Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on PBS NewsHour
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
I think there's still a little poetry in the day-to-day. I think it's important that we don't let our imagination become constrained by what we are inheriting. And in some ways, we’ve tasked ourselves with trying to keep up with New Yorkers. Because in addition to [the] first winter storm in a while, first blizzard in 10 years, nurses strike — where we stood there on the picket line with the nurses as they fought for wages that could afford to have them live in New York City, as they worked in New York City — we also just wanted to show New Yorkers that City government could work as fast as they do.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think the amount that you can do, to be honest with you. It's not to say that this work is easy, but that when you are willing, there is an immense amount of possibility. And on day eight, we joined together with Governor Hochul to announce a $1.2 billion funding of a pathway to universal childcare. And that's transformative for New York City families. And to have the opportunity to be able to act upon the vision that we shared with New Yorkers, it’s the gift of a lifetime.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe just want to be honest and transparent with New Yorkers. We're talking about a generational fiscal deficit, as you said, inheriting what was $12 billion. And thanks to the work that we've done in terms of savings, in terms of utilizing our reserves, we’ve brought that down to $5.4 billion, also in partnership with the governor's commitment to the city. And now, over these next few weeks and months, our job is to bring that down to zero.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe believe that a structural crisis deserves structural solutions. And that comes from taxing the wealthiest that little bit more and also ensuring that the relationship between the city and the state isn't as imbalanced as it's been in the past.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOur ambitions will never be pared down. This is the beginning of what it looks like to fulfill that promise. It's the start. However, New Yorkers can't afford to wait for an answer to the mental health crisis. They can't afford to wait for a legislative process to play out or for politics to [take] its course. What this is all about is responding to the crises, whether it's the mental health crisis, the crisis of gun violence, the crisis of hate violence, [or] even gender-based violence in the city. We are finally cohering what were previously disparate offices, putting them within one portfolio of work within City government, and starting to respond to them in a manner that actually befits the seriousness of the issue.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell, you know, in many ways, the days look as they did before. There is obviously an absence of food and water over the course of them. This may be the first time they're seeing a Muslim in public office during the month of Ramadan and all that comes with it. For me, I am seeing so many Muslims who have been here far longer than I have, who have been doing this work, and they've been doing it no matter what the demand is.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceIt was one of the most meaningful evenings I've had as the mayor. And to be on Rikers Island, praying alongside incarcerated New Yorkers, as well as New Yorkers who work on Rikers Island, it was really an occasion to recognize the humanity in others, and also, in doing so, recognize more of it in ourselves.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think there's an unabashed nature to it. And it is being echoed from the highest offices in this country. They do so without any sense of shame. And what is remarkable about Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry is not that it is bigoted, for there is so much bigotry in this country. It is that there are very few who speak up in opposition to it, the manner in which it has become normalized. And it is not exclusive to any one political party. It is endemic, frankly, to our politics. And what this kind of bigotry shows is a complete erasure of the million or so Muslims who call the city home, whose identity has often been one that they are made to feel as if is in tension with being a New Yorker. When, as I grew up here, I understood, and so many others did, that there is no tension in those identities. They can be one and the same.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI'm very lucky that I have an incredible team of NYPD officers who keep me safe each and every day. And my fear, frankly, is for those whose names we do not know, whose professions we do not know, who are seen and understood to be Muslim and will be attacked for it. And they will not have the protections that I do.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThey have been continuing, and it's really been a pleasure to meet with so many Jewish leaders across the city. It was actually not that long ago in this very room that I met with a number of Orthodox leaders across this city, and we discussed antisemitism and our commitment to rooting it out across the five boroughs. We also discussed childcare and housing and quality-of-life issues, because those are also the concerns that fill the lives of Jewish New Yorkers across this city. My job is not to be a mayor just for those who voted for me or those who agree with my politics. My job is to be the mayor for everyone who calls this city home, and to deliver to them a city that they can be proud of.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, the President and I have many disagreements. We're not shy about them. We've been public about them, we've been private about them. One thing we have very much in agreement is a love of New York City. And so, in that meeting, in the subsequent conversations in the following Oval Office meeting, I have gone back to the President, with our hopes for what it could look like to actually put this city on a better footing in the years to come. I put forward a plan to build more housing than New York City has seen in any single housing development since the early 70s. Alongside that, I also made clear to the President, as I have before, my continued belief that ICE raids are cruel and inhumane, that they do nothing to advance the cause of public safety. And I gave him and his chief of staff a list of five who had been detained in or around Columbia University. And maybe about 30 or so minutes after the meeting, the president called me to say that he made the decision that he was going to release the student who had been detained that morning.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think it's a productive relationship between the Mayor of this city, the President of this country, and one that is also honest. I want to always be honest with the president and with the public about where those disagreements are, and also that my job is not to litigate the disagreements but to deliver for the people of New York City.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI'll leave that to the two of us, but I'll tell you that's the focus of that relationship. I will keep that between the two of us.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceMy mother would always tell me, “If we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.” And she imbued in me the importance of being proud of who you are. And my father also, he taught me [that] so often when you're growing up as a minority in a place, you can grow up also with a sense of almost a chip on your shoulder. With it also comes the ability to see the truth of a place in its entirety. The promise of it and that which still needs to be worked on. And that was in such a way so freeing to hear as a young person, to understand my place in the world and the responsibility that I had within it, and the fact that it was a gift, not a burden.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on PBS NewsHour.