Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Announces Start of Construction of New 306 Seat Steam Pre-K Center in Corona, Queens

October 31, 2019

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, Julissa, thank you, and, Jiao Lan, thank you. You both spoke so beautifully about what this means. And I want to just emphasize to everyone, parents make all the difference, not only in their children’s lives and I always say, we, as parents, we’re the first and last teachers of our children. We as parents are the first and last teachers of our children. But parents also get involved. And these two parents are a great example and a lot of other parents with us here today, and thank you to all of you – that they really wanted to see the best for their kids. They wanted these STEAM programs and you heard the point about some parents wanted their kids to be exposed to these opportunities so early and they wanted it so badly that they would go looking for it and they would even pay for it and a lot of them didn’t have a lot of money to make those opportunities available for their kids. But that was so important to them, nothing was more important that giving their child the best opportunity.

But it shouldn’t come down to whether you have enough money to afford it. Or whether you have the time and energy to pursue these opportunities because a lot of people in this town are working not one job, but two jobs and long hours and they would love to do more for their kids but they are just trying to put food on the table. But what these parents did was they worked hard to make sure that this opportunity was available for all children for free. So that every family could benefit and that’s what we are here to celebrate today. We are here in Corona and if you go walk around the streets of this community as I have, you see a wonderful community of hard working people, a lot of working class people, a lot of immigrants. This is by no means a privileged community. It’s a community where parents feel deeply that they want the best for their kids but they don’t have the advantages that some other communities have economically. But none the less, what’s being announced today is literally world class. This is as advanced as it gets, as high quality as it gets. This is STEAM programing at the pre-K level as early as we can reach our children. This is going to be one of the very best programs in the nation. And it’s not happening on Park Avenue. It’s happening here in Corona. So congratulations to all of you.

[Applause]

You are going to hear from some of my colleagues in a moment but first some heart felt acknowledgements and thank yous. First, members of my team who worked so hard, and this has been a labor of love as some of you may know, this was not an easy plan to put together. It took a lot of work, a lot of creativity. So, tremendous thanks to Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, to Chancellor Richard Carranza, to the absolutely extraordinary President and CEO of the School Construction Authority, Lorraine Grillo and to – clap for all of them.

[Applause]

And someone who really made this a labor of love, the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor, Michaela Daniel, thank you to all of you.

[Applause]

And then to the Hall of Science, because we needed a partner, this was a big, creative, challenging project. We needed a partner who believed in it. And I want to thank everyone at the Hall of Science, all the trustees and particularly the President of the Hall of Science, Margaret Honey, thank you so much.

[Applause]

And then I think we got an example just a few minutes ago for all of you who were there, that education can be fun. First of all, my teachers did not dress in costume on Halloween back in the day, things were a little starchier back then Richard. And we didn’t get to do stomp rockets. I would have really enjoyed stomp rockets. I’m feeling deprived right now. We didn’t get stomp rockets but these kids do and they deserve it and you can see the extraordinary enthusiasm and energy. And you can see how it’s like sparking their sense of learning right away – they kept wanting to make their stomp rocket better. That’s a, you know, in this case a five-year-old but you are going to be seeing it with four-year-olds too when this opens. Imagine they are thinking about how to make their rocket work at that age. They are thinking about the physics of it, they are thinking about the construction. All of those ideas are blossoming from the beginning. These are kids, some of these kids are going to turn into scientists and engineers because they had an experience like that early and it sparks something in them.

So, I want to thank all the educators here – the Superintendent of District 24, Madeline Chan –

[Applause]

– All of the educators from this great school. We saw the kids from P.S. 28 and the Principal Robert Quintana. Congratulations to all the folks at P.S. 28.

[Applause]

Very groovy teachers in their costumes – and again, all the parents and community leaders who believed that STEAM education was the right way to go and they fought for it and worked for it. And thank you all. Now stomp rockets, let’s go back to stomp rockets, just absolutely captivated by the stomp rockets. So this is literally what education should look like in the 21st Century. Hands on, emphasizing actual critical thinking, decision making, creativity, this is literally one little example but I’ve got a pedagogical expert over there. This is actually what teaches kids to think. They are not memorizing, they are creating on the spot. And that’s exciting. And I think when we started Pre-K and now as we build 3-K, one of the things we saw is a lot of folks questioned the capacity of kids at their youngest years.

Well, I respected those questions, I know they were honest. But I thought quickly these are folks who had not spent a lot of time around four-year-olds and three-year-olds because if you do you are constantly amazed and shocked at how advanced they can be, how hungry they are for knowledge, how ready they are to learn and again the whole reason we did Pre-K and 3-K is as a city, as a society, as a nation, we were investing huge amounts of education dollars too late. We were missing the time when kids were learning the most and the best between birth and five and this city devoted itself to fixing that, to changing that, to really investing where we could have the maximum impact on these amazing young minds.

And I tell a story from the first year of Pre-K and I know some of members of the media were present to see this – we were in a classroom in Queens, it was one of the very first Pre-K events we did that fall of 2014. And Carmen Fariña and I read a book, we read Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar, the Very Hungry Caterpillar? Very Hungry, I’m sorry Very Hungry – got to get the title right there. Very Hungry Caterpillar which is all about the development of the caterpillar and the kids were really into it. There were on their mat in front of us, and a lot of them were engaging and we were asking them questions. They were all responding, except this one kid in the back seemed totally uninterested. And just didn’t engage and we sort of said everyone you know, what’s this color, what’s this number. And this one kid just like wasn’t having it. So, at the very end we were about to get up and the kid suddenly puts his hand up. And I’m like okay, yes what would you like to say? And he stares at me and he says metamorphosis.

[Laughter]

I am not making this up. I have witnesses. Four-year-old kid and he says metamorphosis which is the underlying theme of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. So I mean it’s just a little example of these kids, they have an amazing ability to learn. And we are meeting that ability with this kind of idea, this kind of STEAM programing right in their school, right here, collaborating, the school and the Hall of Science, making it available. It’s going to have an amazing impact. And we know now – and I’m always someone to say, test scores only tell us something but we do know from what we saw with the state test scores some weeks ago, that Pre-K is helping to narrow the achievement gap. And it wasn’t surprising to Richard Carranza because reaching kids earlier, including a lot of kids who did not have the advantages, it was inevitable if you reached them earlier with high quality education you were going to see things start to move and they did.

So this is going to be another part of it. This is again, going to be a reminder that every child is going to get the highest quality education early, regardless of zip code and regardless of how much money is in their parent’s bank account. That’s what we are devoted to.

So, one other thing to say on this – a great piece of this whole effort, and again thanks to all the parents who worked so hard for this, was to really bond the new Pre-K center and 3-K as well, the new Early Childhood Education Center to the Hall of Science and to make sure the kids would have a lasting relationship with the Hall of Science even when pre-K was done. And so part of this plan is to give every family of these kids a free family membership to the Hall of Science. So, that’s going to be great.

[Applause]

So I am going to say a few words in Spanish and then we will take questions on this announcement, we got some other things to do today too but just to say very clearly, fairness, this is what we talk about a lot. How do we become a more fair and just society? How do we become the fairest big city in America? It starts with the very first day a child steps into a classroom. That’s when we actually achieve fairness. If we get it right on the first day and that’s what we are striving to do and that’s what this announcement is about.

Just a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

Okay, we are going to hear from some of our colleagues on this. And again we are going to be taking questions first about this announcement. Then we have another announcement and then we will go to other questions after. But now to give credit where credit is due, two elected officials who really had to put serious, serious effort into this one. This was a complex project. It involved our State Capital in Albany. I will only comment to say that that always adds complexity. Wasn’t that gentle? So all of the elected officials worked on this and believed in this and it started with someone who really made it a priority, the Borough President of Queens, Melinda Katz.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Okay, we are going to first take questions on this announcement. Again, we’re going to have another announcement and we’re going to take other questions. So, we want to keep everyone here just for this first piece of questions about this announcement today. Let’s see if there’s anything, please –

Question: A few years ago the playground at P.S. 28 across 111th Street was ripped up to facilitate the construction of Pre-K trailers [inaudible]. Will they be returned to playground space now that we have this—

Mayor: Lorraine Grillo, come forward.

President and CEO Lorraine Grillo, School Construction Authority: Yes, absolutely. Really they were put there temporarily as we were working to get this project off the ground.

Question: Is there a timeline for that?

President Grillo: Sure. Well, this project will be completed for September of 2021 and then we will remove the trailers.

Question: Just a follow-up. I know that there was some mention – I guess it’s for you and for the Mayor – there was mention of complications in the State Legislature. It actually is a park [inaudible] because we are currently on parkland. I know obviously there is a great need for Pre-K and this is a beautiful building but there is some concern that using parkland to build  and then maybe you do this in another park [inaudible] –

President Grillo: I think the area that we’re talking about basically was a parking lot. So we saw this as a terrific opportunity to partner with the Hall of Science and it worked, thank goodness.

Mayor: Yeah, I think it was a particular situation. I don’t think there as any bigger ramifications. I think this was a thing unto itself in one of the most overcrowded districts in the entire city, and yeah a parking lot – we all just looked at it objectively. It’s a parking lot. It was something we could all make happen here. But everyone cared deeply about the larger issues and made sure there was balance in the way the Albany process was handled. Anything else on this from media – on this? Yes?

Question: What’s the cost of the project?

Mayor: What’s the cost of the project? Damn good question.

President Grillo: The project will cost $42.4 million.

Question: I was also wondering [inaudible] this brings to mind the last big, ambitious project in Queens that got a lot of fanfare was the Hunts Point Library, and that opened shortly after – that’s a little apples and oranges but I [inaudible], this is another big, ambitions project. How do you make sure it doesn’t have the same problems the Hunts Point Library did right after [inaudible]—

Mayor: Hunters Point Library—

Question: Yeah, sorry [inaudible]—

President Grillo: Okay, the ADA issues – the Hunters Point Library, as I understand it, I’ve recently become Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction who was responsible for building that project. That was designed many years ago – a number of years ago. The ADA requirements have changed over time and yes, in fact, that building is ADA accessible however in a school we make extra special – or extra effort to make sure that it is accessible for every child and for parents, to make it open for them. As far as issues, as far as the construction is concerned, again, those are all going to be resolved. In every construction there is something called punch list – little adjustments that have to be made. But they’re being made as we speak. And our history at the SCA has been that of building absolutely beautiful functional and efficient buildings. So, I expect that this will be the same.

Mayor: Let me see if there’s anything else about this announcement. Yeah?

Question: I have a broader question about the Pre-K program. A lot of students – four-year-olds with special needs or IEPs, you know, they sometimes have to travel really far to go to school. Is there a [inaudible] future to increase the number of [inaudible] classes or special needs programs in pre-K to make it truly universal for all students?

Mayor: Richard, come on up on that. I mean, look – I just will – I’ll do the big frame as the layman. I think the broader goal that’s been here for years and is the right goal is wherever you can use an inclusion approach you should and I think we’re finding that inclusion can reach a number of kids who maybe in the past it was assumed couldn’t. And while you’re doing that you’re obviously right there in the community. I think we also are finding with some special needs, and I think for kids on the autism spectrum, this is a good example that public school programs are working better and better at being refined. So if there is the need for a specific program, yeah there’s travel but that’s for a kid who really needs that choice.

Whether, you know, I think those are sort of the basic philosophical parameters and then we do our best to match people, but you take it away.

Chancellor Carranza: So well said Mr. Mayor. So, Pre-K and 3-K gives us an extraordinary opportunity to intervene early, so as we’ve promulgated the programs across the city, we’ve also, based on the needs, established the programmatic strands within those programs. So, as we have needs, the first option for us is always to have students in the least restrictive setting which is almost always in the general education classroom and in a Pre-K classroom it’s particularly advantageous because it so much play-based, it’s hands-on, it’s experimental, so it gives us a real opportunity to have students served in those environments. As the Mayor did say, students need more restrictive types of programs. Those are located in very specific areas, but even there we’re really working to make sure that we have those programs geographically distributed, so that we are cutting down on the travel time for students and for parents. But again, we want those be the exception rather than the norm.

Mayor: Thank you, last – yes, please?

Question: Just slightly off-topic, but on the Success Academy situation [inaudible] I’m wondering if there’s an update? The charter school is saying that the delay is making it too late for them to get a private space.

Mayor: Okay, Richard, come on back. I think your costume gets points for accuracy; I can’t see that from here.

Question: It’s the Communist Manifesto.

Mayor: Oh no, you’re going too far now. You’re going too far, you were doing good. Your hair looks good though.

[Laughter]

Chancellor Carranza: So our Deputy Chancellor Goldmark is also here and can answer more specific questions but there is a process, and there is an engagement process that we’ve engaged with all of the communities, not only the Success Academy community, but also the communities of the schools in which there could or could not be space. So we are right in that process, we’ve been communicating and meeting with Success Academy officials on a regular basis. They know the timeline but our goal is to make sure they have the space that they need in the appropriate amount of time for them to open on time.

Mayor: Last call, let’s see if there’s anything else. We’ve got the Chancellor so – because he’s not staying for the later part I don’t think, so let me see if there’s anything else here, go ahead?

Question: Do you have any updates on the Yeshiva investigation? I know there were some schools that weren’t cooperating.

Mayor: I’ll start and Chancellor come on over. I mean the big summation is that after a lot of pushing we ended up in a place where schools cooperated and real change has been happening in those schools. So I think some were much slower to cooperate than they should have been but we got there.

Chancellor Carranza: Yes, so all of the schools that were identified as part of the initial complaint, they all have now been visited by curriculum teams and administrators and we’ve done walkthroughs. We are in a pattern, right now, of constant communication with the leaders in the schools. We are in the process of assembling a report that we will be delivering to the State Education Department. There’s a little bit of a – let’s just say lots of different people at the State departments, so we’re in the process now of identifying who’s got point on that.

Mayor: That was diplomatic.

Chancellor Carranza: Was that diplomatic?

Mayor: Lots of different people there.

Chancellor Carranza: Yeah.

So we are in the process right now of that communication so the good news is we have been into those schools. The other piece of good news is that schools that were recalcitrant have now started cooperating with us so we’re making progress and you should have some more information within the next two to three weeks.

Question: [Inaudible] on another education question. So during your tenure, reading scores for 4th and 8th graders went down slightly on the federal test, better known as the Nation’s Report Card. Do you have any response to that?

Mayor: Yeah, the – boy does Richard have something to say about this. That – the federal test, it’s not the federal government obviously, but the federal test, the national test, has become less and less valid, I’ll put it in laymen’s terms. There’s something wrong because this test is not reflecting the reality on the ground and that is being talked about all over the country. They need to reset that for the future because it’s just not indicative of what’s happening. That’s my non-pedagogical answer but you take it away.

Chancellor Carranza: So the NAEP test, the TUDA, which is often called the Nation’s Report Card, is undergoing some changes. And I think what’s important in terms of context without getting too weedy into this topic is that because New York State and other states have adopted the Common Core state standards we now have the next generation standards in New York State – what happens is that teachers across the system are making sure that they’re covering what students should learn as based on the standards at every grade level. Now when the State of New York then does its end of the year state exam, they’re testing the standards that, by law, students should be mastering in the State of New York.

The misalignment that the Mayor referenced is that when you have a national administered test like NAEP, there are some misalignment issues. And I can give you an example. There’s an issue with – for example, in the State of New York we teach geometry in the 4th Grade, we teach geometric concepts, yet on the TUDA, the NAEP test, that’s measured in the 3rd Grade, so there’s a misalignment. Kids are being tested on something they haven’t even experienced yet because of the curriculum and the state standards that they’re following. That is become more and more pronounced. I just came from a meeting of the Council of the Great City Schools, the 76 largest school systems in America, many of whom are part of this TUDA test, and this was a big topic of conversation. So much so that the last administration of this test, TUDA actually came out and said we recognize there is some misalignment, and we’re recalculating what those scores are. So I think the real barometer for us in New York is are students doing better on the state exams which is a true reflection of what is being taught and the standards that we have in New York State. Nationwide, they were flat. Statistically flat. The other thing that I would just say very briefly is that these tests, they do a random sample and it’s a very small number of students. So when you’re thinking about New York City with 1.1 million students it’s just a drop in the bucket, it’s not a real comprehensive look at what we’re doing in New York.

Mayor: Thank you for being less wonky than you might have been.

[Laughter]

Alright, last call before we go on to this new section. Okay we are going to stop this part and we’re going to do another announcement. Thank you to the elected officials for being here and all the community members. Thank you so much everybody.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Alright, everybody ready? So we just talked about – the announcement of the Pre-K Center as an example of focusing on fairness. The next announcement is all about fairness, all about justice, about the work we do and the absolutely crucial role that our Law Department plays and today I am so honored to announce that our new Corporation Counsel will be Jim Johnson. Congratulations, Jim.

[Applause]                                                                                                                                          

Jim is joined by his wife Nancy Northup and I want to just give her special praise as well. This is the ultimate power couple here in terms of doing justice and good works. Nancy as President of the Center for Reproductive Rights has been in the forefront of protecting the rights of women, and boy is it a time in history where that is needed more than ever, so Nancy thank you to you and your team for all the work you do.

[Applause]

And I want to also offer a thanks to someone who is not present here, but is doing her job right now and will keep doing the great job she’s been doing, Georgia Pestana acted as our interim Corp Counsel. She will continue in the role she played under Corp Counsel Zachary Carter as the First Assistant Corp Counsel. She’s done amazing work over these years and someone who we have depended on in so many issues in particularly played a crucial role in some of the recent victories that the City of New York has had in legal cases against the Trump administration. So I want to express my gratitude to Georgia for all she has done and all she will do.

The Law Department, a lot of New Yorkers don’t have a reason to see the day to day workings of the Law Department but it’s literally one of the biggest law firms in America. More than 900 lawyers, 600 support staff, this is a huge part of the work we do. And that is true every day, and that’s been true for years and years, just making this city work and making sure that New Yorkers are treated fairly and addressing big, complex issues, but that has taken on new meaning during the last few years of the Trump administration. We have seen the rights of women under attack, the rights of immigrants, consistently seen efforts to take away funding from the City of New York. In fact, even this week, we’re fighting to stop the Trump administration from taking away food stamps from New Yorkers who don’t have enough food to eat. That’s how basic it is. And the Law Department is often the first line of defense, the Law Department is often the place that can save the people of New York City from some really dangerous federal policies and they have done that time and time again.

So, we looked for the right person to be our Corporation Counsel. It was so important to me to find someone who really understood the values of the administration, who understand not just professionally, but personally. Jim throughout his life, starting with his family life, is really in his whole way of working and living, it’s exhibited that kind of understanding. He comes from a proud middle class family, he worked hard for everything that he has achieved, his dad was a real estate agent in this town, his mom – I love this – a church organist who earned a PhD at the age of 68. So that says a lot. Jim had parents with that kind of drive and that kind of vision. And Jim, I know your mom passed earlier this year, and I wish she could have been here because I know she would be so proud of you and I know she has been proud of many other points along the way, but I just want acknowledge her great and positive influence and I hope she’s watching from up there and appreciating this day.

Jim got a lesson early on that injustice was everywhere. His dad as I said was in real estate, but he was not allowed to sell houses in the white neighborhoods in his community. His parents had to teach him to be careful. One of the things Jim told me was literally being told by his parents, even if you just buy some bubble gum, get the receipt in case someone asks. So it’s a small but powerful example of the consciousness of what so many people still have to deal with. His parents worked seven days a week, they worked hard to provide for Jim and his siblings and that lesson was learned well by Jim. He went to Harvard, both undergraduate and the law school, and he realized he had an obligation to serve others. And his whole career, he’s done that.

First in the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in the Southern District. Then, at the United States Department of Treasury in the Clinton administration where he ultimately became the Undersecretary for Enforcement, dealt with a huge number of challenging issues, including being one of the – in fact the first senior federal official to go to the site of the Columbine Massacre and to see the horror of guns being available to people who shouldn’t have them and he put that lesson to action working tirelessly to close the gun show loophole and to act to create a safer society. He also had ample occasion in the work he did to work closely with law enforcement and he said to me, he saw personally, particularly after Columbine, the trauma that so many in law enforcement went through and understood how important that was to address.

Many things he has done in recent years including tremendous work with the Brennan Center, building a team of national experts to support criminal justice reform. And then as I’m sure you’ve seen he tried his hand in political life as well, running for Governor of New Jersey in 2017. After that effort, he ended up working with Governor Phil Murphy on extraordinarily important work to help a city that’s been through a lot, Atlantic City.

So in every way, Jim understands why what we do in government is so crucial. He understands what these tools are. He has experienced extraordinary things and led in extraordinary situations and he understands it’s our responsibility to stand up for the people of this city. And when I think about the fights ahead, and we know they will come, I know Jim is battle tested and ready to lead the Law Department, and ready to lead the city’s efforts to resist policies that will hurt our people.

Just a few words in Spanish -

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that, just a wonderful addition to our team – my honor to welcome Jim Johnson.

[Applause]

Corporation Counsel James Johnson: Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the opportunity to serve. Thank you for those really, perhaps overly generous remarks. Thank you for mentioning my mother. My mother was an educator and her spirit is here. She’s not looking down, particularly on this morning where you spent so much time celebrating children and giving them opportunity. Zach Carter whom I will succeed has been a friend of mine for two decades and during his time in the office he has talked so much about how much he valued the Law Department and I am excited about the opportunity to work with the team that he assembled. I’ve already had a chance to meet with the First Assistant Corporation Counsel. Georgia is fantastic, she is gracious, she is extraordinarily smart, and I am looking forward to working with her and the rest of the team that she so amply and ably exemplifies.

The Mayor talked a little bit about my parents and my background. My father was a Marine Corp vet. My mother was a musician and an educator. They were both pillars of our community. For them, and from them, the core values of service and public interest became fundamental to me, they were the bedrock upon which not only I built my life, but my siblings as well. My brother is preacher. My sister is a school librarian. And they are values that I share with my wife whom the Mayor so graciously introduced, Nancy Northup, she is for me an inspiration and I think a model for all who would be public interest lawyers across the nation.

I am Jersey born and bred and yet I have always understood that we have a deep connection to New York City in particular. It may have stemmed from the fact that my great grandfather was a tunnel driller at the Holland Tunnel, but more significantly it was because of what my parents did. They - for seven summers they ran a camp in Western New Jersey and many of the kids that went to that camp were kids who had faced deep challenges. It’s clear some came from Newark but also a large number of our kids came from Brooklyn, from Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and while served – I worked at that camp, it is not the easiest thing to be the child of a camp director. My job was busting suds in the kitchen.

But while I worked at that camp, and perhaps to give dignity to that particular position, my dad always told me two things, be of purpose and serve your fellow man. And then he pointed to examples of just that, he was project manager for an architect and one of the project for which he was most proud was in Brooklyn, New York. Gardner Taylor was a legendary Baptist preacher and he led that congregation with vision, with rock steady faith, with true inspiration, and one of the things he wanted to build was a nursing home so that people who reached a certain age, advanced years, didn’t have to leave their community but instead stayed in their community. And I went to Albany with my dad, taking the plans and the permit applications to Albany so we could see this vision enacted, and what that taught me, because dad was always pointing to Gardner Taylor, what that taught me was the power, first, of having a compelling vision, and then having the discipline to execute. It’s a lot like I think what is bringing the school here to what would be a former parking lot.

At the same time my mother was a secretary in a law firm. That was during the week, on the weekends she taught piano lessons on Saturday and on Sunday she was a church organist. Both of them emphasized the importance of community. My mother also, as the Mayor indicated, she got her last degree when she was 68, but she got her first college degree when I was a sophomore in high school. She didn’t have the opportunity and she often said to me, if I had the chance, I would have been a lawyer, so she was a secretary in a law firm. But she pointed me to lawyers who made a difference. She used to clip out a page of the Amsterdam News, and on our refrigerator, instead of baseball players, we had Thurgood Marshall, we had Pastor Leon Sullivan. Those were the examples to whom I was supposed to [inaudible] for guidance in thinking about how I was going to move forward. It was natural that – practically ordained that I would spend most of my legal career in public service. And that service has shaped me and it will inform how I approach my stewardship of a legendary law department.

There are tough issues that are facing New York and there always have been. Some of them are police-community relation issues. I know about those issues firsthand from a couple of different ways. When I was a prosecutor in the U. S. Attorney’s Office one of the most important cases that I handled involved the attempted murder in the Bronx of an undercover police officer. He was trying to get the goods on a crew that was dealing poison in the community. They set him up. He was wired. And they shot him repeatedly. To make that case I had to listen to that shooting over and over again. These things stay with you.

When I was in the Clinton administration as Undersecretary of the Treasury, one of the bureaus that I oversaw was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and one of their tasks was investigating gun crimes. And when the agents called me in one day and they said, ‘We have the worst thing we can imagine happen, there’s been a shooting in Columbine.’ Within two days, because I had to see for myself, I had to be with my agents who were responding to that crime, I was in that library where ten children lost their lives. No one should have to see that. No one should have to endure that as family members, and yet our law enforcement do things like that all the time. And so I understand both the horror that guns in the wrong hands can visit on communities and what happens to law enforcement when they have to deal with those crimes.

And then on a more personal matter, when I was seven, one of the members – and this may have been the thing that launched me into the direction of law enforcement – one of the most revered members of our community was killed in a gun crime. So, that side – the law enforcement side is something that is really part of my DNA. But on the other side as well, I understand because I have been stopped in my own car, I understand because I’ve been searched in broad daylight carrying nothing but a carpet but searched for guns, that the tension between law enforcement and many of the communities that it serves is real. There’s an empirical basis for the distrust but there is also trauma on both sides. And it’s my view that there are ways to understand that trauma and bring us all together.

And that’s the work that I’ve done. The work that I did when I was chair of the advisory committee on police standards in New Jersey that looked at racial profiling, that’s work that I’ve continued in Atlantic City on working to turn that city around when we borrowed from New York – flattery in its sincerest form, right, rather imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – borrowed from New York and created in Atlantic City our neighborhood coordination officer program which is modelled on what the NYPD has done. There is lots to be done and I’m ready to get to it.

My father had many different jobs and he was many things to me. He was distinctly proud of having served in the Marines. He even applied the spirit – the idea of esprit de corps to our sports teams. That was his first answer as to why we lost. It had nothing to do with the fact that we were often short and slow. And yet my dad was under no illusions that the promise of America wasn’t fully extended to him but he believed that it could be – so did my mother.

And the real estate agent who couldn’t sell in certain areas raised a son who could oversee a fair housing settlement in Westchester County, and a son who could fight to keep people under threat of foreclosure in their homes. The church organist who didn’t finish all of her schooling until she was 68, emphasized education and had a son who advocated for making college accessible to all. We are not yet done in this city or in this nation with the work of nation building, empowering people, of creating a society that is much more fair and much more just. We are not in this city or in this nation what so many of us want, which is a place where fairness can almost be taken for granted. As the Mayor so often makes clear, and he did this morning, we can be, we should be, and we must be.

And from my perspective the law is a vital tool to get us there. I believe in the power of law, and the New York City Law Department leads the way. The core of the mission as I have learned from Zach and from Georgia and from so many others is representing the city, yes, as a corporate entity, but also representing the common good. The department does and must look out for the most vulnerable among us in addition to protecting the city’s [inaudible].

And at this time with a president that cages children, a president that would take away food stamps from the most vulnerable, this department has a vital essential mission. We can, we must do more. We will do this while upholding the wise laws that set us free. I am looking forward to taking on this mission and meeting with, and working with my new colleagues in the Law Department. And Mr. Mayor, I am humbled, truly humbled by the trust that you have given me and displayed in making this appointment. I won’t let you down. I pledge to you and the citizens of New York my very best. Thank you.

[Applause]

Mayor: Well done. Stick around, stick around. Okay, let’s take questions about this appointment. Go ahead.

Question: On the timing – I’m wondering if you wanted to make this appointment before the vote is counted in the upcoming election [inaudible] ongoing early voting, before the charter ballot proposal [inaudible] Council has a chance to weigh on a corp counsel appointment. Did you just want to do this on your own –

Mayor: The focus here was just as quickly as possible filling such a vital position. Zach Carter did an amazing job, retired at the beginning of September. Every day since then we’ve been working to get someone who is the right person for the job and get them started as quickly as possible. So, that’s the motivation.

Anybody else?

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: We’re on this appointment.

Question: [Inaudible] done throughout your career. I’m guess, I’m curious, as a whole, how you view the department in terms of what’s most important [inaudible] the department is working on, pieces that are unresolved [inaudible] see the [inaudible]?

Corporation Counsel Johnson: Well, one of the things – and unfortunately for some purposes I am a lawyer and I haven’t yet even started the job but I’ve been getting briefed. And there are a couple of issues that are really vital. As I mentioned, the city and the nation are facing a president that is just tough on the most vulnerable. And one of the things the department has been doing and I would like to advance is focusing on affirmative litigation – taking those cases on that will push back and reset the balance of the relationship of government between – the relationship of government to its citizens. So, that’s a very important priority.

In connection with some of my other work, I have been very focused on opportunities for youth. In my work in Atlantic City, one of the things that I noted was that there were 10,000 – this is very small by New York terms – there are 10,000 children in Atlantic City, so, one in four citizens. And they had been ignored for years. And so creating pathways for success for the young people, which is the opposite [inaudible] of working to end the school to prison pipeline. And so one of the things that I would be focusing on is juvenile justice and looking to advance the work there. But there are a host of issues that I hope to and I plan to weigh in, that’s my nature. And there are lots of great initiatives that’s going on in the department right now.

Question: [Inaudible]

Corporation Counsel Johnson: So, Nancy and I got married five years ago and we have been essentially bicoastal. Nancy will tell that she has lived in New York for, I won’t say how long, but since she was three, off and on. And we have an apartment Downtown a short walk away from City Hall.

Question: Both for the Mayor and Mr. Johnson – a Queens jury awarded a man [inaudible] statement from the Law Department, then ask a question. The man was shot by police in the neck during a traffic stop. Your Law Department said, “A split second response by an officer likely stopped this driver from dragging an officer to his death. The response, we believed, was justified under the circumstances. We strongly disagree with this verdict and are reviewing the City’s legal options.” So, I wonder if you plan to repeal [inaudible] –

Mayor: Okay, again, I don’t know all the details of the case but I think the statement speaks for itself. The City is reviewing its options in light of the specific defense that we brought. So, I don’t think there’s a lot to add. This is –

Question: Do you think the officer was justified [inaudible] –

Mayor: Again, I don’t know the specifics of the case so I can’t speak to it, and I can speak on behalf of Jim in saying he’s not even been briefed on it yet. So, when Jim’s got an opportunity to get a sense of where things stand on that case legally and next steps, he can speak to it then. Any other questions about this announcement of the new corp counsel. I want to see if we have anything left here – once, twice, please.

Question: [Inaudible] affirmative litigation against the Trump administration –

Mayor: We are, too.

Question: [Inaudible] New York City, I mean [inaudible] properties, businesses here. So can you just elaborate a little more on what you might have in mind [inaudible] –

Corporation Counsel Johnson: In the highest level of terms. The strategy, at least as I understand it, is not directed at all to him as a citizen or a private property owner but it’s directed to policy. We said one of the reasons that we talk about, I think, the wisdom of the law and resolving tough issues in court is because we’re not about trying to exact revenge or visit vendettas on people. This is about justice and this is about his policies and this is about the actions of the administration that could be harmful and are harmful to citizens.

Question: [Inaudible] prosecutors, do you feel like the district attorneys are doing enough to hold the president accountable?

Corporation Counsel Johnson: I have no basis for answering that question particularly as a former who hasn’t had access to any of the information.

Question: [Inaudible]

Unknown: Not from this spot.

Mayor: And again, let him get some time on the job and then ask the question again and it will be a different situation. Okay, I’m going to assume we have no more questions on the new corp counsel. So, let’s go into off-topic.

Marcia?

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: First of all, it's horrible, it’s unacceptable. Thank God, as I understand it, the folks who were exposed to that food are going to be okay. But no, we don't accept that. Any vendor who doesn't do their job, they're not going to be a vendor with us. So, there has to be an investigation, there has to be a look at it to see if it's a situation it can be resolved. But if we don't like what we see, we'll change vendors.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Again, it's not acceptable, Marcia. It's real simple, if it's proven that this is something that they knew about, didn't deal with or are not able to deal with, they'll be out.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: It’s horrible. And as a parent, my heart goes out to them, and I understand if a child's been through a trauma like that where they wouldn't be comfortable going back to that place and we'll obviously work with that family to find them another school that they're comfortable with. To the family who lost their child, that’s the worst possible thing in the world. We've had some definite issues that require more NYPD presence, and that's been the answer, and we've seen this for years now. Sometimes a lot of it is gang and crew activity, we know this, and it's very few people, Marcia, creating a lot of pain for others. We go right after those people. At the NYPD, we put more and more officers in place and we deepen the gang investigations and it often leads to a takedown of a gang. We're just going to do that more and more.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I think we've had a gang problem for a long time and other cities, very sadly, have a much worse, much more blatant gang problem. I think NYPD has done a fantastic job undermining gangs, taking them down. We're going to be doing a lot more of that.

Go ahead. 

Question: I’m going to ask about another personnel announcement today. Your Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Tom Finkelpearl was announcing that he was stepping down. I’m curious if you could comment [inaudible] –

Mayor: This is a point in the administration – you know, there's two years left. I'm having different conversations with different folks. I'm not going to go into details of the conversation, but you know, again, it was a mutual decision. 

Question: When is his last day?

Mayor: He’ll go to the end of the year. 

Question: [Inaudible] next commissioner, are you – you’re looking at going a different direction. What different direction and is it a nationwide search –

Mayor: It’s always a nationwide search.

Question: [Inaudible] just back on the [inaudible] called for more youth employment [inaudible] –

Mayor: I don't understand how he could say that, considering we've expanded youth employment massively compared to the previous administration. So no, we've actually put – you look at the growth pattern, it’s been constant on youth employment, meaning summer youth employment. I have said very bluntly, and the deputy mayor has been working on this with great intensity – we have to make sure those jobs – those summer jobs go to the kids who actually need them for whom it’ll make a difference in their life and help ensure that they wouldn't end up in a situation where violence is a part of their life. And I don't think that was always true in the past with those programs. But in terms of the expansion, we can get to you the exact figures, but it's quite clear. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Yeah, we all have more to do in terms of addressing illegal guns. I mean, you know, everyone knows that the problem is we don't have the right gun laws in this country, and everyone knows the guns come from outside the state. But that's the reality we've been handed. We have to always do more. The NYPD has done an extraordinary job, not just driving down crime but driving down violence and taking guns off the street. And I really believe as that continues, because crime continues to go down, that they take the resources freed up and keep applying them to where the need is greatest. So, that will continue. 

Yeah?

Question: I wanted to ask about Rafael Salamanca’s bill, which would require city [inaudible] 50 percent of units for homeless shelters. The Speaker said he’s been [inaudible] negotiations. What’s your latest stance?

Mayor: I think the negotiations have been very productive and I'm confident we'll get somewhere.

Question: Is there anything you like or dislike about it? [Inaudible] – 

Mayor: Again, from the beginning, what I've said is two things. One, we want something – we all share the same goal of helping folks who are homeless. We want something that is workable and we want something that balances with all the other affordable housing needs, because we have a huge number of low-income folks, working-class folks, middle-income folks who need affordable housing too. So, we've been trying to figure out the right balance, the right approach. I'm absolutely confident we'll get there. It's been a very positive, productive conversation with the Council. And the other thing is to recognize that over a 100,000 people have gone into shelter and gone out from shelter to affordable housing in the last six years, which is the thing I've always had to the advocates who I know are heartfelt and honest in their desire. But I said, could we start with a recognition of it's already happening on a vast scale? But again, I'm confident we'll get there.

Question: [Inaudible] on that same question says they have the votes if they don’t make any more changes to the bill –

Mayor: Again, we are in a very productive relationship with the Council. It's been not only the last two years of this speaker, but the four years with Melissa Mark-Viverito, and we have a high level of alignment on what we're trying to achieve. A lot of the conversations are about how to make things work, how to make sure we can keep all the commitments in the legislation, and making sure if there's unintended consequences or other pieces to the puzzle, we think about it. We've always been able to resolve that. I'm confident we'll resolve it here.

Question: [Inaudible] did you ask him to step down?

Mayor: Again, I don't want to get into a whole lot of detail of conversations. To simply say it, it was a mutual decision.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: No, not at all.

Yeah?

Question: You commented a few weeks ago about Jeffrey Epstein’s death. I understand a former City medical examiner is saying [inaudible] homicide –

Mayor: I haven't seen the reports, but I'm going to stay right where I was. Again, at that moment, there was a lot of focus and I was getting some information just recognizing I'm not up-to-date, but I still stand by something doesn't fit here. It just doesn't make sense that the highest profile prisoner in America, you know, someone forgot to guard him. So, I want to understand – I think everyone wants to understand what really happened. I don't know what the nature of the death was, I just know it should never have happened and we still don't have good answers. 

Yeah?

Question: I’m curious again, back to Commissioner Finkelpearl. I’m always just [inaudible] explain the process a little bit. Why do some commissioners, like Commissioner Sutton [inaudible] for her farewell. And, you know, with Commissioner Finkelpearl [inaudible] statement today. How does it get decided –

Mayor: I’m just not going into the day-to-day inner workings. Personnel matters are personnel matters. They are treated with respect and discretion. Each situation is different.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: No, honestly, I think we have not had this problem previously that I can remember. And you know, I've been working on these issues a long time. We've had a lot of other challenges, especially around security, and, again, the absolute essential change there as the NYPD now supervising security in the shelters, which was not true before this administration. That's what homeless people talk about. I have not heard a point about the food previously. But to your point, it's not an acceptable, we don't ever want to let something like this happen and if we don't address it quickly, you know, then of course it could become a bigger problem. That's why we're going to address it quickly. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: We need to know exactly what happened and that – again, any vendor who is not providing quality food or breaking their contract, they're going to be gone. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Again, please?

Question: Councilman Andy King [inaudible] resign the other day [inaudible] he was not expelled. Do you think the punishment that the Council issued for him is appropriate [inaudible]?

Mayor: Again, I think he should resign, and I say that with sorrow because I don't think it's ever something to celebrate when something goes wrong like this. But I think that's the best way to address it. I don't know the specifics of what the Council had to weigh legally or otherwise, or what their internal rules allowed, so I just can't go into greater detail. I think they put forward a pretty substantial set of penalties, but I think the smart thing would be for him to just move on.

Question: [Inaudible] recognize Diwali as a school holiday [inaudible] –

Mayor: Yeah, I wish Richard was still here. My understanding on that situation we just had this year is, that’s not every year. That was a very specific adjustment for this year. But the bigger point here is we are at – you know, I've had this conversation with this chancellor and the previous chancellor – we’re just at a very tough point in terms of our school calendar where we have very little wiggle room in the event of snow days or other disruptions and we had a state law that requires us to get 180 instructional days in no matter what, or you don't get your funding. So, we’re just at this moment, we feel like we're out of options. We're certainly, going to keep looking at it to see if there's anything, any way to accommodate. But, you know, that's – the central problem is we don't feel we have a clear option. Every holiday is different. It has to be weighed differently, but this one is about the supply problem, really. 

Who has not gone yet?

Question: [Inaudible] Metro Tech stop the other day. [Inaudible] police use excessive force? 

Mayor: Well, look, the officer has been put on a different duty, which obviously indicates a concern on the part of the police force, but there's also going to be a careful investigation and due process as always. I think the problem – this is something I know Commissioner O'Neill has spoken to – that you're talking about a very confined space filled with danger because of the presence of the tracks and the third rail. And so, again, I think our officers, we're thinking first and foremost, they had to stop the situation from spreading into a situation that literally could be life and death, and I think there was a lot of urgency. But that said, officers have to comport themselves properly, so that's what the investigation is going to determine.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I think it was premature that whoever at Department of Transportation let that get out there, maybe it was accidental, maybe someone was trying to further their own agenda, but it was premature. I had not gone through the proper process and review and was not signed off on by City Hall. We're going to look at that. It may be a good idea, but it's just premature.

Question: Back to the Salamanca bill and the homeless set aside. [Inaudible] discussions are productive. [Inaudible] –

Mayor: I’m sorry that, you know, when some people – and a deep respect for Council Member Salamanca, we know each other well, we talk very amicably. I'm saddened in a moment of being a political figure he would say something like that, he knows better. But the conversations have been productive.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Yes, he is. 

Question: [Inaudible]
  
Mayor: I’m not going to share that entertainment opportunity with our president, no. I don't know if that is his reaction to the – you know, this is him trying to find a crowd he hopes will be friendlier than the one at the Nationals game. I don't know if that's literally all it is to it. I have to say, everyone who is a public figure and goes to a sports event is not surprised if you're booed, but the “lock him up” was a whole different level. So, maybe that's a wakeup call to him. 

All right, everybody, thanks so much. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I’m sorry.

Question: [Inaudible] march in the parade?

Mayor: You mean tonight? I don't know yet, we’re working on it. Thank you. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well, you saw my – I did it on Friday, my costume – 1980s fitness guru. 

Question: Are you tormented by your younger self?

Mayor: No, I think it's a sympathetic portrayal. I don't know if that was the intention, but I think it's a sympathetic portrayal. I liked the hair. The hair looks accurate. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: That would be definitely appealing. The hair is – what it's really making me feel – everyone has their own perspective – I wish I had my hair back. That was my hair once. I'm like, where the heck did my hair – bring me back my hair. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I know, what happened? 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Thank you. Thank you, Ghost of Christmas past.