Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears on NY1's Inside City Hall with Errol Louis

December 9, 2015

Errol Louis: Good evening. Welcome to a special edition of Inside City Hall, for Wednesday, December 9, 2015. Tonight, my first and only guest is the Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio. He is nearing the end of his second year in office and I sat down with the mayor inside the Blue Room of City Hall, for a wide-ranging and exclusive conversation about everything from the rise in homelessness, to efforts to fight crime, and his affordable housing program, and his thoughts about the race for president. Here’s part one of our interview.

Mr. Mayor, very good to see you. Thanks for spending some time with us.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, Errol.

Louis: Let my ask by starting on something that a lot of people are concerned about. There’s terrorism attacks in Paris, in San Bernardino – there’s a lot of discussion at the national level. What do you do about that here? How often do you get briefings on it, and what kind of information are you processing on say, a daily or a weekly basis.

Mayor: It’s a constant conversation here, I get briefed very regularly, and, obviously, when there’s any incident, anywhere around the country, or around the world, we immediately analyze what the ramifications are for New York City. I am – obviously, want to emphasize there’s no credible and specific threat against New York City at this point, but we are very vigilant. We know we’re one of the chief terror targets, certainly in this nation, but we’ve done a lot about it. First of all, I remind people, that for 14 years the NYPD has done an extraordinary job of inhibiting and disrupting any and all plots against New York City. And that capacity has actually grown in the last few years. There’s a much closer working relationship with the FBI, and Homeland Security, and our federal partners. Obviously we have a lot more tools at our disposal than we used to, we’re very proud of the new technology that we’ve given the NYPD.

On top of that, we’ve now created, for the first time ever, a stand-alone dedicated anti-terror force – the Critical Response Command. That was something we did in the last city budget – 500-plus officers and their leadership, who are trained and armed, specifically, to prevent terror and to, god forbid we ever had a lone-wolf style attack, to be able to respond within minutes. So I can safely say we are the best-prepared city in the United States to both prevent terror and to address it if it ever were to arise.

Louis: On the specific issue of what they call people who self-radicalize, who sort of gravitate to an ideology, and then start to acquire weapons, and nobody’s essentially aware of this. There was a controversial program that your predecessor had in place, in his administration, that was intended to try to detect or, sort of, get some inkling – some early warning. There’s been some debate about whether or not that’s been fully dismantled, whether or not it still exists, and I guess the question for us is, is the capacity there? Do you feel that if there are homegrown radicals in the five boroughs, we have a way of detecting them?

Mayor: Yes. I can say from the briefings that I receive, and without going into any detail, that there is a great deal of information available, and that’s part of why plots have been thwarted for years and years. Now, you’re right. There are some individuals who never show up, not only to law enforcement, but even to the people in their lives – never indicate those leanings. And that would be a classic lone wolf, and that’s the scenario we have to prepare to prepare for, even if we have no prior warning. So, I would take the two pieces and look at them separately. If we’re talking about the ability to prevent terror, the NYPD has done an extraordinary job for years, and we are actually now in the process of deepening our relationships in all communities – by the way, let’s never assume because, we know in this country, many acts of terror have been committed by people, sadly, of all different backgrounds, of all different reasons or rationales – we saw the attack on the Planned Parenthood site a few weeks back as one example. 

We have to be ready for anything and everything. The preventative capacity is extraordinary, but we also have added this immense capacity to respond to the things that we can’t see. I think to be able to best get information from communities of all kinds, we have to deepen the relationship between police and community across the board, and we have to take away what was a negative – in relationships specifically with the Muslim community, which was that previous surveillance program. Commissioner Bratton dismantled it because it wasn’t working, and in some ways was counterproductive. We think the other methodologies we have are very, very effective, but we also see an improvement in the relationship with the Muslim community as we’ve changed our approach. It also was important to other city government actions, like deciding to do – to have school holidays for the Eid holidays. That was very important to the Muslim community, and it sent a positive message of inclusion.

And one other point – I spoke at a mosque recently in Jamaica, Queens, and I lauded the fact that there are 900 Muslim-Americans who are members of the NYPD, and are protecting us all, every day. That kind of message is needed more, to remind all Muslim-Americans – all Muslims in New York City, that we are really all in this together, and the vast, vast majority of them truly respond to that message, and are our allies in fighting terror.

Louis: Let’s talk about public safety as it’s normally discussed, which is sort of the non-terrorism effort to drive down crime. We’re going to get the year-end numbers fairly soon, it looks like it’s going to be low, maybe not the same as the record low last year, but on the specific question of stop-question-frisk, on the specific question of the numbers, in fact – I mean it’s been reported today that numbers are at very low levels, and yet at the same time we hear that the whole Broken Windows approach – stopping people for public urination, for jumping the turnstile – has yielded weapons, has taken some guns off the street. How do we get the right balance between those two? It sounds like it’s in some ways a conflicting message.

Mayor: Well, I don’t think it is a conflicting message, because I firmly believe in the Broken Windows strategy, as you know and those scenarios, for example, when we catch someone jumping a turnstile, we often have found other realities – weapons, or outstanding warrants – and it’s important to keep doing that. Obviously, Commissioner Bratton is one of the authors of this approach – continues to emphasize it to the men and women of the NYPD, and they continue to do it.

Let’s talk about gun arrests, which, last time I checked a few weeks back, were up about seven percent compared to last year. So there’s a very aggressive effort to get guns off the street without resorting to the overuse of stop-and-frisk, or the unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk. You’re right, crime is going down. Commissioner Bratton has already projected that we’re going to have the lowest number of overall major crimes in the recent history of this city – in recorded history for this city.

Shootings are down compared to last year. We’re very proud of what the NYPD is doing, and this is before the 1,300 new officers have joined the force on the streets, this is before civilianization will yield hundreds more. As the commissioner said, within the next year, we’ll have effectively 2,000 more officers on patrol, on the streets. That’s going to intensify the ability of the NYPD, plus additional technology – iPhones and tablets in police cars, the shot-spotter system to find where a shot has come from even before there’s a call to 9-11 – all these pieces are adding up really favorably. The only area where – well, one of the only areas I should say where we are behind right now, and obviously we don’t accept it, is that today there are 16 more murders than last year at this point, so – almost the end of the year – about a 16-murder difference, right now. We are never going to be satisfied with that, we’re going to keep pushing. Last year we had the lowest number of murders in 50 years – in a half-century. We’re going to keep pushing that number down.

Louis: Would you like to see Bill Bratton stay with you for another six years? He’s said that he doesn’t expect to stay through the end of a second term.

Mayor: Well, he’s said several different things as he’s reflected on it, and I think it’s a very personal decision, obviously. I think – first of all it’s up to him to do what he feels is right for him and his family. He’s done an extraordinary job, and I would certainly welcome him being here as long as he wants to be, but I understand that it’s a very, very personal choice.

Louis: Let’s talk about city and state relations. When we talked last in this room, five months ago, you said that Governor Cuomo was not being much of a partner to you, that there were problems – that there were vendettas if you disagreed with him, and so forth. Have things changed over the last few months?

Mayor: I think the model I’m working on every day, this is a very consistent model, and it hearkens back to something Ed Koch used to say about his relationship with the state government. When the state helps New York City, we will not only work with them, we will praise them – we’ll celebrate them. When the state works against New York City’s interests, it’s our job to push back and stand up to that. So I think in the last months, there’s been some good developments. For example we got to a good outcome on the MTA, in terms of future funding, which was good for everyone. We got to a good outcome on how to address the Legionnaire’s disease situation, both in the city and in the state. So I think there’s evidence over these last months that – that there are ways to get real, tangible things done for our fellow New Yorkers. But my job is to protect the interests of the people of this city, and if I ever feel those interests are being ignored, or we’re being treated wrongly as a city, I’ll obviously address it.

Louis: Will there be a difference in the approach to Albany when you go in the next session with the city’s agenda?

Mayor: I think that same model I’m talking about is what’s going to govern our approach. We’ll, obviously, have a clear vision of what we think is most important for the city and its future. We will fight hard for it. I’m very proud to say, we’ve had a lot of support from the legislature, for a number of our initiatives. So, that’s the mission – to lay out the needs of the people of New York City and then make sure we fight for them every day.

Louis: Do you have any concerns about the governor saying that he’s going to make homelessness, sort of, one of the features of his next State of the State address? He’s suggested that the city hasn’t managed the problem very well.

Mayor: Well, I would say simply – the city has put a very, very major effort into addressing what is a different problem than the one we had in the past. I’ve said this is an increasingly economic problem, and it’s very important for New Yorkers to understand more and more folks who have come into the shelter system in the last year or two are working families, and that’s a sad statement. It means people who are working people, who are doing everything right, but the economic reality is unsupportable for them. They can’t make ends meet on, often, a minimum wage job. The rents in the city, everyone knows, have gone up. So, for that growing constituency in our shelter system – folks who most New Yorkers would never see because they go to shelter at night and then they go off to a job, or a job training program, or their kids go off to school in the day. We’ve had to find new ways to get folks out of shelter and into long-term housing. We’ve had to find new ways to keep people from ever falling out of their apartments to begin with – that’s anti-eviction legal services, that’s rental subsidies. To-date, we’ve helped 20,000 people out of shelter with the new initiatives we’ve created. Well, that’s obviously effective management of a very big challenging problem.

But, we’ve got to do more, and I’m very clear about the fact, I’ve got to a better job about – of explaining the problem, communicating the solutions we’re working on, and showing how we move forward. One of the things we did recently was we said – we obviously know there are people, particularly folks who are living on the streets 24 hours – that’s by most estimates, between 3,000 or 4,000 people in this city, and that’s obviously too many. A lot of those folks do need mental health services, substance abuse services – different than a lot of the folks who are in the shelter now. A lot of those folks on the street have very sharp, particular needs. They are very troubled people.

What’s been missing for so many years is an ample supply of supportive housing – the kind of housing that they can go to and get those services and finally get off the streets and stay off the streets. We announced a few weeks back a plan for 15,000 apartments – 15,000 units of supportive housing – very proud of that. The city’s never made such a big commitment. That’s going to be a deal – that’s going to be a game-changer. That’s going to be something that really allows us to do more.

Louis: How do you sort of talk to New Yorkers about what you really, I think, have properly identified as two different problems – getting people out of shelter – 15,000 units – I mean, I’m glad to hear that there will be 15,000 units, 10 years from now. On the other hand, I’ve got to confront getting home on the subway today, and seeing people in obvious –

Mayor: Well, I appreciate that. Look, I’ve lived in this city for many, many years, and I understand fully when you see someone in distress, it is both – it pulls at us, in our heartstrings and our compassion, but it’s also a troubling moment for every-day New Yorkers. No one wants to experience that. We want people to get the help they need. The difference now is – unlike in the past – now, let me paint the picture, because it is two different populations. So, again, let’s establish that more and more of the folks in the shelter system are working folks, are folks who just need affordable housing. They’re ready to continue on with their lives if they could just get to affordable housing. And again, for 20,000 folks, we’ve been able to find that solution. And our affordable housing program is growing all the time and it will offer more solutions, going forward.

But for that other set of folks who, first and foremost, are dealing with mental health and substance abuse problems – we had in this city for years, even decades, encampments – literally, like Hoovervilles, in effect – where people lived 24 hours a day, often they were drug dens, simultaneously. There were 21 of them when I took office. They have been tolerated for many years. We have ended those encampments. We’ve shut them down with the good work of the NYPD and the Department of Homeless Services. We said we’re not going to allow that to happen in New York City. It’s not fair to anyone. It’s not fair to those suffering individuals. It’s not fair to the communities around them – that’s over now.

We’ve created safe havens, often with houses of worship. And I want to particularly thank the cardinal and the archdiocese, who have been the lead in this effort – where we say to homeless folks who have been unwilling to go into shelter, here is a smaller setting – a setting where you can have the assurance you will be protected, you will be supported. Those safe havens are now – we’re spreading them all over the city, and they are the kinds of settings that even troubled folks feel more comfortable going to, and that’s when we can get them to take advantage of mental health services or drug – or substance abuse services. So these are the beginnings.

Supportive housing is not something way off in the future. Supportive housing units under our plan will start to be available next year, and then it will build out. So, we’re going to get people off the streets that are no longer in encampments because we’ve ended those. We’re going to get them off the streets and into the safe havens. We’re going to get them out of the safe havens and into supportive housing. Bluntly, this was never tried before on any appreciable scale commensurate to the problem. Now, we’re doing it on the scale that’s needed.

Louis: Okay. Let me ask you briefly about something that just passed the City Council – Intro 65. This is a bill to provide private schools with public funding for security. Looking through the record, I couldn’t find any indication that there was actually a security problem at any of the private schools. I was wondering why this becomes a priority. It starts to look, frankly, like a gift to private schools.

Mayor: Well, I don’t think it is. It’s parochial schools and private schools. Look, I think a couple of things are going on. I think a number of the parochial schools have had real concerns. The environment we’re living in, over the last few years has probably added to those concerns. In many communities, I would say, obviously, real concerns in the Jewish community is one piece of this, and you can understand why. And so we said, what’s an appropriate way to proceed? And the City Council really felt passionately about this issue, and that’s part of the give-and-take in the legislative process – we look for what would be a fair outcome.

The idea was that the schools – that they have to qualify, and there’s a number of criteria they have to meet – would be able to hire guards and then get reimbursed. And it’s – every year it would have to be looked at again and reevaluated. When I talked to Commissioner Bratton about it, what he immediately keyed in on is this is an opportunity to have more eyes and ears for the NYPD. This is an opportunity to have more trained people, with the NYPD assistance, who are out in our communities. And whether the goal is to have vigilance against terror, or every-day crime, it adds capacity. And obviously, when we can help protect our young people – and these tend to be larger schools with a lot of young people – that is worthy as well.

Louis: But these are not school safety agents. These are not NYPD agents. 

Mayor: These are not NYPD, but NYPD will both coordinate with them, because we want any information they have, and we intend to figure out ways that NYPD [inaudible] provide training all well so that they are working at a standard that helps the NYPD do its job as well.

Louis: So, this is actually part of a counter-terrorism standard – to have people who are not trained –

Mayor: Not per se. I want to be clear – we have a trained counter-terror force, again, a critical response command – 500-plus officers who are going to be heavily armed, heavily trained on top of our other counter-terror capacity and our other emergency service capacity. But what this allows us is another community-based element that is about vigilance and providing information to the NYPD, and that’s why we’re going to make sure it is well coordinated. It’s – well, you think about tenant patrols, you think about block-watches and other things – the goal in any of these situation is to try and create that synergy with the NYPD, and we’ll certainly do it in this case too.

[…]

Louis: We’re going to take a short break now, and, when we come back, I’ll bring you more of my exclusive interview with the mayor, including his response to critics of his ambitious affordable housing plan. Stay with us.

[…]

Louis: Welcome back to Inside City Hall. We’re in part two of my exclusive sit-down interview with Mayor de Blasio. We discussed the mayor’s affordable housing strategy, as well as his plans for the city school system.

[…]

Louis: I wanted to talk some more about education. The Renewal Schools program, the standards, and the process by which some of these troubled schools are supposed to turn around has come out, and there have been some complaints that schools are being given three years, if they’ve had really troubled performance, to turn around. This becomes a question, of course, for parents, saying, you know, why do we have to wait three years? The kid only gets one year to learn how to read for the first time or to learn how to calculate, and so forth. Why so much leniency? Your predecessor, of course, handled things very differently.

Mayor: Well, let me define a few things. First of all, the broad vision we have for the schools – the Equity and Excellence Plan – is about raising standards across our school system, and doing it very quickly, and adding whole new elements we didn’t have before in all our schools – Computer Science for All, Algebra for All, AP classes in every high school, going forward. So, we don’t accept what we received as the standard of excellence. We are now establishing a set of ideas and approaches in the school system that have never been tried before, that will raise the bar for all our schools – and obviously foundational things like Pre-K for All.

On the renewal schools – so, it’s 94 of our schools – bluntly, schools that often were left in an absolutely substandard situation without the support they needed – not focuses on – and, from my point of view – and I said this throughout the last few years during the campaign – we are damning children to fail if we don’t support their schools. If we look at a school and say it’s not doing well enough, and then we don’t provide master teachers, and, in some cases, a new principal, or the kinds of supports – the teacher training – and the other supports that will turn the school around. So, I would question why before we didn’t make those investments. Simply shutting down schools obviously didn’t work in many cases because it left kids in the lurch in all those transition years, and a lot of the schools that replaced where not necessarily better.

So, what we said is let’s fix the schools in place. But the three year timeline is based on this notion that if there’s steady progress, once the goals are hit, those goals are increased, and then increased again, and then increased again, to meet our Equity and Excellence vision. If a school falters, that three year limit is not a minimum – it is a frame, but if a school falters to the point that we think that school should be shut down more quickly, we will do that. So, it’s clear to me schools that were in many ways abandoned before can be brought back. We’ve seen real improvements in attendance and in student achievement. But Lord knows, if we think a school is not going to be fixed, I will not hesitate to shut it.

Louis: So while that debate goes on about whether it should be one year or three years, or whether or not the standards should be raised, and it will be a multiyear process, what would you say to parents who have got kids in a school that’s not working? I mean, should – shouldn’t they sort of pick up and go if they possibly can?

Mayor: I would say – and obviously, I was a public school parent until very recently, until this last June – if you’re in a school that we are investing heavily in to turn around – Renewal schools are community schools now, so they have a lot of additional supports, in terms of healthcare for kids, and – if they need eyewear, if they have a vision problem. And there’s a lot of additional efforts to bring parents in to help the kids in the educational process. In many cases, again, master teachers, model teachers have been brought in, which is a new initiative of ours. I would look carefully at a school and not say what was a year or two ago, but what’s happening right now. If the school’s in motion, if the school’s getting better – a school I bet you know something about, Boys and Girls High School in Bed-Stuy was in a very grievous situation – over the last two years, is doing much, much better. If I’m a parent in that school, I look at that and I – I see progress, I see energy, I see investment. It’s a good place to keep my kid. If I’m in a school that is not moving at all, then the question is, what’s going to happen? And we’ve said very clearly, we’re going to keep investing if there’s progress. If we don’t see progress, if we think a school cannot get better, we’ll take the action to change that school and to find those kids a better option.

Louis: Okay. I want to talk about the housing plan. It has gone before these advisory borough boards and was rejected by all of them – or, the four of the five boroughs. We understand that that’s not the final word on it, by any means. You’ve said that. But I was struck by the fact that, number one, some councilmembers voted against it – they voted with the borough boards. And in other cases, they seemed to be silent. I mean, this is going to come back before the Council. Is this an optics question? Or does the plan need, sort of, a fundamental look at what you – you’re trying to put across?

Mayor: We are in the process of building and preserving 200,000 units of housing. That’s enough for half a million people. It’s the biggest affordable housing plan in the history of this city, or any other city. To achieve it, we have to demand more of developers. That’s what – what we call Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning. The simplest way to say that is, you’re not allowed to develop in many, many places, unless you provide affordable housing. Now, remember, why – I think part of the frustration you’re seeing here is from what people saw over the last ten or twenty years – lots of development with very little positive for the surrounding community. This time, the rules of the game are different. If you’re a developer and you build, you must include affordable housing.

We have very aggressive legal services programs in place now to provide help to anyone who feels they’re being harassed by their landlord, or if they’re – and we’ve proved there’s a legal case, that they’re being harassed or evicted illegally, we’re going to give them a lawyer for free. We are preserving – in fact, the majority of our affordable housing program is preserving affordable housing in place, meaning you’re in an affordable building right now; it might slip out of affordability and become privatized – we’re going to provide the subsidies to keep it that way. That’s what’s going on. So you say, why are people reacting the way they are? Well, I think the council members are, of course – they keep their own counsel and they retain their own rights to make decisions as they see the process develop. I’m sure a number of them will suggest revisions. We’ve said all along we’re open to revisions. We’re obviously listening to the feedback from communities, and we’re open to making changes if we think it’ll help the plan.

Louis: Well, I mean, you talk about, you know, housing for half a million people. You’re talking about 80,000 new units, and, as far as I can tell, everybody likes affordable housing, until they hear the jackhammers at the end of their block or they see some parking spaces go away. This is going to be, sort of, a permanent struggle, right, even for a public that says that they want the affordable housing?

Mayor: Well, I’ve been a part of that for a long time. I was a council member, obviously, in – in a number of neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and then Public Advocate. And I’m never surprised by that possible contradiction, that people do unquestionably want affordable housing – I’ve said it, and I think most elected officials in this town would say the same thing, the thing we hear most about from our people is they – they are concerned about being able to stay in their neighborhood. They’re worried about being priced out. They want to find affordable housing. They want to make sure it’s affordable for them. So, yeah, that will take building. By definition, we have to build more housing that is affordable. We also have to preserve a lot in place. This is a city with a rich tradition of real concern about development. It’s a city that’s constantly developing.

It’s the biggest, most vibrant city in the country, and at the same time, what’s more New York City than people disliking new development? I think they dislike new development for a lot of reasons, including, a lot of times, there’s nothing in it for them. Our job is to redefine the situation. Now I’ve said it’s – you know, gentrification is at the heart of this matter – a public that saw gentrification constantly affecting our neighborhoods with no public policy response – Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights, Park Slope – just talking about Brooklyn as one example. We saw gentrification change the reality – many, many people displaced, nothing from the government to address it. My response is, if you do nothing, the market continues to do what it does, and people will be continually displaced. If, in fact, the government comes in in a very muscular way and says, new rules – developers, you have to create affordable housing; we’re going to preserve a lot of that affordable housing that exists; we’re going to provide legal services to stop people from being evicted, etcetera – that’s the best way to get a handle on the situation, and show people development that actually works for them.

But I don’t blame anyone who says, I haven’t seen that before, therefore I’m voting no, because I’m cynical because of what I’ve seen in the past. That’s not an illogical position. I’ve got to prove them wrong with real results.

Louis: We’re going to take a short break now. Straight ahead, we’ll bring you more of my interview with Mayor de Blasio, including his thoughts about Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Stay with us.

[…]

Louis: We’re back inside City Hall with my sit-down interview with Mayor de Blasio. We begin the final part of our conversation by talking about the presidential campaign. We’re about 60 days – I think probably less than 60 days – away from the Iowa caucuses. Right after that it is New Hampshire. Should we expect to see you out and involved on the campaign trail?

Mayor: That’s up to the candidate I support for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Whatever she wants from me or anybody else who supports her, and her team will make that decision. I think she has an extraordinary team; folks I’ve worked with for a long, long time. I think it’s the best campaign team she’s ever put together. I think she’s doing a great job. I was at her speech on how we fight and defeat ISIS, and the terror threat. I thought it was extraordinary. And I think she’s doing very, very well, and I expect her to be the next president of the United States.

Louis: Do you expect to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia?

Mayor: That’s a – wrong city, even though we love them – and great mayor on the way out and a great new mayor coming in there. But that’s way ahead, we haven’t even thought about that yet.

Louis: Okay. On the other side, you’ve made some comments about your fellow New Yorker Donald Trump. What do you see happening on the Republican side?

Mayor: I think it’s dangerous. It’s as simple as that. I see things that remind me of the McCarthy era. And I see things that remind me of the George Wallace candidacy in 1968. And I don’t think those are unfair analogies. And I think what he’s doing is hurting the image of America in the world. I think it is very, very upsetting to many Americans. You know, we think back to when he attacked Mexican-Americans and how painful his comments were for a huge number of Americans of Mexican heritage. Since then, he’s said insensitive things about the Jewish community, the black community. Now, his attacks on the Muslim community have been intense and constant. And here, we talked at the beginning of this discussion about what we can do to bring our Muslim communities closer – show them that they respected and embraced; especially show young people there’s a great future for them in this country. And here’s the frontrunner for the Republican nomination trying to undercut all of that with his hateful words. I think the response to him that’s growing in the Republican Party will have a very big effect.

Louis: Some of what has people upset is an open question, I think, about whether or not our institutions are prepared to handle this because even in the analogies that you made McCarthyites are Americans and they have right to participate in the system; segregationists have the right to participate; people who follow Donald Trump, whatever label you want to put on them, have the right to participate as well. What we’re assuming is that through political dialogue, through elections, through the courts if necessary; we’re supposed to be able to sort of handle and process this stuff.

Mayor: Well – and it happened before. I think, in a good way, answered your own question. Those threats to American democracy and to a more just society were addressed forth rightly through the electoral process, through the political process. This is a country that actually has a lot to be proud of in terms of constant progress. And it’s funny, you know, I think a lot of progressives look at some of these moments and look at them maybe without a full enough sense of history. Actually, I believe the truth comes through. I believe people want an inclusive country. We saw that very powerfully in the decisions around marriage equality, that just in the space of a decade were a great example of Americans actually favoring tolerance and inclusion. So, I think that’s the future of this country. Unquestionably, that’s how we’ll succeed in the world is to be the beacon of inclusion and tolerance. And actually today I was very heartened too see a number of Republicans, and major Republicans, stepping up and saying what Donald Trump is saying doesn’t reflect their views and isn’t helpful to this country. So, that doesn’t mean he won’t win some elections – some primary elections or some caucuses – but I think the discussion is actually starting to move very much against what he’s peddling.

Louis: Okay. Let’s talk a little bit about a day in the life of the Mayor. You have often gone back to Park Slope – people see you. You go there for your workouts; you go there, I guess, for dinner once in a while and so forth. And it strikes people as a little unusual, and time consuming. I mean, are you so rooted there that you don’t want to go out and sort of sample restaurants elsewhere?

Louis: Workout elsewhere?

Mayor: No – well, I don’t work out elsewhere. I’m very – I’m very devoted to my gym because it’s what works for me, and it’s important to stay fit, obviously in this work. I go all over the city, and I love going all over the city to different restaurants and, you know, being part of the communities of this entire extraordinary place, but my neighborhood’s by neighborhood. And, you know, we continue to own our house there, and when public service is over we’ll return to that house.

Louis: But we got you a nice one up on the east side.

Mayor: It’s a lovely house, but it’s not our home. And we will go, you know, when all this is done we will go back to our home. The home our children grew up in. And I think it’s good to be rooted in the place you come from. I think it gives perspective. When I see my neighbors – I mean, I talk to people all over the city, but when I see my neighbors there’s this very special relationship with them. If anyone’s going to tell it like it is it’s the people I’ve known for, you know, 15 and 20 years; and live on my block or my kids went to school with or they played little league with. So I think it’s really important to do – as for the time consuming, no. Let me tell you about the day in the life. The day in the life is from the second I wake up I’m checking my email. And when I ride into the gym I’m making calls; I’m on my email. That’s until 11pm or midnight each night. That’s the only way to do this job. It is – and that’s true of weekends. I think – I think it’s hard for anyone to imagine, but if you think about it for a minute, it’s not only that the city doesn’t sleep. My inbox is always full .There’s always another, you know, dozen or two dozen calls that need to be made immediately. That comes with the job. So there’s no such thing as a free minute. You know, if I get in the car it’s how many emails can I get through between the time I get in the car at Gracie and the time I get to the gym.

Louis: Okay. You’re not one of those inbox zero guys, right?

Mayor: I would love inbox zero. Could I try that just one day? That would be a glorious thing. It’s like Vision Zero has worked very well. I don’t know if I can get to inbox zero.

Louis: Yeah, okay fair enough. The Highline, this came up – this is just a little corky thing for New York 1 because we’re attached to the Highline.

Mayor: Yes.

Louis: One on the premiere parks – international attention. And we were surprised to hear that the mayor’s never walked on or –

Mayor: Well, it’s amazing that now I realize I can read your mind because I went by the Highline. I think it was yesterday or the day before and I thought I’m sure a journalist is going to ask me about the Highline. A day will come when I go visit just naturally, I just haven’t had the occasion to.

Louis: You literally haven’t.

Mayor: Yeah. I’m sure I will, but I’ve had a lot other things to do.

Louis: Okay, fair enough you’re a busy guy. What do you think as far as the media’s coverage of you? I know there’s been some back and forth as there is with every mayor. Have you been covered fairly, do you think?

Mayor: I think it’s very difficult for someone to evaluate their own coverage. What I do think is there’s a lot of issues that affect every day New Yorkers that we need to focus on more. And it’s not a surprise that personalities and conflict can all get a lot of attention. You know, when we talked about the mental health plan for example, that my wife, Chirlane, put forward – Thrive NYC. That’s something I do think the media, rightfully, paid real attention to that, but that’s something that, literally, touches almost every family in this city. We need to have a much deeper conversation about mental health and how to destigmatize. It’s not surprising that doesn’t tend to get to the front pages, right? So, we understand that some really important things that effect everyday life need more attention. And I think for all of us in public service that’s the struggle; how do we get that stuff to the floor? But I am also critical of myself whenever I feel that I haven’t communicated well enough. I think there’s areas where I’ve gotten our vision across very effectively, and areas where we haven’t. And I have to say to myself everyday – what are you not doing well enough? What can you do better? That’s part of my personality, but I also think this job requires it. This is – you can’t be static in this job. You have to work hard to improve every single day.

Louis: Okay. What’s your New Year’s resolution? Anything you planning for next year?

Mayor: Well, I’m proud to say I’ve been much more on time. So I worked out that one from the last resolution. So now I need to find a new resolution. I got a few days on the clock though – I got a few days on the clock. I’ll come up with a good one for you.

Louis: We’ll be watching.

Mayor: Thank you.

Louis: Okay, Merry Christmas.

Mayor: Merry Christmas.