de Blasio Press Q&A: The Artsbridge Edition



New York City’s mayor and catholic archbishop today hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking and press conference to mark the beginning of an affordable housing development for senior citizens.  The Artsbridge project, in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, is being developed by the Archdiocese using land provided by the City, with financing from both New York City and New York State.  Being developed by Highbridge Community Development Corporation, Artsbridge will provide 61 “affordable” units for senior citizens.  Bill de Blasio and Timothy Cardinal Dolan, joined by other federal, state, city and Archdiocese officials, gave a ceremonial toss of a shovelful of dirt and then spoke with the press and an invited audience.

Q&A – On Topic:

Questions during the on topic portion of the press Q&A included the relationship between the City and the Archdiocese and between their respective principals, Mayor de Blasio and Cardinal Dolan, how the de Blasio administration calculates the number of affordable housing units for which it claims credit and an extended discussion of the role of the Archdiocese in this project.  Here is the full on topic portion of the Q&A:

Q&A – Off Topic:

Questions during the off topic portion of the press Q&A included the NYPD’s proposed expansion of it’s use of tasers, a fine levied by the Campaign Finance Board against de Blasio ally and pro-carriage horse ban advocate NYCLASS, de Blasio’s recent comments on the City’s long drop in crime being attributable to former mayor David Dinkins and former city council speaker Peter Vallone Sr., a city council proposal to allow filing in City Council district offices of NYPD-related complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the proposed bill which would ban carriage horses and resulting loss of jobs, an attempt by a staff member of the Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor to goad the mayor into agreeing to appear on that show, a possible tax on non-resident apartment owners, the mayor’s planned meeting tonight with Jewish community leaders in Crown Heights and whether the mayor has concerns about the “secrecy” of the NYPD’s disciplinary process.

Separate coverage of a mid-press conference attempt by a staff member of the Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor to goad the mayor into agreeing to appear on that show is here.