Transcript: Mayor Bill de Blasio Holds Townhall in Bayside, Queens

February 29, 2016

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you. Thank you, Paul – I want to thank everyone for being here tonight. And I want to say at the outset, there are people who care about their community and who do something about it. And everyone in this room qualifies as someone who cares enough to be here. You could have been doing a lot of other things tonight, but you wanted to be at a town hall meeting to talk about your community; to raise concerns; to make sure your community was getting better. So, I want to really thank you for that because that is in fact what in so many cases made sure communities were strong. People created a sense of what the community needed – held all of us accountable, which is what a democracy demands and rolled up their sleeves and did something.

Now, you are blessed to have Paul as your councilman. And I want to speak from personal experience, I’ve known Paul for most of 20 years. I had the honor of working for his father Peter Vallone Sr. who did a lot of great things for this City. And we are very proud of him.

[Applause]

And Paul is someone that I learned a long time ago to trust, to listen to. When he raises concerns about this community I listen very, very carefully because I know he has the best interest of the community in mind. I know he is a fair guy. I know he is a smart guy. So, I want everyone in this community to know he always has an open door at City Hall because he has proven himself to be a true public servant. And that is something that the whole community can be proud of having made the choice of this [inaudible]. We worked together to do something very important for this City. And let me tell you, it was something that Paul cared about deeply. I mentioned his commitment to our veterans and how much it means to him that this is a district with so many veterans. I have a very personal view of this matter. And you know, as a child I didn’t know what I can tell you now – I didn’t know that I was getting an understanding of what all veterans go through because it was in my home every single day; the results of war. My dad served in the Pacific in the U.S. Army in World War II.

[Applause]

And he fought in a number of engagements in the Pacific including the battle of Okinawa, which is one of the bloodiest battles of all time. And he came back missing half a leg. And I didn’t think anything but that was my father, and of course I was proud of what he had done. But he bore both the physical scares and the emotional scares. Now, you know, for those in the World War II generation it was harder and it wasn’t typical in our society back then to talk about the emotional scares, but they were very real. And my dad had a very, very tough time even though he was a guy who had shown such bravery. So, I got to know what veterans have gone through, through personal experience. And the men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and so many other places are bringing back a host of challenges because they served us. Now, let’s be clear, our national government – and this is an absolutely bipartisan statement because it happened under Democrats and Republicans – our national government did not take care of our veterans the way it should have, it just didn’t. And so, Paul was one of the people who believed that we had to do something more in the City and we had to create a City of New York Department of Veteran Affairs. And with Paul’s leadership and the leadership of the City Council we did that.

[Applause]

And we’re going to provide a lot more for our veterans. And something I am proud of – the President called upon mayors all over the country to commit to do something that should have happened a long, long time ago; to commit to end chronic veterans’ homelessness. Think about it for a moment – what a horrible thing it is that people who served our country overseas came back and were homeless here in their own country. And we took that commitment up and we said we would do whatever it takes to end chronic veterans’ homelessness in this City. That means that folks who were unfortunately time and again were homeless. This year we achieved that goal. This year we ended chronic veteran homelessness in New York City. We’ve got more work to do because I don’t even want a veteran to be homeless for a week or a day. But we are well on the road to making sure that any of the men and women who served us can come back here and now that they will be supported and taken care of.

Paul played a big role in that effort. Paul has fought for seniors also, and I want to thank him for that. One of the first things we did together was to work on behalf of senior centers to strengthen them and strengthen the efforts on behalf of seniors – the single fastest growing demographic in New York City, by the way. And those people deserve a lot more support. So, I will just tell you that this guy goes to bat for you. He is well-respected and he gets a lot done. Let’s thank him for all he does.

[Applause]

Tisch James has a job I used to have and I thank her for what she does. I want to say, I had the honor of public advocate I thank her for all she doses all over the City to advocate for people and make sure the government is serving all of the people. And she is doing a great job with that. I want to thank Melinda Katz who – I want to tell you, Melinda and I, it was August I think, we went to CitiField. And I said, Melinda you and I went to CitiField and the next thing you know the Mets were in the World Series, okay.

[Laughter]

So, we have to go again this year, obviously. But I really want to thank Melinda for all she does. She also advocates [inaudible] for the borough of Queens; lets us know all the time what needs to be done and we appreciate her advocacy. And I want to thank Stuart Kaplan for his very kind welcome.

You know, this is an amazing place; 80 years Selfhelp has been here. That’s amazing to begin with. But Selfhelp grew with a mission of addressing the injustice and the pain of people who have been through the Holocaust. And now, embraces people from every part of the world, all different cultures, with the same beautiful commitment and openness and understanding. And isn’t that the American way? That each generation welcomes the next and embraces the next. So, let’s thank everyone at Selfhelp for what they do.

[Applause]

Alright, I’m going to say a few thing that I want you to hear upfront then we’re going to take lots of questions tonight and have a dialogue. But let me first tell you about tonight’s batting order of all the commissioners. [Inaudible] Mets in spring training so I can talk about the batting order. And I always say at town hall meetings these wonderful people are out here they serve the City; they do a great job. They are here on this Monday night, but they are also a captive audience for you. So, at the conclusion of the meeting if you want to buttonhole any of them and talk to them about your issues this is a golden opportunity. They will stay all night.

[Applause]

They are happy about it too.

Stuart Kaplan: It’s good to be the boss.

Mayor: That’s right.

[Laughter]

Alright, here we go – I’ll name them all in rapid order. You can clap anytime you want. The commissioner of Transportation, Polly Trottenberg;

[Applause]

The Sanitation Commissioner ,Kathryn Garcia;

[Applause]

President of the Economic Development Corporation, Maria Torres-Springer;

[Applause]

Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration, Steve Banks;

[Applause]]

our Small Business Services Commissioner, Greg Bishop;

[Applause]

Department of Finance Commissioner, Jacques Jiha;

[Applause]

Our Parks Commissioner, Mitch Silver;

[Applause]

Commissioner of Department for the Aging, Donna Carrado;

[Applause]

I knew you’d have a cheering section – Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler;

[Applause]

You met earlier, Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs, Marco Carrion – thank you for all you do.

[Applause]

First Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Health, Dr. Oxiris Barbot;

[Applause]

Deputy Chancellor for the Department of Education, Elizabeth Rose;

[Applause]

you met, of course, before our two superintendents and we thank them for their great work.

[Applause]

The Consumer Affairs acting commissioner Alba Pico;

[Applause]

Associate Commissioner of Hosing Preservation Development, Anne Marie Santiago;

[Applause]

Director of Community Affairs, Department of Environmental Protection Ibrahim Abdul-Matin;

[Applause]

Queens Director for the Department of City Planning, John Young;

[Applause]

Someone I am very happy is here because he’s going to speak to some very important issues tonight – Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, Christian Klossner thank you.

[Applause]

And the Deputy Director, Catherine Wan, thank you.

[Applause]

And then from the NYPD I want to thank them again for all they do to keep these communities safe. They are doing a stellar job – Assistant Chief, Diana Pizzuti of Queens North;

[Applause]

Deputy Chief John [inaudible] of Queens North;

[Applause]

Commanding Officer of the 109th Precinct, Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti;

[Applause]

Commanding Officer of the 111th Precinct, Captain William McBride;

[Applause]

So, let me talk about that they have done very quickly. This is an amazing thing. NYPD gets better all the time. In the last two year, they have driven down major crime almost six percent. And this is a police force that we are about to – in the year 2016 – add 2,000 more officers on patrol.

[Applause]

That is the first increase in patrol strength in 15 years. This NYPD has stronger training, stronger technology than ever before. And something else very important, we all see what is happening in the world around us. And Commissioner Bratton and I came to the conclusion, and we worked with the City Council, that we needed a different and stronger anti-terror capacity in this City. We have created a command – the Critical Response Command; 500-plus officers, specially trained, specially armed to deal with any potential terrorist situation and to prevent terrorism. And the NYPD has done an amazing job since 9/11 preventing terror, but today’s challenges are even more complexed. So, we have the strongest anti-terror capacity of any police force in the country. And we thank all of the leaders of the NYPD here.

[Applause]

They have done an amazing job also in these two precincts driving down crime and I am very happy to say that on April 1st – in the 109th Precinct – our new neighborhood-policing initiative will be beginning, which means even stronger policing will be happening in the 1-0-9. And as I said, additional officers join both precincts in the course of this year because of the expansion of the NYPD. We are looking forward to that and we thank you for all you do.

[Applause]

We all need safe neighborhoods. There are some other things we need. We need clean neighborhoods. And one of the things that we announced is that we are going to be doing Sunday and holiday litter basket collections all over this City. That’s going to be true in particular for example [inaudible] from 46th to 35th Avenues will be getting those pickups.

[Applause]

We are adding – we doubled the amount of anti-graffiti capacity because we want to stop graffiti anywhere we see it. And you’re going to be seeing that all over the district. And particularly we need know there has been some issues with Cross Island Parkway. So, you’re going to see our new anti-graffiti capacity there. We are doubling down on our Vision Zero efforts. And that is going to mean constant enforcement by the NYPD to keep people safe. This is a tough challenge, but over two years Vision Zero has been working; NYPD, Department of Transportation have played an amazing role in getting that done. We are also going to keep making our streets safer. So, I know there’s been safety concerns. 26th Avenue and Corporal Kennedy Street – we’re making improvements there to make people safer. And something nice that will be in the streetscape – we will be adding a City bench right here in front of this senior center. So, people will have that. That will be in within a month. 

[Applause]

And a couple of other facts you should know, and they’re important, and then we’re going to open it up. This city – we always have challenges – we always have challenges, but there’s some very powerful things happening. The growth in jobs in this city has been extraordinary. We have in the City of New York today 4.2 million jobs – it is the most jobs we have had in the entire history of the city. I’m proud to say, in the last two years, we added almost 220,000 jobs in this city – that is the most jobs added in any two-year period in the City’s history, and that’s good for every neighborhood, and in particular in Queens. 

Now, this is really impressive. I’ve said it from the beginning, we need a five-borough economy. God bless Manhattan, but we need a five-borough economy with jobs in every borough.

[Applause]

For 2014 – the last year we have the full fact for – 2014 – Queens had a growth in jobs of four percent in one year in Queens alone, and that’s a good sign. And I know a lot of small business owners in the room, and jobs in New York City are created by small business, and I want to thank all the small business owners in this room.

We also have been doing a lot when it comes to educating our kids. And the simple facts – two things I want to note – 70 percent-plus graduation rate. Also for the first time in the City’s history, we have gone over 70 percent graduation rate.

[Applause]

And I thank all the parents in this room. I thank all the teachers, and the principals, and I thank the students in the room for all they’ve done. 

[Applause]

And Melinda mentioned pre-K, and everyone I think knows this was my first priority – to make sure we had this for every child. Let me tell you one fact that really jumps out – in Bayside, and the surrounding district, 4,500 kids in full-day pre-K this year – that is quadruple the number from just two years ago – quadrupling the number of full-day pre-K seats.

[Applause]

I’m going to finish with one more point on – you heard the point made before about senior affordable housing. Again, our seniors – fastest growing demographic in this city. Our seniors need to know they will have a place to live in this city, in the neighborhood they love near their families, near their friends, and we are moving forward with a very aggressive program for senior affordable housing. The federal government used to do it. You’re not going to be surprised to hear the federal government is not going it anymore, and we have to make up for that. And so, we’ve put in place a very aggressive program to create affordable housing to preserve a lot of the apartments the seniors have now. We want the ability to create affordable housing for seniors in a lot of places it has not been allowed under our current zoning laws. We’re working with the City Council. There’s a proposal called Zoning for Quality and Affordability, and the number one part of that initiative is to open up more opportunities for senior affordable housing, and I think it’s something that’s going to make a big difference. 

I talk about a very personal experience I had when my mom – my mom lived to almost 90 years old, which is a blessing, and she was an extraordinary person and a wonderful mother. And she was very independent and she wanted to live on her own well into her 80s, and a point came where her health wasn’t so great, and we knew that she needed a lot more support, so we were able to move her to a home a block away from us in Brooklyn. And she got to spend a lot of time with her grandchildren, and she always knew we were there just minutes away, and it was a very good way for her to live those years. Everyone should have that opportunity to take care of the seniors in their families. Every senior should have an opportunity to be close to the ones that they love, but it won’t happen if we don’t change the way we do things, because we have to do things a lot quicker and a lot better to create the affordable housing our seniors need, and we’re focused on that.

So, thank you for the chance to be with you. I look forward to hearing your questions, offering all the answers I can. We get a lot done at these meetings. We have found we get a lot done for neighborhoods, and I look forward to talking with you tonight.

Thank you very much. 

Councilmember Vallone: Alright. So, as the Mayor said, we have three co-hosts, and I think it’s important that – especially here at Selfhelp, who has opened their doors literally to us, to our seniors every day. Erin Brennan – Erin, where are you? She’s our manager here.

[Applause]

Erin, thank you for always – how many times we’re here – you never say no. I thank you very much. And Sandy Myers – where are you, Sandy? There she is, right next to us. Thank you, Sandy. Ed Braunstein – you need partners up in Albany. He’s our Assembly member here in the 26th District. He’s in session, but we thank Ed for always standing every time I need a partner in Albany – it’s there. And, Mr. Kim, what else can I say about you and Linda Lee over at KCS? You have been a model for [inaudible] for me as an attorney, for [inaudible] as a senior center chair, to see how important it is to have senior centers – but senior centers with an ethnic background, especially for our Korean community – the largest community service center. Mr. Kim, thank you very much for everything. 

[Applause]

So, since we – the Mayor ended by talking about seniors, and it’s important – why doesn’t Mr. Kim, or Linda – you want to start us off with our first question for – or we can do it that way. Mr. Kim, [inaudible] how about you? C’mon, you can do one.

Mayor: You surprised them.

Councimember Vallone: I did, I surprised them. I went right to them in the back.

[Laughter]

You can do it Mr. Kim. You’re our tutor. 

Mayor: Okay. They’re arguing over who won’t take the question.

[Laughter]

Question: First of all, I appreciate this opportunity, and serving the seniors is a privilege and an honor for us. [inaudible] and I always expect ourselves to admit the needs of our seniors – always have problems and issues, but [inaudible]. One issue that we have is home [inaudible] seniors and they’re culturally limited. Such a barrier they have, and we need to focus on how to serve homebound Asian seniors in our community. Our Borough President supported us too [inaudible] that helped us – quality services. We’ll continue our services to meet the needs [inaudible] community leaders. [inaudible].

Mayor: Thank you. Do you want to say anything to that? Donna, stand up. You’ve got to stand up – Donna Corrado. 

Commissioner Donna Corrado, Department for the Aging: Of course community senior services does a great job serving the Korean community. And, may I say, they’ve also done a great job working and helping DFTA providers and DFTA staff to have us serve this particular community. So, we’re learning with you, and we support you. And yes, homebound seniors – they’re a growing number of seniors, so that’s an area of growth for us as well. So, thank you. 

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: And if someone didn’t hear the question, just let me know and we’ll –

Question: What is DFTA?

Councilmember Vallone: DFTA – we love acronyms in the City of New York. We have acronyms for everything – Department for the Aging. Okay? So, DFTA is critical for us here, and that’s why we’re so happy that Donna’s here. She’s at all my hearings down at City Hall. So, any time we have something here at Selfhelp or the [inaudible], or the College Point [inaudible], or the Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Senior Center in Whitestone – those are my four senior centers here. So, when you bring an issue to me, we bring it to Donna, and to the Mayor, and it’s addressed. Okay, so, our second co-host for tonight – a dear friend, and I probably wouldn’t be standing here without his support, and his help, and his guidance, and his friendship. He has become the second mayor out here in Northeast Queens, and we –

Mayor: I think he’s you’re first mayor.

[Laughter]

He was there ahead of me.

Councilmember Vallone: Warren has many titles, but Warren Shriver is a friend to the whole community. He’s the president of the Bay Terrence Civic Alliance – Warren Shriver. 

[Applause]

Question: Mr. Mayor, first of all, you are the Mayor, absolutely. I don’t want to compete with the Mayor. 

Mayor: No, really, you can have the job.

[Laughter]

Question: And I want to thank you for coming out here tonight. I want to speak as co-president of the President’s Co-Op and Condo Council, and that’s – my other co-president is Bob Frederick, and we work together. And I commend you on your efforts for affordable housing, and the Co-Op and Condo community in Queens, and Brooklyn, and the Bronx – we are affordable housing – that’s what we do. When you talk about a living wage, we provide tens of thousands of well-paying union jobs for tens and thousands of men and women. That’s what – all of our employs are – are union.

[Applause]

Question: But if we don’t do something to get the property taxes, the assessed evaluations in hand, eventually, our properties will become unaffordable, we’ll have to cut back services, we will have to lay employees off – I would never want to do that, my employees are like family to me. And, as you know, [inaudible] the problem is that the class-two properties – we don’t have the same protections that are afforded to class-one properties. Our assessed evaluations are based on comparable properties, rentals, that, when you come out here – they don’t exist. So, you’re basing the comparable on properties that don’t exist, and this goes back to 1996 under Mayor Dinkins, and he agreed that something had to be done then. And we would love an opportunity to sit down with people from the administration – maybe form a task force just to look at this issue of the co-op and condo taxes, and maybe we could come up with something working in conjunction in Albany and finally come up with a solution. Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you. Well, you’re always welcome to come sit with us. And these are real issues, I’m not going to minimize them, so I’ll make sure Jacques and others sit down with you and talk through it. Look, let me offer where I think we really are this moment. The whole situation with property tax – we know a few things for sure – it is not consistent, it’s not clear, it’s not transparent, and we know that any solution – I believe this strongly – has to be across the entire property tax system. I understand there are some very specific challenges and some people who really need help, but we have to come up with a solution that goes across the entire property tax system, which means an incredibly complicated, challenging mission. It’s a mission I have said publicly I will take on. It’s going to take a while – I’m not going to lie to you and say this is an easy one or an overnight one. But, in the meantime, this is what I’ve done, which is – I am not missing the assessed value challenge – but, in the meantime, the issue is to make sure we do not have property tax rate increases. Now, two times in the last 15 years – and I’m a homeowner in Brooklyn – we’ve had property tax rate increases, and the way I have gone about my budget is to make sure that does not happen. We’re in the middle of my third budget since I became Mayor – there is no property tax increase. I have laid in extraordinary reserves. Everyone is looking at the same newscast I am – we see some things happening around the world, in the economy, that are unsettling, and we want to be ready if anything happens that causes us fiscal stress, so we’ve put in a lot of reserves so that we will not get to the day where there has to be a property tax rate increase. So, the one thing I can say is – we’re very clear and consistent on that front. But the bigger challenge will take a very, very big solution. I will take responsibility to work with everyone to forge that. It will take time, but, in the meantime, I will protect against any rate increase.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: Your wife was very happy with you, Warren. She was shaking her head up and down, so you’re in good shape tonight. Okay, so, what I’d like to do – I think we mentioned co-op, condos, and I know we have Bob Frederick and Michael [inaudible], and I would think probably one of the questions that I’ve heard from them, and also the co-op condo community is Albany might be think about tweaking the definition of an NORC – another one of our famous acronyms. So, it’s a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, and one important fact about our district is we have the largest residential NORC in the City – and that’s Mike [inaudible] with [inaudible].

Mayor: NORC is not a good acronym.

Councilmember Vallone: Yeah, I know, but –

Mayor: It just doesn’t sound good –

Councilmember Vallone: So, I just wanted to make sure that – I think with Donna here, and yourself – I think the question I’ve been hearing is to make sure that we will do everything we can to support our NORC system with funding, with additional programs, because so many of our seniors are living with dignity at home, and I think that’s the importance of having a NORC – is so we don’t have to do that. So, maybe some thoughts on –

Mayor: So, I’ll open, and then pass to Donna. And I think Donna’s doing an extraordinary job and she really has the finger on the pulse of what seniors are experiencing all over the City. Again, we have to change the way we’re doing things. So, when I think of where this city’s going – what it means – first and foremost, more affordable housing for seniors all over the City; second, more accommodations for seniors. One of the things I’m very proud of is we’re pushing accessibility across the board, but one of the areas we’re doing it in is in terms of taxis and for-hire vehicles. We’re doing that for folks who happen to have disabilities, but we’re also doing that for seniors because a lot of seniors need more accessible vehicles that they can get around in, and we have to start thinking of everything we do as a City to make this a more senior-friendly city – so, it’s very much in the front of our minds. You’re exactly right – some of the communities are just organic – there’s a lot of seniors in one place. We’ve got to think better about how we provide support and services. So, with that, I’m going to pass to Donna to add.

Commissioner Corrado: I would agree wholeheartedly with the Mayor on not necessarily liking the word NORC, because there’s a lot of confusion around that. But the City does a great job, and with your Vision Zero, and making New York City age-friendly – one of the most age-friendly cities in the world, by the way – we need to continue that and build the infrastructure. No matter what you call it, it’s about allowing seniors to age in place in the communities of their choice. So, thank you.  

Councilmember Corrado: And while we still have our borough president, I think one of the great examples of our partnership – because a lot of it happens through funding, and we are such great supporters of our schools, our libraries, and our parks – [inaudible] president of Friends of Little Neck-Douglaston Library. [inaudible] where are you? My happy, crying supporter of the libraries, I know you have a question for us.

[Laughter]

Question: First of all, thank you very much Paul. [inaudible] and first, my thanks to you, Mayor de Blasio; Paul, our Council member; Borough President Melinda Katz; Letisha James, who we met at the Dragon Boat Festival; and State Assembly member Ed Bronstein, who unfortunately is not here today. I want to thank you all for helping in each and every way to make six-day service possible city-wide in all of our libraries.

[Applause]

It’s so wonderful to have after some 15 years – a library-friendly administration in City Hall. Second, we applaud all of our efforts to fund our Queens library operating and capital budgets. My question is, what can we do to keep investing and increasing funding for Fiscal Year ’17. For example, if you recall, lat year, we had asked for slightly more than a billion dollars, which by the way, sounds like a lot of money, but it’s about one percent of the operating budget. We had asked for that for capital budget projects, and we received $300 million. We are extremely grateful, but surely we can do better than that. And finally, I want to thank publicly, once again, all of you – everyone in this room – who supports your local library. And a special thank you to Councilmember Paul Vallone, and Borough President Melinda Katz for your generosity in funding the upgrades to the tune of a million dollars at the Douglaston-Little Neck Library. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 

Mayor: I love your passion for the library, and thank you for all you have done, and I know it’s made a great, great impact on so many people’s lives. I do think a billion dollars is a lot of money.

[Laughter]

She’s like – a billion here, a billion there – but the fact is, I understand the point that for a long time, libraries were not invested in, and we are trying to make up some of that ground. I’m not going to jump ahead of my executive budget, which comes out at the end of April, but I can say we feel good about what’s being achieved with the six-day service. We think it’s making a real impact. The capital piece is a little tricky, but we’ll have more to say in a few weeks on it. And thank you for all you do.

Councilmember Vallone: Alright, so [inaudible] we love you, but we’re going to keep our questions a little bit smaller so we can speed them around. We’ll jump to the back – I see our friends [inaudible]. I know one of you had a question.

Question: My question is – as you know, in our community – we have a small community in Whitestone – our business district is about four square blocks long, and recently we’ve had an influx of all these spas that are opening up. You know, you do some research and you find out that some of them that opened up advertise on these escort services [inaudible] and I know some are legitimate, and some are questionable, but we want to know what we can do, because we work with Deputy Inspector [inaudible] – he comes to all of our meetings. What can we do to find out what’s going on, because it is an issue, and the community – and I think it’s everywhere – it’s not just in Whitestone, I think it’s pretty much widespread. 

Mayor: No, you’re right – you’re right. So, this is an example of the way we can get some things done in these meetings, because you’re absolutely right when you say some are legitimate – that is a true statement – but plenty are illegitimate, and to get at them – the NYPD’s done a great job, but it needs more than just the NYPD, because we actually need to take every City agency that can have an impact and concentrate that impact and throw the book at them – that’s what it takes. And we know we have a real problem here. We’re about to start some very serious enforcement. I’d like you to hear from the Executive Director of the Office of Special Enforcement Christian Klossner, who will give you a sense of how this is going to proceed.

Executive Director Christian Klossner, Office of Special Enforcement: Everybody, thank you for your questions. We’re not really an agency – we’re a multi-agency taskforce of Buildings, Fire, Police, Law Department attorneys, and what we do is we take the resources of all the City’s agencies, combine them into one problem and we go at it. We have a long history of addressing problems like this. Our agency, in its beginning, helped clean up Times Square and sanitized it, and we’ve now turned our attention to this community. So, we’ll be working with the police department. If you addresses, if you have blocks, if you have the worst of the worst, please let us know. We’re going to coordinate with the police department, and what we’ll do is we’ll go. If they’re not using the building in the right way, then we get the landlord involved and we get the landlord to kick him out, or we tell the landlord you’re going to come to court and the judge is going tell you to kick him out.

Mayor: I like a straightforward approach. Christian, how soon are we going to be able to start this effort in this community?

Executive Director Klossner: We should be able to start in the next couple of weeks. I just don’t want to step on the police department –

Mayor: So, in the month of March?

Executive Director Klossner: In the month of March for sure.

Mayor: Okay. You’re going to be working with NYPD and all the other agencies to start a concentrated enforcement effort. And anybody who has an address, I want to really emphasize – Christian will be here at the end of the meeting. Obviously, you can get it to PD, you can get it to the councilman – but we want every address that someone thinks is an illegal spa, or where there’s prostitution or any other kind of offense because we’re going to go at them very hard. Thank you.

Executive Director Klossner: Also, my Deputy Director [inaudible] is here. You can talk to her too and give her an address.

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Councilmember Vallone: I think we have one more question in the back.

Question: My question is a little long. I apologize. 

Councilmember Vallone: It better not be a written speech, Alfredo.

Question: No, I had to write it down because – I’m sorry, I’m very loud.

[Laughter]

Question: I had to write it down because I wanted to get my thoughts together. So, I’m just going to read it. First off, thank you for coming and thank you for taking everyone here – greatly appreciate it. Is this too loud?

Councilmember Vallone: You’re good. You’re good.

Question: I saw the Mayor going like this –

Mayor: No, I was looking to turn to somebody – is it me, or is it cold in here?

Councilmember Vallone: It’s freezing in here.

Mayor: Can we get it to be warmer in here?

Councilmember Vallone: They just shut the air off. 

Mayor: Okay. Okay.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: It’s good to be the Mayor, right? Executive power –

Question: You just answered my question. I can sit down.

[Laughter]

Question: North East Queens is a community with a large number of civil servants as residents. We are overburdened with the incredibly high real estate taxes. Many of these civil servants recently ratified contracts that gave them cost-of-living increases spread out over ten years with retro-payments, and final raises to be implemented in 2020. Never mind the insulting one percent offer to the NYPD – the very people charged with protecting us. Now, these residents feel that your approval of a 32 percent pay hike against the Commission’s recommendations, and effective immediately for the City Council, was a direct insult on everyone on an already overburdened community.

[Applause]

Our property taxes are through the roof, and there’s nothing tangible to show for it. We have an onslaught of helicopter traffic that disrupts, and is destroying the quality-of-life for a lot of our communities. We have an EDC that refuses to do anything about it, and they’re – if I’m not mistaken – the ones that own the heliports in the city.

We have snowfalls – sorry, I know you knew that was coming – that leave our borough crippled and unplowed for days – zoning changes and variances that are taking away the very reasons why many of us, if not all, invested in these communities.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: [Inaudible] to be fair, I’d like to add – to be fair, you’re hitting about 18 topics.

Question: I know, I’m sorry. But my question is basically –

Councilmember Vallone: Give me the one that you really want to –

Question: What do you want to say to these residents with these concerns?

Councilmember Vallone: You got about an hour?

Mayor: I got plenty to say. Let me separate the different pieces of what you’re raising. First of all, the question is – are we protecting the quality-of-life in the community, and making this city strong for the long term. I’m very proud of the things we are investing people’s money in. We’re going to have 2,000 more police officers on the street. I think that’s a good investment of money. Wait, wait, wait, wait – it’s not debate club, my friend. I listened very nicely to you.

[Laughter]

Okay. So, we make a series of choices with the City Council of what’s going to keep this city strong for the long term. I think pre-K was about making this city strong. So, we made a series of choices. I’m proud of it, and I actually think is about improving the quality of life and preserving the quality of life. Point one.

Point two – I’m very proud of the fact that we have 95 percent of our employees under contract in this city. When I started it was zero. And I think that shows respect for working people.

[Applause]

But I did it in a way that was fair to the working people but also protected the tax payers’ long term interest because it had to be affordable, because I had to make sure we would never fall into a fiscal crisis as has happened in the past. Okay.

Now, I will speak right to you on the question of the pay level of the City Council members. There was a commission. It was led by people who were objective – had nothing to do with the City Council. They said, look, it had been a decade. They looked at what the Council members did, and they said between the fact it had been decade, the fact the Council has much more responsibility that it used, but most importantly, the fact that the City Council said upfront that they would end all of the outside outcome – which I think was a thing that the public did not want to see from public officials anymore. They want their elected officials to be full-time. No conflicts, no outside income. Right?

Okay. And they said, so, we’re going to do that. They were going to end the process of getting special compensation if you were a committee chair – all that stuff – some reforms that people have been working on for decades. And, I will say about Paul, this is literally a seven day a week job, it can happen at – obviously it’s the evening. He is working. I assure he is working in the morning. I assure you he’s working in the afternoon. And something can come up at any hour. It’s not like a typical nine to five to say the least. And on top of that he represents almost 160,000 people.

Now, I was a City Councilman in Brooklyn. You have an obligation to each of those 160,000 people. Anyone of them can walk up to you, and rightfully demand follow-up on any kind of issue. And he does that. So, I think what was put through – which I signed – was fair because we’re asking a lot of him. And I think what we’ve tried to do across the board with labor is respectful and fair.

So, that’s two points. But I think the essential point that you’re raising – if I hear it correctly – is are we going to do what’s right for the quality-of-life of the community? Are we going to spend the public’s money right? I think we are. I’m happy to talk to anyone about that because I think we’re making the investments we need. Thank you.

[Applause] 

Councilmember Vallone: Thank you. And I think, Mr. Mayor we spoke about some good things, especially with Commissioner Trottenberg here, about the helicopter issue. So, I think that came up –

Mayor: Yes, I forgot that.

Councilmember Vallone: See.

Mayor: I’m going back.

Councilmember Vallone: I helped you out. There you go.

Mayor: Thank you, Paul. Okay. Now, we spoke – Paul and Melinda and I were speaking earlier about the helicopter issue. Now, I feel the same thing I bet you do about when I hear a helicopter near over my house. My house in Brooklyn is not that far from the Gowanus Expressway, and every time there’s a crash on the Gowanus Expressway, every news helicopter and PD helicopter were overheard simultaneously. I didn’t need to turn on the TV to know there was crash because I could hear the helicopters. So, I know that feeling.

We looked at a problem that was affecting Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island – which was the tourist helicopters. We decided that we had to greatly reduce those flights – and we just achieved a new arrangement that’s going to be a 50 percent reduction in all those tourist helicopter flights. Now, that was not done in the past. We said the needs of the residents was more important than any other consideration. Here, there’s a growing problem, and we need to work with the community, work with the FAA, etcetera, to see if there’s some way – now again, FAA controls the routes. I wish I did but they do. But we can work with the community, we can raise the concerns, we can make noise to try and get better routes.

Polly Trottenberg, you know a lot about this, so, I’m going to point to who I’ve already assigned. Polly Trottenberg was the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, so she knows a lot about this issue. She will be my point person as we try and see if we can get a better deal for this community. Take it away Polly.

Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I actually did have experience at USDOT on the helicopter issue when it involved Senator Schumer and the rerouting of the flights over Long Island. So, it’s something I’m knowledgeable about and will sit down and talk to you all about how we can work with the Congressional delegation and the FAA and see what we can do for this community.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: And I was there when I heard the Mayor appointed her to take care of this [inaudible]. So we have good work on that.

So, maybe in this section. Some questions here? Yes sir.

Question: Good evening, everyone. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. My name is [inaudible] I am a teacher in District 25.

[Applause]

I’ve been a teacher for 15 years, and the past seven have been in 25. I don’t have a question, as much as I do have statement that I’d like to just take an opportunity to make. I’d like to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for what you’ve done in regards to education in the past couple of years.

So, prior to your term in office, there was a different climate that existed amongst teachers, amongst between the relationship between teachers and community, teachers and administration and schools. And what we’re starting to see, or what we’ve seen from yourself, from Chancellor Fariña, from our union representatives is a strong sense of collaboration that over the last couple of years have really funneled into the school level. You know, teachers have a lot more confidence, if you will, in walking to administrators and saying their ideas. Union representatives and superintendents, and such collaborate together, and we come up with ideas, and we come up with plans, and we put our heads together to make curriculum work better for the children in our community.

It’s – as you know the phrase goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the blueprint looks a lot better now than what it did 12 years – or the prior 12 years.

Mayor: Thank you.

Question: So, I’d like to just take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of teachers here, on behalf of teachers – my colleagues, and thanks very much for what you’re doing for education.

[Applause]

Mayor: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I want to thank our superintendents who are a big part of making that change. And we appreciate their efforts every day. I want to thank –

[Applause]

I want to thank everyone who teaches. I’ll be very quick because we’ve got a lot of questions, but I got to respond to this very personally. The reason I have the appreciation I have for teachers is that the two most precious people in my life – my daughter, Chiara and my son, Dante – from pre-K through 12th Grade were taught by New York City public school teachers, and they took care of them.

[Applause]

They took care of my kids. They supported them. They helped them to become strong. They helped them get for life – and I could name any number of teachers who played a crucial role in our lives. Now, I don’t understand anybody who is a leader – who is an elected leader who puts down teachers. It makes no sense to me. It’s morally wrong. It’s counterproductive, but it happened for a long time. So, I can tell you from firsthand experience that this city gains in so many ways. And our future will be determined by our public schools, and that means by our public school teachers, so thank you for all you do.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: In that vicinity, we have our UFT rep. So, I see [inaudible] from District 25, and [inaudible] from District 26.

[Applause]

Joe has managed to put – yes I see hands waving in all areas. Yes. Joe has managed to put a fourth grade – fifth grade basketball, time is flying by already – for all of our public schools, and it’s one of the greatest events. So, thank you very much.

We’ve been joined by one of my colleagues. Where is Councilmember Barry Grodenchik? Barry, our newest council member right to our east a little bit [inaudible]. Thank you for making it, Barry. If you have any questions from that neck of the woods – Barry is going to stay around.

So, yes in this area. You got you hand – all hands are pointing to you.

Question: Hi, I’m Susan from Flushing. I’m going to turn the topic back to noise for a minute. I just have a question – why has the city taken a backseat on the airplane and pollution issue? Because the city owns the land on which the airports are situated, and has a responsibility to its residents to protect them. Like over in this part of Queens has gotten hit especially hard the past few years, and where I am near downtown Flushing, it’s been absolutely horrendous. So, I’d like to see just a more proactive stance from the mayor, and from the City Council on this very important quality of life issue.

Mayor: Now, I appreciate it. So, look the straight-talk point is – there’s the City, there’s the Port Authority, there’s the FAA. I am not one of the people whose like, “Oh, go talk to them.” I don’t like that. I’ve been very clear, anywhere I’ve worked in public life, don’t tell someone to go off to another agency, we have to do everything we can do. So long as we’re clear that we don’t get to do everything we want, the question is exactly what you said – what can we do to fix it? What impact can we have?

So, I don’t like it when a community feels afflicted by noise, especially if there’s any other alternative. I don’t know enough about the reality of the different runways – I just can’t tell you have expertise on that. But on the helicopters – as I said – we found some success doing something different with the helicopters, which gives me some hope there might some kind of solution there – and our Transportation commissioner will follow-up on that.

But we will also look at the airport question in general, and see if there’s any way we can make a positive impact for the community.

Question: Thank you.

Mayor: Thank you.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: Okay, back here. It’s [inaudible].

Question: Hi, there [inaudible] Civic Association, [inaudible]. Thank you so much. First of all, welcome to the community – and thank you Paul and Ed and my cronies from my fellow civic associations over there –

Councilmember Vallone: Not the cronies – I mean, c’mon.

[Laughter]

Question: We’re delighted that you’re in this neck of the woods, reaching out and coming over here to Bayside. In Bayside Hills, where we live, further to the south. Anyway, my question has to do with buildings and [inaudible] and zoning – and we have a problem over where we live in Bayside which leads to a question that was sent to me by one of my zoning experts. And here’s the question – how do we introduce a zoning text amendment stating that when a semi-attached or attached home is replaced for any reason, fire, natural disaster, unsafe, or just rundown, the new building must be the exact same style and size, and must be identical in architectural character as the house it replaces? Why do we have to have an attached house, and all of a sudden next to it a monstrosity? Why can’t we do something to the zoning laws, and introduce zoning laws to stop things like that?

[Applause]

Mayor: I’ll start and our colleague from City Planning may want to add. Look, I want to straightforward about the fact that we don’t have a plan right now to do that. You’re raising a very fair concern. I have – my house is attached on one side, unattached on the other – and you’re right. I can only imagine if it were something very, very different, it would be upsetting to me, it would be upsetting to my neighbors. But I want to be real about the fact that there’s a lot of things we’re working on right now, and the primary focus is on things like creating senior housing. And that’s where a lot of the energy is going. I think you’re asking a perfectly fair question. So, what I would say is City Planning Commission should look at what we can do to help protect neighborhood quality. But I don’t want to be, you know – what’s the word I’m looking for? I don’t want to promise you a rose garden here and say it’ll be easy or that we will get to the point where we decide it’s the right policy. But I think you are right that we should look at it.

What do you want to add?

Director John Young, Department of City Planning: Good evening. And I just want to say that we certainly want work with all the community residents here to maintain the quality-of-life of the neighborhoods that they so deeply cherish. Our office is available at any point if you want to understand more about zoning – we know it’s very complicated. We want you to come down to Borough Hall, or just give us a call. I’m going to give you our general office number. If you have any zoning concerns – that’s 7-1-8-5-2-0-2-1-0-0. And we’ll try to direct you to the planner working in your area.

I want to say – we’ve worked so hard over the past decade with many of the civic groups in this room – certainly the two community boards to look at zoning on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. And we have tried our best to look at how we can have zoning address the neighborhood on almost a block by block basis to reflect the style of buildings. We have rezoned ten neighborhoods from Little Neck to College Point, 16,000 blocks in each neighborhood to try to find a one- or two-family zoning pattern that would protect the quality-of-life. Zoning is complicated. We may not have done the perfect fit for each block. So, that’s why it’s important to hear from the neighborhoods where those out-of-character buildings – and that’s what we call them – are occurring. And we’ll do our best [inaudible] heavy-housing agenda right now. We have to focus because need to make sure there’s going to be opportunities for New Yorkers of all income levels to find a community where they can live.

But in your neighborhoods where we can, we want to make sure zoning is in place to protect the quality-of-life.

Mayor: And let me just pick up on one other point on that. Because what we believe in when it comes to affordable housing – again the seniors are a big piece of the equation but think about what’s going today in this city. You can have two members of a couple. One, let’s say is a nurse, the other is a police officer – or fill in the blank anyway you want – one is a teacher, another is a fire fighter. And even with two incomes, two good public sector incomes, people are struggling to stay in this city. So, when we talk about affordable housing, we’re talking about everything from a senior citizen on a fixed income to a couple that works for the city, and works in public service but is still struggling to hang on here. That’s what our focus is right now because I can tell you, having gone all over the city that is the concern – the number one concern I hear by far all over the city is people worried that they’re not going to be able to live in the city, and afford this city anymore. That’s what we’re focused on.

But to your point, we’re always going to look at how we can protect the quality of neighborhood life. And I appreciate the question. Thank you.

Councilmember Vallone: Okay, Michael, that brings up a good spot to bring up our community boards because we have two amazing community boards in this district – Community Board 11. We have Susan Seinfeld and Christine [inaudible] we have here. And Community Board 7 [inaudible].

[Applause]

There’s Maryland right in front of me. Thank you, Maryland. So, and I would think, Mike, that would be a great place to bring those – to requests. And our Council office has followed 100 percent of the time our community board’s requests. So, you get those to us, and we start the process.

Before we go to the next question, over here – a question anywhere? In the back –

Question: Ouch, my knee.

Councilmember Vallone: Your knee. I can’t help you with that.

[Laughter]

Question: Oh, I don’t really need a microphone.

First, I’d like to welcome you Mayor, to our community. We have very few problems here, it’s a really nice community. And I also have regards to you from your friend and mine, Norman Siegel. In 1992, Norman and I worked with 600 mentally ill and their families, and stopped traffic on Broadway in Manhattan. The reason we did that is that Governor Mario Cuomo closed down psychiatric hospitals, and out the mentally ill in the streets with no community services. I’m sure you’re aware of that.

For 22 years, over 15 mental psychiatric hospitals have been languishing without anybody in them. We have children living in cars that are going to schools with shame. We have mentally ill walking our streets with no community services. I did my research and saw a lot of these psychiatric hospitals, they look like apartment buildings. I don’t know why the city doesn’t work with this Cuomo, and work to open up these psychiatric hospitals. And there will be no “nimb’s” – no not-in-my-backyards – because these hospitals are in green land. They are surrounded by trees and grass. You won’t have any residents complaining. You can make them apartments – one-room apartments. Put a TV in there, put the mentally challenged there. Give them community services, clinical services. Give them a TV and make them feel like they’re part of our society. They don’t want to go to the shelters.

I went undercover 12 years ago as a battered woman, and it was just horrible. I told them that I was 85 years old, and that my son came home high and was trying to beat me up. It was two o’clock in the morning. They told me to go to the Bronx. I said but there’s no transportation – “well, you have to take a bus, and then take the train.” I said, but I have a walker – “well, you have to take the bus and take the train to the Bronx.” That’s no way to treat us.

But I’m wondering if you would be willing, now, to sit down with Andrew Cuomo and talk about trying – just trying one psychiatric hospital where you can take the mentally ill, the mentally challenged, or families with kids that don’t want to live in cars – and make these rooms, rooms. Put in a sink, a TV, no bars – and let them come and go. And I know there’s a law against them taking drugs. I know you can’t force them. That law has to change. Because people are getting slashed everyday –

Councilmember Vallone: Let’s give the mayor a chance to answer here –

Mayor: Tell me your first name, again.

Question: My name is [inaudible].

Mayor: [Inaudible] thank you.

[Applause]

First of all, thank you. You know your history – and I appreciate that.

Yes, of course I’d be willing to talk to the governor, and anyone at the state about any place that could help us address the issues of people with mental health challenges and the homeless. Here’s what’s really the truth – and you hit the nail on the head – for decades, we haven’t addressed the issue. And so, all those folks were in mental institutions, and at the time there was a lot of outcry because a lot of those institutions weren’t treating people properly – and that was a real outcry and perfectly fair. But what happened was, not alternative was created. So, people ended – as you said – on the streets in too many cases. So, instead of having an actual mental health system – and this is true in New York City, it’s true all over the country – instead of an actual mental health system, we ended up with two things. We ended up with homeless folks and we ended with people in Rikers Island. And those were the replacement and not a good replacement, not an acceptable replacement but that’s what really happened – and it went on for decades. We are trying to change that. It will not easy.

My wife, Chirlane, has lead an effort to create an actual mental health system, and a mental health policy for the whole city – something we just haven’t had. Yu know. My wife always says – and I think it’s very pertinent to your question – she always says, if you had a broke led, no one would think there was something wrong with you, you’d know where to go to the hospital or the doctor, and there’d be a plan – here’s your insurance – everyone knows what to do. If you have a mental health issue, first of all, a lot of people are going to treat you like there’s something wrong with you, even though it’s no different than the broken leg. It’s just a reality that happens to be part of your life because mental health problems, we’re born with, and they emerge in our lives –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: And there’s a stigma, exactly right. So, we are trying to break down that stigma to make mental health services as available – it will take a long time but the goal is to make them as available, as normal as what we do when it comes to our physical health. Because that’s part of how we change that cycle – to make sure that people do not end up on the street – by the way, to identify in children and young people the problems that were ignored in so many cases for decades, and led to homelessness and incarceration, and other social ills. So, we’re trying to change it at the root. But I think your suggestions’ a very fair one. If there’s any place in this city that we could use, including something currently owned by the state, that would help us serve people with mental health problems, and help us serve the homeless – of course I would have that conversation anytime, anywhere.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well, I’m going to follow up on that that. And I thank you for the suggestion very much.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone; Alright. How about on this side here? Right in front of me. Mr. Silverstein.

Mayor: Thank you Mr. Mayor for coming. My name is Matthew Silverstein, I’m the vice president of the [inaudible] and we’re here, a few – less than a mile away from Fort Totten Park – and I guess my question is, is that under the previous mayor, he had promised to give us funding for Fort Totten, and to transform it from a military base into a park. It’s been now, more than a decade. It took a decade for the Parks Department to build a bathroom –

[Laughter]

Which I think was just deplorable and it’s been a very long time, and the park is not finished, and it’s a beautiful park. Films crews are there filming everyday – Gotham, The Americans were there last week. Everyone is coming there and we would like to see this park finally finished. So, my question is – what can we do to work with you and the Parks Commissioner so that Fort Totten finally becomes the beautiful park that it should be.

Mayor: Thank you. I appreciate the question.

[Applause]

So, Commissioner, you will give the update because you will know more than I do.

Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, Parks Department: Well, first the conference station at Little Bay for Totten is now open. It opened about a month ago, if you didn’t know that. In terms of the timeline – the good news is going forward, we have now improved our on-time [inaudible]. When I arrived here in 2014, it was 74 percent on-time, and – I’m sorry, 73 percent on-time, 74 percent on-budget. I’m proud to say, this year, because of all our staff’s hard work, it is now on-time 93 percent and on budget 98 percent. So, within two years we’re able to turn around –

[Applause]

We have a beautiful park that has a number of assets there. Besides the views, we have our urban park rangers there, we have our natural resource group there, as well as all the other amenities. But in terms of the timeline, we want to be more realistic. When we proposed the brand new comfort station, there was no utility connection to provide water. That took many years. Then we found out there wasn’t adequate funding by the time we put it out to bid. Then there was soil contamination, and so we now – because of the Mayor – gave us over a million dollars of site investigation, so before we start a project, we can determine all the problems up front, so we don’t have these years of delay. And the numbers I share with you – the percentages are showing how we’re doing it faster and quicker in all our capital projects across the board. So Fort Totten is a wonderful asset to this community, and we look forward to working with you and Commissioner Lewandowski to make sure Fort Totten could be the best park possible for this community. And Councilmember Vallone also met with me and had lots of ideas about how we could enhance it further. 

Mayor: So wait, I’m going to be your lawyer now, okay.

[Laughter]

So okay, that’s good. We commend you. We commend you for your improvement on on-time and on-budget. But Mitch, give us a sense of the next milestone. People have waited a long time. I know it’s not easy. I know there’s always a lot to do. But give us a sense of when we’ll see the next step of progress. 

Commissioner Silver: Well in terms of some of the capital projects there is some – there’s an ongoing relationship we have both with the Borough President and the City Council and also when we look at the budget with you the Mayor. So we’ll see exactly what other enhancements we could make to that location. I do know in terms of the running track or the fields? Yes, we just had a meeting about a month ago. They’ll be some soccer fields. They’ll be synthetic turf that will be going out there for both football and soccer, and that should be a few years. But there was just a decision – there was a shortfall in some funding and now that’s the next project that will be going forward.

So it will be an opportunity for both the leagues – for both soccer and football at that location. 

Councilmember Vallone: All right. Well Fort Totten is one of those examples of us all working together on it because you have Fire, you have Army Corps of Engineers, you have Police Department, you have Parks there. You have Friends of Fort Totten – we have the Bayside Historical Society. Everything’s going on there. So the good thing is we do have fireworks now over at Fort Totten, so that’s a heck of a show. We had 10,000 people there last.

[Applause]

And our Queens Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski has been a great partner with all our parks. Thank you very much.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: Now we have – hang on – we’ve got some kids in the audience. And we love to hear from our kids. And my principal is pointing me to these children over here. So let’s here from – what do we have? Bell or 169? Bell’s going to do some questions. You have a question for us? I have super kids from Bell and David Abbott. I see our principal there. Go ahead, it’s all for you.

Question: Okay. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. My name is [inaudible] Salgado, and I’m an eighth grade student at Bell Academy.

[Applause]

Question: I just wanted to mention the concern that there are no animal shelters in our borough and well I want to know are there any plans for an animal shelter in Queens?

Unknown: Now wait, don’t you have an event also too?

Question: Oh yeah.

Councilmember Vallone: Oh yeah, that’s right. See, I have to help you out. So when is that? What are you guys taking upon yourselves?

Question: Well we’re having it on May 7th at our school yard and -

Councilmember Vallone: Hold up that flyer. There it is.

Question: It says animals – pets to take home.

Councilmember Vallone: So you guys reached out and now Animal Care and Control has a mobile adoption unit coming. Right? I’m filling in the blanks. So the mobile unit is coming when? May 7th?

Question: May 7th.

Councilmember Vallone: May 7th – so everyone here can adopt a very much needed pet right? So you guys are taking that on. So that’s a big round of applause for you guys doing that all on your own.

[Applause]

Mayor: Well first of all I want to say to all the kids from Bell that you – 

Councilmember Vallone: And 169

Mayor: And 169 – don’t leave out 169.

Councilmember Vallone: Tish is bringing them up. 

Mayor: They’re going to get them next. But I want to thank you – I want to thank you for being so involved in the community. This is another great example. And it’s inspiring. Sometimes people don’t give young people their credit, but you are trying to do something good to help everyone. And the answer is yes. We believe that there needs to be an animal shelter in Queens and we are moving forward on that.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: All right. And we have the students from 169 right behind us. 

Public Advocate Letitia James: We have a rep and here’s the rep. And then they want to take a picture, Mr. Mayor.

Councilmember Vallone: All right.

Mayor: And they have an agent I see.

[Laughter]

Mayor: They want to thank the academy…

Question: Are you going to open up like community recycling?

[Applause]

Mayor: Good question. Wait what’s your name? You have to tell us your name? 

Question: Christina.

Mayor: Christina, how old are you?

Question: Nine.

Mayor: Wow, I’m impressed. 

[Applause]

So our Sanitation Commissioner is going to help me speak to this. Christina, it’s a great question. So you know what, we need a lot more recycling in this city because we want to protect the earth for all of you. And we want this place to be cleaner and there’s a lot more recycling we can do and we’re going to make it easier. One of the things that Commissioner Garcia will talk about is we’re going to make recycling easier. Now again, I am a homeowner. Well I was a homeowner until they transferred me to public housing at Gracie Mansion.

[Laughter]

But I’m still a homeowner. I’ll be back to it. And the metals, the glass, the paper, the plastics – so we have a new approach coming soon, pretty soon, where we’re going to be able to do that much easier and we’re going to be recycling composting also. So let me have our Commissioner Kathryn Garcia tell you about that.

Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, Department of Sanitation: So we’re hoping that you will be our advocates for environmental sustainability going forward because we also have a very large partnership with the Department of Education to do recycling education so that you can teach your parents to do the right thing. But as the Mayor said, we do have a plan to drive zero waste to landfills by 2030. Trust me when I tell this to the sanitation workers, they think I’m more crazy than anyone here. But there are really some components about it that are pretty straight forward. About one-third of everything you throw away is yard and food waste, so we are bringing curbside composting to Queens relatively shortly. Queens 10 got it this past fall and they are enjoying it very much I hear. And then we are also going to make it easier to do the traditional recycling program, which is putting metal, glass, plastic, cartons, and paper in one bin. We’re not there yet. We have some capital work we have to do, but we think we will be there in the next few years. So that you can do more. You’re at about 20 percent right now on your diversion rate. So we’re hoping to see that go up.

Councilmember Vallone: So what can some of the students do to help out now?

Commissioner Garcia: Well teach your parents and do the right things in your schools. All of your schools recycle, correct? You have metal –you have blue bins and you have green bins –so you can be doing the right thing in your classroom and in your cafeteria.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: I think they get a picture for that, Mayor. 

Mayor: I’ll take a picture with them. I would be honored to have a picture with them. Don’t these young people make you feel good and aren’t they inspiring? 

[Applause]

Sure, come on over. Let’s give them even more applause. Come on. Let’s really thank them.

Councilmember Vallone: Yes, these are our champions. Come on, Bell Academy too. Our two principals. Come on, we want Vanessa and David. Somebody take a tweet for these. Your Advocate is coming. 

Mayor: All right. Back to the town hall.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: And back to our regularly scheduled town hall meeting. Thank you kids. You guys are amazing. So, in the back.

Mayor: We resume our normally scheduled town hall meeting.

Councilmember Vallone: In the glasses there in the back – with the black hair. Go ahead. Hang in there.

Mayor: Keep your hand up.

Councilmember Vallone: Right behind you. Right behind you.

Mayor: Get a mic up for her when you can.

Councilmember Vallone: Yes. Can we get you next?

Mayor: Get your seat. He’ll wait for you.

Councilmember Vallone: Sit right next to Warren. There’s a seat right there.

Question: Good evening. Hi, my name is Ashley. I’m a pre-K teacher. 

Mayor: Shh.

Question: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach pre-K this year. I love doing my job and what a great age it is. In my building –I’ve been teaching for nine years and it feels so good to do this job again under your administration.

Mayor: Thank you.

Question: There’s also a lot of new teachers in my building and for the first time in a long time, I’m hearing people say I want to do this job. I want to stay doing this job. And new people are coming. My question is what measures are you going to take to get people into this profession again and keep them?

Mayor: Thank you. It’s a great question. This is one of the most important questions. In terms of the future of this city, this is one of the single most important questions and I thank you – how are we going to attract the very best teachers and then keep the teachers we have for the long haul? Because nothing will have a bigger impact – it’s been proven many times over – the single biggest determinant of the quality of the school and the quality of the kid’s education is the quality of their teacher. So in the past, unfortunately, it was a discouraging atmosphere. We’ve changed a number of things. First of all, we’re putting a heavy emphasis on professional development. Professionals – people who are respected as professionals – are constantly developed. The Mets spend a lot on player development, right? Why shouldn’t we spend a lot on professional development for teachers or police officers or any other of the key professionals that we turn to? So a lot more – as you know – time and resources being put into professional development. A lot more advancement opportunities. We got rid of the previous approach – the leadership academy – the way it was before because we want to emphasize our own homegrown talent working their way up to whatever level they want to reach. And we think there’s nothing that prepares you better for leadership in a New York City public school than having been a teacher in a New York City public school. So it’s more support, more development, the kind of resources that will improve the whole school system. We’re putting a lot into creating more school seats and other things that will help the school atmosphere. But I think it’s a combination of those pieces. And I’ve also heard from a lot of teachers that with pre-K now as foundation – basically added a whole new grade – we have a lot more kids who will are going to be able to succeed. And that’s very – I don’t have to tell you – one of the most rewarding things for a teacher is seeing that child have a breakthrough and move forward. We want to give you the foundation to succeed more often. Thank you.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: Thank you, Ashley. Ashley, I just want tell you that – I promise you’re the next question – that when it comes to the most fulfilling part of my job on a City Council level – it’s going into every school in these two amazing districts. I have been at every school in 25 and 26 on numerous occasions just to talk to the kids, just to go around – not on the big events. And these kids – just like you saw tonight – give you the energy, give you the passion unconditionally, and so much of that comes from our teachers and our principals and everyone that – and our parents that fight for our schools out here and I really want to thank all of our educators and our superintendents for what you’ve done. Now yes, my dear. You’ve moved yourself up right to the front. And a microphone is waiting for you.

Question: May I ask you please, what is the City doing to expand transportation so more people will have the same opportunity I have coming to and from the center? This is a wonderful world for me. And more people should have this world. 

Councilmember Vallone: So transportation to and from the senior center? Or just transportation in general?

Question: Yes, transportation to and from the senior center.

Mayor: The senior center. Okay. Donna you want to take that? Or Polly? Who has a sense of that? And whatever the truth is – Donna, look at the look on your face. If we don’t have a plan, we can say that. If we have one, we have one.

Commissioner Donna M. Corrado, Department of the Aging: We actually do have a plan to expand transportation services and there’s currently an RFP that’s out right now. And also, in using transportation – and Commissioner Trottenberg’s looking at me because we just, with your department, [inaudible] some federal funds to do something new and different using point-to-point transportation. So that – I can’t speak too much about it because that proposal is out there right now, but is something that we’re looking to do. 

Mayor: But wait, wait, wait. Tell us about the specific RFP that’s out – what the goal of it is and how much it might cover.

Commissioner Corrado: The goal is to try innovative ways to transport seniors to their – to senior centers and wherever they need to go in the community. And it’s not a para-transportation per say. The Department for the Aging’s transit system is very, very small relative to Access-A-Ride and the MTA. But within that realm, we’re trying to expand that service. 

Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Department of Transportation: I can just say a little bit more on that. In addition, again as Donna was mentioning, Access-A-Ride, the MTA service that’s available to seniors and folks with disabilities. The federal government is now increasingly encouraging cities and states to look at how can we make better use of Uber and all the new technologies that are out there. And they’re looking to help cities figure out how we can make better use of those for seniors and for others. So that’s part of the work we’re going to be doing.

Question: [Inaudible]

Commissioner Trottenberg: Correct. Correct.

Mayor: Thank you.
Councilmember Vallone: And some of the short-term thing’s we’re doing is we’re – at least our office – is directly funding some of the groups that are expanding transportation like the Samuel Field Y is expanding their transportation back and forth to [inaudible]. We’re bringing extra funds and transportation right here at [inaudible]. At [inaudible] in College Point – now they’re going places they’ve never gone before and they’re very excited. The happiest group of seniors I’ve seen down in College Point were going everywhere in the vans. So it’s always expanding those new ideas, and I think that also brings in participatory budgeting that we do so well together – where you spend your tax dollars. And that’s a great partnership that we’ve put together with the Mayor through the Mayor’s allocation of the capital funding to the councilmembers. We then have participatory budgeting, which is happening at the end of this month. The kids were great – because 16-year-olds can vote, based on high school, [inaudible] journalism got involved with that. So remember. And that would be good ideas for next year’s participatory budgeting is to allocate funding specifically for senior pick-up and drop-off locations. I think that would be a great spot for next year. All right. In the back. Anyone back there? Way in the back. We got Joe Femenia – College Point Civic Association.
Question: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Vallone –

Councilmember Vallone: You got a mic there, Joe.

Question: Mr. Mayor, Councilmember Vallone, and Borough President Katz. First, I want to thank the Borough President and the Councilmember for starting work on our MacNeil Park. It’s been a dying need for decades. Secondly, we have your police academy there and one of the biggest issues is of course, our roadways – besides you’re digging them up to put in the plumbing and the sewer works and stuff like that – I believed you visited, I think. I drive all too often the boroughs everyday and one of the worst roads I’ve ever seen is Ulmer Street. That’s right there by the police academy. It’s got the pipes sticking up and the road collapsed. Also, 28th Avenue. That’s one of the things that if we could do anything about that, that’d be great. It’s been like that for over ten years.

Mayor: All right. Well I’m very glad you told me. I did visit, but I didn’t realize that that street was as bad as it was. So I’m standing – I’m looming over the Transportation Commissioner now. 

[Laughter]

Councilmember Vallone: She’s in the hot seat tonight.

Mayor: Because I don’t think that’s the kind of street that should be in that condition because we depend on it so much for the training of our police. Don’t you agree? [Laughter]

Commissioner Trottenberg: I do agree. You are looming over me, Mr. Mayor. I too have been to that neighborhood and seen that street. And look, I think as some of you know, that’s a particularly strange street. What happened there was the sewers were built with wooden supports and the wooden piles are rotting away, and so you’re having all kinds of sinking happening. We’ve done a lot of adding more asphalt, which has actually unfortunately made the condition even worse – in an effort to fix it. And the pipes are sticking up, so it’s a very, very – one of the most unusual streets in the city. And certainly I think there are a lot of other roadway issues here in Northeast Queens.

Mayor: Well what are we going to do about that one though?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Well, you mentioned your budget and your capital plan. I think we’re in a dialogue and certainly Councilmember Vallone has been a big advocate for a lot of the roadway conditions we see in this area. And so I think we’re in discussion right now. We in DOT, I think, have identified some work – some of it would have to be done with DEP.

Mayor: So we don’t have a current plan?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Well we – I think we have a plan. But I think we are still working through how potentially we would come up with the City funds for it because the work is expensive. This is in the tens of millions to do some of the work in this area.

Mayor: You couldn’t give me a cheap street with the problem? You had to give me the one with the tens of millions of dollars.

[Laughter]

All right. We’ll follow up on that.

Councilmember Vallone: Mayor’s telling me to hit the sides, so way in the back. 
Question: Mr. Mayor and Paul Vallone, thank you. I’ve been afforded the opportunity to live in this residence for 28 years – raised children, I have a nice family – due to union construction work. In your affordable housing plan, is there any kind of thing that you’re doing to ensure that the workers and the construction being performed is going to be reasonably decent for a middle-class, working person? 
Mayor: So what I want – as I mentioned to you, we have 95 percent of all of our City employees now under contract because I believe in the role of labor in our society, and I’m trying to make sure our public employees are treated the way they should be. I want to see union labor in construction, whether it’s the private market or public. We’ve had an extraordinary number of project labor agreements we’ve struck since I came into office that guarantee union construction. And I’d like to see that also for affordable housing, but here’s my problem and I’ve been very public about it. For affordable housing, I’ve got to be able to afford to create the maximum amount of affordable housing for the people of this city – working people of all kinds – every kind of people – seniors. I think we could do that with union labor. We’re going to have to find a creative approach and by the way, I’ve talked to labor about this for years. I think for affordable housing, there is an acceptable way to find a B-rate or some kind of accommodation that allows us to use union labor. Some people agree with that in the labor movement. Some people don’t. But I think for affordable housing because the experience you’ve had, the experience I’ve had – to be able to afford to live in this city was very different when we were coming up than the experience people are having today. If we don’t create a lot more affordable housing, a huge number of people will be forced out. So we’ve got to solve that problem. I think there is a way to do it with union labor if we find a creative way together.

Councilmember Vallone: All right, I think one of our other students – Angelo, do you have a question you wanted to ask the Mayor? You have to go back to school, Bob. Students first. 
Question: Hi Bill de Blasio – Angelo Coneglio. 

Public Advocate James: [Cheering]

Councilmember Vallone: Been adopted by Tish by the way, as much as the parents are trying to hang on to Angelo.

Question: I would like to ask you about College Point – about the College Point Sports Complex. Like –

Councilmember Vallone: College Point Sports Complex.

Question: Like is there going to be any plans for it because I would say I think we need a new soccer field. 

Mayor: All right. Thank you, Angelo.

Councilmember Vallone: Good job, Angelo.

Mayor: So I’m going to turn to our Parks Commissioner. Angelo, I appreciate the question. And I can say it – now my son Dante is into soccer. He wasn’t so much when he was younger. But my kids did baseball and softball, and they did basketball, and they did a lot of other sports. And it’s incredibly important for kids to have sports. And I was a little league coach for a while, and that built character, let me tell you. So –

Councilmember Vallone: I’m still coaching two soccer teams, I’ll have you know. Two!

Mayor: You’re a strong man. I had the eight-year-olds in little league. They did not listen to my instructions. So we’re going to have – Angelo – we’re going to have our Parks Commissioner talk about what we’re trying to do. 

Commissioner Silver: Well first let me clarify my other point about Little Bay – about what’s going on there. Then I’ll answer your direct question. In terms of Little Bay, there is a special needs play equipment that’s going in. It should be completed by spring of 2017 and that they’ll be the soccer fields – not soccer and football – but at Little Bay it’s 1.6 million to upgrade the soccer fields and access the Little Bay Park. So that’s what’s going to happen – it’s breaking ground construction next month. 

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: You’re very welcome, Commissioner. That came right out of my budget. Thank you very much.

Commissioner Silver: Okay, and part of that was participatory budgeting on the special play equipment. Your specific question is that yes – there was just a meeting not too long ago with the Councilmember, and right now we’re looking to do soccer as well as football. That is a location at the College Point Sports Complex. There’s still a bit of a budget shortfall, but we’re committed to find those dollars, so that we can begin to move forward on that project as well. So, good news is coming.

[Applause]

Councilmember Vallone: See, College Point – I told you. We’re working on College Point. Bob, I think you’re even going to go back to school to ask this question, just so you can get in with the students.

Question: Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Mr. Mayor for being here. My name is Bob Friedrich. I am President of Glen Oaks Village. We’re actually the largest garden apartment co-op –

Councilmember Vallone: That’s why we brought Barry [inaudible] so he could talk to you.

Question: In New York City – we have 10,000 residents. And I’ve been fighting along with a lot of my fellow civic leaders here for quality of life issues going back decades. And as you know, our property taxes in our affordable co-op – these are not multi-million dollar Manhattan co-ops. You can buy a co-op for $150,000 or $200,000. Our taxes in our small apartments are now higher than your property taxes on your home in Brooklyn that probably could sell for a million dollars. A real problem – real, real inequity there. 

But since the start of your administration, we’re now seeing a lot of the small hotels in the area being turned into homeless shelters – happening all over without any community input. And because there’s no vetting of substance abuse or mental illness, we’re having enormous problems. A lot of the hotels – virtually all of the small hotels are now being converted to homeless shelters since the start of your administration. In addition to that –

Councilmember Vallone: Wait, you’re not going to six questions now. You have co-op tax, you have –

Question: In addition to that, we’re finding that they’re trying to site neighborhood prisons on residential streets in New York. We just fought a huge battle about that. Small neighborhood prisons, where the ACS would be running, where they’re bringing – Close to Home. You know it as the Close to Home program. And now your inclusionary zoning program is threatening to undo all the hard-won battles that we fought down-zoning our community. So my question to you, Mr. Mayor, is how do you respond to what civic leaders like myself perceive as a completely tone deaf administration to our community concerns?

Mayor: I think you’re wrong. That’s how I respond. The – first of all I don’t know why you say that about inclusionary zoning. We are trying to create affordable housing. We are not trying to undo down zonings. We are trying to create affordable housing where it’s appropriate and require developers to create affordable housing for people who need it. As I said that’s seniors that’s cops that’s teachers that’s nurses. If you think we could possibly keep going at the rate we are in this city and not build more affordable housing? So many people would be displaced. So many people who in the history of this city could always find a place to live wouldn’t be able to if we don’t change things. So inclusionary zoning requires developers to create affordable housing. It does not undermine down zoning. I don’t agree with that at all.

On the question of the homeless shelters, look— we are very clear. No one wants homeless people on the streets. We want to solve that problem. We want to get people off the streets into shelter and then to permanent housing. And once we get people into permanent housing we are going to need a lot less shelters, which is why the City of New York did something we have never done before. We proposed 15,000 apartments – supportive housing apartments for people who have mental health challenges – the biggest commitment ever.

We have the biggest affordable housing program in the history of the City that is going to get a lot of people also out of things like shelter into affordable housing because more and more people in shelter right now is just economically displaced and they need affordable housing. Yes, we do go into hotels when we don’t have another option but we’ve said we want to get out of the hotels. It’s not our long-term choice. I made that very clear. It’s a temporary condition but you are absolutely right. When we have no choice but to go into a building so people are not on the streets we will go in there and is this going to be all the notice the community wants? No, I wish there was more. We don’t always have that option but if you say to me or if the councilman says to me there is a specific problem we have to deal with at that shelter – we will . If you say there is something that we are not addressing at that shelter, I don’t want it to be an inconvenience to the community and we’ll go deal with it.

Finally, once last thing on Close to Home and then I’ll let you follow up. The Close to Home program is very small. I went over the numbers the other day with the Commissioner. It’s very small. It’s a [Inaudible] number of young people that used to be sent to upstate facilities. It’s not the kids with the most serious issues they still go to upstate facilities but it is something that has been proven to be working so I would not call it a prison. That’s not a fair statement, go ahead.

Friedrich: The problem on the homeless shelters that we seem to have, because everybody has a heart, everybody knows that if it’s a legitimate family that’s really having problems— no one’s opposed to that but what it appears to be that there is really virtually no vetting of these homeless residents and what we are seeing. We are seeing it all over. I go to community meetings all the time that we are seeing that they are not being vetted where you have substance abuse or mental illness and its those individuals that are creating the problem so I think that your administration needs to do at least a better job in vetting out -- vetting the population that is being put into the small hotels in the community.

Mayor: Look, what we’ve done in a number of cases – some of the hotels have been for veterans, some have been for families, some have been for single women, some have been for single men, etc. There’s no question we try to figure out what’s the appropriate fit but I think your point is well taken. If there is any kind of problem, I don’t want any of these facilities causing a problem for the community. So you would say vetting. I would say it’s more what we do in the facility to make sure we are handling the residents properly. But the bigger decision, the bigger policy I should say is to solve the problem. This is a problem that has been going on for decades. Right now we got 22,000 people in the last two years who were in shelter that we have gotten to permanent housing. I want to expand that greatly. We have 91,000 people we served to keep them from falling out of the housing they had. We had the biggest investment ever in legal aid and legal services to keep people from being evicted so we are trying to get to the root problem. But, finally on your previous point, look – everyone’s going to have disagreements. We are New Yorkers – we are going to have disagreements. But my job is to represent all eight and a half million people. I have to respond to people’s needs. I would say, I respect your right to have your opinion but it is not tone deaf to increase the NYPD by 2,000 officers. That’s something I have heard people want in communities all over this city. [Applause]

Okay. It is not tone deaf to give full day Pre-K to every child for free that’s for every single neighborhood and this neighborhood has benefitted disproportionately.  So disagree— fine— we can have disagreements but I assume you are looking out for the interest of the people you represent. I’d like you to know I’m looking out for the interests of the people I represent.

Councilman Vallone: All right, so let’s switch sides. On this side, right in the front, Kim Cody, our president of the Greater Whitestone Taxpayer’s Association.

Kim Cody, President of the Greater Whitestone Taxpayer’s Association: Mr. Mayor, thank you very much for coming here this evening. Paul, thank you for sponsoring the event.  I want to talk about a quality of life issue, which doesn’t just affect the community here but it affects the City of New York. The Speaker of the City Council has brought about the idea of purging over 700,000 arrest warrants and she’s also talked about decriminalizing quality of life crimes. If you have 700,000 arrest warrants out there and you want to decriminalize these crimes, what makes you think these people are going to show up in court to pay a fine? [Applause]

Mayor: So, I have great respect for the speaker of the City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito. I think she has done a fine job. We work with her all the time that doesn’t mean we agree on everything. Now, there is an amount of summons reform we can and should do. It’s something we want to do with the NYPD to figure out what that balance is because there is some summonses for minor issues that are not necessarily productive to keep open and there’s others that are very productive. The same point can be made on quality of life. I believe in the broken windows approach to policing. I believe this is part of why I was honored to bring Bill Bratton back as our police commissioner. Two things he did in the 1990’s that if you had eyes to see you knew worked: CompStat, you were there, and broken windows policing— quality of life enforcement. We believe in that.

Now I believe that quality of life enforcement has to be updated all the time. Some people say broken windows is a bad thing. I say, no – it is a good thing but it has to be updated. For example, with Vision Zero, we are doing more enforcement than we ever did. With some other things, low-level marijuana arrests, we made the decision to do fewer arrests. We do summonses but we do fewer arrests. We think both of those choices were right. But in terms of anything with quality of life offenses, the Speaker and some members of Council have a view and I respect it but I am working with NYPD to figure out what’s the right balance. One of the thing’s Commissioner Bratton has said is he understands the virtue of having other options than arrests but that’s a different issue than saying something is not a crime. And again, that’s what we did with marijuana – we thought a summons was a better choice than an arrest. We didn’t decriminalize we just  decided on a different tactic.

Councilman Vallone: And I think that applies to our community’s deep concern for public safety. I agree we’ve always stood with Steve and our brothers and sisters in the police department and that’s why we have such a great relationship with the 1-0-9 and the 1-11 and all of our PD brothers. I think out here you have that example that the way the Mayor does it, which is policy – I believe is better than legislation. And, I think that is  the best way to handle it. Let the police department be able to be our protectors and don’t handcuff them. Let them allow them to make those decisions with legislation. That would be one that I would be opposing if that comes up and that happens, right we talked about that. There’s time where there’s pieces of legislation you support and there’s time when you don’t and clearly we would be opposed to something like that. So any of my self-help residents, since we’re here – right there with the glasses- report back to the left.

Lilian Campbell, Elder: Good evening everyone and good evening to you Mayor. I am –

Mayor: No you have to stand up so we can see you, there you go.

Campbell: I am just cold from all the air conditioning.

Mayor: We all are [Laughter] –

Campbell: I live in the [Inaudible] House. My name is Lilian Campbell. I am 85 years-young.

Councilman Vallone: God Bless you.

Mayor: Wow, congratulations. [Applause]

Campbell: — and it took me 10 years to get to this wonderful place. I really am happy being here. And this is not a question by the way, I am sorry for not saying that first.

I lived in an apartment house where I had to climb two flights of steps each day. For 11 years I’ve had my choice to either take the elevator or the steps, how lucky am I? I love that part very much. Okay. I’m nervous.

Mayor: You’re doing good. You’re doing good.

Campbell: Thank you, I’m a clown I’m sorry. Okay back to business. [Laughter]

Councilman Vallone: Well your journey and how you got here –

Campbell: Yes and I am happy to be here and I am happy for self help and I know there are so many people that live in Queens that are really, really trying to pay their rents and its so hard to do these days. And I think if its possible with more of these self help buildings going up – I think that would be a wonderful thing for people. I think it’s safe, it’s happy. In fact, I come down to the lunchroom and I have a wonderful lunch and I meet such beautiful people down here. And it’s really, really a beautiful place to live. I’m sorry this isn’t really what I wanted to say but – 

Mayor: It’s good anyway. Thank you.

Councilman Vallone: Thank you very much. 

Mayor: Thank you. You did great and its nice meeting you. And you are inspiring me 85 years young. And what you love about this place. This is what more seniors deserve. That’s why we are focusing on affordable housing for seniors so they can enjoy all the things that you enjoy.

Campbell: It’s happy. It’s beautiful. Everybody get’s along— happy family. [Applause]

Councilman Vallone: Right in this section, we haven’t had, Janet—

Mayor: We’re coming to you –

Janet McEneaney, President of Queens Quiet Skies: Hello, I’m Janet McEneaney. I am a member of Queens Community Board 11 and I am the President of Queens Quiet Skies, which is an aviation focused –

 [Applause]

community advocacy group that started here in Bayside and has grown all over Northern Queens. I have two very short questions, because Alfredo got to ask eight so—

[Laughter]

Mayor: I noticed.

McEneaney: My first is about the economic development corporation in relationship to our aviation problems, which are noise and pollution problems, which were caused starting in 2012— increasing aviation to increase what the FAA likes to call the operational efficiency. But what it really means is making more money for the airlines. And you know we are okay with that as long as we are not paying for it. But, here on the ground we are paying for it and so my question is why does the economic development corporation – the aviation person David Hopkins from the EDC, why is he a member of the board of the Global Gateway Alliance, which is a private industry organization that was created to give us more noise and pollution in this neighborhood?

And we are very offended by that and I would like to be able to talk to the people at EDC on behalf of our many, many members about that conflict, what we see as a big conflict.

Mayor: I appreciate it.  So this is my first time hearing it and I’m not going to prejudge but you have a right to that meeting. And so if Maria Torres Springer will stand up, that is the president of the Economic Development Corporation.

McEneaney: —We’ll talk.

Mayor: So she is the top of the whole thing and you will get a meeting with her directly.

McEneaney: Great. Second, really quick. School construction authority –

Mayor: Yes.

McEneaney: We have not had a productive relationship with them in this neighborhood and some of the things that have happened when they came in here to start building schools have been real shockers and eye-openers. The way that they operate, the fact that they use eminent domain as a negotiating tool with property owners – many, many things that we have learned about them and that I think is also something that we really need to shine a light on before the SCA tries to come back to our district to build another school.

[Applause]   

Mayor: Well let me offer on that one— I will pledge to you that we really want to listen and work with the community. And the Councilman will be our guarantor in that process. I also will pledge to you that we need more school space.

[Applause]

So there’s a problem and a challenge— let’s be real about it. We need more school space. It’s something a lot of parents, understandably want the space—they want near their homes, they want less overcrowded schools, etc. We can work with communities. I really believe you can find a balance point. But I want to be honest and I just finished in June being a public school parent. If people say no school anywhere, I’m going to look them in the eye and say that’s not the right way of looking at things because our kids are the future and we’ve got to make sure our kids have the right facilities.

[…]

So we will work with the councilman to find a better way with all of you. Thank you.

Councilman Vallone: Thank you. Now what happened to my finger-wagging –

Question: I think I forgot what I was going to ask. [Laughter]

Councilman Vallone: That was my plan all along—

Mayor: It was that good.

Question: However, you have been talking about affordable housing. And I was just wondering about that as I did read an article in today’s Times about affordable housing between the City and the State. Now I was just wondering if you could comment on affordable housing and what Cuomo’s [Inaudible] may be and how they match up with yours?

Mayor: So we have the biggest affordable housing plan in the history of this city and any city—200,000 apartments, 120,000 apartments would be preserved meaning places people live right now, we would provide the resources for people to stay there. And they would pay no more than 30 percent of their income for the housing. We’re going to build 80,000 new apartments all over the City and again. Some will be for seniors, some will be for working people. As I said it could be for a teacher and a cop, for example. Some will be for folks on fixed incomes. We’re going to do a variety.

The State proposed recently, the governor proposed, a plan that we think will slow down the creation of affordable housing. So I’ve said pretty clearly, we do not believe that plan should proceed. We are happy to work with the state on affordable housing in lot’s of different ways but the plan you read about I think would actually make it slower and more complicated. I’ve made clear I think we can do better than that I know the State Assembly shares that view strongly and does not want to see anything that would slow down the creation of affordable housing. In fact, the plan that I am pushing now in City Council is to speed up the creation of affordable housing because people need it right now. So my comment is we have a difference of opinion with Albany. But, I think its one that will get resolved in large measure because the State Assembly shares our view that we don’t need more bureaucracy when it comes to affordable housing. We need more speed and more housing for people in this city.

Councilman Vallone: All right, since we are on this side. I see Ann Jawin 
and another one of our members here as President of the Queens Center for Women of New York.  

Ann Jawin, Chair, Bd. of Directors at Center for Women of New York: Thank you very much for coming and for giving me a moment, I won’t make a long speech but I am very concerned with women’s issues. I compliment you on the number of women commissioners you have.

Mayor: Thank you.

Jawin: But where is the commissioner on women’s issues? [Applause] Do you have a department on women’s issues?

Mayor: Yes, we have a new approach. So first of all I am proud to say that the senior members of my administration –that most senior jobs are 53 percent women at this point.

Jawin: Looks real good. [Laughter]

Mayor: Thank you. And, we created a new concept, we took that concept and we call it now, the Commission on Gender Equity because we are concerned with things like pay equity and the other kinds of needs that women have that have not been addressed that go far beyond yesterday’s issues. There are a whole host of new issues that we have to address. So my wife is playing a very big role in that, and –

Jawin: Who is the, or do you have a new commissioner?

Mayor: We have a group of commissioners, we have commission members and we’re just about to name an executive director. That announcement is only a few days away.

Jawin: And on that issue will you have the Commissioner of the Parks Department talking about Fort Totten?

Mayor: Yes.

Jawin: And we have a building on its way—207 Totten Avenue for the Center for the Women of New York. We will be worrying about women who have all kinds of needs, domestic violence, job security –many issues—women veterans, things of that sort.  And we are going to have enough money to get started but to finish it, I hope we can count on you to help us.

Mayor: You’ve made a persuasive argument. [Laughter]

Jawin: Thank you.

Councilman Vallone: She always does. That’s our Ann. [Applause]
Behind the commissioners here, I think we saw a hand up. Minsun Kim, our new president of KAAGNY –Korean American Association of Greater New York. More acronyms, so you got to know all of the acronyms.

Mayor: Yea, I’m impressed.

Minsun Kim, President of KAAGNY: Okay first, we have a one million Korean Americans in New York. I really appreciate your hard work and dedication to improve our quality of life.

Mayor: Thank you. 

Kim: On this day in the Korean American community, we are trying to build KoreanAmerican Immigrant Heritage Museum in New York City. It is a shame that we do not have any heritage museum in New York City even though we have 115 years of history. To build a museum is the first step towards passing down our legacy and educating future generations of their roots. And also this is a way to demonstrate how Korean Americans have contributed to American immigrant history. I think that this is not just a Korean Americans issue. I believe that our country, United States, real power comes from the harmony of rich diversity—when we share and understand the other’s culture and history, we will be better collaborated with each other.

Mayor: Yes.

Kim: And finally we will be able to respect each other’s differences. So tonight I am asking your support to make it happen in our community.

Mayor: Yes, and I think you’re right that part of what makes us strong is appreciating each community and you’re right, when people understand their heritage I think it gives them a lot of confidence. When I was 15 years old I went to my grandfather’s hometown near Naples in Italy for the first time and it is an incredible feeling to understand your roots. I think it gives you strength and it’s very important for the next generations to know them. And I think everyone appreciating each other’s heritage is part of what makes New York City great so I am happy to work with you to see how the City can plan play a role with you in achieving that vision. Thank you.

Councilman Vallone: Thank you. I also see Rabbi Yossi hiding in the back who is the head of the Chabad of Northeast Queens, my true brother and does Bible Study every Monday and I always try to get over there but thank you Rabbi for all the work that you do. Yes, question here in the back—
You have nicer attire than we do. That’s not right. [Laughter]

Question: Good Evening Everyone. My name is Siyad and I live in [Inaudible] and thank you for coming and giving us some time from your busy schedule. I have a quick question. My son goes to 169. He is 10 years old.  And Department of Education and your administration is doing a wonderful job towards providing good education. What becomes very difficult for family like us— young family, myself and my wife, we both work full-time. I work for the City, my wife work for private sector. When it comes to Summer, you know people enjoy summer time. It becomes nightmare for us because it’s really a financial burden to put our kid in summer camp. So my wife does a wonderful providing summer camp but I feel that at this time we need some focus on making some improvement. And I don’t know if you have any plan or you will be putting some efforts to improve summer programs or summer camps for middle class families. Thank you.

Mayor: Look, again one of the reasons why it’s good to just talk directly to people is to tell you sometimes good news, sometimes not so good news. And I want to be straightforward about it. I don’t have a new vision for how to address the summer camp issue. We got a lot of challenges we are facing and a lot of things we are trying to do to make our schools work better and a lot of many, many other challenges. And that’s where I have to focus the resources.

We do try to relieve the pressure on sources in a lot of ways. What we did with Pre-K, that’s for families that obviously have younger kids but for those families that’s a savings— if they went and found a private program that would be $10,000 or $15,000. For middle school families, for kids that are 6th, 7th through 8th grade. In the last two years since I came in we guaranteed afterschool programs. That used to not be the case, but every middle-school kid is now guaranteed the right to a free after-school program, usually like 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock in the afternoon. So for parents with kids in that range that’s something that again they would not have to pay separately to have a program to put their child in. They can get in for free. But I do not have something for summer camp. I don’t want to lie to you. And there is just some limits on what we can do. We are trying to help people in a lot of ways but that is one I don’t have the reach to do.

Councilman Vallone: Well, Mr. Mayor we do have some good news there because we can do some things out of the Council and 169’s getting a brand new auditorium with air conditioning that we were able to put the funding in. So that’s going to help summer programming there and we’ve extended summer programs with the junior tennis league, with the tennis programs, with summer camps in College Point, in 129, 94 in Little Neck, 169 and 184 in Whitestone is going to continue with the tennis camp— so I hear you.

As the parents side we got to have options for our kids in the summer. So one of the things we are committed to doing is expanding to every community more of those great summer programs with our partners. So they will definitely be some options this summer.

[….]

That’s why we have the best students, you saw that we had to get them a new auditorium. So on this side, yes I think we had another question here. I think we are coming down towards the end. Thank you.

Question: I have three questions.  

Mayor: C’mon, at this late hour if I may suggest. Will the gentleman— if you will do one, your favorite one so other people can get a chance.  

Question: [inaudible] unfunded mandates. We talk about the cost of living in New York. New York is imposing –

Councilman Vallone: Well, tell him where you live so he understands the complexity.

Question: Okay, I’m a board member for the Bay Club Community, which has one thousand apartments. And New York, for many years, is imposing unfunded mandates that – I know Warren knows about it, and Paul knows about it – it’s local law 11, local law 87, and so on. Backflow preventers are imposing expenses on multiple buildings that at least should get tax-credit if nothing else. It’s very expensive. Local law 11, it can be from $100,000 to $2 million – backflow preventer $200,000 [inaudible] in return, or some kind of relief of tax. I know Warren tried to help. Paul tried to help. We need the city to help Paul to help us.

Mayor: Let me see with Rick in terms of buildings or Jacques in terms of finance. I don’t know if there’s any way we are able to help at this point, but those laws – why don’t you tell people, so everyone knows what those laws are there for.

Commissioner of Buildings, Rick Chandler: Good evening, everyone. I’m Rock Chandler, the Commission of Department of Buildings. Some of the local laws the gentleman is referring to are façade inspection laws for one thing. I know that it can be expensive. It certainly is a challenge to get your façade inspected and maintained, but I have to say from my perspective I see facade failures every day of the year, and we all know that occasionally it has tragic consequences. It’s a very, very important thing. I agree with you that it does impose a burden sometimes onto the small building owners – on all building owners, but particularly the smaller units. Back flow preventers are certainly a real issue for sanitary water conditions, and the prevention of disease from the sanitary system.

Question: The question is – I’m not questioning the reason behind this. I’m just asking – the point that you’re imposing on buildings – small, medium, and large – a $1 million, $2 million, $200,000 and so on. At least to get some tax-credit –

Commissioner Chandler: We would look forward to working with the Councilmember and others.

Question: I know Mr. Vallone requested to get some tax credits for local law 11, beyond that to –

Mayor: Again, in the interest of being straightforward, we don’t have that today. It’s something I appreciate – look, the concern is a very real one. It’s hurting your bottom line, and you’re concerned about it. The reason I wanted Rick to remind people is we believe this is about what people need to be safe, and we do think it’s something that the people who own the place have to account for. You’re saying there may be an unintended consequence. We’re certainly happy to work with the Councilman to see if we can work out some kind of solution. But again, I always like to be straightforward – I don’t have it for you tonight, but we are willing to work with you.

Question: Can I ask two quick questions –

Councilman Vallone: I’ll just – I can sum up for you, one of the ideas we were trying to put forward, that we might be able to look at was if a building owner has successfully passed the inspection at – when the second inspection comes it could be waived as long as there wasn’t any previous violation on a building to try to cut the cuts. It was something we were looking at to pass on. So, I love you, but I’m going to have to ask you – we really have to keep going.

Mayor: Will you – and Paul, you’ll meet with the commissioner, two commissioners on that point.

Councilman Vallone: We’re getting closer to the time when the Self-Help center is kicking us out – around 9:30, so the last few questions, if we can do them quickly so everybody gets a chance.

Yes, Deedee you’ve had your hand up for a while.

Question: Hi, my name is Elaine Yueller, and I’m very interested in the environment of New York City. I congratulate you because you do believe in global warming and climate change.

Mayor: I believe it’s a problem.

[Laughter]

Question: It is a problem.

Mayor: I don’t support it, but I believe it’s a problem.

[Laughter]

Question: I know, but that’s great that you support it. I wanted to ask you can you help support the 3-minute idling law in New York City.

Mayor: Yes, yes, yes.

Question: The buses in front of schools run their bus. The children come out. We have a high rate of children’s asthma. So I think that, you know, all kinds of buses, trucks – they sit there with motors going on and on and on, and also they’re burning fossil fuels.

Mayor: Yes, I really appreciate the question. Thank you, and I want to tell you a couple of things, and then see if either P.D. or D.E.P. or D.O.T. whoever wants to jump in.

We are committed as a city, under my administration, to reducing our emission by 80% by the year 2050. That is the international gold standard, and we’re going to get there. We’re going to retrofit all our public buildings. We’re going to reduce our emissions constantly. But it’s going to take exactly what you say – we have to take every piece of this equation seriously. Cars and buses and trucks can’t idle. It’s against the law, and it really does harm our environment. So our colleagues from D.E.P., you want to give up a little update on that?

Commissioner Abdul-Matin: I’ll just say briefly – my name is Ibrahim again – we’ve gotten a lot of complaints about the idling issue, and we’ve added some inspectors, and we’ve changed around some of the hours so people when you call into 33-1-1 really be very specific about when and where, and we can make sure people get out. It’s really crucial that people call 3-1-1 specifically for these concerns.

Question: Can you put a press release out about that?

[Laughter]

That’s very important. Please put a press release out.

Mayor: Alright, thank you. We’re taking orders from a good lady.

Councilman Vallone: And her husband.

[Laughter]

Question: Thank you for coming tonight, my name’s Chris [inaudible], the parent of a young adult with autism who attends a district 75 program. Recently, Chancellor Fariña was talking about increasing academic rigor for children in district 75. I expect – I have high expectations for my son. If he had the ability to take a regents exam or go to college he wouldn’t be there. So my question is can we increase vocational training for kids in district 75?

[Applause]

Mayor: Thank you. I’ll say – I’m not an educator. I’ll see if either superintendent wants to say something, but what I say very simply is – as a parent, I think the Chancellor’s not trying to say one sizes fits all at all. We have seen some kids with special needs who got incredible support from their teachers and did go onto college, including kids who people said there’s no way in the world they would ever get to college. They went and graduated. For other kids, it’s not going to be the right option for them, and I agree with you, vocational training is a perfectly good option. I’m someone who believes it should be given a lot more respect as well as an option. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, Chancellor Fariña is a real educator – 50 years as an educator and clearly doesn’t think – she doesn’t think it’s one thing for everyone. She just wants to say for those who have the ability to reach a level that might take them to college, we should also give them that chance.

Unknown: Hi everyone, the Chancellor was also just in district 25 speaking on this topic, and she was saying that she’s working very hard up in Albany around licensing for teachers and ensuring that these programs can be put together for New York City.

Mayor: The vocational programs she means.

Councilman Vallone: What I’ll throw in, it was eye-opening. As I went to all of the schools, that I learned that the district 75 schools weren’t really receiving much funding. So in previous decisions, now when we fund my capital budget the way we’ve decided, over 50% goes into our schools. So every district 75 school gets the same amount of funding as the school that it’s located in, and that has made a huge difference in the last two years to get the programming and the resources that those students dearly need. We put the money right back, and that’s why we keep going into every school.

Yes, in the back, Henry?

Question: My name is Henry Yueller. I’m first vice president for Auberndale Improvement Association, a member of community board 11. I hope you come back very often to visit us in Northeast Queens. My civic association –

Councilman Vallone: Let’s give that some applause! We want the Mayor to come back!

[Applause]

Question: My civic association wants to know when the children can go to P.S. 130. P.S. 130 is our local, neighborhood school. We’ve been closed out of that school for years. It’s apparently used by District 25. It’s geographically in District 26, and the children are being bused to overcrowded schools in District 26. We want our school back. We’ve been working for years with our elected officials. We’ve signed petitions, and we want our school back as soon as possible.

Councilman Vallone: P.S. 130 is one of the shiny jewels in our district, so it’s certainly fought after in both of our districts. And Henry’s at a point – it was transferred back over, and it’s one of those schools that is so good that the district wants it back. And it’s one of the things we just talked about with S.E.A on the possibility of even expanding 130 because it only goes to 3rd grade, and it’s such a successful school that maybe we can even grow it. I don’t know if there’s any –

Mayor: Let’s see what our deputy chancellor has to say, Elizabeth Rose.

Deputy Chancellor of Education, Elizabeth Rose: So, we also have a new school that we are building in district 26. Near the area of 130, and that will be coming online in 2017. That new capacity will help enable students to stay closer to home, and again it is a continued challenge as the Mayor said. This is a very overcrowded area, both districts 25 and 26 – we would very much like to work with the communities on how can we best build new schools. We have funding for new schools in this area, we need the communities help to find the sites for them.

Mayor: Let me ask Paul – are you saying there’s more that you think can be done on that site too?

Councilman Vallone: Yeah, there’s [audible] they had an annex to that school, but it didn’t go to the same height as the main buildings so we have a possibility where we could use some of the funding that we couldn’t allocate for the school – that we tried to put in to actually expand it.

Mayor: We should take a look at that. We’ll follow up with you.

Councilman Vallone: Because there’s two schools there, that’s right. Superintendents always give good information in the background. Always listen to your superintendents.

Anyone before we leave this section?

Question: Hi, thank you both for joining us this evening. My name is Jo Vasquez, I’m from Southeast Queens, and for two years I have been asking for a directional light at the corner because we’ve had 13 accidents.

Councilman Vallone: You’re in the right spot because you have so many commissioners here –

Question: Yes, but will I get an answer?

Councilman Vallone: They’re going to get the intersection taken down for you, and they’re going to –

Mayor: You’re going to get something of an answer. You may not get a full answer you want, but you’re going to get something.

Commissioner Trottenberg: I’m happy to take the information about where the intersection is, and maybe I’ll catch you afterward.

Question: It’s at the corner of 89th avenue and 221st street.

Commissioner Trottenberg: Okay, I’ll talk to you afterwards.

Councilman Vallone: See, we even help other district here, that’s how nice we are.

Question: Wonderful!

Councilman Vallone: Well we’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up the left turn signal, Warren. What happened? That was going to be your question? So stand up, and tell me about the left hand turn signal.

Question: Hi, I’m Roberta Shriver, and I’ve been volunteering at the Self Help for 10 years, and I love it. Now, my question – we definitely, definitely need a left hand turn signal on 26th avenue and Corporal Kennedy.

[Applause]

Question: There were two fatalities – two!

Councilman Vallone: Wait, I think I need to be defended by the city because they will tell you how many times I have asked for that left turn signal. Nicole’s trying to hide in the back.

Question: Who do we ask? Who? Who?

Commissioner Trottenberg: Are you asking me? Just my luck.

Councilman Vallone: You shouldn’t sit down anymore, Polly.

Mayor: I want you to know that the Councilman has pushed this very, very hard. And now you have the expert here before you.

Commissioner Trottenberg: I believe the councilman has asked seven times.

Councilman Vallone: Make it eight. See?

Commissioner Trottenberg: And look, this is a tough one to explain. There’s a reason we haven’t done it, and I will do my best to explain it, and I will mention – as the Mayor set up front, we’re not going to be able to do that left turn signal, but we are going to do a safety project at that intersection. We’re going to work with the councilmember and folks in the local community. We’re going to look at ways that we can improve the pediatrician experience, build out crosswalks. We will find a safety project.

Mayor: Wait a minute Polly, – this is a very concerned audience. Okay, I’m going to remind everyone – Polly Trottenberg was the Deputy Secretary for the United States Department of Transportation. This is part of the issues. There is a federal issue, explain the issue.

Commissioner Trottenberg: Well so, when we go around the city, and we get requests – and this is something I know can be very frustrating for residents and for elected officials. We use a standard that cities use all over the country to decide where to put in signals, and left hand turns, and stoplights. And we use federal tests where we look at the amount of traffic, the crash record, a bunch of different factors. We also look at what effect perhaps a left hand turn signal is going have on backing up the traffic behind it. I know it’s very frustrating. The community has asked many times for it. It has not met the federal test, but as a result, working with the councilmember we’re going to find a different way basically to skin this cat. We’re going to find a different way to put safety improvements in that intersection.

Mayor: And wait one more thing – give them an example of a kind of thing you may put in.

Commissioner Trottenberg: Well, again, I think one of the things we’re going to look to do, particularly something that’s popular in areas with seniors is building out the sidewalks, making a shorter crossing distance, so people don’t have to cross as far, so they’ll feel safer as they cross the street.

Councilman Vallone: Expanding the crosswalk times, bringing in some speed bumps, doing a traffic study all up and down corporal Kennedy Boulevard. All of that will be a big, big help out there.

All the way in the back, yes sir, right there in the middle.

Question: My name is Gabor Gross, I live on 23rd avenue in Bayside. We have a problem, and Bayside is going to have a problem. Bell Apartments – the owner of the apartment, the building, and the manager is the same person. And he is dealing with Cord Meyer who owns the shopping center in Bayside. Cord Meyer wants to build some buildings. Each time it comes up, there are more buildings coming up. I mean, they want to bring it up. The owner of Bell Apartments or the manager – I don’t know which one – is dealing with Cord Meyer.

Councilman Vallone: So what’s the question? What’s the specific question there? What’s happening there?

Question: What’s happening now – the owner or the manager wants to renew the land.

Councilman Vallone: There’s a co-op board there, correct? So the co-op board is speaking to Cord-Meyer about the property, and that section – there’s many sections, it’s part of the complicated area that Cord-Meyer as the owner, and our lessees are co-op apartments there. The leases are slowly starting to come to a point where they’re starting to expire, and one section has the ability to negotiate a new deal for themselves, but there are other sections involved. There’s a lot going on there, but there’s not one person who’s making that decision.

Question: Thank you for having me come out.

Mayor: He did good, didn’t he?

Councilman Vallone: I’m trying. Warren teaches me good.

Question: Several months ago, I met your brother. And I just mentioned I live in Bell Apartments, and he told me is that it’s a done deal, and he walked away from me.

Councilman Vallone: What we can make sure is –

Question: The problem is here. The neighborhood doesn’t know about it.

Mayor: The councilman will follow up on it.

Councilman Vallone: The good thing is we’re staying, and we’ll follow up. That one we know all about. My staff is here by the way – my mobile office. So anyone who does have an address and doesn’t meet with a Commissioner or didn’t get a question asked – we have great relationships with all of the agencies. It’s something we’re very proud of. Any of us have had situations where we needed to get a commissioner on the phone, and I have to tell you for our council office – and Mayor it’s a great compliment to you – every one of your commissioners and your staff will get back to us within that day. I couldn’t ask for more than that. Obviously, we’d like to have some answers on some of the things, but that type of relationship is what tonight is all about.

I think in a great summary, this is government at work. It’s never perfect. We’re trying our best.

[Applause]

And to bring – to have the Mayor come and every city agency and their staff here. You couldn’t ask for more than that. I thank you for all of that. This is district that has been wanting this for a long time, so we’re very, very happy.

Mayor if you’d like to give some closing remarks for us.

Mayor: Thank you to everyone for everything you do for the community. And I want you to know these are some – I agree with Paul – these are some very, very good people who work on behalf of us in these agencies. Say hello to them, thank them for the work they do, and thank you for all you do.