Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

July 1, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody and happy July. We are officially in the summer of New York City and it's going to be absolutely amazing. We have some great news to go over today about some of the great summer activities that are happening in the next few days and beyond in August. But first let's talk about yesterday. We passed a historic City budget. I want to thank Speaker Corey Johnson and everyone at the City Council, amazing work. This represented an extraordinary investment in working families. This was a time to focus on getting money in the hands of working people who needed it as part of our recovery. This was a time for redistribution of resources to where they're needed most to address the disparities that we saw in the COVID crisis. This was a time to do things differently and forcefully to have an impact, and that we did. This budget is really going to be profoundly important in the recovery of New York City. And I'm confident it's going to help us move forward. Bring back our economy, bring back our jobs, bring back our revenue. Very powerful budget and one the doubled down on reserves in a fiscally responsible manner. So, thank you to the City Council, once again, a big step forward.

Now, yesterday, we also had a real challenge with the heat. And we had a moment yesterday where a real concern was raised by ConEdison because after days and days, the impact of the heat was growing. And we hit a record high yesterday at LaGuardia Airport for that day for June 30, a record high of 98 degrees. ConEdison informed us that there was a problem brewing and that their capacity was being pushed to the brink. And we had to do something quickly. I made the decision to alert all New Yorkers and to send out a cell phone alert. That was, I think, crucial to informing New Yorkers of what you could do to make a difference. And you did. I want to thank all New Yorkers. You stepped up. We said, we got a problem, we need everyone to help. People did. We put out the alert. I did the press conference, we put out the alert in the four o'clock hour. Within two hours after there was a 476 megawatt usage drop, citywide. Four hours after the alert went out, a 1,062 megawatt drop. This is really important. I'm not saying the alert was the only reason, but clearly it was a big part of it. Over a thousand megawatt drop, that's enough energy to power over a million single-family homes, to give you a perspective. What this says is that New Yorkers heard the alert. They understood that it was in their interest in everyone else’s interest to immediately power down everything they could. They went and did it immediately and saved us from the danger of power outages. This is really important. Thank you to all New Yorkers who did that. It's a reminder, I hope it will be the last heat wave in the summer, but I don't have that confidence yet. I think we're going to be dealing with these challenges more and more in the years ahead. And people hearing the alarm and acting on it quickly will be absolutely necessary. So, this was a very good test of New Yorkers’ willingness and ability to jump in and solve immediate problems. We've got bigger issues we have to address to say the least, but thank you to everyone who helped us get through this immediate situation.

We know this is all about the climate crisis. We know this is about global warming. That's why we're having these challenges. And that's why it's so important what we announced earlier in the week, the Climate Solution Center, that will be built on Governors Island, and will be the global center for innovation research in fighting climate change. Crucial, crucial development for the future of this city.

All right, now I promised you that we would talk about some great events coming up. And first of all, our Homecoming Concert. We've announced that this will be in August, a lot of details to come, but it is going to be a great moment for the city, marking our rebirth, marking our comeback. And it's going to be one of the greatest Central Park concerts in history. This is something you do not want to miss. This is something for the ages. A lot more details to come, but I can confirm three pieces of information now that I think is going to be really exciting to New Yorkers. Three amazing artists have stepped forward and said they want to be part of the comeback of New York City. They want to help us do this. And we're just really appreciative to all three of them. First of all, proud son of Queens. He is an American legend. He gave extraordinary Central Park concerts in 1981 and 1991. Paul Simon will be one of the headliners of this amazing Homecoming Concert. Second, she is a great example of an artist who started at the grassroots, came to fame through American Idol, became a Grammy winner and an Oscar winner. Someone who captures the grit and determination that we're all feeling as we fight through this crisis. Jennifer Hudson will be another one of the headliners of this amazing concert. And he just did something amazing by bringing back his show on Broadway and starting the Broadway rebirth. He is beloved in New York City in an extraordinary way, even though he happens to come from Jersey. No one's perfect. He is amazing. And I've loved his music from the first moment I heard it. And I know so many others have as well. The Boss, Bruce Springsteen will also be performing and headlining our amazing Homecoming Concert. More to come, a lot more to come. We'll be announcing the full lineup and a lot more details soon. But get ready for a concert for the ages and a big part of the rebirth of New York City and the summer of New York City.

Okay. Now why is all this happening? Because you went out and got vaccinated. The only reason we're able to give you all this good news is because people got vaccinated. As of today, 9,303,347 doses administered. Absolutely amazing. We got to do more and more and more. The vaccine effort will continue to roll on, including over the weekend. The 4th of July weekend, the vaccination buses and vans will be out where people are. Locations all over New York City bringing vaccine to the people. Please, if you haven't gotten vaccinated yet, this is your chance. At places like Highland Park in Brooklyn, Orchard Beach in the Bronx, the Park of the Americas in Queens, and many more. When you see that bus or van, if you haven't gotten vaccinated, if a member of your family hasn't gotten vaccinated, let's do it now. As Dr. Chokshi said the other day, walk – don't, I'm sorry. Run, don't walk.  Run, don't – I can get the Dr. Chokshi quote right. I can do this. Run, don't walk. Get vaccinated. This is how we keep the city safe. This is how we build the summer of New York City.

Now this weekend, of course, we look forward to it every year. July Fourth was different last year. I really want to thank Macy's. They did something really special, nonetheless. It wasn't everything we were used to, but they did something great to mark Fourth of July and to give us hope. But this year, the Macy's fireworks show is back, full force. We're so excited about it. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be energizing. It's going to be another mark of our rebirth. We want to make sure it goes well. We want to make sure people are safe in every way. There will be dedicated viewing areas. There'll be street closures, lots of precautions being taken by the NYPD to make sure everyone is safe. And I want you to hear about these plans because there's no department in the world that does a better job planning to protect people at these major, major milestone events. No one does it better than NYPD. My pleasure to introduce Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes.

Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, NYPD: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone. This time last year, our city was enduring one of the most challenging times in its entire history. Our Fourth of July celebration was unprecedented for being scaled back to basically a virtual event. Well, this year is different. Today, at long last, we are ready for a real celebration to come together with other fellow New Yorkers and have a good time. And this year is special, the Fourth of July celebration will be unprecedented once again, but this time for all the right reasons. For its size, its splendor, and hopefully its crowds. And rest assured, NYPD will be right there with you working to ensure that everything goes well.

To that end it is important for New Yorkers to know at this time, there are absolutely no credible threats regarding the Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Our Intelligence and Counterterrorism bureaus are working around the clock, constantly monitoring the threat stream in conjunction with our federal partners. Information sharing is seamless and always we remain nimble and stand ready to respond to any issue that may arise. We will have officers virtually everywhere throughout this event, but we will also rely on all of our fellow New Yorkers. You are our force multipliers. So, if you see anything, please just alert your nearest officer. Thank you.

Beyond our uniform officers, we will also have some plain clothes officers out there and other protective resources that will remain unseen. Additional support will come from our canine teams, the bomb squad, emergency service unit, the harbor patrol with our many vessels deployed throughout the waterways, as well as our aviation keeping a watchful eye from above. On top of all this, as always, we will remain – maintain our counterterrorism overlay. Viewing areas will be based on placement of the barges this year. Designated areas will include the FDR Drive from 14th Street to 51st Street. Access points will be 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 48th Street, and 31st Street. What we're asking is that you be very mindful of what you bring to these sites. There will be detectors there, metal detectors. Everyone will be searched at these particular access points. You're not allowed to bring any backpacks, large blankets, seats, umbrellas, [inaudible] and no alcohol if you're going to enter these access points. Of course, we want you to stay hydrated, but please no alcohol.

To that end we encourage folks not to come out too early, the reason being is because we're going to start to shut down traffic at 2:00 PM, but closures will go into effect at 3:00 PM. Fireworks are scheduled to start at six – at 9:30. Therefore at 6:30 is when you'll be allowed access to these particular entry points. Please take public transportation. It's going to be very difficult to get around the city between 2:00 PM and 2:00 AM. Something different this year, we're actually stopping vehicular traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge as well as the 59th Street ed Koch Bridge. So, just so that you can be aware of that. And we just want everyone to come out and have a great time. NYPD will be there. And this event should be very special, with – especially with all that we've been through. So, please come on out, be safe, enjoy the events.

Mayor: Thank you very much, Chief. And thank you to you and all the men and women of the NYPD for the amazing preparations you've done and the work you're going to do to keep us safe this weekend. Thank you very, very much.

Now, everyone, just a programming note. This will be our last press conference before Tuesday because Monday of course is formally a holiday. So, we'll be back with you on Tuesday, but I want to – I want to wish everyone a really, really wonderful holiday weekend. And it is again, it's a holiday weekend. That's going to be great to begin with. It's the summer of New York City, that's great. But it's also a time, as Chief said to think about how far we've come. It's going to be beautiful to have this big celebration, to be back together to recognize that we every single day are overcoming COVID. So, congratulations to everyone for how far we came and are going to continue to go. And let's celebrate this weekend.

And what a perfect time to go over our indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19. Today's report, 62 patients. Confirmed positivity, 10.45 percent. Hospitalization rate today, 0.28 per 100,000. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average, today’s report 194 cases. And number three, percentage of people testing citywide positive for COVID-19. Today's report on a seven-day rolling average 0.69 percent. Going to say a few words in Spanish on the topic of the July Fourth celebration.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, let's turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: Good morning. We will now begin our Q and A. As a reminder, we are joined by Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, Executive Director of Citywide Events Dan Gross, Commissioner of Office of Emergency Management John Scrivani, and Dr. Mitch Katz President and CEO of New York City Health + Hospitals. Our first question for today goes to Julia from the Post.

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor. Hope you're doing well.

Mayor: How are you doing, Julia?

Question: I'm doing good. Couple of questions for you. The first one about the budget, I'm wondering why you didn't heed President Biden's advice to use stimulus funds to hire more cops or invest in more immediate crime fighting strategies to address spiking violence instead of just preventative ones?

Mayor: Yeah. Julia, my understanding of the facts of what the President did was he specialized that to certain cities that were dealing with challenges greater than ours. But what we did here was strike a balance. We had a lot of different needs, to make sure we could bring the city back. We had to think about bringing back jobs. We have to think about bringing back schools. Obviously, the constant focus on fighting COVID once and for all, getting rid of it from our city. And of course, public safety, a lot of investments in community-based solutions, and keeping the NYPD at a strong level. So, I think we really struck that balance here in this budget. Go ahead, Julia.

Question: Okay. Thanks yesterday you were very vocal, calling for changes to the BOE. But in 2017, you along with the Governor and labor unions actually fought against a constitutional convention that could have reformed the agency. Do you regret that now?

Mayor: Not at all. A constitutional convention, unfortunately, with the rules that exist today in this country related to expenditures by corporations and wealthy individuals because of the Citizens United case – I think you could have seen some really bad outcomes simply because of vast campaign spending to make changes in what is, in many ways, a very good and progressive constitution. I do not regret it at all. That said, I think we need to have an item put on the ballot, which I think the public would absolutely agree with, to de-politicize all our Boards of Elections. It's time to make them modern, managerial agencies like any other government agency, there can be smart checks and balances in place, but the notion that they are partisan entities is outmoded and we keep seeing it every time. This Boards of Elections can't do the job. It needs to be torn down and a new approach needs to be taken.

Moderator: Our next question goes to Yoav from The City.

Question:  Hi, Mr. Mayor, I wanted to ask you about the budget. My understanding is that some federal stimulus funds were used for the expansion of 3-K and, so – please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is also, kind of, Budget 101 is that you don't pay for recurring costs with one time allocation. So, if that was done, why is that an acceptable way to do it?

Mayor: We're absolutely convinced about a few things, Yoav – I appreciate the question. First of all, 3-K is essential to the future of New York City. Kids learn best at between the ages of zero and five. That's what the science tells us, and yet before this administration, education for the vast majority of kids started only when they were five and older. So, we said, let's reach kids when it'll make the biggest impact on their lives. There's so much research that shows early child education works. It's the best education investment you can make. So, reorienting our entire education system earlier is crucial. I'm going to be very proud when this administration is over that we will have added two full additional grades to our public schools to help all our kids. That has to happen.

Now, the good news is we see recurring revenue coming in now because of the decision of the state legislature to honor the campaign for fiscal equity case – that's going to be constant from this point on, that revenue. I'm also convinced they're going to keep focusing on education investments going forward. I'm absolutely convinced the Biden administration will as well. So, you're going to see those supports, but you're also going to see increased city revenue, the growth in the economy everyone sees. That's going to manifest as more and more city revenue in the years ahead, that's going to allow us to support something we absolutely need, which is 3-K for All. Go ahead, Yoav.

Question: And relatedly, when you announced the expansion of 3-K, that you we're going to resume the expansion. There were questions raised about the lack of special ed seats for 3-K students, and you said essentially, it's something you're working on. What's the solution there? Are you going to make those students whole before you expand to other districts?

Mayor: In the expansion, and it's in the budget now, something we worked on closely with the City Council, we are going to provide support now for special ed kids in Pre-K. It will take the next year to phase in, but it's there, it's budgeted. We intend to reach every child. This is something we needed to get to, and we now have the resources to do it, and that's now a priority for our administration.

Moderator: Our next question goes to Marla from WCBS 880.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I lost my connection, so I'm not sure if you answered this yet, but this is with regards to the Macy's fireworks display. You had said a few weeks ago that there will be areas for vaccinated and non-vaccinated spectators. Is that still part of the plan? And if so, how will it be enforced?

Mayor: Yeah, the situation Marla has been evolving, obviously. I'm going to turn to Dan Gross who's our Executive Director for Citywide Events and is doing a great job with his team putting together these events. We literally have been week by week receiving more and more information. Our healthcare leadership has been analyzing it. The federal and state rules have been changing. So, it's been an evolving situation. The good news is things are more and more normal all the time. Dan, could you speak to how that's going to be handled?

Executive Director Dan Gross, Citywide Event Coordination and Management: Absolutely, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of quick updates. We've revised the executive order as it relates to outdoor events. That guidance is going to be announced relatively soon. For the purposes of the 4th of July fireworks viewing areas we are going to be opening that up to those individuals that are both vaccinated and unvaccinated with the only stipulation being, if you are un-vaccinated, it is strongly encouraged that you wear a mask.

Mayor: Thank you.

Director Gross: So, we're going to be reverting back to a posture of past 4th of July fireworks viewing areas.

Mayor: That's great. Thank you very much, Dan. Go ahead, Marla.

Question: And just in terms of enforcement, do you expect to have the NYPD you know, looking at who's masked, who's unmasked – dealing with any issues that may turn up because when, you know, you have a large crowd together, there may be some discomfort. You know, I don't know, is this something where you would have officers sort of policing the pens to avoid any conflict or problems?

Mayor: Yeah, I'll turn to Chief Holmes, but I’ll just say upfront, no, I think we're in a very different status right now, Marla, as Dan Gross just said. We obviously – people are adults. We're telling them if you're not vaccinated, it's wise to wear a mask to protect everyone around you. We're encouraging that, but we also, thank God, know that the number of people vaccinated in the city has grown every single day, and just to give you perspective, we now have 4.2 million fully vaccinated New Yorkers, 4.7 million who've gotten at least the first dose, and that obviously gives some real protection. So – and it keeps growing like tens of thousands each day. So, that's fantastic, but our message is clear to folks, come out and enjoy this. If you're not vaccinated, we're sending you a message to be smart about it, but we're not expecting to have a heavy hand here. Chief, do you want to add anything?

Chief Holmes: Yeah, so, there will be strong deployment, but not to enforce masks. Most people are fascinated and those that feel uncomfortable are welcome to wear masks if they like it, but that's not what we're going to be there for.

Mayor: Thank you very much.

Moderator: Our next question goes to Henry from Bloomberg.

Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor, how are you doing today?

Mayor: I am doing well, Henry. How do you feel? Happy July to you.

Question: Happy July to you too. July 4th. Fantastic. Big party this weekend. I'm not divulging the location.

Mayor: Okay. Anyway, now I want the entire press corps to find the location of Henry's party. That's the challenge, everyone.

Question: It won't be too difficult. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about this concert, which sounds like a fantastic event, and I had several questions. I hope you'll indulge me with a few questions and maybe not even give me a second, but I need to ask a whole bunch and I'll just go through them. Is it definitely going to be on the Great Lawn? What kind of efforts are you going to make to control the crowd, how big a crowd do you expect? Is the city going to sell TV rights that maybe raise some revenue or use it to turn it into a charitable event of some sort, and how many other acts, and how long event do you anticipate this going?

Mayor: Alright I’ll take that as one big composite two questions, and what I'll say is on some of those we're going to come back – Dan Gross can answer some of those. I’ll give a quick frame. Definitely more acts coming. This is amazing what we have already, but definitely more to come. It's to be one of the greatest concerts ever in New York City. I'm not making that up. It's going to be very, very special. We do obviously want to see a big crowd experience this. We're going to do it in a safe manner. We're talking about August, so we intend to get a lot more people vaccinated between now and August and use every opportunity to continue to make people safe. But this is meant to be an event for a large crowd. We'll come back to you on the TV rights and things like that, but in terms of the physical location and approach, Dan Gross, why don't you pick it up from there?

Director Gross: Okay. Certainly, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, at the Great Lawn the maximum capacity, there is 60,000 people, which is standard for any large-scale event that happens there. There's certainly a number of questions that you had Henry, which more details were to come. But it's going to be the same setup that you would see at your other standard events. So, for example, Global Citizens or anything in years past, so we're very excited and it's going to be a historic event to say the least.

Mayor: Well said. Okay, next.

Moderator: Our last question for today goes to Reuvain from Hamodia.

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I hope you're enjoying a cooler day in New York.

Mayor: Let me tell you, Reuvain, I was ready for a cooler day. We’re getting there, how have you been?

Question: Now, don't be insulted, but I'm definitely going to Henry's party.

Mayor: Yeah, you should, you should. That's the place to be.

Question: Yeah, so I just wanted to ask if you could take us through your thought process. Last year, you joined the Defund moment, and then now you're restoring funds to the Police Department. If you could just take us through your thought process there, and maybe Chief Holmes can jump in also on that?

Mayor: I think the question, although I know you mean it from the heart, I don't think it captures what happened. So, I'll say it in my own words. Last year in a moment where people were going through tremendous pain and trauma on so many levels, there was a deep desire to see investments in young people. We focused on that. We did take some resources from NYPD and focused it instead on the needs of young people. That was, I think, the right thing to do at that moment. We also said, what are things we can do with civilians that make more sense? You know, we've done a series of things – most recently having mental health calls that go to 9-1-1, that don't involve any violence handled by civilians instead of police. There are examples like that, that are just about smart shifting of responsibilities.

But we also set our police force at 35,000 officers, which is a strong police force able to handle the needs of this city. This year we said, you know, we're going to keep it at that level, and we adjusted a few things – the reforms we made in March, which I think were profoundly important, it took some funding to implement and really represent another step forward, and we were honest about overtime. We did end up saving a lot of money on overtime, but we needed to put some more back to actually make things function well, and we did it in this budget. So, to me, Reuvain, it's all about striking balance and that's what we've done here. Go ahead.

Question: The Campaign Finance Board ended up spending over a hundred million dollars in matching funds. Some of these were really fringe candidates that didn't really get any part of the vote. I'm wondering what you think of this? Is this an inappropriate use of the funds, and should there be any reforms? Also, I had asked if Chief Holmes could respond to my previous question, so maybe she can also?

Mayor: Okay. Let me – I'll come back on your Campaign Finance Board question. Chief, you want to add on the previous?

Chief Holmes: Yeah, so, I'll add in, in this respect. So, like the Mayor said naturally there are a lot of reforms that were put in place, especially those involving the youth. I'm launching a city-wide youth Blue Chips mentorship program for the children tonight at 3:00 PM in Queens. I don't know if you'll be there, but if you can it’d be nice. In addition to that, community solutions, you know, when we speak about community solution that involves taking officers off patrol, sitting down at the table with the community, elected officials, clergy members, and prioritizing community concerns, and then coming up with a solution together jointly. That's an officer that's not out in a position of keeping people safe. So, therefore we do need funding to make sure that those programs or those reforms are kept in place and move forward.

Mayor: Thank you very much. Reuvain, to your question about campaign finance. Look, I'm very proud of the fact that we changed our campaign finance system to end the reality of candidates needing to be dependent on big donors. I think there's a lot of concern for years and years that if the only way people felt they could get elected was to turn to big donors and be dependent on them, that that's not healthy for democracy. So, we said, okay, let's create a system where from mayor on down, you could run for office, and never talk to a big donor, just go out and get the maximum grassroots donations, get matching funds. That system functioned really well here, and I think that's the shape of things to come. We should always evaluate year after year and see what's happening, if there's any tweaks we need to make. But I think the broad strokes of this made sense, we had the most representative field of mayoral candidates we've ever seen in history. We now will have more women in the City Council than ever before. I think there's a lot of good results already we see from this election process, and I do think it's related to the fact that we opened up the process by making it easier for grassroots people to run, not just those who had money or connections. So, I like what I see. We should get to keep an eye on it year after year, if there's any tweaks but I think it's really been a step in the right direction for New York City. And with that, everyone, I want to wish you a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Everyone, have a great time, stay safe and enjoy the summer of New York City. Thank you.

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