On Tuesday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams held a press briefing as the summer temperatures continue to rise.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, excuse me, good morning everybody, my name is Fabian Levy and I serve as Deputy
00:16Mayor for Communications for the City of New York.
00:19Thank you all for joining us today.
00:22This past weekend in Pennsylvania our nation witnessed a tragedy.
00:25The violence we saw at the former president's rally was vicious, it was appalling, and it
00:30was wrong.
00:31Our thoughts are with the victims of the attack, including the father who passed away protecting
00:35his family and those who are currently in recovery.
00:38In the days since the heart-wrenching incident, we have heard leaders from both parties, including
00:42the mayor, call for a cooling of our national temperature.
00:45We all have a role to play in meeting this moment.
00:48For politicians and public servants, that means using our platforms to condemn violence
00:52in no uncertain terms and call out hatred where we see it.
00:56For members of the press, that means being thoughtful about what you print and holding
00:59us accountable.
01:00And for all of us citizens, it means reiterating that even as we disagree on the direction
01:04of our country, there can be no disagreement on our commitment to democracy, to peace,
01:08and to non-violence.
01:10To tell you a little bit more about the work we're doing for New Yorkers every day across
01:13our administration, the mayor has once again convened senior leadership for our in-person
01:17weekly media availability.
01:19Also joining us today are Mayor Eric Adams, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Chief Advisor
01:25Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development and Workforce Maria
01:29Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Ann Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor
01:34for Operations Mayor Joshi, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry, and New York City
01:39Health and Hospital Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health Dr.
01:45Ted Long.
01:46So without further delay, I'll turn it over to Mayor Adams.
01:49Thanks so much, DM Levy, and thanks to the entire team for being here.
01:55And I want to join you in your comments that you made.
01:58And I want to thank Councilman Borrelli, who—I never was able to put my finger on, you know,
02:05what I was feeling and seeing in the city and the country, and he just really summarized
02:09there's a difference between anger and hate.
02:13Anger motivates.
02:14Anger motivated me to see how families have been betrayed throughout the years and how
02:20we can turn that around.
02:21Anger motivated me when I did not get the proper support being dyslexic.
02:28And, you know, we do dyslexia screening in our schools.
02:32Anger motivated me living in a family where domestic violence exists and now doing work
02:37around domestic violence.
02:39So anger can motivate.
02:40But hate is different.
02:42Hate is calling for the destruction, the harm of people, when a 20-year-old can get access
02:49to an automatic weapon and have that much hate because he politically disagrees with
02:55someone and attempt to take the life of that individual and take the life of innocent people
03:01who were there.
03:02There's nothing wrong with healthy disagreement in politics.
03:06It's always going to exist.
03:07It's not going to go away.
03:09It is part of the business.
03:11The supporters of those who are in contrast to me, they have a right to believe that's
03:15what America is, the right to have the right.
03:18And we're seeing a lot of hate.
03:22When you do some of the things that we're witnessing that's playing out on the stage
03:27of our existence, that hate is real.
03:31And I just really—the Trump's family, former president's family, and the former
03:39president there in my prayers is traumatizing.
03:44As Reverend Sharpton joined us the other day, being a victim of attempted assassination
03:49when someone shot out my car windows, I know how traumatized I was feeling.
03:55Jordan was just a baby at the time.
03:57But I know what it did to my family, my mom, and my sisters and brothers.
04:02You know, it impacts you, and it never goes away.
04:05When I looked at that video and saw that bullet strike his ear, I thought about, you know,
04:12that gun pointed towards my car.
04:15And someone hated me to the extent that they wanted to take my life, as someone hated Reverend
04:21Sharpton to the extent that they would put a knife in his chest.
04:26And so, we have to really get this hate under control.
04:28And I've been saying this for some time, and I know many people have been ignoring
04:31me when I'm saying it, but our children are being radicalized.
04:35They're lonely.
04:36They're on social media.
04:38They're in the corners of their home, and they're being radicalized.
04:42And I don't know why we're ignoring what is happening to these young people and the
04:46role that social media is playing and the impact of this.
04:51Our children are being radicalized.
04:54We need to have a real plan to stop it.
04:58And I'm not going to pretend like it's not a problem, because I'm seeing it every day.
05:01And this is a perfect example, getting an automatic weapon, climbing on a rooftop, pointing
05:07at a gun at someone that you don't know, and you are attempting to assassinate them.
05:14That's not radicalization.
05:15I don't know what is.
05:17So, just continuing on, you know, we continue to drill down into public safety.
05:23Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity.
05:27We are going to continue to move in a direction to make the city as safe as a big city in
05:31America and continue to do that.
05:33And everybody's taking notice, you know.
05:36The New York City—I'm looking at some of the headlines that we're getting that New
05:40York City is the city to live, work, and visit in the United States.
05:45And that's what some of the top tourist periodicals are saying.
05:52You know, we're a place where—we're global tastemakers, and this city has—it's not
05:58coming back.
05:59The city's back.
06:00And Travel and Leisure is continuing to make strong comments about what we are doing.
06:07You look at the headlines after headlines, American City for Food and Drinks, headlines
06:11after headlines, Best Summer Vacation of 2024, and Best Beaches in the U.S.
06:18When you look at—I like to time out New York—Oxford Economics Global Cities Index
06:25number one global city and number one economy.
06:31Number one city in the world, time out magazine.
06:35I don't know how long it's going to take before you guys start seeing it.
06:38If anybody else is seeing it, you know, I'm not just saying we're the greatest city on
06:42the globe.
06:43Everybody's saying it, you know?
06:44So we all need to say it.
06:45We need to fall in love with New York again.
06:49We—lifeguards.
06:50We're at the highest number of more lifeguards than we had last year.
06:56What is our number now, D.M., Mayor Josie?
06:59We are close to 900 lifeguards.
07:01900 lifeguards, you know?
07:03We're still doing recertification, so that number is going to keep going up.
07:08And we made the alterations that needed.
07:10Smart thinking, our ability to pivot and shift to make the right alteration.
07:15Those rules were ridiculous before.
07:18You know, you had to be an Olympic swimmer in a kiddie pool.
07:21You know, we just have ridiculous rules, and people just keep doing the same things over
07:26and over and over and over again, and it doesn't make sense.
07:29It's not always about dollars and cents.
07:30It's about common sense.
07:31This is a common-sense administration, and now we have—we're superseding what we had
07:35last year.
07:36And we're using drones.
07:39That's finding sharks.
07:41All those people were telling us, don't use drones, don't use drones.
07:44It's saving lives.
07:46Finding sharks, allowing us to clear beaches, it's what we're supposed to be doing, and
07:50that is the approach that we're going to take.
07:53You never get government moving in the right direction if you listen to all the noise.
07:58So great job, DM Josie.
08:01Beat the heat.
08:02It's hot out.
08:03Baby, it's hot out.
08:04You know, we're really—Ted, Ted is here.
08:09You like that, Michael Gardner?
08:12Ted's that way.
08:15Ted is here to deal not only with the heat issue, but the—what is it, mumps?
08:24Measles?
08:25Measles.
08:27Let me tell you something.
08:28When y'all read my book, of all the stuff that happens in one day, you know, the measles
08:33outbreak, so if there's any question, ask the ever-happy Ted, you know, he boosted our
08:41spirits up during COVID.
08:43But you know, we want people to take precaution, because it is very hot out.
08:50We're building our economy as I close out.
08:54You know, what we're doing with our delivery workers and others—thank you, Ingrid—it
09:03just really impacted our economy previously with the delivery workers during COVID, but
09:09now we're seeing a real boom.
09:11Our team over at Department of Consumers and Brokers Protection, they released their first
09:17quarterly report that shows delivery workers earn an increase by 64 percent, 64 percent.
09:24Money back in the pockets of New Yorkers.
09:26A typical worker who does 20 hours a week, that's an increase of at least $12,000 more
09:33per year in the pockets of workers.
09:35Working for working-class New Yorkers is amazing.
09:39Outdoor dining, we want to remind folks to sign up.
09:42I like those outdoor dinings.
09:44I don't like the unsightly chairs.
09:45That's why we're getting rid of them.
09:46But it's great to be outdoors and just do people watching in the city.
09:51So we want people to sign up online, newyorkcity.gov.slash.diningout.
09:59It's nyc.gov.
10:02nyc.gov.slash.diningout.
10:03So I'm going to turn it back over to you, Fabian.
10:09Great.
10:10Thank you, Mayor.
10:11So we'll take some questions.
10:12Liz?
10:13Good morning, good morning.
10:14How are you?
10:15I am well.
10:16Good morning to the team.
10:17We are getting some of the recent talk show.
10:18Let's start with the heat.
10:19Yes.
10:20It's going to be another dangerously hot day today.
10:21And I know there's this program for low-income New Yorkers to get air conditioners.
10:22Can you elaborate on that?
10:23Yes.
10:24And then we can talk about drowning debts and I think there's a new initiative of swimming
10:25classes.
10:26Can you speak to that?
10:47Yes.
10:49You want to talk about it?
10:50Yeah.
10:52The program that you referred to is the HEAP program.
10:54It grew out of a need to provide financial assistance for those who needed help during
10:59the winter to cover heating costs for keeping their house warm.
11:04With climate change, there is a huge demand for the summer months to keep your house cooler
11:09and your apartment cooler.
11:11And it's not just the equipment, the air conditioner.
11:14It's the monthly utility bill that often over the year can be more expensive than the actual
11:19equipment itself.
11:21There is still funding available for HEAP.
11:24So I encourage people to apply and apply quickly.
11:27But on a federal level, we are advocating for the entire allotment for HEAP to be enlarged.
11:33And I think Senator Schumer has been a real leader on this because we have to acknowledge
11:37that extreme heat is just as dangerous to low-income New Yorkers as extreme cold.
11:45On the drownings, you know, they are, I think I said this last week, you know, as a parent,
11:52it is gut-wrenching to listen to the pleas of parents during the horrible time when they
11:59don't know what the fate of their children is.
12:02And then even more devastating when the tragic truth comes out.
12:07But we have been vigilant throughout all of our public safety agencies, not just the Parks
12:12Department, to ensure that there is more of a presence in the after hours, especially
12:19between 6 and 9 on our beaches.
12:21So our PEP officers are out on the beaches patrolling to ensure that people know they
12:26can't be in the water.
12:28Our maintenance and operation park staff is also out.
12:31And in fact, on Coney Island, they're out 24-7.
12:34We're one city approach.
12:36So FDNY and PD have both extended their presence, especially at the Rockaways.
12:43So they're out on the beaches and on call.
12:46And all three agencies, Parks, FDNY, and the NYPD, have the ability to use drones and
12:52are using drones.
12:53And it's not just the use of drones, but it's a connection with on-call emergency response.
12:59So FDNY has gators at the ready, and NYPD has people at the ready.
13:04And NYSEM, our emergency service organization, is also out there with emergency services
13:10ready in case somebody is found in the water.
13:13The drones have been game-changers.
13:16You know, I really want to take my hat off to Deputy Commissioner Daughtry.
13:20Other cities and municipalities are reaching out to us and want to know about it, and we're
13:25going to really coordinate the programs.
13:27But they have been a game-changer.
13:28Cool.
13:29Hey, thank you.
13:30Hey, Mr. Mayor.
13:31I spent last night looking through your financial filings.
13:37First question is, is Breonna Suggs still working on your campaign?
13:40There were no payments for her for May and June.
13:43And then the legal defense filings show that you spent a lot less on lawyers in the last
13:48three—on WilmerHale in the last three months compared to the previous ones.
13:51I think a lot of people would have expected some sort of response from—or an indictment
13:56or something from SDNY by now.
13:58We haven't seen anything.
13:59So I'm wondering, has there been any update in that federal investigation, and, you know,
14:05why is the spending down because there's less work for them to do?
14:09First of all, your question was a stupid one, OK?
14:13A lot of people were not expecting that.
14:15You were expecting it.
14:17And don't try to do what New Yorkers need and want and make it appear as though your
14:22opinions and your hopes and aspirations are what New Yorkers want, OK?
14:28My job is to run this city and stay focused on running this city.
14:33And that's what I'm doing.
14:34And part of that job is to raise the money—which I hate, by the way—raise the money to have
14:39a campaign.
14:40And New Yorkers responded.
14:41I mean, you know, raising the necessary money is part of the business.
14:46I've called for years, let's take money out of politics.
14:49No one should be calling New Yorkers asking for money.
14:52Let's give people the amount that you could spend.
14:55We're already giving money through the campaign's finance.
14:57I don't want to raise money.
14:59I don't want to spend hours raising money.
15:01But those are the rules of the game, and I have to follow the rules of the game.
15:05You all talk about it, but you also all look at the following to determine a person's
15:10political strength.
15:11So there's a level of hypocrisy in your reporting.
15:14Either money doesn't matter or it does matter.
15:17That is a question that's in.
15:18And when it comes down to Breonna, the amount of paperwork that the CFB requires for a campaign
15:27to do is unbelievable.
15:29The amount of skill that you need, the amount of training, the amount of documentation.
15:33And I must have a team that could do that.
15:36She's knowledgeable on it, and I'm happy that she's able to do that administrative part
15:40of the campaign for the administration.
15:44Yes.
15:45I wanted to ask about Pirate Printer Kavanaugh stepping down.
15:46This obviously comes about a year after Commissioner Sewell left the NYPD, who was also the first
15:47woman to hold that job.
15:48Do you have any concerns that the women you've appointed to lead these historically male-dominated
16:05departments, if they're not getting the support they need to continue in these roles for more
16:09than a couple of years?
16:10And then similarly, do you have any kind of message for maybe female rank-and-file members
16:15of those departments who are disappointed to see these pretty groundbreaking leaders
16:21leaving after not a very long time?
16:24I started out with five deputy mayors and a woman chief advisor and a woman chief of
16:33staff.
16:34They're still here.
16:37And I gave her a diploma today to Cindy Adams, who could not graduate from high school because
16:45she did not have to sew.
16:46She did not know how to sew a dress.
16:50Men need to stop with this sexist belief.
16:56If a woman wants to leave this administration, continue her work—a man leaves, we don't
17:01say that you didn't give men the support.
17:04A man wants to go on and do something with his life, you know, that he frankly—no one
17:09asked me, oh, you didn't give Frank the support he needed?
17:12You didn't give him the nurturing that he needed?
17:14But a woman needs that?
17:15No, she does not.
17:16If a woman employee makes a determination, I broke boundaries, I did the change that
17:22I wanted, I increased the number of women in the department, I was the leading voice
17:27around the battery problems we have in this city, and I want to go do something else with
17:32my life, either in your administration or out of your administration, they have the
17:37right to do that.
17:38And I want to get to a day in this city and country where if a woman decides to do something
17:44else with her life, she's not all of a sudden saying, oh, you couldn't cut it, it was
17:48too much for you, it was too hard for you.
17:50No, she wants to do something else with her life, like the men that left wanted to do
17:55something else with their life.
17:58Right now, Commissioner Sewell is over at the New York Mets, and she's making a heck
18:05of a lot more money, and she's not waking up in the morning worrying about, did we have
18:09a robbery on the subway system, and is the press going to say I'm not doing my job?
18:15Thank God for them.
18:16They leave here, they go on, and they live great lives after.
18:19They're dedicated public servants, and I'm really proud of both of them that we broke
18:25boundaries.
18:26We never had—it took 110 mayors before we had a woman police commissioner.
18:31It took 110 mayors before we had a woman fire commissioner, 110 mayors before we had
18:37a commissioner of intelligence with Deputy Commissioner Weiner.
18:44It took 110 mayors before we had a first deputy mayor that was of African-American ancestry,
18:51before we had a chief advisor of African ancestry, a Trinidadian deputy mayor, a Filipino deputy
18:57mayor, a Dominican deputy mayor.
18:59It took all these years, and many of them didn't do it because they were afraid, those
19:04mayors, because once the person leaves, you're going to ask questions like that.
19:07Why did they leave me?
19:08Because you didn't give them the support they deserved?
19:10No, I was willing to do what others were not willing to do, because I'm the second black
19:15mayor in the city of New York, and I'm willing to take those changes.
19:19Good luck to the commissioner, and if she wants to hang around, I told her you could
19:23be commissioner as long as you want in FDNY, and if you want to still hang around, there's
19:27other roles I need done, I welcome that, and I thank her.
19:31How are you, Monica?
19:33Do you want to ask me about Kavanaugh?
19:37No.
19:38No, thank you for something, and I want to ask you that we've known you for many years,
19:45even before you were mayor, and you always seem to be able to contain your emotions when
19:51speaking about your political opponents, but in the light of what happened over the weekend,
19:56I'm wondering if there was any policies or rules that you spread within your administration
20:04to hold on on political emotions, because we've seen reports about the New York City
20:10budget worker who posted, you know, which tweet, and that person was suspended.
20:16I'm wondering if that's enough for you, a suspension, or a speech like this should not
20:20be tolerated.
20:21Looking at your record, when you're always, they ask you about Donald Trump all the time,
20:26and you've always been able to hold off any emotion, so I'm just wondering how you approach
20:31that.
20:32Because we're human beings, you know, there are things we like and dislike, you know,
20:36there are days that I come back and say, damn, I wish I didn't say that, I didn't do that,
20:41you know, we're human beings, this is very, this is, you know, being the mayor and being
20:45these staffers who are up here, this is, you know, it's unimaginable the level of responsibility
20:52and stress.
20:53There's no joy that Deputy Mayor Williams-Eyestone has when she has to deal with thousands of
20:59people coming into the city.
21:00There's, you know, there's no joy that, you know, all of us, you know, DM Mayor Jolsey,
21:06when someone drowns, this impacts us.
21:10You don't become part of this and all of a sudden you lose who you are as a human being.
21:16And I said last week, it probably went over many of your heads last week, when the question
21:21was asked about the right to consent bill, I think it is, the terminology?
21:28Advice and consent.
21:29Advice and consent.
21:30And you were asking me, I'm just not going to get involved in those fights anymore.
21:33I'm fighting for New Yorkers.
21:35And I allowed myself, when I looked back over and looked at some of my entries in my
21:43notes, and I said to Eric, you were, you know, why were you involved in some of these disputes?
21:49I'm just not doing that anymore.
21:51And it's just ironic that you have something like this that's just happened.
21:56And I think all of us need to reflect on how we're communicating and the level of civility
22:02that's needed.
22:03We could do a better job at being more civil to each other.
22:08We've become a very mean city and country.
22:13And that tweet that went out that said something about I hope he missed, that is not who we
22:21are.
22:22I don't, you know, there's no joy in watching, you know, millions of people watching the
22:30almost assassination of a person who's running for office.
22:34Donald Trump supporters are, they have an opinion.
22:38They don't have to agree with me.
22:40But I should not pick up a gun and want to hurt them.
22:42Was the suspension of that employee enough for you?
22:46Yes, I think it was.
22:47I think it was, it was a dual approach.
22:50Number one, he was suspended for two weeks.
22:53But he also.
22:54Without pay.
22:55Without pay.
22:56He also wrote a communication to the head, Jacques Jihad, saying it was the wrong decision.
23:04Twitter is the enemy.
23:08When you are hiding behind Twitter, it's unbelievable the things that you would do.
23:14And some of the things, I should say, let me take it back, social media.
23:18Social media makes people do things that they would not normally do.
23:23You know, that old research that I remember when somebody was placed in a room far away
23:28from someone and you had to give them an electric shock.
23:31People were easy to do it when it was not face to face.
23:35Social media has made people mean and nasty and they do harmful things and from the corner
23:42of their living rooms in their homes.
23:44And we need to really look at what we're doing.
23:46You know, the meanness of what we've become through these gadgets that has, they have
23:52hijacked our lives.
23:54Good morning, Mr. Mayor.
23:57I read somewhere that you're going to political.
23:59What?
24:00Was that a rumor?
24:01I don't know about that.
24:02So it could have been a rumor since it was on Twitter.
24:07Okay.
24:08This could have been a rumor.
24:09I wanted to, there was a letter in the letters section of the Daily News that I want to just,
24:18there are a couple of pieces I want to go through with you.
24:23You know, on Trump, you know, in this atmosphere, like everybody's talking about now and having
24:27to take the temperature down, this guy who wrote into the news today, you know, he's
24:36basically laying some of this at Trump's feet.
24:39You know, I mean, you know, urging people at rallies to beat up critics, boasting about,
24:47you know, being able to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose votes, making fun
24:53of the attack on Pelosi's husband.
24:58So you know, I mean, of course it's horrible that he was shot and that somebody died and
25:04we had this whole thing happen over the weekend.
25:08Do you think it's worthwhile to kind of talk about like how we got here and do you feel
25:15that Trump himself contributed to this atmosphere we're living in now based on, you know, some
25:21of the things this reader cited in his letter?
25:25I think everyone has a role in the climate that we are living in right now.
25:29Everyone.
25:30And that includes me.
25:31I think everyone has a role.
25:33We all need to check ourselves or everyone.
25:37And so to point to, you know, the former president, to point to the current president, there's
25:43some who are saying, OK, the Democrats did this.
25:46There's some who said the Republicans did this.
25:48There's some who's saying the media did it.
25:50Some saying schools.
25:51OK, let's stop saying what others have done and let's start asking ourselves as, you know,
25:59one of my musical musical genius said, let's look at the man and the woman in the mirror.
26:03What have we done?
26:05And so I don't I don't want to go into a did he create the atmosphere?
26:09I want to know, what did I do?
26:12What am I doing?
26:13You know, I talked about breaking breads, building barns.
26:15I talk about going out and meeting different groups.
26:18I need to do more.
26:19I need to do more.
26:21And that is where I am.
26:23You know, what could I do and contribute to toning down the rhetoric in the city and country?
26:29Is there anything you have kind of in store plan to that end?
26:34Yep.
26:35We we're going to create a letter, a sign on letter with, you know, and we're going
26:40to ask everyone to sign on because, you know, I've said this over and over as the mayor
26:44of the most important city on the globe, that is substantive, is symbolic.
26:51And, you know, those flag raisings that many people, you know, laughed at or, you know,
26:57think they're not important.
26:58They are, you know, my breaking bread, building barns, you know, having those thousand dinners
27:03the last year of people from different ethnicities come together are important.
27:07We're going to visit these mosques, these synagogues, these churches.
27:11That's the symbolism that's important.
27:14It's not only the policies that matter, it's, you know, what are the symbolic gestures that
27:19I'm making to say we could all come together and sit down together.
27:24And I think that's what I want to do.
27:26And the letter is going to be one of that.
27:27We want to get as many elected elected and public people as possible to sign on and say
27:33we're going to all contribute to toning down what we are seeing.
27:38And you guys cover it, so you know how bad it is.
27:42You know, you want to deny it, but you all know if it bleeds, it leads.
27:47You know that.
27:48We're not going to cover, Eric, what you've done, bring more jobs in the history of the
27:54city.
27:55That's all great.
27:56But no, we want to cover this.
27:58Because we have all been sensationalized by how many clicks can I get.
28:04We know it.
28:05So stop acting like we don't know it.
28:08How do I make this story as horrific as possible so that we now have been desensitized and
28:15to get as many clicks as possible?
28:17We've all contributed to this atmosphere.
28:18Hi, Mr. Mayor.
28:19Yes, how are you?
28:20I'm in.
28:21Jennifer Rajkumar has announced a Exploratory Committee for NYC Comptroller.
28:23I know that the primary is a little less than a year away.
28:24Does she have your support?
28:25And I wanted to go back to Biden.
28:26You mentioned last week that, or maybe past a week ago, that you'd be a soldier for his
28:27campaign.
28:28And you held that unity rally on Sunday with the Reverend Sharpton.
28:29I'm wondering, have you reached out to him about what more you can do now with this atmosphere
28:30that's going on?
28:31You mentioned that letter.
28:32But have you spoken to the White House about what you can do?
28:33Did they say anything?
28:34Did they say anything about what you can do?
28:35Did they say anything about what you can do?
28:36I'm wondering, have you reached out to him about what more you can do now with this atmosphere
28:37that's going on?
28:38You mentioned that letter.
28:39But have you spoken to the White House about what you can do?
28:40I have been very clear.
28:41You know, I coined myself the Biden of Brooklyn and didn't change that no matter what disagreements
28:42were.
28:43I think he's a blue-collar president.
28:44I think he focused on blue-collar people as an attorney.
28:45I don't think he's the president of a bunch of people that are not white and we're seeing
28:46them as white people.
28:47And I think he's done a great job in that.
28:48I'm wondering, have you reached out to him about what you can do now with this atmosphere
28:49that's going on?
28:50You mentioned that letter.
28:51But have you spoken to the White House about what you can do?
28:52Did they say anything?
28:53Did they say anything about what you can do?
28:54I'm wondering, have you reached out to him about what you can do now?
28:55particular? I've been very clear, you know, I coined myself the Biden of
29:02Brooklyn and didn't change that no matter what disagreements were. I
29:07think he's a blue-collar president. I think he focused on blue-collar people. I
29:10think some of the personal tragedies he has experienced in his life really has
29:17made him the compassionate person that he is. And I've been extremely clear to
29:21the campaign. I was on a town hall call with a bunch of mayors last week. I've
29:26been clear, whatever marching orders you have for me, I'm willing to do. They
29:31must determine. When you run a campaign, the worst thing that can happen is for
29:35someone to come in and try to interfere and dictate on what you want to do, on
29:40what they want to do, instead of what the team wants to do. And so I must do my
29:43role here in the city. I get out the vote and make sure that people are engaged
29:48and that's what I'm going to continue to do. When they call on me, they call and say
29:51we want Eric to be on this on this call. I was there on the call. I am taking my
29:57marching orders from the quarterback who's running his campaign and I look
30:02forward to doing that. In the area of Assemblywoman Rajkumar, I think, I keep
30:07saying, I think she's one of the hardest working lawmakers. She covers ground. She
30:13led that charge about the the smokeout. You know, it was amazing. This was
30:18something that was impacting New Yorkers and it was DOA. And she picked up the
30:22mantou and ran towards it, what she did around Diwali, including people in, you
30:27know, the holidays and just her work ethics. I just think that's important
30:32and I think that we should not be politicizing, overseeing our tax dollars.
30:38We should be collaborating. And, you know, some of the reports that I read that
30:43criticized her for being able to build bridges with City Hall, I don't
30:48understand that. You know, shouldn't we be building bridges? You know, hooray for her.
30:53Before the session started, sit down with us and say, how do I help the city of New
30:58York in Albany? That is what has always been her mantra. And so, you know, you got
31:03to put the campaign together. She did an exploratory committee. Running citywide
31:07is hard. And I think she has the energy to do so. And I look forward to seeing
31:13as she makes that final determination.
31:17Hi, Mr. Mayor.
31:18How are you?
31:19Good. I want to return to the topic of Laura Kavanaugh.
31:23Yes.
31:24As you remember, she tried to have some shakeups in the department and she got backlash for it.
31:32It was a lawsuit. And I remember you defending her at the time and making those decisions.
31:38Now, one of the arguments that was made against her by members of the fire department
31:45was that she herself had never been a firefighter. And I'm wondering, how much
31:52credence do you give to that argument? Is that a legitimate argument to make against her?
31:58And how much do you think the underlying reason was also the fact that she was a woman?
32:04Well, first of all, we had others of fire commissioners that were never firefighters.
32:10And I never heard that.
32:12So, was that sexist?
32:13No, no, no. You could write the story the way you want. I'm only answering the question.
32:18And whenever you stand up and point out the obvious and push back on institutional stuff,
32:24you're going to get a backlash. Like, I'm still paying for the fact that I told you
32:27otherwise you'd have enough diversity in the media. I'm still paying for that.
32:31You don't think I don't know that.
32:33So, when you're taking leadership positions like she did, these institutions are tough.
32:40She went into an institution that historically didn't even have women in there,
32:46didn't even have diversity in there. And she went in, and I remember sitting down with her
32:50when she made the decision. I said, this is going to be tough. It's going to be very tough.
32:55And she says, Eric, I'm up for it. And she showed that.
32:58The numbers of women have increased. These things that she has done, really,
33:04now we don't have to worry about if a woman wants to become a commissioner.
33:09So, I don't believe that it should be that, hey, you've never been a firefighter before.
33:17People get many positions that they've never been.
33:20I've never been a mayor before, but we're running the heck out of this city, aren't we?
33:24But do you think it's sexist to say that?
33:28You like that, Ann?
33:29I do.
33:31She's never been a sanitation commissioner. She's never been a sanitation worker.
33:35And she's doing a good job.
33:36What's the nicest of those men?
33:38I don't know what's in the mind of people. I don't know what's in the mind of people.
33:44I think we are breaking barriers. We're breaking barriers.
33:49And when you break barriers, there's a lot of discomfort. There's a lot of discomfort.
33:54I don't fit the mold of what a mayor should be. And there's discomfort.
34:02We have to be honest about the discomfort people feel when you step outside of the tradition.
34:10And we knew that. This team knew that when we came on board.
34:13We knew, listen, people are not going to be comfortable with what we're going to do.
34:18And discomfort is growth. And they're going to grow.
34:22This is going to be a better city after this administration.
34:26Mayor, I wanted to ask about a follow-up on Commissioner Kavanaugh.
34:30Do you have a process in place or a timeline?
34:33I'm sorry?
34:34Do you have a process in place, a timeline for replacing the commissioner?
34:37And can you talk a little bit about what you think you're looking for in the next commissioner?
34:41I wasn't clear if you think the next commissioner should have fire experience or not.
34:46Another question I have, too, is regarding the family shelters.
34:49A lot of them, unless they're in hotels, they do not have air conditioning in their rooms, given the current heat wave.
34:56They need a doctor's note, apparently, to get air conditioners in their room.
35:00Some of them have AC in the common areas, but they can't sleep in the common areas.
35:05I'm wondering, has there been any move to address this, the fact that we have this extended heat wave
35:10and you have people living in already cramped, uncomfortable conditions, and that they cannot have air conditioning?
35:19I want to be clear on this because I said it and I don't know if you skipped over it.
35:24Laura can be the commissioner as long as she wants.
35:28When she's ready to transition to her next role, she'll come in and say,
35:32Eric, I'm ready to transition into my next role.
35:36If that's outside the administration or inside the administration, it's fine with me.
35:41She did exactly what I needed for her to do, and I think that she's a great, great leader, and so it's up to her.
35:50She's making that determination.
35:52And when it's ready to make the appointment for whomever's going to be next, as she stated,
35:57she wants to be here to assist in the transition of it, and I thank her for that.
36:01We'll make that appointment.
36:04And no, I don't believe that one has to be previously in a role before they can do a role.
36:13I need compassionate, caring, good, strong leadership.
36:18I remember when I appointed Sheena to be first deputy mayor, they said,
36:24oh, well, she was never in government before, never in government before, and now look at the good job you're doing.
36:28You know what I'm saying?
36:30Sometimes you have to go outside the body to come in with good, fresh ideas.
36:37You know, that is what you must do.
36:40From the day that Ingrid ran my first campaign, you were never even a campaign manager.
36:44You know what I'm saying?
36:46And you got me here to City Hall.
36:48You've got to be willing to go outside, folks.
36:50If you stay with inside, you're going to keep moving the chairs around the room.
36:54Sometimes you have to bring new chairs inside the room.
36:59Air conditioning?
37:00Yeah.
37:01Anne, do you want to do that?
37:03Yeah, I want to get you the correct answer for that.
37:06I know that at DSS we're focusing on cold blue when it gets a certain degree, cold gray now when it's about air quality,
37:13cold red when it's this hot, and making adjustments where we need to.
37:17I do understand if there's a reasonable accommodation where someone needs an air condition, we're able to accommodate that.
37:22But let me find out exactly what's the accommodations and how do we deal with people.
37:26But I think that you're right.
37:27There are some hotel rooms and some places that don't have air conditioners.
37:32Related to the heat?
37:33Not that I am aware of, but I will get back to you.
37:36And I know, Mira, people can always go to cooling centers and all of the things that they need, so that applies to them also.
37:42But I will double check all of that for you, Jeff, and get you an answer.
37:45And so I think it's important, you know, as a city we try to provide as many cooling opportunities as possible.
37:52There's hundreds of cooling centers that are available to the public.
37:57There are also, if you go on the park's website, a map of all the playgrounds that have cooling amenities like sprinklers, water fountains.
38:07The DOT has a project called Cool Corridors where we try to add more shade to every street and
38:15make our street infrastructure as amenable to hot weather as possible.
38:21We obviously have our beaches and our pools that are open to the public.
38:25And you can even go to a firehouse and get a spray cap to put on a fire hydrant as another way to cool down,
38:33because we'd prefer you do that than just open up the fire hydrant.
38:36Can I just say that the issue in Brazos has been at night, when obviously they can't go to a cooling center and no one's going to be out at a fire hydrant.
38:42It's just hot at night, and they have an air conditioner.
38:45And there, you know, everyday New Yorkers don't have air conditioners.
38:52You know, we make do. Fans, paper fans.
38:57When I grew up as a kid, air conditioning, I didn't know what that was.
39:01You know, mommy used to say, boy, you better put your head in every fridge.
39:06Listen, we make do. We make do.
39:10We're not going to be able to give an air conditioner to every New Yorker, so we open up cooling centers.
39:14We do some of the other alternative things.
39:16These heat waves are going to become normal.
39:19We don't want anyone to be in a difficult situation, but we make do, and that's what we're doing.
39:26And we would be dishonest if we were to say that everybody that is a migrant or asylum seeker in a shelter,
39:34that we're going to be able to give them the air conditioner.
39:36We can't. We can't give it to everyday New Yorkers.
39:39We made it for low-income New Yorkers, but we make do.
39:42And this is a challenging time, but we go back to the foundation of this that D.M.
39:47William Dyson has been saying, let's give them the right to work.
39:51If we give them the right to work, they will be willing to work and fill some of these vacancies,
39:56and people want to be self-sustaining. That's what they want more than anything.
40:00They don't want us giving them anything.
40:02I speak to these migrants. They want to be self-sustaining.
40:05Let's give them the right to work.
40:07Jeff, I would just –
40:08I want to just mention it is also related to the larger crisis we're facing, the hot temperatures,
40:15and that's around lowering emissions and the bold steps that this city has taken in both transportation
40:21and buildings to mandate lower emissions, supporting our EV infrastructure,
40:27mandating that our TLC vehicles turn to zero emission by 2030, our local law 97,
40:35which applies to all buildings. It's the boldest plan in the nation.
40:39And we're in the midst of two large transmission lines.
40:42They'll be the largest transmission lines in the nation of renewable energy that will actually terminate in Queens.
40:49So it's this larger work that we have to constantly do.
40:53It's behind the scenes, and people don't always see it, around lowering emissions.
40:57That is a huge part of the puzzle.
41:00The air conditioner is the immediate thing, but if we don't have the long-term work in place,
41:06we're going to be dealing with a crisis that's much larger than individual air conditioners.
41:11And, Jeff, I would just point out, obviously, during the day it's a lot hotter than in the evening.
41:16Emergency management is telling us specifically it's the day that's the real concern for them.
41:20I would also just point out what Deputy Mayor Joshi just said about the caps.
41:24If you want a cap, you have to go to the firehouse and ask them to put it on.
41:27You can't put it on yourself, so I just want to point that out.
41:31Hi, Mayor. How are you doing?
41:32Good. How are you?
41:33Good. Two questions for you.
41:35The theme of the RNC tonight is Make America Safe Again that focuses on border security.
41:40I'm just wondering, if Mr. Trump is elected, do you think – what kind of effect do you think his policies would have on New York City?
41:47Do you think we will actually see him mass deport migrants living in this city?
41:52And then my second question for you is tomorrow is ten years since the death of Eric Garner.
41:56What's changed since then?
41:58And if something like that were to happen today, given the current policies of the department,
42:04how do you think that would unfold in terms of penalties, punishment for that officer?
42:08Or do you think it even could happen today, given the policies of the department?
42:13First, I'm not going to speculate on the policy shift or changes.
42:21I've made it clear I'm rolling with Biden.
42:23I cannot be any clearer in that.
42:25And I think there's a path forward to deal with the migrant and asylum seeker issue.
42:31And with the Eric Garner, you know, I remember like yesterday when the call came in,
42:36I remember going to the wake and, you know, seeing and speaking with the family members.
42:43You know, this was – you know, those of you who have followed my life, you know, this is my life story, you know,
42:49how Reverend Daughtry got me involved in law enforcement in the first place.
42:54And I try to bring that every day when I speak with the commissioner, current one and the former commissioner,
42:59that we have so many interactions in the police department, millions of interactions.
43:04And, you know, one of the most important things you can do is control your adrenaline
43:09and being able to respond accordingly.
43:12You know, I looked at some of the videos of some of the recent interactions that I felt was inappropriate,
43:18and we're going to investigate those.
43:20I pray to God we don't have an Eric Garner situation under this administration and administrations in the past.
43:27You could only properly train, properly instruct, and properly give the support to those men and women
43:33who are doing the right thing out there, an overwhelming number of them are.
43:39Katie, how are you?
43:40I'm great, thanks.
43:41I know you've spoken about the drones and their usefulness at the beach.
43:43I'm curious, I know when the NYPD first got involved this year in the drones along the beach,
43:47they talked about the deploying of a life raft if needed.
43:52I'm curious, has that been deployed at all this summer?
43:55If not, why?
43:56And it seems that a lot of the video coming from the FDNY, OEN, and the NYPD that have drones operating,
44:02they seem to be searching for sharks, which is useful, that's been done in previous years.
44:06It seems, though, to have been moved away from, like, the life-saving or assisting operations.
44:10So I don't know if they've deployed the life raft.
44:12If they haven't, why not?
44:13And can you just confirm, what is Brianna Saunders' title in the group?
44:16What is what?
44:17Brianna Saunders in the campaign tripping another topic.
44:19What is her title?
44:20I know you said paperwork and stuff, but what is her title?
44:23She's had an administrative aspect of the campaign.
44:26There's a ton of, you know, one day you guys should follow the clerical aspects and the reporting requirements.
44:35It is mind-boggling the depth of what needs to be reported under CFP.
44:40She's managing that.
44:43She's the chief administrator on doing that.
44:45And it's so important that someone that has knowledge on that is doing that.
44:50With the drones, it is life-saving.
44:55Sharks killed.
44:57Like, it was in Rockaway, where sharks-
44:59She got into chief.
45:01I know.
45:02I got you.
45:03But thank God there were people there that took a huge chunk out of her thigh.
45:12That is life-saving.
45:14And life-saving is not always reactive, it's proactive.
45:17Thank God we have not been able to, did not have to deploy them.
45:23The goal is to have them there if you need to.
45:26And if we can get through the summer without having to deploy those rafts, I'm very pleased.
45:32If we have to deploy them, we have the tools to use them.
45:36And Commissioner Daughtry, really hats off to him for finding this
45:41and being able to get to a person who potentially is drowning in enough time
45:47that can communicate with that person and drop that raft.
45:50That's a real win.
45:51We have not had to deploy them.
45:53I spoke with him yesterday about it, and he said as of now we have not had to deploy them.
45:57But we did participate in two shark sightings.
46:01They were able to partially close the beach and clear the beach.
46:05That's a real win.
46:06No telling what could have happened if people had been injured by those sharks.
46:10So they're used in the evening, especially after lifeguards are off duty.
46:13I don't know if you or the Deputy Mayor want to talk about how will the drones be utilized?
46:16Still just doing shark watch?
46:17Will they look for people who are out in the water?
46:19Because that unfortunately is when the first drownings were on federally run beaches,
46:24but that's where a lot of the drownings occur when there's no lifeguards.
46:26I know there's also been near misses because it's 6.30, but lifeguards happen to still be there.
46:30So what is their usefulness in the evening?
46:32Is it just more surveillance?
46:34It's for both sharks, but primarily for people,
46:37because sharks in the water after people aren't supposed to be in the water is less of a risk.
46:43So the after hours focus is really on people
46:46and making sure that people on the beach know that they shouldn't go in the water
46:50because there's no lifeguard on duty,
46:52and spotting if people are in the water, one, to tell them they need to get out,
46:56and in the worst case, because they're in trouble.
46:59And I outlined earlier that both FDNY Parks and NYPD,
47:05especially in the Rockaways, are adding on-call personnel for those after hours
47:10because it's not just the drone seeing something,
47:14it's the response that actually makes a difference.
47:16So you have to have the combination.
47:20Two questions.
47:21Yes.
47:22Measles, then a follow-up on the fire commissioner.
47:24So for the measles, there were two cases of measles
47:26at Clinton Hill Migrant Shelter Friday.
47:28Have there been any more cases?
47:30How many people are quarantining at the shelter?
47:32What's the city doing?
47:34Dr. Toedt?
47:35Yes.
47:36Thanks for asking.
47:37So I want to start by saying public health in New York City,
47:40we've always known, is at the center of this crisis.
47:43So I'll walk you through our response so far.
47:45But I want to make the point that measles is extremely contagious
47:49and is extremely serious.
47:51So you'll get that from my tone here.
47:54So the response that we've had for measles really starts
47:57at the Arrival Center.
47:58And I think that's a really important point to emphasize.
48:00At the Arrival Center in New York City,
48:02which is something unique to New York City,
48:04we've screened more than 150,000 people
48:07for communicable diseases like measles and COVID.
48:10We've then gone on, as part of your Arrival Center experience,
48:13to vaccinate between our Arrival Center
48:15and our humanitarian centers.
48:16We've administered more than 75,000 vaccines to date.
48:21For this particular response, that plays into it.
48:23So let me tell you what's happened.
48:25On Friday, we were made aware of the cases.
48:28We immediately went into quarantine for people
48:30that had been exposed at the shelter that you mentioned.
48:33The way that we did that is we talked to everybody
48:35in their preferred language.
48:37We did this into the evening.
48:38We had clinicians talk to everybody to see how they were doing,
48:41see if they had symptoms that could be consistent with measles,
48:43which would then have us immediately isolate them,
48:46and check in with everybody to really just see what they needed.
48:49Then we immediately did titers on everybody.
48:51What titers are, they're serologies or blood tests
48:53to see if you've received the vaccine in the past
48:56or if you're immune to measles now.
48:59The next thing we did is offered vaccines to anybody,
49:01especially those that had recently arrived at the shelter,
49:04or we could still give them vaccines as post-exposure prophylaxis.
49:08Medical terminology for if you just arrived
49:11and you're within a certain window
49:13and you've been exposed to somebody with measles,
49:15if I give you the vaccine now, it'll protect you
49:17so that you don't need to quarantine.
49:19Then beyond doing the titers, doing the vaccines,
49:22it is important to say,
49:24and this is what we spent the whole weekend doing,
49:26that we really wanted to make sure that we were attending to people
49:29because this is a very scary thing.
49:31I'm terrified of measles, and we wanted to make sure
49:33that people in that room had what they needed from us.
49:36So we did things like, I know it sounds a little bit silly,
49:39but we brought in TVs, we had interpreters around the clock
49:41to be able to answer everybody's questions,
49:43and we even brought in halal chicken from Popeye's
49:46just to make sure people had the comforts that they needed
49:48so they would stay in that room.
49:50When you take all of that in totality,
49:52and here's the statistic I have for you today,
49:55more than 80% of those exposed
49:58to the measles cases at Hall Street right now
50:02do not need to quarantine any longer
50:04because we identified that they were immune
50:07through the serologies that we immediately did,
50:10or they received vaccines from us here in New York City,
50:13including at the Arrival Center,
50:15or they were one of those smaller number of people
50:18where we were able to give them
50:20the post-exposure prophylaxis vaccine,
50:22which protected them from contracting measles themselves
50:25and enabled them to exit quarantine.
50:27So right now, more than 80% again
50:29of the people that initially were exposed
50:31have already left quarantine.
50:33The only thing I want to add really quickly is
50:35it's pretty amazing that we're 2 1⁄2 years
50:38into this migrant crisis,
50:40and this is the first time that we're having
50:43cases of measles.
50:44The team has been amazing
50:46because they were preparing for this.
50:48The idea of having an Arrival Center, I think,
50:51gets proven over and over again to be a great idea
50:54so that we could give people the care that they need up front.
50:57The other reminder is that the majority of New Yorkers
51:00are vaccinated for measles,
51:02but this is a reminder that if you are, you're safe,
51:05and if you're not, this is the time to make sure
51:07that you're getting vaccinated for measles.
51:13Correct.
51:18The investigation is ongoing,
51:20so we'll share more in terms of the overall number
51:24of people exposed that are close contacts
51:26as the investigation gets closer to concluding.
51:29I think it also makes the important point, though,
51:32that this is an ongoing situation.
51:34We leapt into action, immediately did the titers
51:37so that we could determine who was immune,
51:39immediately offered vaccine to protect people
51:42if they were in that window,
51:43and as we complete the investigation,
51:45we're going to know exactly the number of contacts
51:47that were exposed.
51:48And what I will say is when he said 80% have already,
51:51we've seen, have immunity,
51:53that means that it's probably less than 20%
51:56that have to be isolated.
51:58We just want to make sure that we are paying attention
52:00to people's, you know, their, what's the word I'm looking for,
52:04their not giving everybody's, telling people's business,
52:08confidentiality.
52:09Confidentiality.
52:10And so once we're finished with that, thank you,
52:13like what's the hood, I have my hood version here
52:15than my deputy mayor hat.
52:17So I just wanted you to think of it,
52:19but it's less than that.
52:20So that's why we're saying that we're in the middle
52:22of this right now, so we'll give you more information.
52:25Correct.
52:26Harlem came out.
52:32You didn't answer the question she asked.
52:34What was it?
52:36Someone.
52:37I kind of know.
52:38Okay, sorry.
52:39You kind of answered this, but just want to,
52:40do you think the culture within the FDNY
52:43is what drove her out?
52:44And what are you going to do about it
52:46if there are concerns?
52:47You did say when you were talking earlier
52:49that the culture within these storied institutions
52:52can be tough.
52:53I think that you folks should sit down with Laura
52:57as she does an exit interview,
53:00and you could ask all these questions.
53:02I don't know, you know, this culture,
53:07isms exist, isms exist in all of our industries.
53:12And to, I know it's extremely challenging
53:15for people to really wrap their heads around the fact
53:18I'm the mayor, and I've only been here
53:20for two years and seven months.
53:22Those isms that existed for thousands of years
53:25won't dissipate under my administration.
53:28I'm setting the right tone that we don't accept
53:30those isms to exist, and we use our internal mechanisms
53:33to correct them.
53:35But it didn't start, isms didn't start January 1st, 2022.
53:41They did not start.
53:42And I know you may not think it's hard to believe,
53:44but they exist in your industry as well.
53:47Last question.
53:48Thank you so much.
53:50How are you, Mayor?
53:52How are you?
53:53Good, thank you so much.
53:54The question, as you mentioned,
53:55as you criticized about the social media
53:58and the involvement of the young people,
54:02as you know, there is almost 100% of the family,
54:06they have the device in their home,
54:09especially the low-income people.
54:11They keep the device and keep their kids busy as alternate,
54:17because they are working, and then they
54:19keep the kids busy with the device or social media.
54:23So what is the alternate?
54:25You can criticize, but you have to come up with a solution.
54:28What is the solution, number one?
54:30Number two, since he's here, yesterday,
54:33you know, there is a big report came,
54:35which is hundreds of people are falling dangerously ill
54:41two years after getting COVID, and scientists are worried.
54:47Since New York City was the epicenter of the COVID,
54:50how is the situation in New York,
54:52the people who are dangerously ill,
54:55and now, any statistics or any experience?
55:00Listen, we've done a combination of things.
55:03Ever since Dr. Fasan brought this to our attention,
55:06the impact, particularly around suicidal ideations,
55:09depression, of violence, of the, you know,
55:13children at the age of 12 and 13,
55:16how it impacts on their brain development,
55:19desensitizing young people and even adults to violence
55:23and the appearance of violence.
55:26And so we know we need a full frontal assault.
55:29One of them is that we're suing social media companies
55:32to go after them, to make them more responsible
55:35with these algorithms.
55:37And number two, then it's going to have to come down
55:39to everyday human engagement.
55:41That's why we're exploring everything from
55:43should we ban cell phones in schools
55:45to how do we regulate FaceTime.
55:49Young people are now getting engaged with this as well.
55:52Many of them are saying we want to wean ourselves
55:55off of social media.
55:57It has an impact on our lives.
55:59And so it's a combination of things that we must do
56:03and self-monitoring as well as governmental regulations
56:07and legislation as well as social media companies
56:10becoming more responsible.
56:12Doctor?
56:13My pleasure.
56:14Thank you for asking.
56:15So for COVID, I think the most important thing you did
56:18is ask the question.
56:19The most important takeaway is that COVID is still here
56:22and it's not gone.
56:23So I want to tell you a little bit about what we're doing
56:25for current COVID, both surveillance and current guidance
56:29and then also long COVID, which I think you were alluding to there,
56:31what we uniquely have in New York City.
56:33So in terms of our overall guidance now,
56:35as I tell my patients when I see them in the Bronx every Friday,
56:38COVID is still here.
56:39The vaccine is still effective.
56:41Get the vaccine today.
56:42That's number one.
56:43Number two, if you believe you have COVID or if you're sick, stay home.
56:47Don't be a hero and try to come to work when you could infect others.
56:50And if you're at home and you have risk factors, take a test.
56:54The reason to take a test, in my mind, is then you'll know
56:56if you have COVID and you'll know if you can have Paxilvid,
56:59which can save your life.
57:00You can go on our virtual express care platform,
57:02talk to a doctor in a matter of minutes through calling 212-COVID-19
57:05and you'll get prescribed Paxilvid immediately.
57:07Long COVID is the next thing.
57:10So I talk to my patients about long COVID a lot
57:12and the number one thing I tell them is this,
57:14what you're experiencing is long COVID and it's real.
57:19It's terrible.
57:20I wish I could make it go away now.
57:22But what you're experiencing is not in your mind.
57:24It's in your physical reality.
57:26And I'm going to help you get through it.
57:28What we can do to help New Yorkers is, number one,
57:30we still have 212-COVID-19.
57:32Call 212-COVID-19 on your phone right now.
57:34You can get connected to our aftercare program,
57:36which has resources for long COVID.
57:38It can also connect you to, and this is very important,
57:40we have three centers of excellence in New York City for COVID.
57:44We set these up knowing ahead of time that in New York City,
57:47we were hit the hardest, so we pushed the hardest back,
57:49and we planned ahead to have the centers that we knew we would need.
57:52These centers you can make an appointment at today,
57:54and they have doctors like me.
57:56Well, actually, they have doctors that specialize in long COVID.
57:58I try.
58:02So you can call and make an appointment now,
58:04and that's where you can explore what's going on with you,
58:06what your long COVID symptoms are,
58:08and we have specialists on site like cardiologists and pulmonologists
58:11that deal with the predominant symptoms that we're seeing,
58:13those lingering symptoms that constitute long COVID.
58:16This is your question.
58:18You had your final question before we go.
58:20So, yeah, going back to fundraising,
58:22your opponents, potential opponents,
58:24Scott Stringer and Zellnor Myrie,
58:26they both reported six-figure hauls yesterday.
58:28Just wondering your reaction to that.
58:30Don't have one.
58:32I'm just happy New Yorkers were able to contribute to my campaign.
58:38More than both theirs combined, you know.
58:40I'm just going to continue to work hard.
58:42You know, that's all I do.
58:44I just stay focused, no distractions.
58:46I just grind, man.
58:48I'm just a hard-working.
58:50I'm the hardest-working man in show business like James Brown.
58:52Mr. Mayor.