Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Addresses Members of the U.S. and French Media with Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo

May 30, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Bonjour, Bonjour. En español. Bonjour. Bienvenu. It is a great honor to welcome Maire Hidalgo. And she is someone that I share profound values with, that is in so many ways leading on the same path we are traveling here in New York City. And she is a pioneer, both because of her philosophy and her vision, and because she is the first woman mayor of one of the great cities of the world.

We have such similar priorities, it’s very striking to me. Her extraordinary commitment to early childhood education and childcare, her unprecedented commitment to affordable housing, her vision of a more sustainable city, and the many changes it will require. Maire Hidalgo is a progressive, and a bold progressive. And I’m encouraged and inspired by her example. And I have only a few months more as mayor than you, but I’m already inspired by you. Paris and New York have so much in common – cosmopolitan, global capitals with a long history of a progressive mindset. And two cities that are bold and not lacking in confidence. We have plenty of confidence and plenty of personality. I’d like to offer one quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said once describing Paris, he said, ‘Paris is a loud, modern New York of a place.’ And that is a compliment to both of us.

[Inaudible]

Come on guys. We won’t get to introduce our special guest unless we get a little more order here. A seat or a riser, choose one.

So Maire Hidalgo is working in the laboratory of Paris on important progressive ideas. I am humbly working in the laboratory of New York City on important progressive ideas. But we have immediately made common cause. We want to help each other, we want to support each other, we want to share ideas. We also both want to use our cities as examples of the fight against climate change, the fight for sustainability. We want to show what cities can do, even when our national governments don’t do enough. So I know I’ve found a new friend, a new sister to fight alongside for these changes we all need. It’s an extraordinary honor to welcome the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris: Thank you so much Bill.

[Mayor Hidalgo delivers remarks in French]

Mayor: Merci. We’re going to do a mix. [Inaudible] you can do whatever language you want.

Question: [In Spanish]

Mayor Hidalgo: [Responds in Spanish]

Mayor: Well, I can’t do that much español. But I can say that that would have been a great Spanish-language advertisement for New York City, and I enjoyed every moment of it. But I think Maire Hidalgo is an example. Her own personal story – an immigrant story, rising up to become the mayor of one of the world’s great cities, the first woman mayor of that great city. She personifies what an inclusive society can allow us to achieve. And we – all of us – fight intolerance every day. All of us try to create unity and inclusion. I think Maire Hidalgo has lived it. She’s – really has an inspiring story that in her own life, she shows the kind of society we should be all aspiring to build. Okay. Wait, we’re going to alternate.

Question: Yes I have two questions, one in English and one in French. In English, Mayor de Blasio, you say you want to share ideas with Paris. Can you be a little more specific and tell us an example of what is [inaudible]

Mayor: We have three areas where we have tremendous commonality and shared vision – on early childhood education, on affordable housing, and on environmental sustainability. We are literally starting our mayoralties at a very similar time, with very substantial platforms that are quite similar. Absolutely amazing, by the way, that 3,000 miles apart, we have come up with such a similar vision of what our cities need and have gotten the support of the people to do it.

What we want to do now is constantly communicate as we implement that vision, to help each other figure out what’s working and what’s not. I can tell that Maire Hidalgo is very honest, so she’ll always tell me what’s working and what’s not, and I will do the same for her. But there’s – it’s an amazing thing, and I think you’ll find this with mayors all over the world. We have a bond. We understand a sense of mission that is very particular to mayors. And when you find someone that you share values with – we’re on the same timeframe, we have the same platforms in so many ways – it’s really energizing and we want to compare our experiences constantly to figure out what works.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Well I think – I don’t know all of the history in terms of the Olympic question vis-a-vis Paris, but I can say I think for both of us, obviously Maire Hidalgo is a hands-on leader, very focused on what we can do at the grassroots level. And I think we’re both aware of the fact that our people at this moment need to see tangible change. They need to see a betterment of their lives if they’re going to have faith in government. And sadly things that distract from that often get in the way of the actual achievement of the material changes that the people need. I have a lot of respect for what the Olympics represents. And for some other cities, it may be a great fit with their needs. But I know for us in New York City, our other priorities – it’d take too much focus now for us to be thinking about the Olympics.

Mayor Hidalgo: [Speaks in French]

Question: [In French]

Mayor Hidalgo: [Speaks in French]

Mayor: Henry?

Question: Bonjour Mayor Hidalgo. My question is about garbage. My question is about [inaudible]. What I would like to know is whether you’ve used landfills in the past, and if you don’t, how do you divert the trash and glass and metal and plastics. [inaudible] incinerators, do you use anaerobic digesters [inaudible]

Mayor: As the mayor’s host, she can answer any part of that question she wants. She doesn’t have to answer it all.

Mayor Hidalgo: [Speaks in French]

Mayor: Now Henry, you’re going to have to go get a translation.

[Inaudible]

Well they do use incineration. That’s one of the crucial pieces. And I think the other thing is they’ve innovated ways to reduce waste. And obviously we’re now embarking on a citywide composting effort. I think it’s fair to say that Paris has some very enlightened idea we want to learn from in terms of how we can work with businesses to further environmental conservation and waste reduction.  Oh wait we get [inaudible]

Question: [In French]

Mayor: That’s just to her. If I understood it, I’d be responding too. We’ll start with Maire Hidalgo and then you’ll decide if there’s a follow up.

Mayor Hidalgo: [Speaks in French]

Mayor: I want to speak to the point the mayor made. I just honor and commend Maire Hidalgo for being a voice of inclusion and tolerance and a multicultural society. We in New York City have spent generations deepening our commitment to inclusion. It’s imperfect. It’s something we work on every day. We’ve had challenges, even very recently. One of the things I pledged to do in coming into office was to address some of the tensions between our communities and our police in some neighborhoods. We’re making real progress at that. But it’s work you have to constantly attend to to create a better society – or as we say in the context of American history, a more perfect union, which is a phrase from our foundational documents, a more perfect union. So I just want to note that I think what Maire Hidalgo is saying and doing as the mayor of one of the most important and visible cities in the world is encouraging to all of us, because she invoked a very painful history of where intolerance leads us, where it’s led so many nations, where it’s led Europe in the past. And I think we can safely say the only way intolerance is stopped is when strong leaders stand in its way and energize people to fight it. So I want to thank her for leading that fight. Thank you everyone.