Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

August 5, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Let's talk about the recovery in New York City and let's talk about our priorities. We need to bring this city back 100 percent. We need to make it better than it was before the pandemic. We need a recovery for all of us. That is the overarching priority, a recovery for all of us. To achieve that, we’ve got to focus on public health, first and foremost, defeating COVID, defeating the Delta variant. We’ve got to focus on public safety, making sure New Yorkers are safe in this city. Public safety equals recovery, but also the recovery equals public safety. The more we get back to normal, the safer we'll be. So, we're going to focus today on those priorities, starting, of course, with COVID.  

The Delta variant, I think everyone's gotten the memo now – this is dangerous. This is a whole new ball game. The impact across this country is really troubling. The human impact – what it’s doing to individual Americans, what is doing to New Yorkers, what it's doing to families, what it is posing as a threat. Is anyone out there that wants to go back to 2020? Does anyone want to go back to restrictions? Does anyone want to go back to seeing a huge loss of life? If you don't want those things, take the Delta variant seriously. And that's why New York City is doing some of the most aggressive actions in America. We are setting the pace on purpose. We are taking bold action for ourselves, but also to help everyone else take bold action. The Key to NYC Pass, this is what's going to be happening all over the country. Make no mistake. What we have put in place related to indoor dining, indoor entertainment, indoor fitness is the shape of things to come. You're going to see more and more companies do the same thing. You're going to see more cities, more counties, more states do the same thing, because it's time. And I want to thank President Joe Biden, who embraced this idea immediately, literally within hours. This needs to be done all over this country to stop the Delta variant. We can talk about any and all other issues, but the first thing we should always be talking about is stopping this Delta variant before it does more harm. And the way to do that as vaccination. And the way to get more people vaccinated is not just a voluntary approaches, which I applaud, the incentives, which we believe in and are working, but requires mandates as well.  

We've been climbing the ladder. I keep using that phrase to say, we're going to use any and all tools. And we see that this approach – a strong, bold approach works. In fact, we know human nature. A lot of people hearing that there's a requirement or a requirement coming respond to that. It's normal. It's natural. The voluntary phase was great, went on for seven full months – lots of incentives, lots of dialogue, lots of communication, lots of opportunity to talk to your doctor or pediatrician. The voluntary is over. It's time to mix mandates into this approach everywhere to defeat this enemy. The Delta variant is a different enemy. It must be defeated.  

So, here's what we've seen since we've climbed a ladder and put clear, sharper mandates in place and a very appealing hundred-dollar per person incentive. Over the past week, we've seen over 80,000 first doses of the vaccine in New York City – 80,000 New Yorkers came forward to get their first dose. Compare that to 57,000 for the first week in July – 41 percent increase in such a brief period of time. So, clearly something's working. The message is getting through. We know that health providers in this city have more than doubled the number of doses they have ordered this week. We know the health community is hearing more and more interest, more and more demand from their patients. The week before 40,000 doses were ordered this week, 90,000 doses ordered – this is how we make an impact. This is how we change things. So, the Key to NYC Pass, there’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to save lives. It's also going to save this city from slipping backwards. We can't let that happen.  

So, everyone, this has got to be our focus every day, continuing to use the right strategies, increase vaccination. And on this issue, I'll come back to the simplest point – vaccination. The whole discussion is vaccination, the whole ballgame. If we're going to get it right, we’ve got to double-down on vaccination. That's what we will do every single day in this city. And I think, I've certainly heard this from business leaders, it's helping other people to do the same thing. When they see the nation's largest city act, it helps other people to do the same thing, and that benefits all of us.  

Now, I said a moment ago, the other priority, public safety. Of course, public safety is always a priority for all of us, but it's a particularly powerful priority at this moment. We have real work to do. We have real challenges. You're going to hear from my colleagues, no one is diminishing or belittling the challenges. We’ve got real work to do, real problems to solve. We are coming out of a global pandemic. We hope if we can beat back Delta, we will come out of it soon. We saw a perfect storm of problems, challenges, crises, all hitting together in 2020, like nothing we've ever seen in our lives. But we are fighting back. We are coming back strong. This city, for years and years, was known as the safest big city in America. That is happening again. That is our destiny, period. Any doubting Thomas out there, anyone who says it can't be done, doesn't understand New York City, doesn't understand New Yorkers. We will fight back. We will find the people doing the violence. We will take them off the streets, period. So, public safety is necessary. Public safety as especially necessarily in the recovery. And again, the recovery itself, which is moving fast, thank God, supports public safety.  

Our strategy, summarized as Safe Summer NYC. And the point was to energize the relationship between police and community, make it strong again, because all police leaders will tell you they need the support of the people and the cooperation involving the people. We're seeing that more and more. We're seeing that literally more and more every single week in New York City. We saw it up in the 4-6 Precinct – the 4-6 Precinct on National Night Out, District Attorney Darcel Clark and I were there together. We saw the energy, people wanting to work with the police, and, of course, the police wanting to work with the community. So, one prong of our approach, a focus on community, a focus on reaching young people, a focus on investing in things that make a difference, like youth recreation programs, a focus on our youth coordination officers, working with young people in the community, a focus on the Cure Violence Movement, the Crisis Management System, stopping violence before it happens. Second strand, the focus on everything our police could do. And they're doing it better than ever – more gun arrests this year than we've seen at any time proportionally, since 25 years ago. Our officers are out there assertively, in a focused way, energetic way, getting guns off the street. They deserve a lot of praise and appreciation. We’ve got problems, but let's also stop to recognize the amazing work that the men and women of the NYPD are doing. The third prong of the approach Safe Summer NYC was courts, getting the courts back in gear. We've seen progress, but we haven't seen enough progress. The court system is doing a better job addressing gun violence and following through on gun cases. We need that and we appreciate that, but we need the court system back 100 percent full strength. All the rest of society has come back 100 percent or will come back 100 percent when its time comes, like our schools. We need the court system to fully recreate where we were before the pandemic, because that means consequences for people who do the wrong thing. And when there are consequences, everything works. We need the State and the court system to step up and get to 100 percent full strength. We have offered for last year, anything and everything they need to do it. And that offer, I extend again, but that is the way forward. So, the three prongs do work together, can work together, but we need more help from the State.  

So, today, we're going to talk about the month of July. And we had real challenges, but we also saw some extraordinary successes by the NYPD, and through the cooperation of NYPD and community, and through excellent efforts at the grassroots level to stop violence. We saw great prosecutions – you'll hear from the DA in a moment – things that make a big difference. Remember, the month of July was one of the toughest months every year, the middle of the summer – tough, tough time, and yet the NYPD rose to the challenge, fought back gun violence. More to do, but real evidence of fighting it back. Those gun arrest speak for themselves and the gang takedowns. The gang takedowns mean taking a lot of bad guys off the streets at the same time, a lot of shooters off the streets at the same time. This is crucial. You're going to be hearing a lot more about that today and in the days to come.  

Here are the top line numbers for July 2021, murder decreased by 49.1 percent, thank God – 49.1 percent. Shootings, decreased by 35 percent. The NYPD fought back gun violence with gun arrests, 383 gun arrests in July alone. That is 133 percent more than last July. In the seven months of this year so far, gun arrests are up 44 percent, a stunning number. We launched the safe summer approach in May, since then, in that time period since it was launched, murders down 26 percent, shootings down 10 percent, shooting victims, thank God, down 11 percent. More to do, but the NYPD is moving and making an impact. And here to tell you about it, our Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. 

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to start, if I could, just a moment to talk about Detective Second Grade George Moreno. We laid George to rest yesterday. So, just, if New Yorkers could remember and honor George. George was one of the heroes who on September 11th raced towards the Twin Towers. Tragically, he lost a battle – a two-year battle with cancer last Friday. George is survived by his beautiful wife, kids, including a two-year old daughter. So, just please keep George and his family in your thoughts and prayers.  

Yesterday, was also the 20-year anniversary of the passing of an NYPD legend, Crime Strategist Jack Maple. And when you think about Jack Maple and his contributions to this city – I held the same seat and it was an honor to do it for four or five years. I could tell you that when I sat in that chair, the strategies and the tactics change over time, but one thing that does not change and never will is the fire burning within the NYPD to make sure that we are doing everything possible for the people of this city, for every victim of a crime in this city, and for every block of this city. 

So, how are we doing? Well, as the Mayor said, coming out of the month of July – progress. When you look at what we accomplished this July compared to last July, the numbers were just up on the screen, almost a 50 percent reduction in homicides, 35 percent reduction in shootings. Well, I like to look and step back and look at the crime overall. We know many of the struggles – and the Mayor talked about the courts and some of the other issues that we've been here – but this is now two months in a row, and I take a lot of positive in that. Two months in a row that we're driving the violence down in New York City. When I was here last month, I talked about, look at the cases that have come down in a short order. I think I talked about 90 to 100, really bad people, gang members that are shooting people in New York City taken off the streets. Well, we've been building on that. Earlier this week, I sat up in the Bronx with Cy Vance and Darcel Clark, who's here, to talk about a gang take down in the Bronx. Yesterday, we had an additional gang take down, chopping the iron pipeline that's bringing guns up from down south. Some of these gang takedowns you hear about, but there's many more that are occurring. Within the next 30 minutes, there's going to be a press conference in Queens, that details real solid work with our partnership with DA Melinda Katz in Queens, taking violent – the worst of the worst off the streets.  So, just yesterday, with the Southern District, earlier this week with Manhattan and Bronx DA's, today with Queens, and you're going to hear more right through next week. These cases are piling up. The work is being put in by our investigators and it is absolutely going to continue to drive down the violence in New York.  

We know that we have more work to do, and that's going to continue as well. But the Mayor touched on what are we doing with the kids? I was out on National Night Out. I hit every single borough in New York City. Incredible amount of discussion with the people in New York City, incredible amount of collaboration with their cops. I think back, and I think back on where we were last June, where we were last July, and where we are now, and I see incredible improvement of people coming out and saying, what can we do? We want safe streets. What can we do with you? And that wasn't always the case 12 months ago, so I think the future is very bright. I think as we continue to take down these cases, it's going to make a significant impact. Overall, index crime was essentially flat from last July. And that's really the case when you look at the year-to-date crime as well, but I'm going to leave this stat – I'm going to keep repeating this stat, because I think it bears mentioning. We finished last July – or, excuse me, last year in New York City with the most gun arrests, you'd have to go back 25 years – 25 years. Already this year, building on that, we are up 44 percent. So, as we start to have those cases move through the criminal justice system, we right now have over 5,100 open cases on individuals that tragically don't listen. They resist all forms of help. They’re carrying guns in gangs on the streets of New York City. When we start to take those people and see those cases adjudicate, you're going to see the crime and the violence in New York City plummet. Mr. Mayor, I'll turn it back to you. 

Mayor: Thank you very much, Commissioner. And you said it so well, these are the approaches that work. You're going to be seeing a lot more, but those gun arrests that make me particularly proud of the work you and your colleagues are doing. That is not easy to identify an individual that has a gun and get that gun off them and make that arrest. But the NYPD is doing it more than any time in the last quarter-century, and it's growing all the time. This is about innovation. This is about energy. This is about focus. Exactly what the Commissioner said, as we do remember and honor Jack Maple, someone who never took no for an answer, always believed the NYPD could come up with a new approach, a new strategy, a new way, no matter how tough the circumstance. Today's NYPD is living up to the creed of Jack Maple and making it happen again and we should be very, very proud of that fact. And, everyone, take the time to thank the police officers that you know, because they're doing something very powerful right now, turning the tide, making us, again, the safest big city in America.  

Now, this requires, of course, close, close cooperation with our prosecutors. You're going to be hearing about gang takedowns regularly. Very powerful take down in the Bronx this week. It means a lot of shooters are going to be out of commission, a lot of people are going to be safer. And I want to give a lot of credit to the District Attorney and her whole team. And there will always be more coming, because there's a lot of work they've been doing now over the last year-and-a-half since COVID hit that is all going to come to fruition in the weeks and months ahead. My pleasure introduced the District Attorney of the Bronx Darcel Clark. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, District Attorney. We agree – all of us agree, reaching young people positively, giving them options in life, giving them hope, keeping them away from gangs. Even if a young person starts to be pulled toward a gang, intervening. This is one of the things the Commissioner has talked about with the Youth Coordination Officer's – intervening. If a child's in crisis, help them towards a better path. This is what we're going to be doing, but make no mistake, we are not going to tolerate gangs, we're going to disrupt them. We're going to take them down. We're going to send a message to everyone else out there, it's just a matter of time before the NYPD and the prosecutors get to you. So, to anyone out there who thinks they can get away with violence in New York City, it's not happening, because this NYPD these prosecutors are coming after you. Again, we need the court system to be just as aggressive, just as focused as the other pieces of the criminal justice puzzle. But, together, we can do this. We can make very, very clear to anyone, the small number of people who aim to do violence, that they will be caught, they will be prosecuted, they will be going to prison, period.  

Now, on the other night, Tuesday night, National Night Out, I was up in the 4-6 Precinct in the Bronx, as I said, and someone else who was there and got such a powerful response from people who had gathered together, because everyone knows she's been a leader on public safety. She was the Chair of the Public Safety Committee in the City Council. She has done great work at bringing police and community together in common cause. I want you to hear from Council Member Vanessa Gibson. 

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Council Member. And I agree with you, it's really great when we get people together in common cause, and you could feel it up in the Bronx, you could feel the energy, you could feel the fight back. People in the Bronx are not going to accept violence. They're taking back their streets. They’re working with NYPD, that’s true in all five boroughs. So, I'm very confident that we're turning the tide and we're going to see a lot more in the weeks ahead. And this is crucial to our recovery. I want to bring it back to recovery. We've been through so much last year-and-a-half. We have to bring this city back, all of us together. We have to. It's for everyone. It's for our kids. It's for our families. It's for people's livelihoods. We've got to bring the city back. That means getting the health care part of the equation right, getting people vaccinated. It means addressing public safety, going after the folks who do the violence, getting them off our streets, bringing back the strength of our communities in every way. That's what we're going to keep doing. And, as we recover, you can see it, you can feel it. Go out around any neighborhood of this city, you can see and feel the recovery in action. We’ve got to celebrate the greatness of New Yorkers. New Yorkers brought this city back, showed the entire world what we're made of. And that's why we have an amazing moment in our history coming up in this – later this month with Homecoming Week. It is so important both to celebrate what we have all done with each other, but also to show the world the strength of New York City, because that's going to say to everyone this is the place to be, this is the place to visit, this is the place to invest. This is the future, the New York City.  

So, Homecoming Week is going to be bigger than anyone ever, ever imagined. You look at the lineup, just for the concert in Central Park – I am a true music lover, I've never seen a lineup like this in my life. I've asked a lot of people, when have you seen this many extraordinary performers at one place? Folks say consistently, Woodstock's the only comparison they can think of. This is unbelievable. A single day, having all this talent in one place. And it's one of five concerts in the five boroughs. And as people are hearing about, the other five – excuse me, the other four concerts, there's extraordinary excitement. Well, guess what? We keep building these amazing events into even greater events. So, on August 21st, Central Park, a major new addition to the lineup, a global superstar from Columbia, Maluma. Maluma is the top concert selling Latin artists in the world. He is a 2018 Latin Grammy award winner. This is a big deal to so many people in the city to have a star of this caliber join an already star-studded lineup. This is going to make something that is amazing, even more amazing. But it's all about bringing us back together. Now, remember, there's still chances for free tickets and for the VIP packages for purchase. The next ticket releases are tomorrow 10:00 AM and Saturday at 9:00 PM. So, there's still opportunity to get those tickets. And, remember, to participate in any of the five concerts, you’ve got to be vaccinated, get at least that first dose. So, if you want to be a part of this and you're not yet vaccinated, I’ve got a solution for you – go to one of the hundreds of locations where you can get a free vaccination, it takes a few minutes. Get that vaccination, get that vaccination card so you can be a part of this amazing moment in our history.  

Now, Homecoming Week is not just these amazing concerts. The concerts are beautiful, but there's a lot more that is going to go on. From August 14th to August 22nd, 100-plus arts and culture events – 100 plus events in this city, including something very exciting, something New Yorkers love more and more – free movie screenings outdoors. It is something so special to appreciate the beauty of summer in the city, being out there with people outdoors and also seeing an amazing movie. We're partnering with Rooftop Films, who have been innovators, who have done amazing work, bringing such joy to people. And they're going to be doing something great. They're presenting six award-winning films and TV screens, celebrating New York City. Everything has another element to it of celebrating New York City, showing the greatness of New York City. Free, outdoors, a great way to mark our comeback. And I want to honor and thank Rooftop Films, they have been a home for great independent films for over 25 years. They've helped promote great works of art that would not have gotten as much attention and appreciation otherwise. They've done amazing work and I want you to hear from the President of Rooftop Films, with my appreciation for everything that you and your colleagues are doing for New York City. My pleasure to introduce Dan Nuxoll.  

[…] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Dan. And here's my statement – there's a whole lot of culture going on and this is really going to be amazing. I mean, everything you laid out there, each and every one is going to be exciting and a beautiful communal experience outdoors. But thank you, because you've chosen great works of art as you have for years and years, and you're helping bring them to everyday people for free. That's just a beautiful thing. That's the way we do things in New York City, we celebrate arts and culture. It's part of our lifeblood. It’s who we are. We also believe it's for everyone, supposed to be something for everyone, not just for those of great means. And what you're doing, everyone at Rooftop Films is doing, bringing art to the people. Thank you. Thank you very much. Everyone, if you want to be a part of these great events, they’re free, free, free – go to nyc.gov/homecomingweek – nyc.gov/homecomingweek for all the details. 

Okay. Now, we'll do our indicators. And, as usual, our indicators tell us the things we got to pay attention to, things we’ve got to watch out for, things we got to address. Also, some good, you see the impact of vaccination continuing to hold the line, particularly in terms of hospitalization rate. But we've got more to do on vaccination, to say the least. And a reminder, we're going to be coming in with new indicators, going forward, focused, again, on hospitalization, vaccination rate, cases. We're going to be taking the positivity rate out of the equation in terms of the daily briefings. It will still be visible on the department of wealth – excuse me, Department of Health, and wealth, website. Okay. Here we are with our indicators today. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 127 patients. Confirmed positivity, 32.33 percent. Hospitalization rate per 100,000 – 0.82. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average – today's report, 1,365 cases. And number three, percentage of people testing positive citywide for COVID-19 – today's report on seven-day rolling average, 3.27 percent.  

Let me talk in about the crime announcements in Spanish for a moment and particularly this focus on the gang takedowns, the impact that is making on safety in communities. 

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

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

Moderator: Hi everyone. We will now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined by Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, Senior Advisor, Dr. Jay Varma, President and CEO of Health + Hospitals, Dr. Mitch Katz, Executive Director of City-Wide Events, Dan Gross. Our first question of today goes to James from PIX-11.  

Question: Hey, good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. Thanks for taking my call.  

Mayor: James, you know, you're such a dynamic player. We keep moving your lineup. You’re the lead off today, you can do it all.  

Question: Pleasure to be in that position. Thank you. If we could, could we start by talking a little more about Governor Cuomo's situation, about what you've spoken quite a bit in the last few days, but I'm hoping that you can provide more information about the effect that the ongoing issues surrounding the Governor are having on important issues here for the city, like battling COVID, getting rent relief money out, advocating for federal resources. What effect is that situation having on issues like those for us?  

Mayor: James it's hurting the people in New York State and New York City. There's no question. You know, a guy who spends 11 hours having to testify about his sexual harassment and assaults is not a guy who's focusing on fighting COVID or getting us federal aid or getting rent relief money to people who need it. The rent relief situation is a very telling example. You know, sometimes people say, oh, look at these other states, they don't do things the same way we do, but 48 other states managed to get their rent relief money out. So, for anyone who, you know, is saying, oh, look how great New York State is. New York State dropped the ball on rent relief and one of the reasons must've been a distracted Governor. We've got hundreds of thousands of people who need that money. The federal government sent it to us. It's still not in the hands of New Yorkers. It's crazy. Here's another example, on homelessness, we came to an agreement with the State Legislature to raise the value of the homeless vouchers so more and more people who are homeless could get an apartment. City Council passed legislation as well. Everybody was aligned. All it needs is a signature from the Governor to help people who are homeless get an apartment, Governor hasn't managed to sign that bill weeks and weeks after it got passed. So, you know, that – again, that was, that was the middle of June when that bill got passed. It's now at the beginning of August. No action whatsoever. So, it's time for him to leave. Let the Lieutenant Governor take over and let her get to work solving these problems with us, because people are hurting right now, and they need leaders who can focus and not be in the middle of defending themselves against endless charges against them. Go ahead, James.  

Question: Thank you. Also, you've mentioned – actually today and yesterday, how other cities, other jurisdictions, maybe even other states want to emulate the Key to NYC Pass. Can you give us more details? Are there specific cities that have approached you or the administration or specific states that are interested in implementing a similar plane?   

Mayor: Out of respect for each jurisdiction and how they have to do things, I'm not going to name locations, they'll speak for themselves, but there's definitely been a lot of interest from public and private sector. Remember, James, I announced the Key to NYC Pass and about five hours later the President of United States endorsed it, and I want to thank President Joe Biden. That was very important and very helpful. Folks in the private sector are embracing this kind of approach more and more. You're going to see a lot more. You are unquestionably going to see a lot more, but what we've heard from a lot of people, including in the restaurant community was, we know that we need to keep everyone safe, including our employees. We need government to tell us this is the right thing to do so we have a clear standard we can point to. And I think you're going to see a lot of people embrace it, you're going to see some opposition too, that's America, that's okay, but overwhelmingly, this is the shape of things to come and more and more people in public and private sector are going to use this approach to make sure folks are vaccinated.  

Moderator: The next question goes to Matt from Newsday.   

Question: Hey, good morning, all. How are you?   

Mayor: Matt, how you doing man?   

Question: I'm doing all right. Thank you for asking. Since the – speaking of the vaccine mandate that James was just discussing, since it does not exclude previously infected people, what evidence do you have that a vaccine is necessary to supplant, to seem to supplement, natural immunity, particularly since your team doesn't know or won't say, despite being asked about this repeatedly since March, how many re-infection cases there have been among the unvaccinated in New York City?   

Mayor: So, Matt, I want to make sure I understood you, we will speak to the information about the re-infection, but tell me that first part of what you're saying again?   

Question: The question is what evidence is there that the vaccine is needed to supplement natural immunity?   

Mayor: Oh, wow. Okay. Buckle your seat belts, Matt. I’m going to unleash Dr. Jay Varma and Dr. Mitch Katz. Clearly the only reason we are talking about recovery, the only reason that so many jobs are back, the only reason that people are able to live their lives is the vaccinations. That's the whole ballgame. Natural immunity, they can talk to you about the value of natural immunity, it does not replace vaccination, not even close, and have there been some reinfections? Yes, and I would welcome Dr. Varma, Dr. Katz, if you have any new facts or figures, please offer it. But we know it's rare. CDC documented that in the advisory last week, and we also know that when people are reinfected, the results are much less than they would have been if someone wasn't vaccinated. So, I think that the evidence is overwhelming, but let them have it, Dr. Varma.   

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great, thank you very much for the question. I first want to just focus on a terminology issue that may sound odd, but it's really important. I really don't like when people talk about this term, natural immunity, there's nothing natural about being infected with a virus and certainly no more natural than getting vaccinations. So, what we want to differentiate is virus induced immunity, so you got infected with the virus, versus vaccine induced immunity, which means that you developed immunity because you've been vaccinated. So, what we know is imperfect, as it is throughout this epidemic, but there have been a number of studies looking at the immune responses in people who had infection with the virus compared with those who got vaccinated and also looking at people who got both vaccinated on top of having a prior viral infection. And what we see consistently is that people who have been vaccinated or people who have been vaccinated on top of a prior infection, have both more immune response, so a larger number of antibodies and other correlative immunity, as well as broader protection against other strains. So, we know that vaccines are safe, we know that they're effective, and we also know that they provide added benefit to people who have been previously infected with the virus.   

Mayor: So, I'll turn to Dr. Katz, but again, to both of you, Matt is putting forward the notion that somehow there's information that isn't being handled transparently. I think we've been very transparent, but I want all the transparency in the world, the number of reinfections, if we have a particular number, we know it's rare, but we should still issue that information. So, starting again, just Dr. Varma, do you have a specific set of facts on that to share or else we'll follow-up with Matt later?  

Senior Advisor Varma: Yeah, I think we'll need to follow-up with Matt. I don't have the latest numbers. The Health Department does track this very carefully and they track infections in people who have been previously infected with the virus, as well as of course infections, what we call breakthrough infections of people who have been previously vaccinated. So yes, we can have the Health Department team follow up with that.  

Mayor: Yeah, and that's information we will share. Go ahead, Dr. Katz.  

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, Health + Hospitals: Well, Dr. Varma did a great job on the science. I want to talk about the clinical work because many of my own patients have asked me this question. They've said, you know, Dr. Katz, I have antibodies, do I really need vaccination? And I say, yes. Yes, you really need vaccination. Why? Because as Dr. Varma says, the combination of vaccination plus having been infected will give you greater immunity, will protect you even more, and perhaps most important, in New York City, most of the people who have been infected were infected last February or March. They were infected with the virus that was circulating at that time. As Dr. Varma has said, the vaccine induces a broader set of immune responses that we think will work much better at protecting people against Delta variant and all the variants that may come. So yes, as you've said, well, Mr. Mayor prior infection is protective, but why wouldn't people want the very best protection from a disease that can kill you? Very safe to get vaccinated if you've had prior infection. Definitely the right thing to do. Thank you, sir.  

Mayor: Thank you, doctor. Go ahead, Matt.  

Question: I asked this last week for the number, still haven’t gotten it. You guys have been asked about this since March, so I'm looking forward, but regardless doesn't the city need this information on hand so that you can factor it into your decisions on whether to mandate a vaccine or is the city simply not accounting for the rates of reinfection among those who've already had COVID?  

Mayor: We’re counting for everything as best we can, I'll turn to Dr. Varma, but I think, again, it's a factor, but it is not the main event by any stretch of imagination for all the reasons I think the two doctors just said. We are going at a virulent new strain and vaccination is our best way of stopping it. And the antibody, which again, people got exposed at different points and different strains, right there, that should tell you that vaccination is going to be more effective than relying on previous exposure. We'll put out information. We have been putting out a ton of information more than I think almost any place in the country. I want transparency, but as it comes to strategy, there's nothing I've heard about reinfection that changes the strategy one iota. Dr. Varma, you want to speak to that?  

Senior Advisor Varma: Yes, absolutely. I mean, there is - this is a complicated topic, like everything, and again, I'll always emphasize that we're always going to change our recommendations when we see evidence that indicates we need to change, but everything that we have seen from the scientific literature and what we see both from the epidemiology in the United States and everywhere else is that the surest path to protecting individuals, protecting our community, is through vaccination. And that while being previously infected with the virus does give you protection, that protection is not nearly as strong. It doesn't cover as nearly as many strains as being vaccinated, and we know that vaccination is safe. So, the combination of vaccinations on top of a prior virus infection is going to protect people. And we – this is something that has been, you know, people will, will continue to study and reevaluate, but we're going with the best science right now. Thank you very much. Go ahead.   

Moderator: Our next question for today goes to Nolan from The Post.  

Question: Good morning, everybody.   

Mayor: Hey Nolan. How you doing?   

Question: I'm doing all right, Mr. Mayor. Several months ago, your Police Commissioner made the decision to disband the plain clothes units. The Democratic nominee to become the next mayor, Eric Adams says he would bring them back. Do you or your Police Commissioner regret the decision to disband the units and what do you make of their likely return?   

Mayor: No, we do not regret. I'll let the Commissioner speak for himself, but he and I have spoken about this number of times. We do not regret it. It was the right thing to do, remains the right thing to do. I have a lot of respect for Eric Adams. I very, very energetically endorsed him a few days ago. He has said clearly that if you were to bring it back, he would make some real changes in terms of addressing community concerns, so he has said that there's issues that have to be addressed, but I think what is being missed here, and Commissioner Shea and I have been working together for eight years now, and I know a lot about his thought pattern is this was about, of course, trying to bring police and community together, address areas where community felt wronged or disrespected because we need a respectful relationship between police and community to maximize cooperation. But it was also about the larger issue of the goal of the unit was to get guns off the street and then keep them off the street with successful prosecutions, and there was a better way to do that. And I think this a stunning number of gun arrests and the increasing number of successful prosecutions now and the gang takedowns proves the Commissioner was right. So that's my introduction, over to you.  

Commissioner Shea: Mr. Mayor, we'd need about two hours on this one, but thanks for the question, Nolan. I'll try to be as brief as I can. The number of resources we've moved around the department in the last year, which is nothing new, it's ongoing, but I'll give you some examples. We've upstaffed our investigators into the gun violence units. Many of those came from the former anti-crime. We've upstaffed the units within each patrol precinct that works on intelligence-led policing, that works under the FIO program, which is highly successful in getting guns off the streets. We've also had many of the same officers that were an anti-crime simply put a uniform on and do the exact same job in the same precinct, making sure we do it the right way. When you look at, and step back, and look at everything that has transpired, I've done that job myself, I think there's some of the best people that this job has to offer the work that they do day in, day out. I saw it last Saturday night in the Bronx, when a Lieutenant putting his life on the line, incredible, incredible restraint, trying to protect the people of the Bronx, putting himself at risk, and wound up getting shot for it. The work is going on literally every day across this city, by the men and women of this police department to keep New Yorkers safe than making more gun arrests than they ever have. They were up 44 percent and all in this year on top of a 25-year high. And they're doing it the right way. What we need is, and this is the question that many people are not asking enough – we need an appropriate balance in the criminal justice system. You cannot ask the officers to go out and stop, stop, stop people. It will backfire quicker than you know. You need precision, you need intelligence, you need strong prosecutions. And this is what I hear every night across the city when I talked to communities. They know who the bad people are. They know who the gang members are, they want them off the street as much as I want them off the street. So, then New York City can, again, move even faster to flourish. We still have some work to do. We still have to get back to when we have zero shootings in a day. We’re not satisfied with a 35 percent drop in July, we know we have a lot more work to do, but the approach we're taking, not a single doubt in my mind that it's the right approach.  

Mayor: Thank you very much. Go ahead, Nolan.   

Question: Yeah, and separately you've you know, gotten a lot of ink for the city's new vaccine mandate, and it's taken some criticism from the usual quarters, but also some criticism from unusual quarters, where the interim mayor of Boston, compared it to showing papers and offered several other analogies, including likening it to you know, birtherism and potentially a relic of slavery. So, the criticism from the right, I guess, is expected, but what do you make of this criticism from the left?  

Mayor: I am hoping and praying she hasn't heard the details and has been improperly briefed because those statements are absolutely inappropriate. This is an idea of how to save lives. This is, this is a way to save lives. This is a way to stop the Delta variant, which is threatening the entire life of this country. The President of the United States endorsed my approach within hours. So I'm assuming the interim mayor has not heard the whole story because I can't believe she would say it's okay to leave so many people unvaccinated and in danger. We tried a purely voluntary approach for seven long months, tons of incentives, lots of tender, loving care, lots of communication, lots of respect, lots of dialogue with health care professionals. We've done that. It's time for something more muscular at this point to save lives and to stop us from falling backwards. And by the way, you're seeing the private sector embrace this all over the country. So, this is a time for people to support this kind of action and help us save lives.  

Moderator: The next question goes to Courtney from FOX News.  

Question: Hi Mayor. I just wanted to quickly talk to you about the Key To NYC. We've heard from a lot of tech people that this might not be super secure, and so I was just wondering what some of the ways are that you're doing to protect people's private information, and also how you're going to ensure that people's paper COVID vaccine form is valid and real?  

Mayor: Courtney, a very fair question. First of all, it is a criminal offense to alter or create a fraudulent vaccination card. We'll get you the specific penalties, but they are substantial. I believe I'm on firm ground. It's up to seven years in prison for falsifying a government instrument. So, people should only present a truthful, valid vaccination card if they don't, they're running a very serious risk and they're doing a disservice to everyone else, but in terms of the different approaches, what we've created, the COVID SAFE app for New York City is not connected to the internet. Can't be hacked. It's just your own personal way of maintaining the information, excuse me, your vaccination card and a valid ID. Obviously, you want those two together, present a vaccination card. You want to confirm the person who was connected to. So that's a very simple way to avoid any problems that folks in the tech community might be concerned about, carrying the card itself is the simplest. A lot of people just have it in their wallet or wherever on them. So we want to continue to pay attention to those concerns. But I think this is one where, you know, we have a very simple, straightforward approach that's also secure. Go ahead, Courtney.  

Question: And I'll just do a quick follow-up and that'll be my last question. Also, sort of, for the Police Commissioner, is there going to be any sort of joint, you know, backing of checking these vaccination cards for people or restaurants enforcing it? How's that going to work?  

Mayor: Let me just jump in ahead of the Commissioner. This is a civilian approach. We again are going to be educating businesses over the weeks ahead, working with them, Small Business Services will be working with them. Health Department will be working with them. We'll want to make it work for everyone. Health Department has primary jurisdiction for inspections of restaurants. And again, our goal is to handle this on a civilian level separate from situations that would be exceptional, where any kind of law enforcement would be involved, but in terms of the day-to-day we expect it to be a civilian approach. Go ahead, Commissioner.  

Commissioner Shea: [Inaudible]  

Mayor: Go ahead.  

Moderator: Next, we have Andrew from NBC New York.  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, and everyone on the call. Mayor, I know you answered James's question earlier about the impact of the Cuomo investigation on city-state relations right now. I'm wondering, if you can, you've known the governor such a long time and you know how his political strategic mind works. What do you think that he thinks his strategy is right now?   

Mayor: Well, all I can say is I, you know, I don't usually quote John Podhoretz, but he had a really good point the other day about the level of narcissism in play right now. Unfortunately, I think we have a bigger issue here, Andrew, and you've watched for a while too. You know, there's that famous phrase, absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. This is a guy that got too much power. Too many people were afraid of him. He used his power in a very Machiavellian way. He bullied people. He got his way, way too often. He thinks he could do whatever he wanted. And that was very destructive. It's not good. It's not humanly good. It's not good in democracy when someone's got too much power. I think, he thinks he still may have some sleight of hand here. And he's obviously borrowing a page from the Trump playbook and trying to scorch the earth, attack the people doing the investigation, attack anyone who might prosecute him. It's not going to work, he's out of options. So, this is just a matter of time before he's gone. If he was not such a narcissist and they actually could think about other human beings, he would say, “hey, you know what, I'm doing a lot of damage at this point. It's time to go.” Think about those 11 women and what he put them through. Just out of respect for how he wronged them and trying to atone for his sins, he should step aside right now, but I also think about almost 20 million New Yorkers who are suffering. Just get the hell out of the way. I mean, in the end, maybe he could close off his career with one act of dignity and decency and just step aside. But don't bet on that, Andrew.  

Question: [Inaudible] the cancellation of the auto show was purely for COVID concerns and COVID reasons, or was canceled in part because Governor Cuomo is so closely associated with the Javits Center and that show itself?  

Mayor: Well, that's a great question. I don't have a reason other than the broad statement that was made, which is understandable that with the Delta variant, having kicked up so intensely they were hesitant to have a large indoor gathering and that they intend to be back early next year. So, I don't have other facts than that. I think, you know, you're asking a relevant question, but it's something worth looking at, but I will take what they said on face value.  

Moderator: Next, we have Yehudit from Boro Park 24.  

Question: Good morning, Mr. Mayor, how are you?  

Mayor: I'm doing good, Yehudit. How are you?  

Question: Good, thank God. So, two weeks ago, I asked you and Chief Harrison about exactly what you planned to spend the $200 million you budgeted for the NYPD to upgrade its technological capabilities. And I was told I would hear more information, but unfortunately, I never did. So, since Commissioner Shea is on the call, I was wondering whether he can comment on the particular uses of the $200 million. And whether now is the time that for the longtime plans to encrypt and digitize the police radios and furthermore, whether the media will continue to have unfiltered access to the police or police-related news.  

Mayor: Okay, I'm going to pass that to Commissioner Shea, because I am not an expert on the tech elements of the new budget and he may not be an expert on every piece of it either, but what can you say to that, Commissioner?  

Commissioner Shea: Well, what I would say is, number one, we're grateful for the resources to make sure that the best Police Department in the world has the best equipment in the world. So, we thank the City Council and the Mayor for that. It's very important on the communication side to make sure that the communications equipment that we have is state-of-the-art. And I think we try to balance it. You brought up the encryption question. The encryption is something that I know is very near and dear to the media, and it's very near and dear to me, as someone that has conducted investigations, has been on the other end of that equipment and knows the importance of having, whether it's at a large-scale event, or as simple as police responding to a burglary in progress. And knowing that the criminals don't know that they're about to get on the seat. We're going to tackle these issues, we're going to do it transparently as we have in the past, in terms of being forthcoming with what we're considering doing. But these are still things that are being debated right now. But encryption, I think, is something that absolutely has to be looked at in law enforcement. And it's vital to the integrity of investigations.  

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Yehudit.  

Question: And then also on a different topic, thank you, for that last week in borough park, a young child who was waiting for a bus was unfortunately sent to the hospital after sadly being struck by someone riding a scooter. A few weeks ago, State Senator Liz Krueger introduced a new bill that said that the drivers of e-scooters, e-bikes, and maybe dirt bikes – that the NYPD are getting rid of – who harm pedestrians should be actually charged with not misdemeanors but felonies, and which drivers of cars who commit hit-and-runs are. I was wondering whether the Mayor supports that new legislation, that drivers of e-scooters and e-bikes should be more accountable and receive the same, harsher penalties that drivers of cars do for hit-and-run accidents.  

Mayor: Yehudit, thank you for the question. I will state, obviously, I have not seen the legislation, so I won't go into detail about that, I'll speak broadly. I am a radical on this issue. I think anybody who harms another person with a car, a motorcycle, an e-bike, a scooter, anything, should suffer tougher penalties. I think there's a problem with our legal structure. I have felt this for years. I've said it for years. I've fought for tougher penalties. It is essential to Vision Zero. And I think people should be honest. Don't want to hear from different interests or different companies saying, well, we shouldn't get tough penalties, but you know, put it on the car or the truck or whatever. Everyone should have it. If you hurt someone with any vehicle, you hurt someone. And there needs to be accountability and not a sense of recklessness. We are a big complicated city, and there's not enough space. And what it says is everyone has to be accountable and respectful of each other and slow down and not just think about yourself. So, Yehudit, broadly, I want to see tougher penalties for a variety of vehicles. On that legislation, we'll take a look at that and come back to you on the specifics. 

Moderator: We have time for two more for today. Next we have Chris from the Daily News. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for taking my question. 

Mayor: How are you doing, Chris? 

Question: I'm good. Thanks for asking. On the indoor vaccine mandates, I was wondering how's enforcement going to work if a restaurant or bar is found to have unvaccinated customers present? Will the restaurant be fined or the customer or both? And also, how big do you think these fines are going to be? 

Mayor: Chris, fair questions. And that's what over the next few weeks we're going to be outlining all the kind of rules and regulations around this. It's a new thing. We want to talk to stakeholders, get their input as we formulate it. And as we've also said, there'll be about a month where people are aware, it will be in effect, but we're going to be working, educating people before the focused enforcement and penalties ever occur. But Chris, a good analogy is, you know, restaurants and bars are responsible for carding anyone who might be underage for drinking. And a lot of them, you know, rightfully do a broad approach to that to make sure they don't miss anyone. This is something as an example, I mean, obviously restaurants and bars are responsible for health and safety standards. They know they have an obligation to the public and they know it's first and foremost around health and following the laws. So, this will not be uncharted territory for them. But we're going to work with them to get it right. And we'll be very clear about what penalties are. But you know, I do not expect a lot of penalties. I expect the vast majority of establishments to want to do this the right way and follow through. That's what we saw throughout this whole crisis. Vast majority of indoor establishments have been very loyal about following the rules to protect people. Go ahead, Chris. 

Question: Thank you. And another question for Commissioner Shea. The other day video posted to social media showed an NYPD sergeant grabbing a woman's leg and tackling her to the ground after she had apparently jumped a turnstile in Manhattan and tried to resist arrest after that. After that Commissioner, you said you did not condone what happened in that video. So, I'm wondering how do you think NYPD officers should better deal with situations like that? Where low-level offenders are resisting arrest? 

Commissioner Shea: Well, what I think I said the other day was that it was under investigation and we'll wait for the investigation. And then I went very detailed into the fact that I had watched about 40 minutes of video detailing exactly what transpired. I can recount it, but I'll do it quick. Enforcement at a Lower Manhattan station where you saw individuals jumping the turnstile, probably too many, quite frankly. Many people, most people were paying the fare, but too many weren’t. And people were being pulled aside and issued tickets, asked for ID, and let go in short order. And that was kind of business as usual happening. There were two instances that I saw of, one being the one you mentioned, where the individual, a young lady, refused to give ID, started cursing and berating the officer. And eventually that led to what you referred to. I think the message here is comply. Comply and there won't be a problem, quite frankly. The investigation is under review to make sure that anything that did occur was appropriate. And if not, then there would be discipline. But no one should draw any conclusions until that investigation is over. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead. 

Moderator: Our last question for today goes to Erin from Politico. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. So, you reported this increase in vaccine numbers that you [inaudible]. I'm just wondering, you know, at the same time you still have cases going up. And obviously these are just first doses and they just happened. But do you have a sense of like, is there a threshold point you know, that you kind of need to get to? Like, where we need to get to with vaccines that will actually stop this? And you know, reverse it back to where we were to weeks and months ago, when everything looked a lot better? 

Mayor: It's a great question, Erin. And I want to tell you, first of all, again, we see very clear evidence already that the mandates are working, that the $100 incentive is working. Also, in terms of the specific mandate for City workers, important fact. Last week compared to the previous week, we've seen a 189 percent increase among Health + Hospital workers getting vaccinations. So, you know, we told people this was coming. People immediately started getting vaccination. It's making an impact with our workforce. We expect a lot more of that. But Erin, look, the reason that we are focused on vaccination incessantly is that there isn't a narrow, easy endpoint to get to. It is not that we can say, you know, Hey, you get to this exact number and you're done. It's something we're going to keep at. And we want to drive that number as high as humanly possible. We've passed the five million mark, which is great. We've got now over five million New Yorkers who have received at least one dose. 4.6 million fully vaccinated. So, that's over 60 percent of the entire population of the city has gotten at least one dose. Over 72 percent of adults have gotten at least one dose. 250,000 kids in the 12 to 17 range have gotten at least one dose. We really are at very high numbers in comparison to most of the country. But we got to go further. So, to me, this is just, it does doesn't end until we defeat COVID and we keep building vaccination. That's the whole ball game. We're going to watch, and I'll turn to Dr. Varma. He can elaborate a little bit or, and Dr. Katz wants to add on this. Three things, Erin. Vaccination levels, hospitalization rate, and cases. Right now, vaccination levels, very strong. We need to make them stronger. Hospitalization rate is still well within the levels that we need to be. And hospitals are handling cases well and getting much better outcomes. Cases, higher than we want for sure. But when you composite all that, New York City is still moving forward, still recovering. We got to keep it that way. Dr. Varma and Dr. Katz, you want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Great. Thank you very much, Erin, for the question. And this is just another opportunity for us to emphasize that, you know, we have to always be humble in the face of this virus. It continues to evolve and challenge us in ways that we can't always know for sure. We, I think really the essence of what your question is, is there a level of vaccination in which we can say that we don't have to worry about COVID anymore, we're all done? And the answer of course, is that, of course, if we had 100 percent of the population vaccinated we can say with pretty high certainty, that that would end this epidemic and COVID would be in the back door for a while, you know, for a long time. The real challenge is okay, what level below 100 percent is what you need? And that's what people often refer to as a herd immunity or a community threshold. And the reality is we don't know the exact number for that right now. And so, the best approach that we can take is the one that the Mayor has basically said. We need to get everybody who is eligible to be vaccinated, to be vaccinated. And that if people choose not to be vaccinated, we need to make indoor spaces as safe as possible. And the best way to do that is to restrict those to people who have been vaccinated. So, we know that vaccines are highly effective. We know that there are some level of vaccination in the population that's going to really kind of end COVID for us. But we don't really have an exact number for that at this time. 

Mayor: Thank you, Dr. Katz, you want to add? 

President Katz: I just want to add again, that I think in the future, our whole focus will be on who is sick with COVID. And not so much cases, but who is sick. And when you look across the country, 98 percent of the people who were in the hospital with COVID are unvaccinated. And so if all of those people had been vaccinated, they wouldn't be in the hospital. And we would be able to return to a world where yes, there might be some transmission of COVID, but nobody would get sick. And so that's why sir, you're so right. That the ballgame is vaccination. Thank you. 

Mayor: Amen. Go ahead, Erin. 

Question: Okay, thanks. And then secondly, I wanted to ask about the racial disparities in the vaccine rates. You know, early on when they were first reported you know Black and Latino New Yorkers collectively had lower rates. You know, which could be attributed to a number of access and socioeconomic issues. Currently, it looks like Latino and white New Yorkers are pretty much on par and Black New Yorkers in particular, have the lowest vaccine rate. Just wondering, you know, if you have a sense of why that is? And what has been done specifically to address that? 

Mayor: You know, I think you're right to – first of all, a very important issue. Second of all, you're right to say, a variety of factors at play. Folks have been through hell in all communities. And we know the Black community was hit very, very hard by COVID. There's a lot of pain. There's a lot of distrust. There's a lot of historical distrust. There's a lot of misinformation out there in all communities. But what we do see, you know, you made a really important point. We've seen consistent progress. We've seen the numbers come up consistently in the Black community. We've seen a Latino community where it used to be a very big gap. That gap has greatly reduced. Clearly, we're now at the numbers of vaccinations that say the whole city has bought into vaccination. I mean, you saw those numbers again. These are pure, pure, pure, pure majorities if ever I saw them. 72 percent of adults have already gotten vaccinated, at least one dose and more coming in now. We see the numbers going up. Again, over 60 percent of all New Yorkers have had at least one dose. Those are super majorities. But to reach more deeply, I think it's a combination of continued education, continued outreach, continued work with community organizations and leaders. I think the $100 incentive will work. And I absolutely believe that the mandates, the public service mandate for our public service workers, the indoor dining entertainment mandate are going to very deeply improve numbers in communities of color. There's a lot of those folks, are folks that work for the City or work in those industries. A lot of those folks will be very interested in the incentive. And the combination works together. So, I think this is got to be another way we turn that and reduce that disparity. And see if Dr. Varma or Dr. Katz have anything to add? 

President Katz: I would add, sir, just is I take care of a large number of African American patients in my practice. And so, I know it isn't any more an issue of access. It may have once been an issue of access. But now for each one, I can send them right downstairs where they see me and get the vaccine at that moment without waiting. And your incentives help as well. But systemic racism is a complicated issue. And it includes things like access, but it also includes things like prior experience with health care, prior experience with the government. And there remains because of our history in this country of racism, there remains a lot of fear in the African American community about the vaccine. And I think that your administration and its work with the reverends and the leaders in the African American community and physicians is all of the right thing. And that over time we are convincing people that they are safer with vaccination. And that, that will happen more and more. Thank you, sir. 

Mayor: Thank you. Dr. Varma, want to add? 

Senior Advisor Varma: Nothing for me. 

Mayor: Thank you. Okay. Everyone, as we conclude today again, so many challenges, but so much good news too. And these vaccination numbers I just went over, those super majorities of New Yorkers who are buying into vaccination. The reason that we're having the really powerful recovery we're having. But we need to get more and more people to make us all safe. And we're going to continue to do that work every single day. 

Just want to give you a programming note as it were. I'm going to do what so many New Yorkers are doing right now and finally go see family that I've been missing deeply for the last year and a half. And haven't seen since the beginning of this pandemic. So, we're not going to be having our normal press briefings next week. We'll all take a week off. I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with people. A year and a half is a long time. I know everyone is feeling the same thing about family, loved ones you've missed. But then we will resume as normal the week after that. And we will keep fighting every day to bring this city back. Thank you, everybody. 

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