Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

October 7, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Yesterday, we told you about the extraordinary efforts of the NYPD, the extraordinary efforts of violence interrupters and community members. We've talked about a very basic concept. The recovery of this city – recovery equals safety, safety equals recovery. They all go together, and this is how we bring New York City back. The month of September, we made some real progress, particularly in some parts of the city where there have been real challenges. We're starting to overcome those challenges. We got a lot more to do, a lot more to do, but what we are showing is that a plan, a focused plan, with the right community investments, the right strategic actions by the NYPD makes a huge, huge difference. We still need so much more support from the court system. I'll keep talking about it. We're not getting what we need there, but what we're seeing at the community level, extraordinary. What we're seeing from the NYPD, extraordinary. Obviously, job one, get the guns off the streets, stop shootings. And a reminder, the extraordinary efforts resulted in a 20 percent increase, overall, citywide in gun arrests. This is crucial. This is the foundation of how we stop violence, how we protect people, how we bring the city back. Now, the efforts that have been made, a lot of creative, innovative efforts to stop the violence, to stop the shootings by the NYPD, that's included the takedowns, gang takedowns working with DAs, making a huge difference in communities, the people who do the shooting no longer in the community causing such harm. The efforts to focus on the interconnection of 3-1-1 calls – calls about something very different, quality-of-life issues, conflicts in the community that then are indicators of something that might brew into a bigger problem and tracking that and acting proactively.  

That's a great strategy that's been innovated and championed by our Chief of Department. Rodney Harrison. You'll hear from him in a moment. Another thing that Chief Harrison's focused on, the fraudulent paper license plates on cars that have been indicative, in so many cases, of people using those vehicles for inappropriate activity. We know all these pieces are making a profound impact on fighting violence, making the city safer. We also know, as the NYPD works with the community, reduces the shootings, reduces the violence, makes the city safer, more and more attention can then be focused on other issues, quality-of-life issues that we're hearing from communities. We're going to be able to put more and more energy, more and more resources into those. One example, we've talked about a lot lately, the dirt bikes, the other vehicles that are not legal, that have caused some dangerous situations, but also noise and disruption in communities, more and more action being taken there to get them off the streets, confiscating them, making very clear that they're not allowed in the city and there's consequences. So, we're seeing some real results, but it's going to take more innovation, more creativity, particularly focusing on some of the areas of the city we need it most. I want to now bring someone to you who I think has done amazing work innovating in coming up with these new strategies. And it's working. Our Chief of Department, Rodney Harrison.  

Chief of Department Rodney Harrison, NYPD: Mr. Mayor, can you hear me? 

Mayor: Yeah, Chief, how you doing? 

Chief Harrison: Good morning, sir. How are you? 

Mayor: Good. Good.  

Chief Harrison: So, yeah, I have to agree with you, sir. There's a lot of great things going on in the NYPD. You know, we've adjusted our enforcement strategy to address some of the violence we've seen in the beginning of the year. And some great initiatives that you spoke about, I want to kind of dig a little bit deeper into numbers. We could talk about our temp tag initiative, which is going to help slow down the shootings that we saw in the summertime. So, Mayor, we seized over 400 vehicles for fraudulent temp tags and made over a hundred arrests connected to those seizures. If I can just real quickly talk about our dirt bike initiative, which resulted in over 3,000 seizures of dirt bikes and ATVs, this is since the start of summer. We made dozens of gun arrests for those seizures as well. 

We also took a look at our public safety teams and we [inaudible] those teams up and we’ve seen results automatically. Where we’ve seen results in – I'll talk about Manhattan North, where they made 46 gun arrests in the past month. And like you said before, sir, overall citywide, we're up 20 percent in gun arrests. Mr. Mayor, there's a couple of people that are very involved in regarding us making this a safer city. I got to acknowledge our field intelligence officers. The importance of getting positive briefings and being able to address violence is so important for us to make this a city that doesn't have any concerns when it comes to violence. And they've done a great job and they’ve been able to recover 1,100 guns from positive debriefings. Those numbers are absolutely phenomenal.  

If I can just talk about our detective bureau – so far, this year we've had 972 arrests that were linked to a shooting or a homicide by our detective bureau investigators. As we are seeing our clearance rates get back to the 2019 numbers, the detective bureau has cleared over 53 percent of all homicides in 2021. And then we were talking about some of the takedowns that we've done to help control [inaudible] violence. And when you're talking about Queensbridge and Ravenswood, with 27 subjects are arrested and charged with murder, shootings, and firearms possession. We've done some great work in Brooklyn, where recently we were able to takedown 13 subjects, charge them with several acts of violence, like racketeering. And in one of our NYCHA developments in Manhattan, that was plagued with violence, there was a [inaudible] conspiracy case and five subjects were charged in connection with that investigation. 

Mr. Mayor, you spoke a little bit about 3-1-1 and how we address quality-of-life concerns – the way we're going to address it going in the future is there's going to be executive oversight in each borough to ensure each call, it's an appropriate and timely response. And that's going to come with strict accountability. And last but not least, sir, there's been some concern about – regarding school coverage with school safety officers. I want to assure everyone that between school safety agents and youth officers, the schools are properly covered and will be safe. Thank you, sir.  

Mayor: Thank you so much, Chief, a lot of important work happening. We all know there's more to do, but I think this spirit of innovation and urgency that you're bringing to the work, that so many of your colleagues are showing even after everything we've been through the last year-and-a-half, is really commendable. Appreciate it, keep going. And now I want everyone to hear from some of the folks, neighborhood by neighborhood, who are working with us in different ways, everyone in different ways to make the city safer to protect the people they serve. First, in the Bronx, someone who's focused a lot on the quality-of-life issues. Making sure there's close coordination between the NYPD and the residents in the neighborhood. This is what neighborhood policing is all about and recognizing how much we can do when we build that cooperation, that coordination. He's been helping us to do it in his community. I appreciate that very much. My pleasure to introduce from the Bronx, Council Member Mark Gjonaj.  

[...] 

Mayor: Thank you so much, Council Member. And Council Member, I got to tell you wherever I go in the city, or when I'm on WNYC on Fridays, I hear the tremendous frustrations about the noise and the disruption from the dirt bikes. This is something that the people who said they want to see addressed. The NYPD is addressing it, but the way the NYPD is addressing it is by working with the community. That's the only way to do it right, it's the only way to do it safely – is to get that help, that information from the community and act on it proactively. So, I hear you loud and clear. We're going to be doing a lot more of that and thank you for working with us every step of the way.  

Now let's take our focus over to northern Manhattan, and northern Manhattan is a place that has seen real challenges. But the NYPD and community leaders are working every day to turn that around, really a strong community cooperation with the NYPD. And on top of that, very strong, very substantial efforts by violence interrupters, Crisis Management system, powerful in northern Manhattan, crucial piece of the equation. We are depending on community leaders to help us find the right strategies and to work deeply with communities. Someone who has been outstanding in building that cooperation, building that focus and anyone who knows his work knows he does it with energy and urgency, I want to thank him, always, for that – my pleasure to introduce State Senator Robert Jackson.  

[...] 

Mayor: You cover a lot of ground, Senator, thank you. Thank you for all you're doing with us. And we're going to be constantly in touch, obviously, about where we need to focus, what are we going to have – where we have the biggest impact, but I know we're going to make that impact in your community and thank you very, very much. And now let's take a trip, everyone, over to Queens, and here is a very powerful story in the Queens South command. For part of this year, we saw profound challenges. There's always challenges every year, and we don't belittle that for a moment. There's always problems that have to be addressed, but Southeast Queens is blessed to have some of the most extraordinary community anti-violence work, not only anywhere in New York City, anywhere in the nation. In fact, the examples provided by the Crisis Management System in Southeast Queens have been among the models most emulated in the entire country, including being emulated now by the Biden administration, as they provide a template for how so much of violence can be addressed at the community level by community members. We always value the work of law enforcement, but so much of the solution is at the community level. And this is the future to put more and more resources, more and more focus in that direction. Someone who really deserves such praise for building this concept, building this movement, showing it could work and then convincing people all over the country it could work, she is the founder of LIFE Camp, I've seen her work at the frontline. I've seen her literally engage people and change lives with energy, with fearlessness over, now, 30 years, an unbelievable record. My pleasure to introduce, from LIFE Camp, Erica Ford. 

[...] 

Mayor: Beautifully said, Erica, well done. I want to just emphasize, Erica made a crucial point. You don't hear the stories of the violence that was stopped. You don't hear about the shooting that never happened. You don't hear about the young person who might've ended up in a bad path and ends up instead realizing their potential. You don't hear about the beef or the conflict that is resolved through dialogue, but this is what's happening every hour, every day. So, I say to everyone, Crisis Management System, Cure Violence Movement, violence interrupters, different names, but same concept. There's an amazing thing happening here. And we have invested more and more and more because it works, because it's – in many ways, the very best solution is to stop crime and violence before it happens, to reach people before something happens that ruins everyone's life involved. And amazing, brave, courageous efforts are happening every day. I'm going to urge everyone in public life and everyone in the media, look at this even more, portray these heroic efforts, and let's invest even more in them because they are the way of the future. And President Biden sees it, to his great credit. So, thank you, Erica. Thank you very, very much.  

So, that's the public safety piece of our recovery. We've talked a lot about that yesterday and today. Now, of course, the foundation of our recovery, vaccination, the fight against COVID, ending the COVID era once and for all. We've seen now in the case of our Department of Education, the largest department in the City government, the biggest school system in America, 1 million kids and all their families, everyone needing to know it would be safe. We put the mandates in place, and they are working, but here's what's even more striking. This is news that we now have, since Monday, since the first day where everyone was required who was an adult working in the schools to be vaccinated. Since Monday, 2,000 more vaccinations, new vaccinations, first time vaccinations have happened among employees of our public schools. So, not only did we go into Monday with 95 percent of full-time employees vaccinated, now since Monday, 2,000 more employees get vaccinated. That number is going to grow. And we saw in the last two weeks, this is a staggering figure, as the deadline was coming up, 20,000 vaccinations in the last two weeks. This tells us that this model works. We set a gold standard last year for health and safety. We're now going platinum with the highest standard anywhere in the country. And as a result, we're seeing very few cases of COVID in our public schools. We have no schools closed right now, all 1,600 open. This strategy is working. There's one last step though. And we need the federal government – that's to get the help our five- to 11-year-olds and their families need with vaccination. 

So, right now, crucial moment, Pfizer has now formalized and activated their application for authorization by the FDA. That is now a new fact. They have formally requested, they provided all the information to the FDA. It's now all in the hands of the FDA, tens of millions of kids who would benefit, all of their families would benefit, safety for their schools, for their communities, for this nation. President Biden has said to the FDA, you can have whatever you need. I reiterate what our health care leaders believe, the FDA can and should make this decision by Halloween so we can be vaccinating kids in November, those five- to 11-year-olds. We can vaccinate them quickly. We can do this immediately. Once we get the authorization, we can go right out. And I guarantee you, there's going to be huge numbers of parents who want their young children vaccinated. Right now, 75 percent, already, of our 12- to 17-year-olds are vaccinated. That's the newest group that was eligible. 75 percent already had received at least one dose. We're going to have huge demand in that younger group, but the FDA needs to act, and they need to act by the end of this month so we can get vaccinating these kids in November. But I want you to hear about the success that's been achieved this week not only in getting more and more of our DOE employees vaccinated, but also making our schools run smoothly as we made this transition. And the person who deserves the credit, she has been a strong, resolute leader, she knew this was the right thing to do, and she made it work in the biggest school system in the country, our Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter.  

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter: Good morning. Good morning, Mayor de Blasio. And thank you so much. I want to really thank the amazing staff of our New York City public schools across all five boroughs who stepped up, got vaccinated, and added a powerful layer of safety and protection for our schools. This week, we saw that bubble of protection around our school communities in action. Every single staff member in schools was vaccinated. And I know that has gone so far and making families more comfortable and confident and assured we're keeping their baby safe. As a parent myself, I can vouch for this sigh of relief that so many moms, dads, aunts, and uncles and grandparents are expressing to me – thanks for our vaccination policies. I know that every staff member at my daughter's school is protected and that her education will be interrupted less and, most importantly, to me, she is protected. As an educator, I know all my colleagues are protected from this horrible virus. Our communities lost too much to this pandemic and we've been waiting for this moment since March of last year. It's finally here.

So much has been asked of our schools over the last few years. Every New Yorker owes a deep debt of gratitude to the adults who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them to serve our young people. After the past 19 months, I'm so grateful that we're in a position where vaccination is a critical part of preparing to go back to school. And now, here we are, and our staff have yet again met this moment. The good news just keeps rolling in. Since Monday, 2,000 more staff members have gotten vaccinated. That means another 2,000 dedicated, caring adults are back in buildings, doing what they love to do – safely serving the young people of New York City.

I want to repeat what I said earlier this week. To our staff members who have not received their first dose yet, there is still time. Your dedication to our students is valued and we want you back safely in our buildings. I'm so excited for what the rest of the school year has in store for our school communities and our young people. In front of us are football games. I'm looking forward – I made a commitment to Staten Island, I'll be there. Field trips, school plays, debate tournaments, art shows, and so many other joys. We can do all of these safely today because of our staff who stepped up, got vaccinated, and made this possible. Thank you so much. And with that, I'll turn it back to you, Mayor.

Mayor: Thank you. And congratulations, Chancellor. We’ve got a lot more to do, but you are doing a great, great job seeing us through this crucial moment. And thank you to your whole team, everyone at the DOE for making this work. And what a good segue into our indicators. And we always start with the doses of the vaccine that have been administered to-date. We've seen regular constant growth. This is really exciting to me. People are coming out more and more, getting vaccinated. Number one, doses administered to-date, 11,640,484 – staggering number. Number two, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 181 patients with a confirmed positivity level of 15.21 percent. And then, the hospitalization rate – and this again, the key statistic, the key factor we're always looking at has continued to go down – 0.83 per 100,000 New Yorkers. And then, number three, new reported cases on a seven-day average, 1,148 cases. Let me say a few words in Spanish, back on the topic of public safety and how important it is to our recovery.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

We’re going to go to questions from the media now, as we always do. But first, I want to take a moment to speak to the report that came out just a few hours ago from Department of Investigation. And, of course, we'll be taking questions on that. But let me be really clear from the beginning, because there's a number of claims in this report and there's many, many inconsistencies and inaccuracies. But let me put in perspective the way I see the bigger issues here. To me, public service, which is what I've devoted my entire life to, is a calling. It's nothing short of a calling. It is a duty. It has taken endless hours, of course, and a lot of challenges, but it's the right thing to do. It comes with very real costs. There's a lot of things you don't get to do in terms of time with your family or downtime. There's many, many challenges, but that's a choice a lot of us have made, because we believe in public service. None of us, I think, expected this moment in history we're in where our politics turned so bitter and, even within our own country, we've seen more and more division and that division play out in some ways in very violent, disruptive manner. We all saw that January 6th, horribly, in Washington D.C. I think that was a shock to all of us, but we had seen precursors of that for years and years. I think, not so long ago, we all assumed that public servants were safe and their families were safe. We don't have that assumption anymore. We know that fraught reality of our politics has created a dynamic where there's much less safety and, in fact, families are also caught up in the reality, and the threats can come from anywhere at any time.

Look, I'm honored to be the Mayor of the city, but my first responsibility was as a father and a husband. And so, I think of the safety of my family all the time. The ultimate decisions when it comes to safety must be made by security experts. The ultimate decisions on how to align security, how to protect those chosen by the people to lead need to be made by the NYPD. Anyone who wants to understand those choices, or what the priorities are, or what works, or what's been learned over years of fighting terrorism – and now, the internal violence we're seeing in this country – should turn to the NYPD. Very strangely, DOI did not do that. They did not turn to the security experts, even though I made abundantly clear who I turn to for guidance. DOI chose not to ask the very people who were in charge why decisions were made, why things were done to protect me, my family, and others they protect. To me, that omission is just plain unprofessional, and unfair, and inaccurate – does a disservice to the people of this city, because you can't as another agency talk about what's right or wrong with public safety without actually consulting the public safety experts. It doesn't make any sense to me. And I don't think it's right. And I don't think it's clear. I don't think it helps people understand.

So, the bottom line to me – I have for eight years, every day, tried to do to my level best what I believe is in the best interest in New York City. The things we talked about today, the fight against COVID, the efforts we've made to bring the city back, the fight against crime – I've devoted myself to this. I've tried to put everything I had into it and do always what I think is in the best interest of the people. I have acted in good faith, always. I followed whatever guidance was given me. I've also constantly thought about the impact this is all having on my family and thought about their safety, and deferred, always, to the NYPD in terms of what's the right way to address that.

So, that's what I wanted to say. But now, I want you to hear from the person the Department of Investigations should have talked to. And I told them when they interviewed me, this is the expert, this is the leader, this is the person we all refer to when we have a question, a concern. This is where the guidance comes from. He's one of the, actually, nationally most important experts on the fight against terrorism. I said, this is who I turn to and they chose not to interview him, which I find stunning. But you will get to hear from him, the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the New York City Police Department, John Miller.

Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller, NYPD: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We appreciate the Department of Investigation, its mission, and its work. And both the NYPD writ large and my bureau in particular have cooperated with them in the past in a number of other investigations. I think in this case, having had only 24 hours to review this report, there are some serious misconceptions and inaccuracies that need to be addressed. But first, I'd like to start with context. The Mayor of the City of New York, whether it is this mayor or any other mayor, is a nationally recognized figure, particularly now in a very brittle political environment in this nation. That comes with its own implicit threat. This particular mayor, over the last eight years, through the NYPD’s intelligence bureaus collection of that information has logged in 308 separate threats; 33 of those have specifically referenced his family within the threat; 11 of those have been against the First Lady of New York City; and 14 of those have been against the Mayor's children.

In that context, which is not contained in the DOI report, we take the protection of the Mayor and the Mayor's family extremely seriously. Beyond the threats that we log in that come in telephonically or over social media, there are incidents of concern that should be noted. In 2019, an individual was challenged by security at Gracie Mansion for acting suspiciously on the perimeter. And he stated to them, he was there to conduct a citizen’s arrest of the Mayor. After further discussion, because there had been no violation of law, he was sent on his way. But, again, in the context of a threat environment, it's notable that three weeks later, that same individual killed the acting boss of the Gambino crime family outside his home in Staten Island. That individual’s lawyers has made public statements that he was trying to act against a conspiracy of the deep state, the Democrats, and the mafia as part of a Q Anon-driven conspiracy. That's an indicator of the kind of threat environment that public officials live in today.

I would further point out that, that same year, surveillance by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau on the terror suspect, recorded him surveying Gracie Mansion, the Mayor's official residence, where he lives with members of his family, as a potential target for a terrorist attack. After walking around the mansion, the individual was later recorded saying that he thought there were too many police, too many cameras, and too many security measures in place for it to be a viable target. That still means that Gracie Mansion, City Hall, the Mayor, the Mayor’s family remain in the target zone. That's why we take it so seriously. Now, the Mayor and the First Lady, since the beginning of the administration, have accepted full protection based on the recommendations of the NYPD's Intelligence Bureau. We also recommended at the beginning of the term that his children also receive the same full coverage.

This is where it gets complicated with young adults and security as they become a college age, as they go off to school, as they take on jobs or socialize with their friends. And this is not unique to this Mayor or this Mayor's family. This is an issue that the Secret Service has been through multiple times with different presidents and their children over the years. They don't always show a willingness to accept full protection as we would design it, nor do we have the ability to compel them to. Our policy, regarding the Mayor’s family, particularly his children has been to provide for them whatever security they will accept. So, if that means transporting them by car to a job, or to a public event, or to school, we will do that. If that means that they will accept our remaining with them at that event or time, we'll do that too. If it means bringing them there and bringing them back, we'll do that. Our watch word has been always to provide as much security as they will accept, even if that is not as much as we would like. I don't think any of that context was contained within the DOI report, which took a deep dive on many other. And I wished during that investigation that they had sought to gain that information in context, either from me or from Chief Tom Galati, the chief of the Intelligence Bureau. We will review the report further. We will look at their recommendations and see which one of – which of those recommendations make sense and we will respond to them in time.

Mayor: Thank you very much, Deputy Commissioner. And now, we will turn to our colleagues in the media. Please let me know the name and outlet of each journalist.

Moderator: We'll now begin our Q-and-A. As a reminder, we're joined by Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller; by Dr. Torian Easterling, the Chief Equity Officer for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; by the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice Director Marcos Soler; by Dr. Mitchell Katz; and by Senior Advisor Dr. Jay Varma. The first question today, it goes to Andrew Siff from WNBC.

Question: Mayor and everyone on the call, good morning. Mayor, when you first hired the DOI Commissioner, you praised her decades protecting the public's interest, prosecuting criminals inside and outside the government, said she was [inaudible] dedicated to defending what's right and cited her 12 years as a federal prosecutor. And yet, today, the findings are described as unprofessional, unfair, naive, and inaccurate. How do you go from that kind of experience level and background, someone you appointed, to your conclusion that basically they didn't know what they were doing?

Mayor: No, I don't think that's the right conclusion. I'm entirely surprised by the inaccuracies in this report. I'm entirely surprised that they chose not to interview the top security experts at the NYPD. You'll notice, they brag in the report about calling different unnamed federal security officials, or former officials, but they couldn't find John Miller's phone number? Even after I said in an interview with them, John Miller is the ultimate word and where we get the ultimate guidance from. Something's funny there. But, Andrew, no, I have praised the Commissioner, because I saw a lot of great work historically. In fact, the most notable example was since she became Commissioner, and this DOI did an exhaustive report on the protests of the spring and summer of 2020. It was reported. It had some tough criticisms of me and the Police Department. It had recommendations. I said, I found it to be strikingly fair, thoughtful, well researched, well-documented. I thought the criticisms were fair. I didn't agree with every single piece of the report, but I thought the criticisms were fair. I thought there were things we needed to do differently, and I accepted all the recommendations. So, when they do their job, I will be the first to praise them. But how do you forget to interview the guy in charge of security if you're doing a report on security? It just doesn't add up. Go ahead, Andrew.

Question: And in the case of the security detail, isn't the actual guy in charge Howard Redmond, the police inspector in charge of your family security detail? And didn't the DOI conclude that Mr. Redmond tried to destroy his cell phone and obstructed the investigation? Do either you or Mr. Miller have anything to say about that conclusion?

Mayor: I will say first, and the Deputy Commissioner will speak to it. There's a chain of command. And I was abundantly clear with the Commissioner of DOI and her team, Redmond reports to Galati, reports to Miller. And the go-to on all the big guidance, the big decision-making of how to address security threats, how to set up security overall, the decision maker, the final decision maker is always Deputy Commissioner Miller, because he is, again, one of the leading national experts on security and intelligence gathering and counterterrorism, I said that clear as a bell, that is how it operates. So, it's a shocking omission that neither Galati nor Miller were interviewed. Second, all I can say about Inspector Howard Redmond, I've worked with him for eight years, I found him to be an incredibly devoted public servant, a person of a real integrity who served this city now almost 30 years in the NYPD. That's what I know. I don't know anything about what's alleged in the report, but I know what I've experienced for eight years. Deputy Commissioner, do you want to add?

Deputy Commissioner Miller: Sure. From a personal standpoint, I've worked together with Inspector Redmond for eight years. I have found him to be professional, reliable, knowledgeable about executive protection and security, and extraordinarily responsive to the needs of this extremely challenging job. That said, from a personal standpoint. From an institutional standpoint, the Department of Investigation report has referred that information to another agency and the NYPD will cooperate with any lawful probe.

Mayor: Go ahead.

Moderator: Next is Dave Evans from WABC.

Question: Hey, Mayor. Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah, Dave. How are you doing?

Question: I’m fine. I want to ask you, I understand what you're seeing about security in this day and age for public servants. And I appreciate, especially John Miller, coming in to give us a greater insight as to some of the threats that you have faced. But, that being said, on two things, did you ever think, for example, when police were used to help Chiara move and police were used to help Dante go back and forth to Yale – on either one of those two incidents, did you ever think, this might look kind of bad? Chiara get your own mover, Dante gets your own way to get back to New York City, instead of deferring to police? Did you think that this looked a little bad?

Mayor: Dave, I know you're asking the question honestly, I'm going to answer you honestly. First of all, I think it's documented in the report, I didn't know anything about any details of my daughter's move. In fact, she had very few possessions. She was going to just take them in the car that was normally available for the very reasons that we discussed, because the NYPD made the decision that any time that she would accept protection is in the public interest. So, the other elements of this were all a mystery to me – never heard anything about it, don't know why it happened. The issue around Dante, the Deputy Commissioner can speak to this. When he went to Yale, I'll just preface – there was a lot of concern he was a very prominent individual. The New Haven Police Department felt that. The Yale Police Department felt that. They coordinate with the NYPD and the Intelligence Division. There was real concern. And the notion that when he was going back and forth, it was an extension of the normal protection, because obviously his trip was largely transversing parts of New York City, but there was also, it was so nearby. It was very much in this same general vicinity where he was very well-known, everyone focused on the question of security. That's what was going through everyone's mind. I never heard anything but here's the right way to handle things. Deputy Commissioner. 

Deputy Commissioner Miller: I think in the case of Dante de Blasio, I'll rely on my earlier comments, which is we offered to protect him at any time we could. And when those opportunities arose, we encouraged him to accept that protection. And if that meant transport to school and from school, that would be the preference of the security detail, which is to have somebody with him as a recognizable figure. I think when you look at the current dynamic threat environment in this country, there are a terrorist groups and domestic extremist groups online who encourage violence against politicians, violence against their family members. There are unstable individuals who follow those instructions. We saw a group of individuals from multiple states plot to attack the Governor's Mansion in Michigan and kidnap the governor and hold her in lieu of demands. And that threat environment, if we can get one of the children of the Mayor, who's going out in public or on public transportation or anywhere to accept protection, we're here to offer that. That has been the watchword from the beginning, and we've been nothing but consistent on it. 

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Dave. 

Question: My other question is about the $319,000 that DOI says is still owed to the city because of your presidential run. Is that going to be paid back or you're saying, no, you're not going to pay it? 

Mayor: I'm saying that as part of a democratic process we put forward an appeal to the Conflict of Interest Board, and I have it here, I know we've made it public, but we pointed out a number of concerns about the original opinion in consistencies with the history of how other mayors have been treated, in consistencies in terms of providing security and ensuring that security was effective. We've talked about all the examples as you see in here of governors around the country whose state police provide security constantly, regardless of whether they were campaigning for office nationally, locally, anything, without question and not on a paid basis, but as part of the normal effort to provide security for a chief executive. So, we've asked the Conflict of Interest Board to review all that and to make a determination, and I certainly respect them and have faith that they were carefully review these facts and then come up with a final determination.  

Moderator: The next is James Ford from PIX-11. 

Question: And good morning, thanks for taking my call. Just to – my colleague Mary Murphy had asked a question similar to Dave Evans’ just now, could you elaborate though a bit regarding next steps for repayment, if a further view shows that you still are in arears, that you still have to pay this. You are saying you are going to pay the 300 plus thousand dollars? 

Mayor: James I'm prepared to do whatever the law requires, clearly, I've always been, but again, if you look at the appeal letter, it's very substantial and it is suggesting that there's a profound inconsistency here that needs to be addressed, and a decision needs to be made, not just about me, but about all future mayors. I believe the process will be an honest process. I believe the Conflict of Interest Board will carefully weigh this evidence, and then they'll come to a determination. I’m ready to follow the law, of course. Go ahead, James. 

Question: Thank you. Also, I'm working a separate story here, to switch gears to an earlier topic that you mentioned, the request by Pfizer for emergency use authorization of its vaccine for five to 11-year-olds. Can you, and maybe officials on the call from the DOE and your health advisors, just talk about what the protocol would be assuming this authorization happens? And after the authorization happens, should it do so, how soon after that might we be talking having five to 11-year-olds getting jabs in arms? 

Mayor: We are so anxious to do that, James, to get our five to 11-year-olds vaccinated. I think that demand levels will exceed anything we've seen with any other age group. I truly believe it. Because as a parent myself, I can tell you, if I were out there right now, knowing I could protect my child from COVID, I would be there the first hour of the first day to get that shot for my child. We're going to go all out. Obviously, the DOE will carefully coordinate with our health team. I'll let my senior advisor, Dr. Jay Varma and our First Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Torian Easterling, speak to what they expect next in the process and also how we'll implement, but we have plenty of vaccine in reserve. Doctors, I think it'd be helpful to James' question to explain what you expect the dose will be for the five to 11-year-olds and any protocol differences, but James, my bottom-line answer will be, the minute we are authorized, we will start vaccination literally same day. Dr. Varma, Dr. Easterling, please speak to that. 

Senior Advisor Jay Varma: Great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and thank you James for the question. I think the first thing to keep in mind is that there is a lot of information that we as health officials still need to understand. You know, Pfizer has just submitted its application, but we need to review the data in detail, specifically the data that's going to be issued regarding the dosing for the vaccine. As some of you may know it is anticipated that there will be a lower dosage of the vaccine, and so there's a number of operational considerations related to that, you know, whether you draw less in the vial or whether or not the packaging occurs differently. There may also be different counseling issues that occur as well. So, you know, we're very eager for the FDA to review this both thoroughly, as well as expeditiously, and as long as that process goes on as well, for us to get much more accurate information about what the specific operational issues will be. But I'll just echo again, you know, kind of what the Mayor has really emphasized, which is that this is going to be an incredible turning point for vaccination. You know, we've seen amazing uptake with Key to NYC, with the mandates, and with just the willingness of adult New Yorkers and adolescent New Yorkers to get vaccinated. But really, I think where the epidemic control is weakest right now is in those who remain unvaccinated, and that largest population, of course, is our young children who can benefit so much from this important innovation. 

Mayor: Dr. Easterling, if you could speak to the efforts that the Department of Health is taking to get ready, and obviously you've done outstanding work, working with communities, we want to get this out all over the city, and really reach people, get them in. We just showed people with boosters how quickly we could turn on the apparatus, give us a sense of how you guys are going to get into gear when the authorization comes from five to 11-year-olds? 

First Deputy Commissioner Torian Easterling, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, sir, and certainly. We are certainly ready to roll out of vaccines for five to 11-year-olds, once we do have approval, as Dr. Varma has already mentioned, we're certainly waiting for update from the Food and Drug Administration, certainly when the review of the data which we expect to happen the end of this month. And then the next step would be for CDC advisory Committee on Immunization Practice to also review and make sure that they are in agreement with the recommendation. And so, the two-step process still needs to happen, and once, and we all expect that to happen early November, but we're certainly prepared for the recommendation, you know, building on the work that you've already done for 12 to 17-year-olds, really working with our providers across the city. As you can see, we really have expanded our messaging across the city to really communicate that the vaccines are effective not only for adults, but also for our young folks, and we will continue to work with our community partners, to be in the communities that we know that have been hardest hit by this pandemic, making sure that they have the messaging and the resources to get the word out. And we will still use all of our infrastructure across the city, all of our sites, the pharmacies, and our health care systems to make sure that the vaccines are available. 

Mayor: Thank you, doctor. So, the simple answer, James, is we are ready, willing, and able to provide those vaccinations to our youngest New Yorkers the second we get their authorization. 

Moderator: The next is Dana from the New York Times. 

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor. I know you described Inspector Redmond as someone of great integrity, but I'm curious, given that DOI found he failed to cooperate with the investigation and in fact obstructed it, do you plan to fire him? 

Mayor: Dana, I, first of all want to reiterate, I am literally shocked at the number of inaccuracies in this report. I am shocked that a professional agency would not have pursued interviews with the most important figures in the security field in this city. I am not taking anything at face value. There will be a review of the information provided and obviously any other agencies will look at it, but he is someone who served this city for 30 years, and that's what I know. I'll certainly turn to the Deputy Commissioner who will be responsible for determining from the NYPD perspective how to proceed. 

Deputy Commissioner Miller: Well, you don't just fire somebody. First, there has to be evidence, and then there has to be a charge. We have a referral to another agency, and as I stated before, we'll cooperate with any lawful probe whether that includes assistance from the Internal Affairs Bureau in obtaining records or actually doing investigation. But again, this is something that just came up this morning. 

Mayor: Go ahead, Dana. 

Question: Thanks. And then your appeal to the Conflicts of Interest Board was dated July 22nd. So, several months ago. How did they respond? 

Mayor: They've said this, I'll just give you a summary, I'll let them speak for themselves, obviously, but they're reviewing it. I think they see it as a meaningful set of concerns to evaluate, and I respect the Conflict of Interest Board. I have literally for decades worked with them and followed their guidance, but also, I think it's important if there's concerns to offer them for their review, and that's what they're doing now, looking at the concerns that were raised. 

Moderator: The next is Steve Burns from WCBS 880. 

Question: Hi, good morning, Mayor, on the DOI report, you know, I understand the case being made that, you know, you're a national figure, your kids have a public presence, but the fact remains there are explicit rules on the books about when security details can be used and when they can't, and your actions, according to the report, very clearly violated those rules, especially around the presidential campaign. Are you aware of those rules and the fact that you didn't know about the detail being on your daughter's move? Does that not suggest any negligence on your part? 

Mayor: No, and no. Steve, respect you, respect your question, again I want you to, I'm sure you take everything that elected officials say with a grain of salt, and that's the role of the media, take this report with a big grain of salt. A lot of the details are inaccurate. A lot of the suppositions are inaccurate. The guidance I have received is from the NYPD. I've never received any contradictory guidance. I have followed all guidance to the letter. I don't know what you believe you're referring to, I respect you, but now I disagree with you fundamentally that are some counter guidance here that supersedes the guidance that we receive from the people in charge of security. I just don't accept that. Deputy Commissioner Miller explained the environment that we've been living in from day one, and in fact, it got a lot worse over the years. We have followed the instructions of the NYPD in matters of security. Deputy commissioner, you want to add. 

Deputy Commissioner Miller: I think there's a couple of – it's a complicated issue – but I think there's a couple of misconceptions here that should be made clear. The DOI report seems to conflate rules about individuals who are not city officials riding in city cars with rules regarding protectees. The report kind of go through a lot of machinations to say, if you're not a protectee, then you shouldn't be transported by a detective in a police car as part of a protective detail, unless you're with the protectee. It suggests that if you were with the Mayor, the First Lady and they were riding the car with you as their child, it would be fine. It misses the point that from the beginning, and I stated this earlier, and I want to be clear, the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau position was, before this report for a number of years and remains that the children of the Mayor are designated protectees and we will provide them whatever protection we can when we can, if they accept it. And that includes riding in cars with a detective, as opposed to sending them off on the subway or on the bus or walking through the street as recognizable figures, that's not our preference from a security standpoint. 

Mayor: And Steve, before your second question, just to say previous mayor's children were regarded as protectees, again, look at the letter we sent to the Conflict of Interest Board about how previous mayors’ security was regarded. We really got a recognize there's a lot of history here and a lot of practice that was effective, where people were protected effectively by the NYPD and that's in the city's inter​est. And again, the threat environment has increased constantly since I came into office and that's has to be taken into account as well. Go ahead, Steve. 

Question: Okay, thank you. And on Inspector Redmond specifically, again, a lot of the report is dedicated to what the DOI Commissioner saw is him trying to obstruct the investigation, destroying his phone, not answering questions. You mentioned the chain of command above him. So, I guess that begs the question, did you or Deputy Commissioner Miller have any conversations with him about his response to this investigation? Were you aware of any of those actions and are those things you would have advised him to do as you known about it? 

Mayor: No conversations whatsoever with him. I’m not aware of any actions and not assuming what happened or didn't happen because we're looking at a report that is very hard to make sense of and filled with inaccuracies. I look at, I'll only speak from my own experience. DOI asked to sit down with me. I spent several hours with them. Chirlane spent time with, we were obviously ready to answer all questions, everyone should, but I'm not going to assume what happened here, as John said that it would be a process as with any allegation. You want to add. 

Deputy Commissioner Miller: Sure. my understanding of the facts, and again, we've had very limited time to review this report, about 24 hours is not that Commissioner – I mean, not that Inspector Redmond destroyed his phone. I believe that what the report states is that he turned his phone in to the internet technology bureau in response to an upgrade for a new phone. This is an investigation that spans from 2018 to 2021, during which time his phone was upgraded twice. So, I think that's, that's according to the Legal Bureaus review of those interactions what occurred there, Now, the Department of Investigation may take a different view of that, and they've said they made a referral to another agency, and I rely on my earlier comments, which is we'll cooperate with any review. 

Mayor: Go ahead.

Moderator: The next is Katie from The City.

Question: Hi, everyone. Can you hear me?

Mayor: Yeah, Katie? How are you doing?

Question: Good. I wanted to follow up I guess, on everyone's questions and why – sorry, I will point out that you were not the only mayor running for president. I will give an example of Mayor Pete from South Bend, Indiana, also ran for president. I think his campaign was a little bit longer, if not a lot longer. He did not use the South Bend Police Department. He paid for his own private security. Why couldn't you pay for that? Is it, I mean, was there fundraising issues? And maybe Deputy Inspector Miller maybe wants to speak about why they wouldn't use private security and use NYPD instead?

Mayor: Okay. I'll turn to Deputy Commissioner, but just a simple comment. I'm sure what you're saying is what you believe to be true. I've certainly never heard any details about what then Mayor Buttigieg did or didn't do. I think when he started his campaign, very, very different reality than what I was dealing with every day as Mayor of the nation's largest city. But again, the history in this city is clear about providing protection under all circumstances. It's documented in our letter to the Conflict Of Interest Board. Obviously, good example, Mayor Giuliani's campaign in the year 2000. And what other states have done consistently with high profile people, governors, for example. So, I think we're very much acknowledging what's been done consistently for a reason to make sure the security was always there and to avoid a situation where God forbid a public official was put in danger, which is against the public interest. Go ahead, Deputy Commissioner.

Deputy Commissioner Miller: Katie, appreciate the question. Again, this is where I find, I believe conflating two different things and a misconception. Whether it's on the part of the Conflicts Board or DOI. The decision to send NYPD Intelligence Bureau resources with the Mayor during the presidential campaign was made not at City Hall or at the request of City Hall staff. It was made by the Intelligence Bureau based on our threat assessment of the position of Mayor of the City of New York, no matter who that mayor would be when they travel. So, here's the complicating factor. Not every mayor runs for president. It's not an issue we run into all the time. But what we default to is our consistent practice, which is where the mayor goes, his security detail goes. That includes his vacation to New England, in case there's an emergency and he needs to be rushed back to the city, and information needs to be coordinated by law enforcement people on the ground. That included his family trip to Italy, where security details were there liaising with local law enforcement officials, where he was a recognized figure and at public events. When the presidential campaign happened, to stay out of the politics of it, it is my judgment from the beginning, that we were not guarding him as a presidential candidate. We were guarding him as the Mayor of the City of New York who was on travel. The purpose of that travel is largely irrelevant from a security standpoint to the Intelligence Bureau. Wherever the Mayor is, he's still the Mayor. He's still in contact by phone, text, email making key decisions. He's still required to get back in case of a major emergency. He's still a recognizable figure who faces all of the threats we described in the current political environment and division of this country. We're going to have NYPD detectives with him and we're going to arrange his moves.

And I struggle with the idea that someone thinks that that should either be privatized or charged to the Mayor or a campaign. And I'll tell you why. We provide security based on our procedures and our judgements. We have an extraordinary amount of experience in doing that, both with this Mayor and with his predecessors. To decide that that is going to be a pay as you go matter, forces my people on the security end to say, well we're getting pushback from the candidate, from the campaign, from whomever about security costs. They want us to cut it down or cut it back. We only go based on what we assess the security needs are. And don't want to be beholden to the judgment of non-security professionals on those issues. I preface this by saying it's a complicated issue and not one we've run into a lot. But what we defaulted to is the way we've always done it when it comes to the Mayor and travel.

Mayor: Thank you. Go ahead, Katie.

Question: Thanks. I guess you answered a little bit of this. You know, my colleague, Greg Smith says you have $4,600 on hand for your presidential campaign. So, I'm not sure how you would pay for it. But I guess I'll ask you this right, if you could think back to when you were a citizen, right? And I understand that the Deputy Inspector explained why the NYPD would protect you when you run for president, but can you at least understand why it bothers so many people, so many New Yorkers, no one asked you to run for president. It's not in your job description to run for president. I think there was polling that showed people didn't want you to run. So, can you at least understand why people would find it absurd that taxpayers have to pay more than $300,000 to pay for your security to go to Iowa?

Mayor: Katie, I know that's your opinion, and I respect your opinion. I don't accept the notion of what my fellow New Yorkers think because I've talked to a lot of my fellow New Yorkers. And I think they look at the world a little differently. First of all, you know, my predecessors traveled, the country, traveled the world. One of my predecessors would constantly go out of the country on vacation. All of them were involved politically in different ways. Several of them ran for higher office while mayor, including Mayor Giuliani and Mayor Lindsay and Mayor Koch. I, in all of my history working in service of the people in New York City, I've never heard the notion that the Mayor of New York City, one of the most prominent public figures in the United States of America and obviously a role that brings you global recognition and the vulnerabilities go with it, that somehow security should be determined on any level but how to keep the leader of this city safe. And again, I'm talking about over decades and decades. Did anyone ask Ed Koch to run for Governor New York State or Rudy Giuliani to run for the United States Senate? Or Senator John Lindsay to run for president? That's not the question. Or how they fared in the polls is not the question. So, do I think that the people of this city are constantly frustrated by the challenges of life and they've gotten a lot of reasons why over the years, they've been told to distrust everyone in authority, a theme I talked about the other day. I think this is the moment we're in, in history, where all authority is being distrusted and it's a dangerous phenomenon, honestly. But the notion that someone participating in the democratic process, running for office, which is how our system works, should be treated differently? No, I don't hear that, nor do I understand that. I think the important thing is what's in the interest of the people in New York City is when they make a decision on who their leader is, protect that person so that person can do their job for the people.

Moderator: We've time for two more for today. The next is Amanda Eisenberg from Politico.

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

Mayor: Good, Amanda. How you been?

Question: I'm doing well. Thank you. I wanted to ask you if you are going to run for governor, I was wondering how you plan to travel around the state without private details? Since you said that you would not own a car after leaving City Hall in December.

Mayor: Yeah. I definitely said I would not own a car. Amanda, I appreciate it's an honest question. But it is, you know, I don't mean to say theoretical as a blow off here, I'm saying theoretical because what I'm focused on right now is fighting COVID. I'm focused on, you know, moving our schools forward as we have this week, bringing the city back. But that's my focus. I've made very clear that I intend to be a public servant in the future. How that is going to work, what that's going to look like? Those blanks will be filled in in the days ahead. But in terms of the right way to go about that? We'll figure that out. And when the time comes, I'll have more to say on that. Go ahead, Amanda.

Question: Thank you. And I want to switch over to kids getting the COVID-19 vaccine. If and when Pfizer's request gets approved and kids will start to get vaccinated, do you see any additional wrinkles with treating, you know, a younger age range besides the point that was made earlier about just dose sizes in terms of getting any sort of permissions from teachers, I'm sorry, permissions from parents, and to do it in the schools? Can you give me a little bit about what you're expecting that to look like from this fall?

Mayor: It's a real issue. I'll start and I'll turn to Dr. Easterling, Amanda. This is an area where we have to be very, very communicative. Obviously, for five to 11-year-olds, the only way a child is getting the vaccination is with their parents' approval. And I think in the vast majority of cases, that means the parent is going to be present, or a family member is going to present, with that formal written approval. We want to be very careful and thoughtful about that. We want to be very communicative. I do believe in my heart that if you look at the reality we've seen with the 12 to 17-year-olds, now about 75 percent have received at least one dose. You're going to see an even greater uptick with the younger kids. You're going to see their parents, particularly concerned, because as a parent myself, I can tell you in the early years of a child's life, parents are hypervigilant about their health and wellbeing. As kids get a little older, parents loosen up a little bit and kids become more self-sufficient. But I think we're going to have huge numbers of parents who want that vaccination for their child. But we're going to communicate very clearly, it will only happen if there's formal authorization from that parent. And I'll turn to Dr. Easterling and say, I think he's going to be one of the people having a lot of conversations with parents who have concerns, because I do believe we'll have a lot of parents who will want questions answered. Dr. Easterling?

First Deputy Commissioner Easterling: Thank you, sir. And we're already receiving those questions and we are on the ground already speaking to parents. As I've mentioned earlier, you know, parents of 12 to 17-year-olds answering their questions, but certainly finding parents of those who have five to 11-year-olds, letting them know what to expect. And certainly, a consent form is going to be required. Let me just emphasize that we are certainly ready. We're going to be building on the work that we've already done to vaccinate and get to 75 percent of our 12 to 17-year-olds, but we're also building on an existing infrastructure. Our routine pediatric immunizations through our school system, as well as through our pediatric providers, who work tirelessly to make sure that all of our children are vaccinated against preventable infectious disease. So, this is the work that we do, and we're going to continue to be prepared.

Mayor: Thank you, doctor. Go ahead.

Moderator: Last question for today, it goes to Gloria Pazmino from NY1.

Question: Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I want to ask you the question in a different way, since we're not really getting an answer. I guess the basic question is whether or not you believe that City taxpayers should be on the hook for the cost of security when it comes to purely political matters? Not just yours, but maybe perhaps those in the future? Do you believe that that is an appropriate use of City resources?

Mayor: Gloria. I think I really am answering your question. And again, I appreciate there is so much distrust of authority out there. I think it's really problematic and we all need to start figuring out what's going on. That even when an elected official looks at you in the camera and looks you in the eye and says, here's the answer. People think they haven't gotten an answer. Here's the answer. We put this out for you and everyone to see. I believe it does not matter whether, you know, for example, Michael Bloomberg traveled the world to address climate change. I applauded him for that at the time. He went to Copenhagen, he went all over. God bless him. He would go to different parts of the world for his vacations. God bless him. And as I said, Rudy Giuliani ran for U.S. Senate. Ed Koch ran for governor. John Lindsay ran for president. I think it does not matter if you're going on a single political trip, which every one of my predecessors did to support candidates or to raise funds for their own campaigns, whatever it was. It doesn't matter if you do that or you do a larger campaign or you travel the world on an issue or you go on vacation. I think it's one thing. Yes, leaders need to be protected even more in this day and age than in the past, because our job is to perform for the people, produce for the people, achieve what the people have asked us to achieve. And that must come with the understanding that there's not going to be a horrible incident, which would be – forget what it would mean for all of us individually. It would be horrible for this whole city if we lost one of our leaders or one of their family members in this environment. And that's just a broader truth. And so, I think there should be one standard for all mayors. It is in this letter. It is the standard that has existed for decades. I think that's the appropriate standard. Go ahead, Gloria.

Question: Okay. It's unclear to me why so many of my colleagues at press, at newspapers are not being called on today. And we could certainly ask more questions if you would open up these briefings finally. But I'll get to my second question now, which is some of the things that the report found actually appear to have nothing to do with security concerns? Like you asking the detail to give a ride to a woman they described as somebody who might've been an appointee of yours and was working on a political campaign, asking to drive some of your guests from one place to another. That neither has anything to do with politics or apparently safety since they're not in charge of protecting the safety of like other random people other than you and the family? So, how do you explain some of those instances?

Mayor: Very simply. And I also would say do not take on face value, anything in this report. You all understand, are seeking truth, seeking facts. There's tremendous inaccuracies and innuendos in this report. There are so many things that just aren't what happened. But what did happen, and I said this to DOI, in several instances someone came from another part of the country who we were trying to recruit into a public service job, a City job, a senior City position. And the way it works with the City of New York is typically that person comes from wherever on their own dime, even though we're trying to recruit them for a senior public service job. So, I thought it wat appropriate courtesy to say, have the members of detail who were there, they were not engaged in any other activity. There were plenty of vehicles to just drop someone for example, to their hotel. I thought that was appropriate. If the NYPD looks at that and says, we don't want to do that in the future? Fine. At the time, I thought it was de minimis and appropriate.

And look, everyone, as we conclude today, the bottom line is this. We've gone through, I can say in my eight years, so many profound challenges as a city. When I took office, we were still trying to recover, in fact, for years, trying to recover from the Great Recession, from Hurricane Sandy, we dealt with many, many challenges long before COVID came along. And the City because of the people of the city, kept fighting, kept moving forward. And I'm proud that as Mayor working with an extraordinary group of people at City Hall and all our agencies, we were able to make the city safer. We were able to improve our schools. We were able to improve the health care of New Yorkers, physical and mental health. That was the mission. That's what we worked on every single day. And then came COVID. And for the last year and a half, it has been about protecting New Yorkers, trying to bring this city back, put the COVID era behind us. This is what I focus on. And so, I'm always going to be here, answering questions every day. More questions than almost any major elected official in America, I answer every week and I'm proud of that fact. But I can tell you my focus every single day is going to be on what I hear from New Yorkers, which is they want us to defeat COVID, get people vaccinated, bring the city back strong. And that's what I'm here to do. Thank you, everybody.

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