Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Saint Rita's Catholic Church

October 4, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: [Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

First, I want to give honor to God, without him this day would not be possible.

[Applause]

[Translator speaks in Spanish]

Mayor: I want to thank Father Luis Laverde and all the clergy for their great leadership of this wonderful parish. Let’s thank them all.

[Applause]

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Mayor: I want to thank a loyal son of St. Rita’s, your Councilman Rafael Espinal for his wonderful leadership.

[Applause]

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Mayor: He is from this neighborhood, and it fights for this neighborhood every day at City Hall.

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Mayor: I want you to know that he fights very hard for you. I see it with my own eyes.

[Applause]

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Mayor: And also, looking out for us every day in Albany, and we thank him for it – Assembly member Eric Dilan, thank you for your leadership.

[Applause]

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Mayor: Before I speak to you about the needs of this community, I want to speak for a moment about the tragedy that we felt in the neighborhood of Borough Park yesterday.

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Mayor: One person lost their life, and another is still missing.

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Mayor: So I ask for you solidarity, your love, and your prayers for all the families of Borough Park who are in pain today.

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Mayor: And your support for our first responders who did such a fine job responding to this painful moment.

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Mayor: Please let’s have a moment of silence for the families of Borough Park.

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[Observes moment of silence]

Mayor: Thank you very much.

[Applause]

Mayor: It is a joy to be here at St. Rita’s just days after His Holiness Pope Francis was here in our city.

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Mayor: We can feel the love and the inspiration of Pope Francis.

[Cheers]

[Applause]

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Mayor: I think his very presence in New York City has made us better and stronger and more unified.

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Mayor: And I want to thank everyone at the Diocese of Brooklyn including our wonderful leader Bishop DiMarzio for everything they did to welcome the Pope.

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Mayor: St. Rita’s is an example of everything His Holiness has been teaching us.

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Mayor: A sacred place for worship, but more than that as well.

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Mayor: A place that the entire community turns to, and knows they will find support.

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Mayor: There’s a food panty for those who need nourishment.

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Mayor: There’s a place for the community to meet to make decisions about what is right for this neighborhood.

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Mayor: This church is a true center of community.

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Mayor: So I wanted to come here to talk to you about the issue on the minds of so many of us.

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Mayor: You talk about it around your kitchen table. And you talk about it with your neighbors.

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Mayor: It’s a simple question – can we still afford to live here?

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Mayor: Can we make sure the community is affordable for our family – for the next generation as well?

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Mayor: Brothers and sisters, this is what I am dedicated to. This is my mission – to make sure the people who made our neighborhoods great can still stay in the neighborhoods they love.

[Applause]

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Mayor: This city for generations has been a place for everyone.

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Mayor: It didn’t matter where you came from or how much money you had you belonged in New York City.

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Mayor: For the first time that tradition is threatened. And we will not allow this city to be taken away from us. It has to be a city for all or it’s not really New York City anymore.

[Applause]

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Mayor: The passion of New York, the creativity, the energy has come from generation after generation of immigrants and we must make sure that is the New York of the future as well.

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Mayor: And this community – East New York is such a special place filled with so many good people –

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Mayor: – people who work hard every day.

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Mayor: You work hard every day don’t you?

[Applause]

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Mayor: And what you expect is a very basic thing is that you can afford a place to live; you can get a good education for your children, and get the healthcare you need.

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Mayor: It’s my job to make sure that what you expect is what you get because it’s fair and it’s just.

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Mayor: And you want to make sure that you are not forced out of this neighborhood.

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Mayor: We’ve seen neighborhoods change because of gentrification.

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Mayor: New people came in with greater [inaudible].

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Mayor: Working people in too many cases were forced out.

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Mayor: And our government stood by for too many years and just watched.

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Mayor: But I’m just not going to watch while hard working [inaudible] people are displaced. I don’t find that acceptable at all.

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Mayor: Our city government can ensure that working people have a place to live in their own neighborhoods.

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Mayor: We have the tools and we have the power.

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Mayor: We have to make sure that, even when things are changing, hardworking people are protected.

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Mayor: And then we have to do the things that make the neighborhood better for all the people who have been here for years and years.

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Mayor: New and better schools –

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Mayor: Better parks –

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Mayor: Better streets –

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Mayor: Safer streets.

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Mayor: That is the kind of change and development we embrace.

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Mayor:  The difference today is that we, we the people, will decide what kind of development we want.

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Mayor: The city government, together with the community, will set the terms for the future.

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Mayor: We have a chance to work together to make sure this community is what we want it to be for years to come.

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Mayor: We have a chance to build new things, but things that will help the community.

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Mayor: And your voices have to matter in that process.

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Mayor: Councilmember Espinal understands that.

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Mayor: Assembly member Dilan understands that.

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Mayor: We are united in the idea that this community will tell us what will make the community a better place.

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Mayor: You see it already, because the Councilman has demanded better streets, better parks – the kinds of investments that make people’s lives better – and they’re starting to happen because of his leadership.
[Translator speaks in Spanish]

[Applause]

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Mayor: Your voices will matter in the future of your community.

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Mayor: The people you elect – all of us will take your needs and make sure they are addressed.

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Mayor: But I tell you what will not happen –

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Mayor: Powerful developers will not decide the future of these communities.

[Applause]

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Mayor: The people will decide, and the people will set the rules.

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Mayor: I have put in place a plan for this whole city, to create 200,000 units of affordable housing.

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Mayor: That means enough housing that people can afford –

[Applause]

Mayor: That means enough affordable housing for half a million working New Yorkers.

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Mayor: Thousands and thousands of apartments for working families.

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Mayor: Thousands and thousands of apartments for our senior citizens.

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[Applause]

Mayor: And we have changed the rules with the developers.

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Mayor: We’ve said simply to them, if you’re going to develop, you must create affordable housing in everything you build.

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Mayor: Affordable housing is not optional. It is mandatory under this administration.

[Applause]

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Mayor: In just the next few years, as a result of our plan –

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Mayor: … there will be 1,200 new affordable apartments in East New York alone.

[Translator speaks in Spanish]

[Applause]

Mayor: Brothers and sisters, let’s talk about this in human terms – 1,200 families that can have a roof over their head [inaudible].

[Applause]

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Mayor: Many people say to me, tell me what affordable means. How much money does a family make that’s in affordable housing?

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Mayor: 25 percent of all the units we will build in East New York are reserved for families that make no more than $31,000 dollars a year.

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Mayor: And many of those units will go to people making even less.

[Applause]

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Mayor: The vast majority of all that we will create in East New York – 80 percent – will be for families that make no more than $46,000 dollars a year.

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Mayor: We will insist the affordable housing in this community matches the economic reality of the families in this community.

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Mayor: So, we know there are so many families right now who need an affordable place to live, so we have to build new apartments, and we have to give support to families that have affordable housing right now.

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Mayor: But we also know there are some people just clinging, hanging on, to the affordable housing they have.

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Mayor: And we know there are some bad landlords who are breaking the law and trying to force their tenants out illegally.

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Mayor: And we will not let those bad landlords have their way.

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[Applause]

Mayor: It is illegal to force someone out of an apartment, or to harass them until they leave the apartment and to violate their rights –

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Mayor: … just because the landlord wants to make more money.

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Mayor: And so many people have tried to defend themselves and their families.

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Mayor: And they have gone to housing court seeking justice.

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Mayor: But they haven’t had the most important weapon that they need, which is a lawyer.

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Mayor: So now in East New York, any family that is being harassed or evicted illegally will have a lawyer provided for free by the City of New York.

[Applause]

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Mayor: Brothers and sisters, I think you know the phrase, ‘Put your money where your mouth is.’

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Mayor: So working with the City Council, I am devoting $36 million dollars to legal support for tenants and communities like East New York.

[Applause]

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Mayor: If you believe you are being harassed by a landlord or forced out of your apartment illegally, all you have to do is call 3-1-1.

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Mayor: A lawyer will speak to you.

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Mayor: And if we find that that landlord is breaking the law, you will have the service of that lawyer for free.

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Mayor: Help is one phone call away.

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Mayor: Because how we preserve a community of working people is to make sure you are defended and that the law works for you.

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Mayor: I want to conclude with a simple thought.

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Mayor: New York City cannot be allowed to become a playground for the rich.

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Mayor: New York City must be a place for everyone.

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Mayor: It must be a place of opportunity.

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Mayor: A beacon for all immigrants.

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Mayor: A place where working people are respected.

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Mayor: That is my mission.

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Mayor: And together, we will achieve that mission.

[Translator speaks in Spanish]

[Applause]

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]