Category Archives: Bill de Blasio

Rent Regulation Renewal Rally



Mayor Bill de Blasio and many other New York City elected officials joined a Harlem rally Saturday demanding the renewal of rent regulations.  Hosted by Assembly Housing Committee Chairman Keith L.T. Wright, the rally drew a modest crowd of about 200 people.  Speakers included the Rev. Al Sharpton, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, Rep. Charles Rangel, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assembly Members Brian Kavanagh and Guillermo Linares, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Members Inez Dickens, Vanessa Gibson, Ben Kallos and Jumaane Williams.

With the legislative session rushing toward conclusion next week, expiration of the soon-to-sunset state laws governing rent stabilized and rent controlled apartments is an ever-increasing possibility.  While it’s still likely that they’ll be renewed, the prospect of expiration is driving City Democrats into increasingly frantic efforts to renew and expand those laws.  For Mayor Bill de Blasio it’s both an essential part of a core focus of his mayoralty and yet another chapter in the story of his friction-filled relationship with Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Here are the remarks of selected speakers:

Mayor Bill de Blasio:

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de Blasio Visits Rockaway, Brings Money, Gets Applause



IMG_2285Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Rockaway Friday afternoon, joining the annual beach opening celebration and holding a press conference.  During his visit de Blasio announced that any surplus federal funding from the ongoing boardwalk rebuilding will be applied to other Rockaway projects.  de Blasio was well-received, with elected officials offering praise and attendees providing applause.  Elected officials joining de Blasio included Senators Joe Addabbo and James Sanders, Assembly Members Phil Goldfeder and Michele Titus, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Council Members Donovan Richards and Eric Ulrich.  Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver and EDC President Kyle Kimball also joined de Blasio.  Our photo gallery is here.

de Blasio has had a bumpy relationship with many in Rockaway, particularly in the western areas of Belle Harbor and Breezy Point.  Those hard feelings were set aside Friday, however, with the combination of the festive summer beach opening and notable progress on boardwalk rebuilding.  The audience of several hundred people applauded de Blasio’s boardwalk rebuilding and funding comments, although they sat silently as de Blasio praised FEMA.  They responded to Queens Borough President Melinda Katz’s request for “a round of applause for Mayor de Blasio”, prompting a smiling mayor to reply “that just shows the generosity of Queens.”IMG_2289

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Free Speech Zone



Out of sight, out of mind.  That notion applied to the few sign-holding Rockaway residents who appeared at Mayor de Blasio’s boardwalk press conference on Friday.  The four I spotted were relegated to a “free speech zone” invisible to Mayor de Blasio and most of the several hundred people in attendance.

Free Speech Zone 5/22/15

In this view from the camera riser, looking away from the lectern on the boardwalk where Mayor de Blasio spoke, the “free speech zone” is faintly visible deep in the center of the picture and close to the white trucks on Shore Front Parkway.  The “free speech zone” is also about 10-15 feet lower than the boardwalk, ensuring that the Mayor and other speakers could not see the “free speech zone”, much less the signs.

Police directed sign-holders to the “free speech zone,” despite objections.

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de Blasio Press Q&A: The NYCHA Funding Edition



Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senator Chuck Schumer announced $3 billion in federal funding for Sandy-related repairs and resiliency improvements for the New York City Housing Authority.  Speaking at an afternoon press conference in Red Hook, de Blasio and Schumer celebrated the massive block of federal funding intended for 33 separate NYCHA developments.

de Blasio and Schumer were joined by Reps. Gregory Meeks, Nydia Velazquez and Hakeem Jeffries, Council Member Carlos Menchaca, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and NYCHA CEO Shola Olatoye.

On Topic Q&A:

Here is the full on topic Q&A.

Off Topic Q&A:

Here is the full off topic Q&A.

de Blasio Press Q&A: The 2nd Avenue Investigation Edition



This afternoon Mayor Bill de Blasio and many of his senior staff provided an update on the Second Avenue buildings destroyed yesterday in an apparent gas explosion.  Joined by Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro, OEM Commissioner Joseph Esposito, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler and other officials, de Blasio described the known facts, but repeatedly emphasized that the cause is not yet known and that the investigation will take at least several days to complete.

Opening statements:

Here are the opening statements of Mayor de Blasio, Fire Commissioner Nigro and OEM Commissioner Esposito:

Q&A:

Here is the full Q&A:

de Blasio On Renewing Mayoral Control



The no-names battle between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo continues, with the current chapter focused on mayoral control of city schools.  At a press conference Wednesday Mayor de Blasio was asked whether Governor Cuomo’s characterization of mayoral control of schools as an “experiment” and his proposal that mayoral control be renewed for a shortened three year period “raises questions about whether or not he’s a true reformer on education.”  de Blasio gave a forceful argument in support of extending mayoral control, but did not directly address the question’s characterization of Governor Cuomo nor mention Governor Cuomo by name.

A Tale of Two Mayors



In an unusual moment of agreement Mayor Bill de Blasio and former mayor Rudy Giuliani recently wrote a joint letter to Governor Cuomo and the state legislature urging a continuation of mayoral control of the school system.  de Blasio and Giuliani have mostly had critical things to say about each other, with their joint letter a rare counterpoint to their more typical criticism.  I asked Mayor de Blasio whether the letter signaled a change in their relationship or whether de Blasio’s 15 months in office has affected his view of Giuliani’s mayoralty.

Eid al-Fitr & Eid al-Adha Added To School Holiday Calendar



Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the addition of two Muslim holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, to the New York City school system’s calendar.  They are the first Muslim holidays included on the City school calendar.  It’s a change long-sought by New York’s Muslim community and reflects a Muslim population in the City and it’s schools growing in both number and political influence.

Here are highlights of the press conference:

The full press conference Q&A is available here.

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Eid-al Fitr Edition



At a press conference this morning in Bay Ridge Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the addition of two Muslim holidays to the New York City public school calendar.  Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha will be added as school holidays for the 2015-16 school year.

On topic Q&A:

On topic question topics included how the school schedule will accommodate the two additional holidays, who will the City look to to determine the exact date of Eid al-Fitr each year, how many religious and cultural holidays are currently on the City school calendar and whether the mayor believes there should be a set limit on the number of such holidays, whether the mayor considered a possible backlash and why he concluded that now is an appropriate time to add these holidays, the status of adding Lunar New Year as a school holiday, whether this applies to private schools and the New York State Department of Education’s position on adding these holidays.

Off-topic Q&A:

Off topic question topics included the mayor’s favored candidate in the Chicago mayoral runoff election, how he’s going to try to convince the state legislature to block Governor Cuomo’s plans to increase reliance on student testing in teacher evaluations, his speech tomorrow to ABNY, Hillary Clinton’s use of private email for government business and his own use of private and government email, current numbers on the issuance of municipal IDs, Correction Commissioner Joe Ponte’s letter concerning a recent sexual assault on a correction officer on Rikers Island and the Corizon healthcare contract, de Blasio’s planned trip to Israel, the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at Gracie Mansion and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and City efforts at protecting residents from “growing islamophobia”.

de Blasio On Government Officials & Email Use



“I do my official business on official email” said Mayor Bill de Blasio today when asked whether he uses “private email for public business.”  He also offered strong praise for Hillary Clinton, but did not respond directly to part of the posed question: whether he thinks its “ever appropriate … for a senior government official to rely exclusively on private email.”

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito responded somewhat imprecisely, saying that “there are times when we, yes, when we rely on private email, but we do use our government email.”  Public Advocate Tish James and Council Member Danny Dromm did not respond to the question posed by Matthew Chayes of Newsday.  de Blasio spoke during a press conference announcing the addition of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as school holidays.

de Blasio On His Cuomo Relationship. Again.



In a somewhat contentious exchange Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to engage directly on a press question concerning the apparent frictions in his relationship with Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Asked about a Daily News report describing him as “at his ‘wits end'” over the “harsh treatment” administered by Governor Cuomo, de Blasio sought to dismiss any interest in “the personalities” as misguided.  de Blasio suggested that he’s not concerned with it.  He went to list a variety of issues that he’s agreed with the governor, as well as some substantial issues he’s disagreed with the governor on.  (In an unusual moment de Blasio praised former governor Eliot Spitzer’s school funding adjustments and lamented the current school aid calculations.)

Difficulties in the Cuomo/de Blasio relationship have been readily apparent since de Blasio took office.  The City’s existence as a political subdivision of the state possessing only those powers granted to it by the state ensures a tension between the state and city chief executives, but there’s a personal element involved as well.  Governor Cuomo is loath to yield political and decision-making power to anyone, including his former subordinate.

Last week de Blasio reacted to Cuomo’s prediction that their governor/mayor relationship will be the “best in modern political history” with a broad smile.

Here’s what de Blasio had to say today:

Would It Be Good To Have A Republican in 11th Congressional District?



Would it be logical for Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York’s Democratic members in the House of Representatives to accept or even welcome a Republican winning the upcoming special election in the 11th Congressional District?  That seat was held by Michael Grimm, the only Republican House member from New York City.  Republicans hold a 245 to 188 edge over Democrats in the House and a member of the majority may be more successful than the minority members in advancing New York City’s interests.  Mayor de Blasio, when asked that question by Anna Sanders of the Staten Island Advance, didn’t buy it.