted on next, a billion dollars to fix roofs in over 700 NYCHA buildings that have real problems with roofs that led to things like mold and health problems, and obviously you know leaks that affected people’s quality-of-life. A billion dollars for that and another $300 million to protect people in NYCHA development from parts of the buildings that might not be in good enough shape and bricks that might fall and things like that. So, to put up the scaffolding to protect people, fix the problem, and then take the scaffolding down.

That’s $1.3 billion in new resources for NYCHA. We’ve also added over the last four years now hundreds of millions of dollars for everyday repairs at NYCHA. What we did was we righted some wrongs of the past? NYCHA used to have to pay – literally had to pay the NYPD for police coverage. We ended that. We gave that money back to NYCHA.

NYCHA used to have pay the City of New York taxes, if you can believe that. We ended that, gave that money back to NYCHA.

A host of things are being done to try to give NYCHA the resources to improve the quality of life even though the federal government has really walked away and threatens to walk away even more in this next Trump budget that we have to fight intensely.

But the other thing, to your second question – you know, there are a few options out there for homeownership but I don’t want to mislead you, Christine. They are relatively rare nowadays. There was such an initiative in the past, but right now with the kind of affordable housing crisis we have, our focus is very, very intensely on rental housing, on subsidizing people to be able to stay in affordable housing, on building more affordable rental housing. Those opportunities anyone can apply for including people who live in NYCHA obviously.

But if you’re looking for home ownership, generally speaking, the City can’t do everything we’d like to do to help that along. You would have to figure what you want to do on that in terms of your own focus and priorities. But what we’re trying to focus on is more and more affordable housing all the time in the rental market because that’s where we can have the biggest impact.

Lehrer: Anthony in Jackson Heights, you’re on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Anthony.

Question: Good morning, Mayor de Blasio. I appreciate that you’re taking my call. I’m calling from Roosevelt Terrace in Queens – Jackson Heights. And the question is the terrace enclosures. We have major construction. They’re going to fix the garage and the parking lot and take down a wall and repair – takes six to nine months. We live on the first floor – the six or seven of us on the first floor and we’re concerned about security, the West Nile virus spray and other sprays for diseases [inaudible]. But when they fix the construction, we’re not allowed to put them back up according to the Department of Buildings.

Now, from the second floor to the ninth floor, they have three years – 2020 March 1st –

Mayor: Anthony, let me – sorry to interrupt because this is getting a little detailed. Let me see if I can get you the big strokes here and we’ll certainly follow up.

This building here – and what kind of building is it? Is it private? Is it public? What is it?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Is it Mitchell-Lama? Is it Housing Authority? Is it affordable housing?

Question: No [inaudible] co-op.

Mayor: Say it again.

Question: Roosevelt Terrace Co-op.

Lehrer: And your question is about what you’re allowed to – what kind of enclosure you’re allowed to put around your first floor apartments?

Question: [Inaudible] anymore. From the second to ninth floor has to take it down in three years [inaudible] –

Mayor: Mayor [inaudible] all due respect because I just – I don’t have any frame of reference on this but I will have people follow up with you. This is obviously a very detailed, specific situation, and I want to make sure folks from the Department of Buildings follow up with you today.

And I’ll have my people connect you to them so that we can see if we can get you to some answers here.

Lehrer: Anthony, we’ll get that specific contact information from you. And the Mayor’s Office will get you an answer. They’ve been good about following up with our callers.

Natasha in the Flatiron District in Manhattan. You’re on WNYC. Hello.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Good morning.

Question: I wanted to ask why you champion small businesses as being vital to New York City and yet you’ve not included commercial rent tax reform in your current budget. I’m a small business owner in Manhattan. I have to pay over $15,000 this year in commercial rent tax alone which is on top of the regular corporate taxes I’m paying.

So, as you probably know, Council Members Garodnick and Rosenthal are trying to increase the threshold at which the rent tax kicks in. As you know this is an antiquated, discriminatory tax. It’s hurting over 3,400 small businesses in Manhattan. That was never the intention of the tax when it was created in the 60s. Even if you’re a small business that’s losing money, you’re still on the hook to the City for the commercial rent tax because it’s tied to rent not revenue.

So, the Council members – definitely their proposal will mean about losing six percent of the revenues coming from the CRT, but on the plus side it’s going to provide immediate tax relief to thousands of small businesses like mine.

Mayor: Okay, Natasha –

Question: So, how could you not support CRT reform?

Mayor: I hear the point and I’ve talked to the Council members about it and appreciate it. Look, it is one – we’re trying to figure out everything we can to help small businesses. And the focus has been on reducing fines which we have done you know to the tune of many tens of millions of dollars over the last few years to take that burden off of small business. I think a lot of unfair arbitrary fining was going on. We’re going to continue to deepen that change. We’re trying to do a lot more to help small business in other ways with things like legal assistance etcetera.

But on this one – I got to look at this one more closely. I don’t think there’s a scenario to act on that in this budget. It is a very big part of our budget, and I understand that times have changed but they’ve changed in a lot of different ways, meaning in some ways obviously businesses in Manhattan are doing better than they were in the past.

So, I’m not missing that it’s a challenge. I’m not missing it at all. I don’t have an answer for you today for this budget but it is something that we need to look at going forward.

We’re going to be looking at all of the revenue issues going forward. If my employment contract is renewed and I’m back, I’ve said we’re going to take a very public look at property tax and some of the inconsistencies there. I think we need to look at this tax too and figure out what it means going forward and if there’s any ways we’d want to modify it.

But I need to be honest with you – at this moment, especially given the uncertainty about the federal budget that will play out up until September, I don’t see us taking a major action on the commercial rent tax right now.

Lehrer: Natasha, thank you. So, housing and real estate in general keep coming up today. No surprise –

Mayor: Every day, Brian.

Lehrer: That’s right. You and I have spoken before how that’s the number one thing if people just left to their own devices without a topic on the table will call about when you’re on the show. And here’s another one from the news, and this City Council, the Speaker keeps coming up too. The New York Post reported this week the Speaker is undecided on supporting a high-rise development in her district near Yankee Stadium, which the Post cites some parks activists saying would come instead of fully restoring the number of acres devoted to parks that were taken for the new Yankee Stadium. 21 of 25 acres have been restored, not the other four. Are you in support of that development?

Mayor: A couple of things, I’m not going to pretend I know all of the details of that development but I can tell you a few things. We keep previous commitments, you’ll remember we kept the commitment that the previous administration made but then didn’t follow through on with Bushwick Inlet Park in Brooklyn. We made that happen, got the resources to secure that land and create that park.

We’re going to keep the commitment here too. When everything is done that area of the Bronx will have parkland that fully makes up for whatever was changed when the new Yankee Stadium was built. At the same time, we believe we can fulfill that commitment and create more affordable housing. So that’s the broad mission, I believe we can do both. I don’t know all the details of the specific project but I do know we think we can get both done in a fair way.

Lehrer: Danny in Bell Harbor, you’re on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi Danny.

Question: Hi, good morning gentlemen. Mr. Mayor I just want to thank you for the ferry down here in Rockaway, it’s a beautiful thing.

Mayor: Danny I want to ask you if I could interview for one second Brian, what – have you ridden it, and what do you think of it?

Question: No I’m disabled, my son though rides it. He’s worked in [inaudible] for, you know, ten years and he loves it. You know he brings his bike on board and he rides the rest of the way on the east side and you know, compared to the old way wow. It’s not only affordable but it’s beautiful.

Mayor: I love that, I appreciate that very much Danny. We are commitment to the long haul – from the long haul to the Rockaways this ferry is going to be permanent, it will be the cost of the subway fare, that’s something you can depend on long term, and you know, we’ve seen amazing ridership already. We’ve had 11,000 people took the Rockaways line in the first week which was more than triple what a normal weeks ridership was with the previous temporary ferry service. So I think this thing is really capturing the imagination of people, and I really appreciate you calling and mentioning it.

Lehrer: I think the lead story on Politico New York right now is about your vision for ferries being extremely significant, increasingly significant in the future of the city. Would you put it that way?

Mayor: Yes, look, I understand very clearly the initial response from some people who are knowledgeable about transportation that they think well compared to you know, the subways it’s not going to be that kind of scale, and I understand that. But that’s not where I’m coming from, I’m coming from the fact that we need to incessantly create more transportation options in a city that’s way too congested, and we’re – it’s still too appealing for people to use their cars, we’ve got to create better ways for people to get out of their cars, to get folks off the road. And – and that’s for congestion, that’s for the good of our environment, but also we’re growing, we’re a city that’s going to be at nine million people you know, I would say somewhere in 15 to 20 years from now.

So how on Earth were we not using the water and turning to the water which provides this extraordinary option. So I think what’s going to happen Brian is the more people experience it the more they will find it a better way to get around, and then we can keep building it out. If it succeeds, I intend to continue to build it out across the city.

Lehrer: Another transportation question, do you support the Governor hiring a firm now for $14 million dollars to design an AirTrain from LaGuardia Airport to the Mets Willets Point number seven subway stops. Skeptics say it’s too far from Manhattan or other transit hubs to actually improve travel times to the airport from most places.

Mayor: I think the intention is a good one but I am concerned also that it may not have all the effect that is desired. I haven’t seen the specific plan so I’d have to see it to be able to judge it more specifically, you know, more clearly. But, look, the notion that we need to make it easier for people to get to the airports, absolutely, and on that level I agree with the Governor. Whether this is the best way to do it, I can’t say at this point but you know, I’m happy to look at the plan as we get more details.

Lehrer: Do you have enough time to wait? I don’t know what the timeline is that would make that you know locked in as opposed to one plan on the table.

Mayor: Again this is caught up in the question of the division of labor between the State and the City, and you know, there’s obviously the airports are governed the Port Authority and therefor by the State. We respect that. We have a lot of things that we do that we focus on doing our way.

I’m going to look at the plan, I’m going to get a sense of it, if it seems like something that’s going to value added that’s great, if it’s something the State’s doing with its own resources, you know, and not obviously something that requires our resources that’s a choice they need to make. But I just don’t have enough sense of the plan to give you a fuller comment yet.

Lebrer: Dash in Hell’s Kitchen, you’re on WNYC. Hello Dash.

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor, how are you.

Mayor: Good how you doing?

Question: Good. I just have a question, I’m a parent of a fourth grader at a public school in Manhattan and next year we’ll be applying for middle schools, and it’s come to my attention that a lot of the sought after middle schools and high schools, on their application have this policy where they require you to choose them first in order to be considered. And a lot of families I know have been very frustrated by this because it’s essentially unfair, it makes you have to choose between maybe several schools that you’re interested in and let go of the other ones, if you know what I mean. Brian might know something about it.

Mayor: I have to tell you since I went through the middle school application with two kids not that long ago –

Lehrer: Me too.

Mayor: – Dante is only 19 now. No look I want to answer this very purposefully. I think it is one thing for a school to say your chance of getting in is greatly improved if you put the school as your first choice, I think that is a fact full statement. I’m not familiar, I’m going to be very precise her, I’m not familiar with schools requiring it and that does raise a concern for me.

One, I’d like you to give your information to WNYC so people on our team can follow up and help check on this directly with you. But I also want to note, and I’m saying this as a parent to all my fellow parents, first of all there are more good options for middle school and high school than any time in the history of this city. When Chiara and Dante were applying to middle schools and high school even then it was greatly improved compared to ten years earlier. Now it’s so much better so I’m speaking as a parent and thinking as consumers of all the options in education in the public school system, the good news is there’s many more choices.

The other good news I think is we provided much clearer information about each school, we got away from that ridiculous system of grading schools which I thought was one of the stupidest things the Bloomberg administration did, and we put together much more parent friendly information and an easier application process.

But that being said, I want to make it a clearer process still, there’s still way too much confusion, and I’m going to work on that. What I would advise, and I say this to all parents, put all the choices – a lot of parents try and create a strategy where they only put one school or a handful of schools, I strongly advise fill out as many options as you are given with a literally preference ranking of what you want. If you get what you want great, if you don’t get something you have another bite at the apple, there is an appeal process. But parents who think it’s a good move to put very options actually, I think, are undermining their chances of getting to a result they want. 

Lehrer: Dash, thank you. Good luck with your kids, or your kid I guess, all I know is you have a fourth grader based on your call. And, Mr. Mayor one last question, I’ll start with a tweet on the topic. A listener tweets IDC – which is the Independent Democratic Conference in Albany, the eight breakaway Democrats who cooperate with the Republicans in certain way and help keep the Republicans in power in the State Senate, this says IDC is not repressive democracy, we vote dem they sell out to the GOP. What can we do? So my two part question is, one do you support the IDC and the way they do business in Albany and two, since Albany is getting into its home stretch for final legislation for this year, what’s your number one and number two priority for them for the City and do you see the IDC playing more of a constructive or destructive role?

Mayor: Okay that’s a 12 part question but I’ll do my best. Our priorities include electoral reform, we need to get to same day voter registration and vote by mail in this state, reforming the laws around the ability to disclose disciplinary records of uniformed officers, we need to get more speed cameras around schools so we can continue to implement Vision Zero, obviously renewal of mayoral control of education, I’d like to see the millionaires tax expanded obviously on top of that our mansion tax to provide affordable housing for seniors by taxing people who purchase high cost homes. Those are among the things that we’ll be working in Albany.

I work with the IDC, and I want to say there are times when I’ve found common ground for example on pre-K the IDC played a very positive role and they’ve been very supportive of our new 3-K initiative. That being said my position on what should happen next is abundantly clear, the IDC should return to the democratic fold, even if they want to  keep an independent presence within a democratic collation, they should rejoin and create a democratic majority. That – it’s as simple as that, that’s what they need to do.

And what I would say to voters, constituents is ask before you vote, ask people are they ready to do that? It’s a simple question, are they ready to do that. I think the IDC would do a great thing for their constituents and for New York State if they rejoined the fold again in whatever form made sense, but provide a democratic majority.

And not only for the good of the State and certainly to create more fairness towards New York City, but remember the State Senate in the few years is going to redistrict, not only its own districts but the congressional districts as well, if you care about making sure we have a democratic US House of Representatives than you damn well should care about having a democratic majority in the State Senate.

Lehrer: And we leave it there with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mr. Mayor, thanks so much, talk to you next week.

Mayor: Thank you Brian.