Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on WCBS Newsradio 880 to Discuss the Rent Guidelines Board Vote

June 28, 2016

Steve Scott: Wayne, the Mayor sounds like he’s in a good mood.

Wayne Cabot: Well, good. That means we can ask him really tough questions and he won’t mind.

Scott: Yes, you don’t mind at all if we talk about rent regulations, Mr. Mayor, and the Rent Guidelines Board putting through, for the second year in a row, a one-year freeze and a two-year two percent increase. That has to put a smile on your face, right?

Mayor Bill de Blasio: It does, indeed. It’s going to put a smile on the faces of over a million-and-a-half New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilized apartments. So, you’re right. It’s a freeze for a one-year lease. It is a two percent increase for a two-year lease. This is a very big deal. You know, most New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet. Rent is, by far, the number one cost in our lives. And the Rent Guidelines Board – to their credit, they really looked at the facts, and they said, look, the price of fuel was way down in the last years, landlords were doing okay but our renters were really struggling. And the right the thing to do was to do a rent-freeze.

So, this is a very big day for over a million-and-a-half New Yorkers.

Cabot: I guess it’s a start when you consider that everybody wants to live in New York City – the vacancy rates are something like five percent, which is a record low. So, what else you got up your sleeve?

Mayor: Look, we are very focused on affordable housing. I always say, wherever I go in the City, the number one issue people raise to me is how they’re going to be able to keep living in this city, and particularly in the neighborhood they love.

So, here’s what we’re doing – these rent freezes, again, are an important piece of the equation that’s going to keep people able to afford their apartments. But, on top of that, we’re building more affordable housing than ever. We have the most affordable housing started last year in anytime in the last 25 years. We’re preserving a lot of affordable apartments. We’re helping people to get the support they need to stay in their apartments. And evictions are down 24 percent in the last two years because we gave tenants who didn’t have a lawyer, a lawyer for free. And, a lot of times, they were able to prove that the eviction was unworthy and they were able to stay in their apartments.

So, we think it’s – if you’re going to go at affordable housing, there’s lots of way to do it. We need them all because it’s the number one issue in the City.

Scott: Switching gears here, and talking about another subject – I know that you have said that you are cooperating, and any information that is needed will be turned over to the various investigators. But we did hear from the U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara, over the weekend. He was on the news show talking about investigations of the Mayor’s Office, of the Governor’s Office – and I am wondering, given what he said over the weekend, what amounts to maybe warning shots across the bow – I mean, do you make anything of that? Do you have any response to what the U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara, is saying about these ongoing investigations?

Mayor: It’s the same as I’ve said before – we’re going to fully cooperate. Look, the role of a prosecutor is to go and find out if there’s something wrong, and we respect that. It’s part of how our checks-and-balances in our government work. That’s why we’ve been cooperating with him from the beginning. And I’m convinced that my administration has done things the right way.

So, I’m very happy to cooperate with him. We’ll provide any and all information he needs.

So, look, those comments were very broad. I don’t read anything into them. Our job is to serve the people and, you know, be available to answer any and all question we need to.

Cabot: Mr. Mayor, I see your spokesman told – I think it was the Wall Street Journal – that you’re working on a number of significant initiatives. Well, you are on the most significant radio station in New York, here’s a great opportunity to tell us what you have in mind. You got anything you want to spill the beans on this morning?

Mayor: It is a damn significant radio station, and two fine hosts, but I’m going to bide my time. We do have some very big plans coming up that we think are going to improve the lives of New Yorkers – but all in good time, my friend.

Cabot: Alright.

Scott: We tried. The Mayor of New York City – we tried – Mayor de Blasio, it’s always great to have a moment of your time. Thank you so much for calling –

Mayor: And, listen, listen. Tell – for all your listeners, call 3-1-1. Anyone who is in a rent-stabilized apartment, and wants to find out how the rent-freeze works, what it means for them – all they have to do is call 3-1-1.

Cabot: And what’s the number for 3-1-1?

Mayor: I’ll get that to you.

[Laughter]

Cabot: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor: Take care.