Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Hunts Point Cooperative Market

May 22, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everyone. I want to talk to you about the tour I’ve just taken and how impressed I am at all the work that goes on here at the Hunts Point Market.

But first I got to talk to you about something very sad. We – for a lot of us at City Hall right now there’s a lot of sorrow, a lot of pain as people go about their work today. We lost a really extraordinary, young man who was in the center of everything we do.

Peter Wertheim, Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor Glenn, passed away yesterday suddenly. And for all of us, we’re in a state of shock right now. An incredibly talented guy, someone who had the respect of everyone at City Hall, and had a warmth about him as well that drew people to him. And his role was a crucial one in the center of so much of what we do. His future was unquestionably bright. Just 39 years old.

So, we know the people’s business has to continue today, and everyone is doing their best to stay focused on that but we’ve lost someone that was not only friend but one of our most valued members of this team.

I’d just like to ask everyone to please join me in a moment of silence for Peter Wertheim.

Thank you.

Well, this is exactly the kind of thing that Peter loved to work on – things that changed people’s lives for the better, gave people a livelihood, gave families a chance to provide for themselves and move ahead.

That’s what I’m seeing here on this tour of the Hunts Point Market. It’s absolutely extraordinary. You know, for a long time the folks who run the market were saying to me, “You have to see it to believe it.” And you’re absolutely right.

This is one of the life bloods of New York City. This market literally feeds New York City. New York City could not run without the Hunts Point Market. And let me emphasize that so much of what people love about this city, New Yorkers and visitors alike – we love our delis, we love our restaurants, we love all the stores in all the different communities, and all the different ethnic communities of our city that provide amazing [inaudible], all that runs through here.

And the fact that we have 60 million tourists a year now, so many of whom come for the food, that wouldn’t be possible without this market. It wouldn’t be possible without the hard working men and women who, every day, toil here, get up very, very early in the morning to do this good work.

And the companies that make up the cooperative here – so many of them family companies that go back generations and have been committed to making this market work for everyone. So, this is a very special place in New York City but it’s a place that very few people get to see. I never got a chance to see it before today.

And it’s striking how much good happens even if it’s under the radar. It’s also an example of something that we believe in fundamentally which is we have to have an economy that works for everyone. We have to have an economy that’s strong in all five boroughs.

For too long when you thought about jobs, when you thought about economic development people just thought about Manhattan. One of the things that I most wanted to do as Mayor was create a truly five-borough economy where jobs were going everywhere, and jobs for every kind of New Yorker – good-paying jobs.

Well, here is one of the best examples you’re going to find. So, I went on the tour. Dan Kane said to me that – he reminded this is, you know, we’re in the poorest Congressional district in the United States of America, literally. And yet, here, at the Hunts Point Market, are a huge number of good-paying jobs, quality jobs, jobs that people can have for a lifetime, union jobs.

And this is an example of what we want to do more and more – create those high-quality jobs in every corner of the city. We know that this broader area of the Bronx went through so much over the years. We know how tough it was but this market kept going. And now in better times, this market is an economic engine for the Bronx. Dan said to me, 70 percent of the employees here come from the Bronx. 

So, this is one of the places that make the Bronx economy work and we’re going to keep supporting this market and strengthening it in a lot of ways. Let me just thank the folks who are with us.

I want to thank all of the members of the co-op here who were so kind, and all the officials of the co-op, who were so kind to show me around and give me the insight. 

From my administration – our Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop, our Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, and the President of the Economic Development Corporation James Patchett; again, Daniel Kane, President of the Teamsters Local 202.

I also want to thank the Community Board Manager for Community Board 2, Ralph Acevedo, who is with us.

Look, again, I just want to get the magnitude clear here – 8,000 jobs here at the Hunts Point Market. That’s an extraordinary impact on not just the economy of the Bronx but all of New York City.

We are going to continue to invest, to make sure this market can continue to be the best it can be, and to make sure it is protected. You know, I heard an amazing thing on the tour. This market has stayed open even in the worse storms.

A couple of years ago, we had the biggest snowstorm in the history of New York City. This market stayed open. People had to be fed. People who work here felt it was their commitment to keep going no matter what. That’s incredibly important for this city.

We need to make investments to make sure the market runs and the market is protected from Mother Nature. So, we have committed to $150 million for new buildings, for greater rail capacity, and we want to keep focusing on those products that come in by rail. They’re not coming in on a truck that means fewer trucks on our streets, less pollution. So, we really believe in increasing the rail capacity here. 

And those resiliency efforts to protect against storms, to make sure the market is safe and our food supply is safe, that’s what the $150 million is achieving. It’s also allowing for the creation of 900 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs, adding to the already extraordinary economic impact of this market.

So, look, the bottom line is – we believe in an economy that works for everyone. We believe in a five-borough economy. We believe that hard working people should be able to have a job they can actually for their family with. We believe it’s our job in New York City to keep giving more and more people a shot at success.

All of that is happening here at the Hunts Point Market. And I just want to commend everyone and thank everyone who’s a part of this market for all you do for New York City.

And I have one other person I want to bring up who represents the market, represents this community, and is doing a great job in the City Council – Council Member Rafael Salamanca. 

[...]

Thank you very much. And I want to also finally say, this kicks of Bronx Week, and my team and I are very, very happy to be spending this week in the Bronx focused on the concerns of Bronxites. We’ll be traveling all over the borough meeting with leaders but also hearing from everyday Bronxites.

And it’s very, very exciting. We had an extraordinary experience in Staten Island a few weeks ago. And we know we’re going to get an earful in the Bronx but we’re also going to find a lot of ways we can help the people of the Bronx, and continue our focus on making the Bronx strong for the future.

Thanks, everyone.

[Applause]