Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on NY1

June 3, 2016

Roma Torre: Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for calling in.

Mayor de Blasio: You’re welcome, Roma. How are you doing?

Torre: I’m very well, thank you. We have a host of topics to cover so let’s get started with these NYPD crime statistics that were just released yesterday. And they are certainly encouraging. They reveal that New York City unlike the trend in big cities all across the country is experiencing a significant drop in major crime and that is certainly great news, but there is another side to that. New Yorkers in the higher crime neighborhoods and housing projects are telling us they’re not all that confident of the city’s ability to protect them. What can you say to those folks?

Mayor: I can say to them that we are very focused on protecting people in public housing and that we have made some real progress and there is more to do. I’m not going – I’m never going to tell anyone who feels their neighborhood is not yet safe enough that everything is fine. We have more to do, there is no two ways about it, and the goal as a City we want everyone to feel safe. But, you know, the numbers and the pattern of success here matters a lot. Crime is down, overall crime down 6.1 percent compared to a year ago, major reduction in shootings, major reduction in homicides. And we’re putting a lot of resources into public housing in particular. And it is already – we’re seeing real results where we’re putting extra officers in public housing. It’s making a big impact. We’re also doing things like adding additional lighting in public housing outdoors to make people safer. And I remind you, Roma, because of the work we did with the City Council last year we’re going to have 2,000 more cops on the beat by the end of this year and a lot of them will be assigned to public housing. So, I can certainly say some real progress and more coming.

Torre: Alright. I do have to point out though that there is one big exception to those positive statistics and that is incidents of rape are up, as they point out, 17 percent increase in the month of May. And what is the NYPD doing to combat those incidents.

Mayor: Well, we’re very, very concerned about that. There is no two ways about it. Now, I think a couple of things at once. First of all, we believe very fundamentally that a horrible crime like rape that people have to report it so that we can go after the perpetrator. And you know, in the past sometimes people didn’t. We are really encouraging people to come forward who have experienced that crime and more and more people are. So, one thing that we are seeing in those numbers is more people coming forward and that is, in its own way, steps that will help us get more of the bad guys off the street. The second thing is there is a lot more outreach in the communities. What we are doing [inaudible] additional officers and the neighborhood policing strategy that is now deepening is; we are deepening the flow of information in the community, the connection to the community, so people can alert us if they have a concern or they think someone may be up to no good. It gives the police a much better chance of acting preventively. So, you’re going to see a lot police presence this summer. We’re doing the Summer All Out again, so there will be extra police presence. And we think that preventative approach will go a long way.

Torre: And you know, I also have to put it out there – we’re hearing of corruption allegations within the NYPD. Do you have confidence in your police department to get the job done?

Mayor: 100 percent, 110 percent confidence. The numbers are amazing and the numbers count for a lot. Obviously, I am very, very sad honestly that a small group of senior people at the NYPD apparently did the wrong thing and took gifts that everyone in government knows you’re not supposed to do. You know, it is a small number of people. I believe they will appropriately feel the consequences of their mistake. But we’re talking about a force that is going to be 36,000 people as we now expended for the first time in 15 years – vast, vast majority of the members of the NYPD are doing a great, great job. And these numbers – as you said – New York City continues to get safer; safest big city in America by far compared [inaudible] to other places that are experiencing really major, major problems. That’s because the NYPD is getting the job done. Gun arrests and gun seizures are up almost 20 percent from last year, another indication of a vigorous and effective police force. So, I am absolutely confident in the NYPD.

Torre: And citing dissention among the ranks within some of the top echelons in the NYPD, what about your feelings on Commissioner Bratton?

Mayor: I have tremendous faith in him. And I – look, I don’t think – I want to challenge your word choice respectfully. I don’t think there is any dissention or disagreement within the leadership of the NYPD. I think a small number of people did something wrong and again they will experience the consequences for what they did. But the vast majority of our leadership at the NYPD had nothing to do with any of that. And the Commissioner has done an amazing job. I mean, he has once again shown that he has the ability to put together an extraordinary team of leaders and achieve things that people think are impossible. Remember Roma in 2013, the conventional wisdom was if we were to reduce stop-and-frisks, even though it was an unconstitutional broken law, if we reduced it crime would go up. Well, look low-and-behold the stop-and-frisk issue was addressed and crime has continued to go down in historic ways. You know, Bill Bratton deserves a hell of a lot of credit for that including on top of that the fact that he’s brought a whole new generation of technology to NYPD, much better training. You know, I think history is going to smile on his extraordinary contributions to this city.

Torre: Alright. Switching gears entirely now. There is legislation before the City Council to distribute feminine hygiene products to female inmates also to women in homeless facilities and all public schools in this City. And I understand you support that bill now, but your office is looking to change some of the wording. Where do you stand on that piece of legislation?

Mayor: Well, first I want to commend the lead sponsors Councilmember Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and Councilmember Laurie Cumbo because I think it is important legislation because it addresses a fairness point and a point of trying to be sensitive and helpful to young women and eliminate stigma, eliminate a challenge for them – but it also is a financial and economic issue. For a lot of young women these products create an economic burden. We’re looking at this also through our Commission on Gender Equity because we want to look at any situations like this that might create unfairness and inequality. We are still working with the City Council on legislation, so I want to say I absolutely commend the intent and I have every reason to believe that we’ll get to a good place, but there still are some details that have to be worked through before we can specifically support the legislation.

Torre: And what the proposal is – to basically to distribute free of charge these feminine hygiene products to whomever in these city facilities that needs them. That sounds like it is going to be rather costly. Where’s the money coming from and any estimate in terms of how much it is going to cost?

Mayor: Well, you know, that is part of why the legislative process has to be done smartly and carefully because we do think the cost issue is a real concern. But at the same time, we think it is a very, very valid issue that has to be addressed. Now, I think if we create a program that is smart we can keep the cost reasonable and obviously we may have a chance here to get some donations from the companies that make these products. So, we’re looking at different options. The intent is a very good one. We do have to address cost and some other things, but again I feel pretty confident we’ll work it through.

Torre: Mr. Mayor, I do have to ask you about the continued friction between yourself and the Governor. Earlier this week, we heard he was demanding an apology from you after you had accused his office of leaking the Board of Elections report on the investigations into your fundraising practices for Democrats running in the State Senate. He was bolstered by the State Inspector General’s finding that the leak in fact came from Republicans and not his office. And yet you continue to insist the Governor is behind it. What proof do you have and do you still feel this way?

Mayor: Yeah. And Roma I think the back-and-forth has gone back-and-forth enough times. There’s obviously a disagreement and we should just move on to other things. But my simple point there is a double standard here. Again, I have real comfort that when we’re dealing with some of these investigations such as the U.S. Attorney or the Manhattan DA that those are investigations that we’re working with productively and professionally and offering all the information we can and working out what we can to resolve those quickly and clearly. But in the case of the State, you know, I keep seeing some very interesting double standards where you know my work is singled out and other people involved in the same exact thing are ignored for example. We just – we have a difference. And the bottom line here is that the State Board of Elections is supposed to be above the fray. It’s not supposed to take sides politically. It is supposed to honor the confidentiality that should go with any investigation, clearly that wasn’t done here. So, the people were not well served here by the State Board of Elections and that needs to be remembered.

Torre: But the Governor was asking for an apology, are you prepared to give it to him?

Mayor: No. I’ve said the answer is no because again, I think I have made very clear I think what happened here was wrong.

Torre: And Mr. Mayor, I have to say it is hard to believe that this feud that seems to be escalating each week and the fundraising investigations aren’t a major distraction for you. How are you able to stay focused on City business these days?

Mayor: Well, I mean, Roma look at the facts. It is so obvious how much is being done. [Inaudible] that has gone into the success of the NYPD. We’ve been working now for two-and-a-half years non-stop to help the NYPD continue its success and the numbers are amazing. We can continue to improve our schools in a whole host of ways. We will continue to build out our affordable housing plan, which I think is the number one issue on New Yorkers’ minds – is affordability. You know, the things we’re doing to protect tenants from eviction are working more and more. This is the work I do every single day. Right now, of course we’re in the middle of settling the City budget, the most important thing we do each year. And we look forward to getting that resolved in the next few weeks. That’s where my time and energy goes. I think investigations are unfortunately, in modern American public life, they are part of the [inaudible] now. You can basically assume there will be investigations. Our job is to keep doing the day-to-day work on behalf of the people, work with any investigators to resolve outstanding issues, and move on.  So – and I also don’t think conflicts between politicians are surprising. They happen all the time. I don’t think the public cares a lot about that. They want to see that we’re getting things done. And I’ll tell you, I have a lot evidence, Roma. When I got to town hall meetings – you know I’ve done a number all over this city – when I do call-in shows on the radio, people don’t ask about whether I agree or disagree with a certain politician. They want to talk about crime. They want to talk about housing. They want to talk about education, quality-of-life – that’s what the people are focused on.

Torre: It does seem, though, to be an unnecessary distraction for the both of you. Is there any chance we’ll see a détente between the two of you before the end of this summer?

Mayor: Look, Roma, hope springs eternal, and you know, there’s always a chance that things in any relationship can be worked out. But, you know, I’m going to hold a very clear standard of what’s in the interest of the people of New York City – I’ve said that many times. If the Governor, or any other leader, does things that help New York City, I’ll thank them and I’ll commend them. If they don’t, I’ll call them out. The other day we had an announcement about additional support of homelessness. And I said, yesterday, I commend the Governor that he’s putting additional resources into emergency shelter beds and supportive housing – that’s fantastic.  I still need to know more about what the vision is – we all need to know about what the vision is to work with the City productively to combine forces to address this issue. And we also have real outstanding issues on homelessness that we’re still waiting for answers from, from the State, especially support for people who have been victims of domestic violence, and find themselves homeless because they can’t go back to the person who was battering them. Those folks need more support from the State. And we hope that’ll be forthcoming as part of the State legislative session.  So, you know, again, it comes down to the work, and whenever someone works on [inaudible] in New York City, I’m very comfortable working with them.

Torre: Mr. Mayor, just finally, you did mention that you are discussing the budget. It is due at the end of the month. How is that going, and what are the major sticking points at this juncture?

Mayor: It’s going very well. There’s been, I think, a very collegial and positive relationship between the City Council and the Mayor’s Office over the last two-and-a-half years. I think we had a great process around the last two budgets, and you know, there’s a lot going back and forth. And I think we will succeed with a good budget for the people.  The Council, obviously very publically, has raised important issues like summer-youth employment – it’s a major, major priority for Council members, and for good reason. It’s one of the way that we both help our young people, and help keep our young people from, you know, some of the negative realities around them. It’s a major priority for the Council. I respect that. It’s something we’re working through how to address. And I think, again – I think we’re on the right track, and we’ll see some progress soon.

Torre: Alright. Mayor Bill de Blasio thanks so much for sharing your time with us, and we wish you all the best.

Mayor: You’re very, very welcome, Roma. Take care.

Torre: Alright, and you as well.