Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Announces "Green Wave" Bicycle Plan to Address Cycling Fatalities with Citywide Protected Bike Lane Network and Increased Enforcement

July 25, 2019

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you. Stephanie, thank you. I think you gave everyone here, sort of, a real world view of both what's working and what we need to do better and the challenges we face every day. I want to thank you for your voice, but I also want to thank you for all you do for our children and have been doing for so many years to bring up our kids the right way and teach them. Well, let's thank Stephanie for all she does.

[Applause]

We're here at a very, very difficult moment. This has been an extraordinarily painful few weeks and we have to first think about this in terms of the people we've lost, and the families that are left behind in agony, and the pain they're going through, and the fact that this all happened in such a small amount of time – and it's a crisis, it's an emergency. And we can never look at such a moment like this and think we can do things the same way. We have to feel what all those families are going through right now and we have to go farther and we've got to see this end. It cannot go on like this. These last weeks have been something that should never be repeated in this city. And today, we take another step to try once and for all to prevent it, because that's the whole idea of Vision Zero. Vision Zero never started with the idea we would just save a few lives. Vision zero is all about saving every life. And everyone understands how difficult that is, but it is the right goal and we have to put everything we have into it. We cannot let these good people die in vain. So, let's start with a moment of silence for all the cyclists that we have lost in these weeks.

[Moment of silence is observed]

Thank you. The folks who are here today believe that it's our mission to go farther all the time. I want to thank the members of my administration – and you'll hear from some of them, but others I want to acknowledge – who took the concept of Vision Zero, brought it to life, and they understand that their job is to go farther than we've ever gone before. I want to thank them for years of such a focused effort to do things differently, and for all the lives that have been saved. I want to thank our Deputy Mayor for Operations, Laura Anglin, and, of course, the Chief of Transportation for the NYPD, Tom Chan, who have both been deeply involved in this effort. Want to thank the elected officials who have been supporting it, funding it, believing in it, pushing the notion of going farther and farther with Vision Zero. With us today, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, Council Member, Steve Levin, thank you both. Let's give them a round of applause for their advocacy.

[Applause]

And I especially want to thank the advocates, the activists who have fought so hard – and I want to particularly note their struggles in Albany, which, sometimes, were as frustrating as they could be, but many other times lead to great victories – most especially recently, when we got the ability to put speed cameras in front of hundreds and hundreds of schools in a way we've never imagined previously before. And that's going to change the situation deeply. That's going to save a number of lives. So, I'm going to name all the organizations that I have here on this list. I hope I get them all, but I'd like you to applaud them all as we go through them.

First and foremost – Families for Safe Streets, thank you for all you do; Bike New York; StreetsPAC; Get Women Cycling; Transportation Alternatives; and, right here from this community, B.R.A.K.E.S. – let's thank B.R.A.K.E.S. for all they do.

[Applause]

So, I'm emphasizing that this crisis we're going through is absolutely unacceptable, and it has to end, and the steps we're taking today are meant to end this crisis now, and we will keep doing all that we have to do to turn things around. You will see continued increased enforcement by the NYPD, you will see more public education, and both those things are meant to change the behavior of motorists, which we have to do. There's still so much work to be done. I know we have changed motors behavior in some ways, but we have so much more to do. Education is part of it, but enforcement is another way of educating and you will see plenty of enforcement. And we will be reshaping our streets, including, as you heard, right here in Bay Ridge.

Protected bike lanes will mean a lot in this neighborhood. This school P.S. 170 has almost a thousand students, so, for the parents of those kids, for those kids themselves, knowing that they'll be able to get around their own neighborhood more safely makes a huge difference. We're going to do this all over the city. We want every bicyclist to feel safe. We want them to know there is a safe route. We want them to think about what's the best bike path to take, not to worry about their safety so often. Vision Zero is what it is meant to be – an endless effort until we get to the day that no one else dies. We've had moments of great triumph and we've had setbacks, but, we know one thing for sure – each year we've gotten safer and last year was the safest in a hundred years in this city. So, we believe in the direction, but we have to earn it every single day – do more and more.

This year has been so shocking – 17 cyclists have died already. We lost 10 cyclists all of last year, but 17 already, two just this week, a third critically injured. It cannot go on like this. So, we're going to do everything we know how to do to break through. You'll hear from Commissioner Trottenberg in just a moment on some of the details, but I want to give you the big picture. For the first time, we're committing this city to a truly citywide protected bike lane network – 80 more miles by 2021, which will bring the total under this administration to 160 miles of protected bike lanes. That will make a huge difference for the bicyclists of this city. And the NYPD enforcement will continue to grow. We will now target the 100 most dangerous locations in this city and all of them will receive additional NYPD enforcement with a special focus on trucks. And I want everyone to drive the truck in this city to know the NYPD will be watching and they will take action if any trucker does the wrong thing and endangers a bicyclist.

Just in the first three weeks of this month under the new instructions, the NIPD issued more than 8,600 tickets for blocking bike lanes – double the same period from last year, and we have just begun. I am emphasizing this as an open-ended effort. It will continue until we see the results that we need. We will work very closely with the City Council. And I want to thank the Council, I want to thank Speaker Johnson who has been a leader on this issue. The Council has been very focused on the safety of bicyclists and very supportive of Vision Zero. We want to work with the Council to go farther. I commend the Council for the legislation they just passed to make intersection safer and to protect bike lanes during construction. We will be working with the Council on an even broader and higher impact comprehensive citywide plan for safety and mobility. That will be coming up soon.

So, before I say a few words in Spanish, just by way of conclusion – even at this painful moment, there's something to appreciate, which is that so many more New Yorkers are choosing to cycle, they're choosing to use bicycles to get to work for their exercise, for their enjoyment. More and more New Yorkers believe this is the right way for them, and it helps this earth, it helps the city, it helps our quality of life. Now, one-in-four adults are riding a bike in this city and biking to work has growing twice as fast here as in any other major American city – that's a very good thing. Citi Bike will triple its fleet by 2023 – that's a very good thing. But safety has to come first, and it's our sacred responsibility to make sure that as all these people choose this good option, that we ensure it is safe. And that is for the cyclist, but that is for everyone who uses our streets, who crosses our streets, who walks on our sidewalks. Vision zero is for everyone. It is meant to create a safer city for all and we will work tirelessly until Vision Zero becomes fully a reality. A few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

So, we're going to redouble our efforts, and, in doing so, going to depend on the good men and women of the Department of Transportation. A lot of times their work doesn't get some of the attention that some of our other public servants get. They all deserve great credit, but the folks at DOT often labor in obscurity. I like every chance I get to shout them out and thank them for what they do to make us safe, to make our roads better, to drive on a ride on – all they do to make this a better city – a lot of good men and women working every day for us.

And my pleasure now to introduce their leader, the Commissioner of DOT, Polly Trottenberg.

[Applause]

Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And you ended on a good note, which is, of course, biking is one of the great ways to get around the City. Biking is growing and it's something we do want to encourage here. It is an efficient and affordable and a healthy and environmentally friendly way to travel. But as you noted, Mr. Mayor, we have had too many cycle trips end in tragedy, especially in this year with the sharp increase in fatalities, which, you know, tragically have run contrary to the progress that we had made in Vision Zero over the past five years. And as you said, we always knew progress wouldn't always be linear with Vision Zero, we would have setbacks, and, clearly, we're having a very difficult year. And I know I can tell you, everyone at DOT, we join with you in grieving for all of those that have lost their lives on our streets. We feel it keenly. But we also know – and Mr. Mayor, you've summoned us to this – that this is a time when we need to bring some new vision, some new energy, and some new resources to tackle the challenges. And I'm grateful to you and to the Speaker and to our Council chair and to the other elected officials and advocates and other partners who are joining us here today for that. And as you mentioned, we put the plan together – I guess I should hold up the plan, Green Wave. I do want to thank all these – I do want to thank all the advocates who are here today and the Vision Zero Task Force, our interagency group. We got great input from all of them on the plan we're putting in front of you today – as well, of course, our partners and leaders on the City Council.

The plan we're presenting today, it's robust and ambitious – a plan for improving safety and the riding experience for cyclists in the long-term, and we'll talk about that, but also a slate of more immediate improvements. First of all, one thing we have always heard loud and clear from the advocates, and those of us who cycle know this well – the best way of making cycling safe is more protected bike lanes. So, we're announcing today DOT is increasing the number of protected bike lanes we aim for each year. It previously had been 10 – we had been trying to get closer to 20 each year, but we're going to get to 30 each year. And for us, that means a dramatic increase in both personnel and resources, and I want to thank the Mayor and our Deputy Mayor here for helping us with that. That's going to mean $58 million in new resources and the number of folks at DOT who work on bikes is going to grow by about 75 percent, we're going to hire 80 new people. And those resources are going to be tremendous.

And I want to thank you, Mr. Mayor. We've had our ups and downs with Vision Zero, but you have always been constant in your leadership and in the resources that you have provided for us. Even today, particularly as the City budget is constrained, we're grateful for the new resources. So, today, I'm also excited to unveil – and you can see it over there – something that is brand new. For the first time, a fully connected protected bike lane network that's going to touch all the key destinations throughout the City, and we're committing to get getting that built out by 2030. And I particularly want to thank – we have our Transportation Chair, Rodriguez, here, and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who both really pushed us, I think, to be ambitious and work towards this, you know, this remarkable goal.

Secondary is something else you mentioned Mr. Mayor, better intersection designs. Tragically, one thing we've seen in general with cycling fatalities – we're seeing it this year – a majority of them happen at intersections, obviously, where traffic and cyclists are mixing. We're committing this year to get to 50 of the most high-crash intersections for traffic calming work. We're going to be working to do better intersection redesigns everywhere that we are resurfacing streets. We're going to be starting a pilot to implement what's called the Green Wave – some of our advocates are probably familiar – which means, timing lights so that cyclists can have a smooth ride with less stopping, less having to stop and intersections, and it will also have the effect of calming traffic. We're going to start that pilot this year and hopefully roll it out to other corridors around the City where we see a lot of cycling. We're going to be using more green paint. We're going to be doing more what's called bike boxes, so cyclists can be in front of vehicles and intersections, be more visible – we'll be doing other things to make sure that you can see cycle routes through the intersection. We're also going to be hardening more of our bike lanes with more bollards and other devices to keep cars out of them.

As the Mayor noted, we're obviously also going to be working with our partners at NYPD. They too have a complimentary multi-pronged plan to really get at the most dangerous behaviors on our roadways, including dramatic stepped-up enforcement at 100 of the top locations in the City where we see cyclists are at risk. There are also going to be expanding their truck enforcement and I think strengthening their efforts when we see collisions where there are serious injuries to beef up those investigations. And I think a lot of you know, NYPD announced earlier this month that it's discontinuing the practice of ticketing cyclists following a fatal crash. I know that that's something that's been very welcomed in the cycling community.

One thing we have seen with the fatalities this year, historically, cycling fatalities, about 30 percent of them involved trucks. This year, it's over 40 percent, so we're going to be very focused on truck safety and truck education. As I say, P-D is going to be doing stepped up truck enforcement efforts. We're going to be working very carefully with the trucking industry, with fleet operators to make sure that they have the safety information they need, the training information, and, particularly, training on awareness of cyclists and pedestrians.

As the Mayor mentioned, we've been working with the City Council on a number of legislative efforts. The Council has just passed two terrific bills. We're going to be working with them and our partners up at the State to look at further legislative initiatives, like requiring a three-foot passing rule for cyclists, increased requirements for truck side guards. And another issue we've heard from the cycling community is the desire to have more secure bike parking. It's one of the ways that can help increase cycling numbers. So DOT is going to be doing a [inaudible] request for expressions of interest to reach out to the private sector and see if we can do some public-private partnerships to create more high-capacity, secure bike parking around the City.

Finally, we're going to deepen our own education efforts. We've started – some of you may have already seen our safety media campaign, Get There, which is focusing on bike safety. We're going to be boosting our bike helmet giveaway. We're going to be adding 10,000 helmets a year to the 25,000 that we already do, and working with our Council partners to up that number even more. And we're going to be working with Citi Bike – we have our Citi Bike partners here – to give helmets to all NYCHA residents who are Citi Bike members.

I want to just close by saying, under your leadership, Mr. Mayor, I think we've created a plan that is ambitious and realistic. It has the resources and the personnel and meets the urgency of this tragic moment. As we know, it will require a strong collaboration with our sister agencies, elected officials, local businesses and institutions, neighborhood residents, advocates and other stakeholders. I can say, we at DOT to you look forward to working with you all on this plan in the months and years ahead. And I want to thank you, Mr. Mayor, also for singling out the men and women of DOT. They worked so hard to make our streets safer, particularly for today's announcement – such hard work by our bike and safety education teams. Their dedication, their creativity, their passion and grit are really second to none. And this is not been an easy year for any of us, we've all been grieving at the rise in fatalities, but I want to thank them. I know their work has made this city safer and I know they're very excited to get to work on this plan.

[Applause]

Mayor: In that same vein of being thankful for folks who do such hard work, the folks who put together this plan, again, we asked them to go farther than we've ever gone before, and to do it fast and to make sure it was as ambitious as possible, and something we could get to work on immediately. So, just – I want to ask around applause for everyone who was part of putting together this plan. Let's thanks them.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Questions on today's announcement first and then we will go to other topics, on today's announcement?

Down the row there –

Question: Mr. Mayor, good afternoon. Wondering how many parking spots you estimate will be lost to the changes?

Commissioner Trottenberg: I don't know if I can give you a specific answer to that but I am going to say in the thousands.

[Applause]

Question: [Inaudible].

Commissioner Trottenberg: I don't usually get applause for that.

[Applause]

Let me – I'll see – we've spent a fair amount of time sort of gaming out the rough numbers for this network. We haven't mapped out exactly wherever route would be because there is some interaction – I'll see if maybe we can give you something that's a little more refined estimate.

Question: How is you approach going to change beyond adding 80 more people to DOT? How's your approach going to change when it comes to pushing these through in a very aggressive time frame?

Mayor: We're setting a very aggressive time frame and in the whole history of Vision Zero, I think the very idea has forced to action. We've moved Vision Zero projects in lots of places where people told us it was going to be politically impossible. We moved to the 25 mph default speed limit. We got the speed cameras done around the schools at a number never before imagined. I think the whole nature of Vision Zero is to be audacious and this is an audacious plan but I've made it very clear that I have expected it to happen quickly and aggressively, so I believe it will.

Question: How do you get around community boards who might try and block some of –

Mayor: Community board's voices should always be heard because what I think sometimes a community board offers is a perspective on how to do it better. And sometimes - and I respect everyone at DOT - but they are working from their professional perspectives sometimes folks on the ground are able to say hey there's a hidden problem here you're not seeing or there is an unintended consequence, we can fix that. Or we have a better alternative. So we have to listen to those voices. But, you know, inaction is not acceptable. That's the standard I've held. If a community board offers a critique or an alternative that's a better way to do things, great. If they simply want no change and we believe no change means less safety, I just give the order. Yeah?

Question: Do you think that your coming at this from the perspective of a car passenger, I mean folks here [inaudible] is in the back seat of car or a front seat. Do you think that that at all informs how you are looking at it?

Mayor: No, I spent many, many years - first of all, didn't own a car until 1999, used. I walked, I used the subway, sometimes I biked. And then once I owned a car, I owned a car I was a driver, not a passenger, so this is a very brief period of my life so no I don't.

Question: And then just a quick follow up, when was the last time you rode a bike? I don't think you –

Mayor: I rode the bike with Polly on the boardwalk, fabulous experience. I am trying to think if there's been a time since then. I'm not sure.

Unknown: [Inaudible] Prospect Park.

Mayor: Prospect Park, there you go.

Question: This might be a question for the Commissioner, as you know – we've been talking about all these new protected lane miles, do you know how many of them are going to be parking protected and how many are either going to be using chains or bollards to protect them? A lot of people are concerned that the bollards don't really do enough to keep cars from double parking or parking?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Yes, I mean we have committed in this report to as many hardened protected lane miles as we can. And even going back and looking at some of our existing lane miles and seeing how we can harden them. One thing we do, one of the challenges we face in that is working both with Sanitation and FDNY to make sure that they can get in and plow and clean and that their vehicles, sometimes there's an issue of turning radiances. But both agencies have been terrific and committed to work closely with us on that on the goal of hardening more of those protected miles even further.

Question: Is that what the language means? Like hardening, that's harden protected?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Yes.

Question: Mayor how does –

Mayor: I'm sorry, I'm going row by row, I'm coming to you.

Question: So one is for the Commissioner, going back to the parking protected aspect. I know on the Upper East Side on First Avenue, or Second Avenue DSNY [inaudible] where you guys said that you couldn't put parking protected because the street width wasn't large enough for DSNY sanitation trucks. So are you working with other agencies like Sanitation to get different trucks that don't have to run into that issue?

Commissioner Trottenberg: We are and I have to say Sanitation has been terrific. Commissioner Garcia has been terrific, looking at – and they already have some sweeping and plowing equipment that are smaller vehicles that can go into narrow lanes. DOT – we have some of that equipment [inaudible] and actually Commissioner Garcia and I were just talking about how we might include some more of that equipment in the cost of doing these projects because it is another element we need.

Question: So this doesn't really mention anything about like reducing the number of cars. I mean there is also a huge number in an increase in pedestrian deaths, not just cyclists. So [inaudible] that are caused by like private car owners and trucks so is there anything that you are doing to also decrease the number of cars on the road?

Mayor: The whole, I think importance of what was done in April to finally fully fund the MTA, is that it will help us to reduce the number of cars in our city. The fundamental challenges, we have more and more people, more and more jobs, more and more tourists, but we didn't have mass transit system that was keeping up. Now that there's going to be funding for the MTA, I think you are going to see better subway service. We know you are going to see better bus service because we are investing in select bus service and a whole host of other things to speed buses along their way. I think the best thing to do to encourage people to get people to get out of cars is to create better mass transit. We are certainly doing that with NYC Ferry, Citi Bike, a host of things. So to me, that's going to be the difference maker. And I think we are now in a position to act on that. Yes?

Question: Mayor, is there an acknowledgment in today's announcement that the similar initiative in 2017 either didn't' work or didn't go far enough? After all, that announcement, I believe in July of 2017, also focused on ten priority-like zones –

Mayor: No. Obviously what we did in 2017 led to a better 2018 and 2018 was the safest year we've ever had, or we've had in 100 years. So we're all pained and we are all shocked to see this sudden turn and that's why we are taking it seriously and throwing more at it. Yes.

Question: Mayor, it's difficult to ask this because I think all of us feel badly for the families of these 17 people who we've lost this year. But at least in my neighborhood which - and I am lucky that I live close to Central Park, Hell's Kitchen - it's out of control, I mean the bikers, they go the wrong way, they are on the sidewalk, they run the red lights – I've been taken out almost several times, not by cars, but by cyclists, either speeding or going the wrong way. And it doesn't seem like anything in this plan addresses that which is a free for all in my neighborhood?

Mayor: Look, one, we are all in this together and I mean it. We are all going to have to deal with an ever changing circumstance in this city. So this is the piece that deals with the most dangerous part of the equation which is motor vehicles, let's just be clear from the beginning. I'm not missing you question, I'm saying let's start at the beginning. The danger comes from cars and trucks. And we had shown that with more speed cameras, lower speed limits, you know redesigning intersections, all of these things – more enforcement was clearly driving down the fatalities consistently. That was oriented at the cars and trucks. This recent set of tragedies shows us we have to go a lot farther to protect people but also to have more enforcement on the cars and trucks. At the same time, we got to educate everyone, to deal with an ever more crowded city. Everyone is a part of this. Everyone has to act in the name of safety. And remember the ultimate vulnerable folks are pedestrians. So yes, we also have to educate everyone to be careful to respect pedestrians. That work will continue as well. But I think this is the most essential piece to the equation. Marcia?

Question: Mayor, you've asked the NYPD to crack down on drivers, but what about these bicycle riders who behave badly? Don't you think that they should be ticketed, they should be held accountable for the things that they do as well?

Mayor: So the point you heard earlier, I think it was a mistake, even though I think it was intended to be part of addressing safety, it was a mistake for the NYPD to be giving tickets to cyclists right after a tragedy. But I've also said very consistently, of course we are going to do enforcement on everyone. We have to in the name of the safety. We will continue to. There is no comparison between that impact that cars and trucks make versus the impact that cyclists make. But the instruction is to do enforcement across the board to keep everyone safe.

Question: This isn't about, you know, the issue of giving tickets right after there's been a tragedy.

Mayor: Right. But I wanted to clarify that Marcia, because I think a lot of people have been very concerned about that.

Question: I think that what Dave said and what I've experienced and what our cameras have caught is that you see cyclists going through red lights, going the wrong way on a one way street, crossing through traffic or they make it difficult for drivers. And I've seen people, believe or it not, distracted bike riders, who are reading their cell phones as they are riding. And I saw one person who was reading his cell phone, went through a red light and nearly got hit when somebody opened the door and nearly caused an accident himself. Don't you think that if you've asked the bicycle riders to take some responsibility that you would also have fewer accidents?

Mayor: Yes, Marcia again, I don't know what answer you are looking for, I am going to give you the truth. I've said it so many times that it's not like a news flash. So first of all, one, cars and trucks are the central part of the problem. We have more to do. Two, remember the controversy over the E-bikes, I said consistently and I still say it, E-bikes which are fast, which too often went the wrong way on traffic, which were reckless in too many cases, needed to be addressed. Many folks rose their voices in advocacy and said why are you picking on E-bikes? I was picking on the E-bikes because there was a safety problem. So we are going to follow safety in every situation. When we look at E-bikes going forward, when we look at E-scooters, everything is going to be about safety. But yes, we have already long since said and acted on the fact that yes, there will be enforcement if a bicyclist violates the law and endangers everyone or anyone, of course there will be enforcement. But it's an understanding that something motorized is much more dangerous than something not motorized. That's just common sense. Yes. I'm coming your way, don't worry brother.

Question: How's the push on this bike priority districts going to be any different from the ones that you established in 2017? I mean the map looks pretty much the same, there hasn't been any talk about where they are getting protected bike lanes versus a break down, also when we asked for that at Streetsblog, we weren't given that.

Commissioner Trottenberg: Alright, if there is something you all have asked for [inaudible] but I think part of this plan today, you can see – by the way for those who don't know, the ten priority cycle districts are areas where we've seen sort of that grey areas there, kind of the next ring out from the inner most core of the city where we are seeing real growth in cycling, but we need to do more to build out that infrastructure. And it is unfortunately some of those areas where we are seeing fatalities this year. So part of what we are doing today, again, is upping that commitment of protected bike lanes, some of which obviously will be in those areas. And continuing to build out those neighborhood networks, and I think also we are going to be working really closely with PD on some of that enforcement, particularly some of these areas are areas where you are seeing, they were formerly more industrial, now you are starting to see more of an interface of residential and industrial and you are seeing cyclists and trucks which don't mix unfortunately as we know. So you know, particularly also as PD mentioned they are going to go to the top – what they are seeing – what we are seeing now is that the top 100 intersections and corridors where we feel cyclists are at risk and do really targeted enforcement. A bunch of those I think will be in those areas.

Question: One for the Mayor. Mr. Mayor, we did have a really good year last year with only ten people died, so why wouldn't there have been maybe building on that success and opposed to waiting until 17 people died?

Mayor: Obviously I - you are too intelligent to ask that question because you know that Vision Zero has been growing every year. Vision Zero for this year was a whole host of things were being added, including the additional speed cameras in the schools. So I've said more times than I can count, it's an ever growing thing, it's going to be bigger next year, the year after, the year after by definition. This crisis, because it's such a shock, made us feel there were things we had to do even more than we anticipated and we are doing them.

Question: Mr. Mayor, two questions. Number one, is there any plan in the works to license the E-bikes, any motorized vehicle, and then have some kind regulation that they can be responsible for, as riders?

Mayor: I'll start and would – if the Deputy Mayor or Commissioner want to add anything, feel free. Look, we now – I think we're still waiting on a signature on the –

Commissioner Trottenberg: The Governor still has to sign –

Mayor: Right, so we –

Commissioner Trottenberg: [Inaudible] would also have to act.

Mayor: Right, there's first – nothing happens until – if the Governor signs obviously. And then there is a period time for the council to act and we'll work closely with the Council, but that's the kind of issue that we're going to have to talk about with anything motorized is what kind of regulation do we need. We have at least half a year from the time it's signed to act on it, so it will be a very vibrant conversation trying to figure out what's right.

Question: Going to Bike Safe New York – speed cameras at schools, are there are any regulations for bicycles riding through school zones, particularly when children are going to school [inaudible] –

Commissioner Trottenberg: You had it right, Mr. Mayor, bicycles are supposed to follow the same speed limit. The default speed limit in most of New York City is 25 mph, in a lot of school zones that can be lower, and bikes are supposed to be at that speed limit.

Mayor: Okay, Courtney?

Question: Mr. Mayor, transit advocates, bicycling advocates have been calling on you to get on a bike and ride the bike lanes – or the lack there of – for weeks, if not months now. Why not just do it? Why not just get on a bike?

Mayor: I have gotten on a bike and I will certainly –

Question: But do this ride with them, just to experience what cyclists –

Mayor: Yeah, I do understand a lot of the challenges and one day I look forward to doing that. But again the issue more importantly is to act, and we're acting today. Yeah, who has not gone? Yeah?

Question: Mayor, you refer to Vision Zero as an endless effort –

Mayor: Yep.

Question: When you rolled out the plan it was specifically to eliminate deaths by 2024. Do you no longer think that's a realistic timeline?

Mayor: Well, if you look at what happened up to 2018, it was pretty remarkable. I mean 100 fewer deaths, so basically from, you know, 300 to 200 was such extraordinary fast progress that it certainly was encouraging that we were in range of hitting that goal. I'm not giving up on the goal, I think, you know, we're going to be throwing a lot at it now and the goal is to get there the first moment we can.

Question: [Inaudible] you said last year that if someone parked in a bike lane, they're just stopping, they're just dropping someone off, they shouldn't get a ticket and, you know, it's not so bad. Do you still agree with that point of view?

Mayor: I think that the goal here obviously is no one ever stop in a bike lane, but I still believe – and I know our officers will always show discretion – I'm using the obvious example having been a parent myself, if a family is dropping off their kids for – and it's a very brief stop – there still has to be some discretion. But the real thing we have to address here is not the person who drops someone off and keeps moving immediately but the people who actually park in the bike lane and create an ongoing danger, that is the central problem.

Question: Other cities that have done robust bike programs internationally have kind of supercharged them with bike specific signaling, which we have a little bit in the city but not a lot, I didn't hear you talk about if there'd be bike specific signaling and would that not – kind of supercharge for both safety and the regulating biking aspects what my colleagues asked about?

Commissioner Trottenberg: So I think actually we're very excited about a bill that the City Council has just passed which is going to enable cyclists – one thing we've started to do all over the city, we are now doing it at thousands of intersections are what called Leading Pedestrian Intervals, which is giving pedestrians that walk signal, ten, fifteen seconds before we let cars start to go forward in turn. The Council has just passed a bill that is going to enable bikes, and frankly many of them do it as sort of a common practice, but to codify that, that they can go on the leading pedestrian interval. We've actually found having done some studying of that and working P-D, that is proving our really safe treatment. We're looking potentially at some other places to put in bike specific signals but the LPI system seems to work very well.

Question: [Inaudible] any legislation and policy [inaudible] streamline [inaudible]. How quickly will those be streamlined? Like what do you have in mind for that? How much faster will that [inaudible]?

Commissioner Trottenberg: I think it's a little premature to say. I think as a lot of you know, there certain legal steps that the department has to take in terms of sending notification to community boards when we do bike lanes and other things and again I think the Mayor put it well, I mean, we have a lot of good – we welcome the input from community boards and local communities. They're on the ground and give us a lot of ideas about how to improve our projects. I think we want to make sure we're not being caught up in steps that are just processed, that aren't adding value, but something, again, we'll need to work with the council and I can't give you an exact amount of time we'll save.

Question: [Inaudible] Citi Bike, street space?

Commissioner Trottenberg: What do you mean by that?

Question: Well there's community boards for bike lanes but that does that mean – does that apply to Citi Bikes as well, being [inaudible]?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Yeah, I mean I actually think that our Citi Bike process is pretty streamlined. You know, we generally have a sort of open house process and as some of you know a portal online where local communities can come and give input. You know, we use our criteria to go out and survey all the block faces and figure out where we can put the stations where their won't be infrastructure, other interferences, so, you know, we present that to the community board and then we go pretty quickly so I think there we've done a decent amount of streamlining.

Question: Correct me if I'm wrong –

Mayor: Okay, last one my friend –

Question: Sorry about that, last week didn't you say that the reason that the Citi Bike expansion [inaudible] capable 2023 because of the public [inaudible] process?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Well, I don't think that's quite what I said. I think what I said – I mean look, we are – remember – we are now turning what is – what we think about the eighth largest bike share system in the world to probably the second largest. We are adding, I think like 35 square miles of new territory, there has to be some good work done to make sure we're – and again we're going to be in multiple boroughs so, you know, I don't think the community board process holds up tremendously but there is some process there. We want to make sure we cite those stations, you know, in a way that's going to work.

Mayor: Who has not had a question?

Please –

Question: You mention 2018 having been so safe and a drop in fatalities and then in 2019 you described it as a shock. Is there anything at all that you can attribute that tragic increase to at this point, is there anything that's making cyclists more dangerous?

Mayor: Let me let Polly speak to if she – if there is any analysis that we think can really be verified. But I just want to speak from the heart, whatever is causing it, it has to stop and we have to throw everything we got at it. And look, I mean again, Vision Zero is not like you normally see in government which does not aspire to perfection. We're literally saying zero and it is amazing how that has motivated an extraordinarily amount of action and change. So that's my point running through all of this, I'm not trying to think in terms of the symbolism or the different factions or the different interests here, I just want to figure out how we can save more lives and if that means a lot more enforcement, which is not a popular thing, but it's a necessary thing. We're going to keep doing it. So, regardless of what might be causing it, we have to throw everything we got at it. I don't know if you have anything to offer on the analysis?

Commissioner Trottenberg: I'll offer a little bit if you all have the report. I guess just sort of a couple of contextualizing things if you look at page five, cause I think, you know, we put in there ten years of cycling fatalities and the Mayor said last was, you know, an extraordinarily safe year. People still died but of course we're trying to reduce those numbers further but you know, you can sort of see the numbers over the past ten years have sort of been somewhere in the typically mid-teens to the mid-twenties. What we're seeing for the spike this year, and we mentioned it in the report, the spike is really very heavy Brooklyn. The numbers in the other boroughs are sort of tracking as they have, you know, in recent years. A lot of them have involved trucks. You know, a lot of them, again as I'm saying, we're seeing them in some of these areas where cycling is increasing and cycling is really growing, all over the city is growing in Brooklyn. Areas where there was perhaps were previously industrial, there's a lot of commercial activity, you know, cyclists and trucks are mixing on the streets. So again, solutions for us, heavy focus on Brooklyn, heavy focus on protected infrastructure, heavy focus on working on truck safety, on enforcement and truck education.

Question: So going to trucks, I'm not insinuating that the City [inaudible] but is there any talks about shrinking the size of the trucks in the City's municipal fleet that could maybe make street changes easier because you don't have to have big firetrucks or big garbage trucks to try and navigate turns and things like that?

Commissioner Trottenberg: So I will just say on the City's municipal fleet, we have done a lot of work and I know I mentioned the Vision Zero Task Force, our partners at DCAS and other agencies to put on sideguards to do safety training for all of the drivers, we now have [inaudible] systems that are actually tracking the driver of all municipal drivers and telling them when they are speeding or breaking excessively. So, I want to compliment DCAS and the City family, we have done a lot to try and increase the safety of our own fleet. I think – I know the Mayor – I mean it is a challenge. You know, on the one hand here we're pledging we're going to do a lot more work, that means more resurfacing, more sanitation, sort of all the things that necessitate trucks, we have been in a discussion again particularly with Sanitation and FDNY about other places where we can use smaller vehicles. I don't – I can't say we've solved that one totally yet. Mr. Mayor?

Question: Commissioner – [Inaudible] what role has Uber and Lyft and the other car hail services impact the numbers [inaudible] a factor in this?

Commissioner Trottenberg: I mean it's interesting, I have to say, when you look at the statistics in recent years we really haven't seen it. Even though taxis and Ubers and Lyfts log a lot of miles, they actually sort of statistically speaking are not particularly dangerous drivers. And again, I would complement the Vision Zero task force, we've done a lot of work also with the for hire vehicle sector and Families for Safe Streets has been very involved in that, you know, working with them to show them videos and improve their driving. So they aren't in disproportionate – in fact – just in general, obviously more vehicles means more collisions and I think as the Mayor mentioned, you know, some of the things that are going to happen in the next couple years, more alternatives for people and improve mass transit system, Citi Bike, things like that can help encourage people obviously to get out of cars.

Mayor: Yeah, and I want to give the TLC credit, they've been a crucial part of Vision Zero from the very beginning and encouraging that kind of safety approach that Polly was talking about. But also and we talked about this a few weeks back we made the announcement about the cap on for-hire vehicles and the reductions on the cruising times in Manhattan, certainly for-hire vehicles have contributed a lot to overall congestion in the city. So, you know, in that competition for space, they are part of the problem, clearly, and that's one – been one of the areas of biggest increase. I think these new rules are going to help but I think, you know, in the end the biggest change will be if more and more people move to mass transit including biking. But I do want to differentiate – obviously Polly knows the specific facts on crashes and for-hire vehicles, but there's the other piece of the equation, have they intensified the competition for space on the streets, unquestionably, and that's something hopefully the cap will address. Anyone who has not gone yet?

Question: Yes, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Coming to you, hold on.

Question: How do you explain the chasm between you and Council Member Rodriguez, he seems to support the – what you guys rolled out today, but he's calling for 100 miles of protected bike lanes per year, and you're going with 30, how do you explain – is it just not feasible in your mind the 100 miles –

Mayor: Look, I think there's a – the reason he is here, when someone comes to join in an announcement is because they believe it is an important step, and I was a legislature and the job for legislature is to aim high and then folks who are running the place have to figure out what we actually think can get done and try to be real about that. So there's a natural tension there but we want to work with him to see what more we can do, and I think that's the simple answer. Yeah?

Question: I have a question for the Commissioner?

Mayor: Let's try and do about five, six more before we go to other topics.

Question: Hi, you mentioned the spike in Brooklyn but if I look at the map there's a lot of areas in Brooklyn that are not going to be studied that are transit deserts like [inaudible] Park, Canarsie, and how come you're not studying those areas? Because –

Commissioner Trottenberg: We're – we're – did you say why we're not studying?

Question: [Inaudible].

Commissioner Trottenberg: I mean we're – we do work all over the city in every community board and every neighborhood. The gray zones areas that we had identified a couple years ago as places where we were particularly seeing both a big rise in cycling and an urgent need for more infrastructure, but we, I think you can see from this map, we are looking to put bike infrastructure in every part of the city and I actually just sort of wanted to jump back on the issue you were just saying Mr. Mayor about sort of the Chairman's sort of challenge to us to go 200 miles and what we're announcing today, and as you said, sort of being the person who has the agency, who's tasked in actually delivering it, I mean we want to make sure when we build out this network that it is safe, that it is high quality, that it's going to work in every neighborhood. And just to contextualize, you know, the previous administration did a terrific job in improving cycling in this city, they were averaging, as far as we can tell, about five miles of protected bike lanes a year. We're proposing to do six times that amount. So it is, it may not sound like a big number, but it's a big number, and I think it is way more than any other U.S. City is trying to do right now. As the Mayor said, he's always challenging us to do more, but this is a step forward for us and, you know, we're going to do everything we can to achieve this goal and if we can go further we will.

Mayor: Okay, who has not had a shot, anyone who has not had a shot yet? Yes?

Question: So earlier when you were talking about pedestrians injured by bicyclists. If you cited it I'm sorry if I missed it, what are the numbers as far as injuries and fatalities?

Mayor: I don't have that but maybe Polly does.

Commissioner Trottenberg: I do have – I have the figures for this year and we have our press team who can grab them. So far, year to date, as we've heard today tragically 17 cyclists, 59 pedestrians –

Mayor: He's asking pedestrian – cyclists interactions, I think. Is that right?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Oh, I'm sorry, I misunderstood –

Question: [Inaudible] by bicyclists.

Commissioner Trottenberg: How many pedestrians have been?

Question: Injured by bicyclists.

Commissioner Trottenberg: I don't [inaudible] injury numbers, I will say, we can probably get you those although there is a lag in our injury data, the –

Question: If you have 2018, please [inaudible].

Commissioner Trottenberg: I'll see if we – yeah, yeah.

Mayor: If you have it, let's say it, if not we'll come back –

Commissioner Trottenberg: I don't – I don't have it on me, I think we can probably find something for you.

Mayor: We'll come back to you. Okay, anyone who has not gone on this topic?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Louder, please? I'm sorry –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Yeah, I already have committed to it. We are going to finish it.

Question: What –

Mayor: It's – we're working on that now, but we're going to finish it. Okay, anyone who's not gone yet? Just let me just find – in the interest of fairness, anyone who's not gone. Okay, we're coming back around. Go ahead.

Question: I'm wondering if you'll offer any special instructions to the NYPD [inaudible] bike lanes. And then, just wondering, when was the last time you cycled on a city street, Mr. Mayor?

Mayor: I just can't give you the chapter and verse on when I did each thing in my cycling life, but I can say on the instructions to the NYPD – absolutely, NYPD vehicles are not supposed to block bike lanes, unless they're in the middle of providing an emergency service.

Chief Chan: I would say, exactly, that was the answer. And that's correct – and we discourage our officers – and part of our review and daily meeting with our boroughs and officers – we share that message to keep out of our bus lanes, our bike lanes, because, again, we want to provide safety for our bicyclists out there.

Question: [Inaudible]

Chief Chan: What happens is that, if we do find the officers that are parking vehicles and it's not an emergency situation, we can take disciplinary action against those particular officers. But again, we certainly discourage them. We don't want them to park anywhere in the vicinity of those bike lanes.

Question: You said that the crisis this year when it comes to the bicycle fatalities [inaudible] but you talk to a lot of cyclists, you talk – you look at some of the data and the writing seems to have been on the wall. I know severe injuries are down under Vision Zero, but cyclist injuries last year hit 4,700, they report at 4,000 the first year that Vision Zero was lunched. So, do you think your success when it comes to reducing fatalities has blinded you from the larger issue?

Mayor: No, I think the – job-one is saving lives. We were saving lives very consistently and I believe we will be able to continue that progress. And the number of measures we put in is extraordinary. Look, we may have a disagreement. I think what is the most important thing is action. And Vision Zero didn't exist before this administration – I don't remember people saying, you know, where is Vision Zero? We decided it was something to do because we thought it was needed no matter how audacious. We've built it out, year after year, it has consistently performed and now we're going to go a lot farther. And I think that's what matters – real action for real people, and that's been consistent. It's just going to keep growing. So, I don't feel there's been anything but a constant focus on it.

Okay. Last call, few more.

Question: [Inaudible] Queens Boulevard. What was the reason for the delay of the section?

Mayor: [Inaudible] the nuances of that, but it will move forward. Do you have any, anything to add? No –

Question: It was reported that your office simply asked DOT to take down signs that –

Mayor: Again, it's going to be done.

Question: The 30 miles for 2019, have they been identified yet? Because it seems like on the map in the written book – in the report, it says there's a little tiny asterisk or something that says we'll work with the communities to identify –

Commissioner Trottenberg: So, to be clear, the 30 miles are going to start in 2020, because we're announcing this today. Our goal this year is to get over 20 and you all, I'm sure, will follow how far we get. So, you can see on that map there, the yellow lines are what we're envisioning to do by the end of 2021.

Question: [Inaudible] specific streets, right?

Commissioner Trottenberg: There are a lot of cases there – I mean, actually it's in the book too. In a lot of cases, there are specific streets, yeah.

Mayor: That sounds more of a yes than a no.

Commissioner Trottenberg: Yeah, there are specific streets.

Question: There is this plan that you want to look as a pilot to keep green lights going so that people can drive faster and bicyclists will avoid the red lights –

Question: That was my point – so in order – in those places, you would drive 15 miles an hour. So, does that mean you're going to lower the speed limit to 15 from 25? Or just in specific spots? How would that work?

Commissioner Trottenberg: We're not going to lower the speed limit. And this is – look, this is a pilot we're going to try. It's something that we've seen they're experimenting with in Europe. And let's be honest, there are many parts of New York City in many parts of the day where you would be happy to be going 15 miles an hour. So, this is not something we're going to, you know, roll out on a big highway, but on streets where we're seeing the predominance of the traffic is cycling – one of the challenges we're seeing it this year in cycling, when you're on a bike and you're getting momentum, it's very hard to keep stopping each time you hit a red light. It slows your trip down. So, we're going to experiment with this. Can we create signal timing that will keep the cars moving, but will also let the cyclists go at a natural speed and hopefully not hit so many red lights.

Question: [Inaudible] are typical places that you think would be a place to try the pilot program that would work where there's a lot of bicycle people and there's, you know, a lot of red lights –

Commissioner Trottenberg: I think I'm not going to – I'll maybe grab you after this. I don't know that I want to mention a street here today because I don't want to surprise anybody, but I think you can think of, again, some perhaps sort of smaller corridors that have become really busy cycling corridors where, again, cars aren't getting up to big speeds where this may work.
Mayor: Last call – yeah?

Question: [Inaudible] Can anything be done regarding regulations for buses and trucks? [Inaudible]?

Mayor: I think that's a really interesting idea and one that should be explored for sure right away. It's – anything that adds to safety I'm interested in. I think in the immediate term where we've made clear to anyone who drives is you have to yield to pedestrians. And I think it's really obvious that for a long time in this city, in this country, that was not the culture, that was not the reality. Even though the law said it, people ignored it all the time and there was no enforcement. When we put Vision Zero in, NYPD got very energetically involved in enforcing on failure to yield for everyone, and that's made a difference. So, speeding, failure to yield, parking in bike lanes, these are all things where there's – the more enforcement there is, the more it will change behavior and protect lives.

Question: [Inaudible] running for president. That being said, do you ever discuss some of the programs in New York City [inaudible] setting up bike lanes, etcetera, in other cities –

Mayor: All of the time. I've been talking about Vision Zero in other parts of the country because I think it should be a national vision. There is no reason Vision Zero could not be made national policy to slow people down, to make sure there's a lot more enforcement, to have things like speed cameras around schools. I mean, these are all things that will protect lives and particularly protect the lives of kids and seniors. And I think that's something that people could agree on all over this country.

Okay. Last call – we're going to go to other topics.

Other topics – Andrew?

Question: Mayor, the President tweeted about you today about the action taken against police officers – the water being thrown on them – called it a disgrace and he said it's time for you to stand up and protect them – Bill de Blasio should act immediately.

Mayor: First of all, the moments that I heard about that incident, I condemned it, and I made very clear – and I want to make it clear here – anybody who interferes with the work of a police officer is going to be charged and is going to suffer the consequences. It's illegal. It's inappropriate. It's not acceptable. So, you don't have – if a police officer puts you under arrest, you need to go along with that. If a police officer is trying to do their job, you are not supposed to interfere with it. You can't throw things at a police officer. I said that all on Monday night. I'm saying it again, clear as a bell. There will be consequences. Don't even think about it. Now, to the President – the President knows nothing about New York City at this point. This is a guy who wanted to go back to stop and frisk, which was a horrible failure and was undermining the whole relationship between police and community. This is a guy who literally does not even understand the place he came from and he didn't live the life of everyday New Yorkers. He was a child of a millionaire – he didn't know what life was like in the streets in New York. So, here's the bottom line – for five years, we have been focusing on protecting our officers through things that actually make them safer – 2,000 more officers on patrol, better training, better technology, better equipment, better protective gear, but also better relationship with the community. I've talked to a lot of officers, and they agree that if the community's backing them up, community has a personal relationship with their officers, it's very important to the safety of the officers. You want as many people in community on the side of the officers as possible and just have those few bad guys isolated. So, that's what neighborhood policing is all about. And we've seen many, many ways where it's working. But we're going to keep deepening that relationship, but, at the same time, if anyone violates that relationship and interferes with a police officer, there will be consequences.

Question: Moving to the Mueller testimony – it seemed like the only time the former special counsel really got animated a couple of points is when he tried to hammer home the fact that, hey, Russia is still under [inaudible] with our elections. Do something. So, I guess the question is, what are you doing here in New York?

Mayor: Here – look, the good news for the City of New York as we have a very strong cyber command with very experienced officials running it, working under Deputy Mayor Anglin. And I think the New York City government, in general, is well protected. The Board of Elections – I wish it was part of New York City government – it is not, as you know – but we at least have been offering support, and being in a position to show them ways that they can protect themselves, and I think there's been some receptivity. I'm worried – I'm worried about whether our elections are safe everywhere. You know, New York may be in better shape than some places, but I'm worried about all of it. And I think with a guy like Mueller, who served his country for decades, and is someone who is so deeply respected, says – we're not out of the woods, we're in direct danger of foreign interference that will change the course of our democracy. That has to be taken very seriously. And I think we're all shocked that the very same day, the Senate turned down the bills that would have expanded election protection. So, I think this is a very important moment – not so much for some of the reasons that sort of are the obsessive debate about impeachment. I think even more so because Mueller is reminding people we're right in the cross hairs of Russian interference right now.

Yeah?

Question: Mr. Mayor, do you feel like somebody has a right to get literally an inch from a police officer's face and curse them out –

Mayor: No, of course not.

Question: What is the appropriate and legal response for that officer? What are the officer's rights?

Mayor: Officers have the right to use their training and their discretion to determine how to handle a situation if they're being interfered with. They have every right to arrest someone.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: If someone is that close to your face, you're being interfered with.

Question: Mr. Mayor, we know that the crime stat numbers [inaudible] crimes are down overall, but there have been a number – maybe more than a dozen of stray bullet incidents in the City in the last few weeks. What is the NYPD doing to combat this? And what do you say to the mothers and the fathers of these victims who have had to ensure these –

Mayor: It's heartbreaking. I'm a father. I've seen these reports, and it's heartbreaking, and it's not the way we're going to live. We are going to do better. Look, Marcia, one thing we can say over – now, almost 25 years the City has gotten safer, and, specifically, in the last five-six years, we've seen very constant improvement, very constant proof that we're getting safer. Now, that's not enough until everyone's safe. What we know is that a big part of our problem is coming from a small number of gang and crew members. The best solution is to take down those gangs and crews and have successful prosecutions including successful gun prosecutions. That's the area where I think the P-D can and will do more, and we need our prosecutors to do more. But I am heartened by the fact that there's only so many of these bad guys and circulation. Commissioner Bratton, when he first was in, made clear to the people in New York City, it's several thousand people – only several thousand in a city of 8.6 million who are causing most of the real violence. Slowly but surely, we're getting more and more of them off the streets, but we've got to complete that mission.

Question: Did you get a chance to speak to or visit any of the parents or the victims or the victims themselves –

Mayor: Not in these last weeks. At various times along the way, I have, but I don't need to, to understand their pain. Their pain is very real. I take it seriously. I look at every report in the morning, Marcia. I get the full rundown from the NYPD of what happened over night, and whenever I see something involving a young person, my first reaction is as a parent, and that means we've got more to do, and where we see any focal point of a problem, we're going to send in more NYPD officers. That's the one thing I want everyone to understand. If there is a place where there's an uptick in violence, we're sending more officers in.

Yeah?

Question: Have you finished reading the Mueller report yet?

Mayor: I have read the Mueller report, yes. Fascinating read –

Question: You were in Washington D.C. two days ago – yesterday – two days ago –

Mayor: There you go. You were right the first time. Always go with your first guess.

Question: And you were not alongside Kirsten Gillibrand and a number of other police unions as they were championing the Senate's passage of the Victim Compensation Act. It's our understanding that you wanted to be there, but we're told no. Why do you think the Senator's office, told you now?

Mayor: You have to ask the Senator. It makes no sense to me. My team made very clear that I wanted to go there to honor our first responders and to show appreciation for the members of the Congress for getting this done and explicitly said, not asking for a speaking role. Just want to be there in support and solidarity. So, I don't know how that request gets turned down.

Yes?

Question: Do you think that was petty of Gillibrand to turn it down?

Mayor: I'm only going to say, I can't imagine why anyone would do such a thing on a moment that should be a unifying moment at particularly – look, I've been around a lot of politicians. When a politician says, I'm not asking to speak, that's a special moment right there. So I find it unbelievable.

Question: So, the City is suing American Airlines over violated the paid sick leave law.

Mayor: Yes.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about that?

Mayor: No, because I heard about it literally walking in the door. So the Department of Consumer Worker Protection could tell you all about it, but it just broke literally coming in the door. Yeah.

Question: In addition to that Mueller Report, have you read the MTA transformation report?

Mayor: Not the whole report. I've read a summary. I haven't read the whole thing.

Question: Have any thoughts on it having passed yesterday?

Mayor: I believe it is consistent with the ten point plan that I put out with the Governor originally. So I'm comfortable that it was the right direction. My central concern is that we get a stronger, clearer direction from the MTA and more accountability. So I do believe it's directionally correct.

Question: The Attorney General's Office is now opening an inquiry into Con Ed and the [inaudible] what happened with the black situation. Can you weigh in?

Mayor: I've spoken to this many times. I'll speak to again, first of all, I agree and I appreciate that the Attorney General has done that. I think it's necessary. I think the whole State government, any state entity that has the power over Con Ed over utilities should use that power right now. We are also going to be doing an investigation at the City level and demanding answers from Con Ed. I tell you from Saturday night, so now it's Thursday – so 12 days, I've spoken to the President of Con Ed numerous times. He's never had trouble finding me when wanted to tell me something, he texted me, he called me and I only have said to him, give me an answer. Tell me why the first incident happened Saturday and how you're going to ensure it won't happen again. Tell me how the second incident happened this last weekend on Sunday. Tell me how it's not going to happen again. Suddenly my phone's not ringing. So, and I've said to him, I'll say it to you. I said we in the public sector, we don't get the option to just not have an answer for something. You know, we have to come up with a meaningful answer. So I'm very disappointed in Con Ed and I think they deserve these investigations and a lot of oversight because you know, it's just really basic. You can't say we've had two very, very serious problems and we know nothing about how to stop them. We are getting no assurances that won't happen again. That's unacceptable.

Yeah?

Question: Can you talk about Con Ed and infrastructure in general? We saw a lot of flooding in the streets and on the subways. Can you talk about what, if you have any plan or the City has any plans to improve the infrastructure?

Mayor: The City is putting more money into infrastructure than ever in our history by a lot. We are running huge capital budgets right now and I made that decision. A previous administration, I'm not saying they didn't do some good work, but they tended to be adverse to a big expansion of capital spending. I think it's absolutely necessary. And part of why I think is necessary is we're not seeing a lot of support from the State level. We're seeing no meaningful new support from the federal level and there is no federal infrastructure plan. So the City of New York is trying to keep it together here, but we're running out of time. What has to be resolved in this next election is there must be a huge federal infrastructure plan, a one to $2 trillion to begin because a place like New York, but many other places as a country, we cannot fix our problems without a giant federal infrastructure investment. It's literally too late for us to fix our own problems. People have to be really clear about that. It's more than we could ever afford at this point. So we're doing things as they come up to try and keep things together. But the bigger picture, there's like, there's kind of a state of delusion in this country right now that we could go on like this without having massive negative consequences in terms of safety, in terms of our economy. We're running out of time. Okay.

Question: Speaker Johnson talked about this [inaudible] the infrastructure. You say you share the same fear of having [inaudible]?

Mayor: I think the difference when it comes to specifically what we've done since Sandy is there has been a substantial amount of investment. So if you just take that one case, thank God there has been and we're in the middle of a $20 billion plan right now. A lot has changed since Sandy. I cannot say that about our overall infrastructure, but I can say that about for obviously I always use the example, the Rockaway Boardwalk and you know, 5.5 miles. That's also a resiliency barrier. A lot of other major resiliency initiatives have been achieved. A lot of other ones are underway. So we're definitely a better place than we were then. But if you talk about our infrastructure overall, we're in a very dangerous situation.

Question: Do you have a response to the letter sent by the New York Congressional delegation calling for a bail out of a taxi medallion owner who are struggling amid the crisis?

Mayor: Yeah. We are going to do a series of things and have done a series of things to help taxi drivers beginning with the cap. And I'll keep saying every time I'm with you guys, I proposed that cap in 2015 I fought for it. If that cap had gone through in 2015, we would have had a very different reality and I'm very disappointed that the City Council did not pass it, but that cap is here now. We have the minimum wage for drivers now. We're providing a lot of direct assistance to the TLC to help people address whatever debt they're dealing with. Those are things we can do. We did not have the regulatory power over the lenders to begin with and the crisis came on very, very intensely. But the bailout numbers, even the folks who are pro bailout, acknowledged it's billions of dollars to begin, is just literally a budgetary impossibility. We can't do it unless we want to cut back on schools or cops or fire or something else. We cannot do it.

Question: [Inaudible] the federal government could potentially –

Mayor: The federal government had the regulatory power over the lenders and the federal government has almost limitless resources. Of course they could do it. Yes.

Question: I wanted to ask your reaction to the Governor of Puerto Rico resigning?

Mayor: I thought it was important that he would step aside. He, - look when you consistently use sexist language, homophobic language, language that excludes a huge number of your constituents, and then on top of that mock the dead from a natural disaster. That's not someone who should be governor. Yes.

Question: I wonder how you feel about your chances next week in the debate? You are in the second night, you're with all the other people from the New York area plus Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It's going to be difficult for you to get a word in edge wise. What's your strategy?

Mayor: Well, Marcia, the first night was ten candidates and they're all quite talkative and so I felt like in the first debate, first night I was able to get my point across and it registered and I heard from people all over the country as I went around, you know, that it meant a lot to them. Second night, anyone would rather be on the second night. So that's a good thing. I feel very good about what I have to say. I think I'm saying something that's different from the others and that's the most important thing. So, really looking forward to it. It's an extraordinary opportunity to share ideas with the American people. The first one was 24 million people between the online and the television audience. I don't know if this one's going to be bigger or smaller, but it be a whole lot of people and I got something to say.

Question: [Inaudible] you raise more donations so that you can qualify for the third debate?

Mayor: Unquestionably whenever you're a less known candidate. And I'm first to acknowledge, I'm less known then some of the other candidates and you get a chance to speak to tens of millions of people, it increases your chances of being able to continue to grow.

Question: [Inaudible] hitting the trail this weekend for you, what you said at the beginning was not necessarily a given. How did that all go down?

Mayor: Well, you know what I've learned about 21 year olds is they have to make up their own mind. So, when he was at the end of his time in college, he was not ready to make a decision. Then he got a little bit of a break and thought about and decided he wanted to be a part of it. And then you know, if you know Dante, he tends to – once he makes a decision, throw himself in with both feet. And the next thing I knew he was speaking to a large audience of the young Democrats of America in Indianapolis, which is not something I assumed he would want to do. I think there's probably the biggest crowd he's ever spoken to. So he's in, he's in it to win it. Last call. Yep.

Question: I don't know if you saw my colleague Melissa Russo's report on the rat infestation at the Jackie Robinson Camp in one of the NYCHA facility. They had to shut the camp down. Are you doing anything about it? And what is your message to the people who live there?

Mayor: It's not an acceptable situation. One of the things we made clear even before the settlement with the federal government, but now even more, is that we were going to use newer strategies to kill these rats in a very, very pervasive way with dry ice in particular. We just announced last week a doubling of the current plans for NYCHA to reach a lot more parts of the NYCHA developments. So we're going to throw a whole lot of extermination services into the battle, but that particular one we have to address right away, and I don't know if Vito was here, is here. Vito is here. Take it away Vito.

General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo, NYCHA: Thank you sir. Yes, I do. So we have had exterminators there in the last three days working closely with the provider of the center. Right, we have exterminators that will be going up into the ceilings where we believe the rats have nested. So it's an all, as the Mayor indicated, it's an all-out attack on rats.

Question: It's too late for this cap and these kids right?

General Manager Mustaciuolio: No it's not too late. No it's been a slight disruption, right? But we have every reason to believe that we will have this situation under control and turn it back over to the provider for the center.

Question: Slight disruption, like the kids and the councilors were throwing up all over the place, that's a little more than a slight disruption –

Mayor: Let's be really clear. We don't accept the situation. We're going to throw everything we got at it. We're going to fix it. But my point is it's not too late. It's July. Their camp can continue. We're going to fix it.

Last call –

Question: In addition to the problem with the rat infestation, you know that the federal monitor's report just came out, document a pipe spewing, putrid liquid that no one could fix because they wouldn't go get a ladder in addition to trash piled up to the top of garbage shoot. What seem to be systematic issues with, you know, the way staff were addressing things. There's been a lot of promises to fix things, but why hasn't the City been able to sort of change –

Mayor: NYCHA, look, let's be really clear. NYCHA houses 400,000 people. It's the size of a major American city and I want to give Vito a huge amount of credit for the changes that he's already made. And if you want an example, just look at the heat situation from two winters ago versus last winter. It was night and day and it was a lot about his leadership and throwing a lot of resources into the fight and it worked. We don't accept a pipe spewing putrid water. We don't accept trash bins going up, you know, a bunch of stories. That's unacceptable. But the point is, as we find each thing, we're going to fix it. If we find personnel who are not doing their job, they're not going to be there. So this is a process of change. But this went on for decades. The disinvestment went on for decades. The culture of NYCHA corroded for decades in large measure because of disinvestment. And now we are changing the culture, changing the investment, changing everything, especially RAD, which is going to reach 62 – 62,000 units. And again, anyone who doesn't understand the magnitude of RAD, go out to Ocean Bay in the Rockaways and you will see for yourself. There's a whole lot that is going to change. And with Greg Russ coming in and working with Vito, we have a leadership team that can do it. Last call,

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Louder?

Question: [Inaudible] talking about disinvestment NYCHA from the federal government. What do you as a presidential candidate propose?

Mayor: Oh, absolutely. I propose that we – we have the opportunity to do a huge national infrastructure plan. This has evaded us for years now. I actually believe, just to show you that somehow, you know, I try to stay open minded. I actually thought President Trump meant it when he was running, that he wanted to do a huge infrastructure plan. It turned out he did not want to do a huge infrastructure plan. He wanted to do a huge tax giveaway to the wealthy and corporations. It's literally the money that should have gone to infrastructure, but when we do an infrastructure plan, which absolutely Democrats would make a priority, and if I were president, I'd make it a priority. Public housing should be considered infrastructure. This is the central point. Again, the vision that's been put forward, different models between one and $2 trillion overall, I don't have an exact percentage, but I can tell you in our case, we've got $8 billion, just $8 billion in the scheme of things. We could actually fully fund the repairs to bring NYCHA up to the level it should be, because the rest of our plan accounts for $24 billion. So the whole federal government with everything they have, we only need $8 billion from them. If there was a federal infrastructure plan for the whole country that included public housing as part of it, we could get that in a heartbeat.

Thanks everyone.