Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on PIX 11’s PIX on Politics With Dan Mannarino
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Last week, we announced that we were going to implement the nation's first Click-to-Cancel Rule. This is going to save New Yorkers more than $160 million. The first of the five PIT Crews is going to operationalize that Crew. They're going to do that by this fall. And I'm telling you that on a timeline where we know oftentimes government and technology — by the time that the technology comes into government, it's already outdated. These PIT Crews are going to actually reverse that relationship. We're so excited to see what they're going to do.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo basically, what happens is you have a PIT Crew that's going to operationalize these kinds of rules. They're going to build the websites, build the portals. And a lot of times the actions that city government does, those are on the basis of complaints that New Yorkers bring forward. Last week, we announced more than a million dollars in a settlement with a storage company. That was only possible because New Yorkers called 311. Same thing is going to happen with these PIT Crews. These websites, unlike a lot of government websites, are going to be ones that are actually painless to be a part of.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo basically, to say it clearly, every New Yorker knows whether they know the word click-to-cancel or not — you sign up for a subscription; it's very easy to sign up; you have no idea how to get out of it. It's going to be city government. City government is going to hold these companies accountable. Starting in October, we're going to have a rule where you have to make it as easy to cancel as it is to sign up. And if you do not do so, the city will fine you more than $500 on each violation.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe're looking to see every single tool at our disposal to not only better address these kinds of outbreaks but to do the work of prevention as you said. For the first time in a long time, city government, we have put forward the addresses of the buildings where those have been found positive, and we're seeing an outbreak right now on the Upper East Side. We have around 60 confirmed cases and, at this time, no confirmed New Yorkers who have lost their life as a result of this. And what we're looking to do, and what we’ve done already, is test every single cooling tower in that neighborhood, and for anyone that has a positive PCR test to start the work of cleaning their entire tower.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think we're already seeing that the growth is a much smaller level of growth than where this began, which was around July 4 holiday weekend, as the cluster was at about two. But we're not slowing down in our response because, as you said, this is New Yorkers' health that we're talking about. They deserve everything.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe accurate representation is that I came into office, we settled this lawsuit, and now we have created a new voucher program. And as I have said over the course of my time running for mayor and now as the mayor, our focus has to be on delivering for working New Yorkers and doing so in a fiscally prudent manner. And that's exactly what we've done with a new voucher program of $175 million that also has the safeguards that the prior program did not so that New Yorkers know when they get that voucher, they're going to be confident that that voucher’s going to remain true.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI would say that we always knew we wanted to settle this lawsuit, and we wanted to get to a place where we could meet the spirit of this extension and do so in a way that doesn't then follow what we've seen in the past, which is a program that starts at less than $50 million and gets up to almost $2 billion. We have to do it in a way that is a little more level.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI believe the NYPD when they put forward their numbers. What we're seeing are some of the lowest numbers that New York City has seen in recorded history. Especially when it comes to murders and shootings, these are the lowest we've ever seen. And what I think is important to know is a lot of the increase in rape also comes from an expanded definition of what counts as rape, as well as survivors coming forward for acts that took place years prior. And we are thankful for them coming forward, the courage, the bravery it takes, but just to provide New Yorkers with that context. And I'm proud that in working with Commissioner Tisch, we were able to fulfill the two hopes that we had earlier in the year to provide two different Command Centers in the Bronx like we do in Brooklyn and in Queens, and to also provide additional training to officers all within the originally authorized head count.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell, our focus right now is on, as you said, the safety of that building. We are confident in the steps that we've taken thus far. We haven't seen movement in that building. We have an area that is around the building to ensure that we can actually catch any kind of debris or anything that may result from a lot of the renovations that we are doing right now to keep it safe. But as you said, as soon as that safety work is done, we're going to be doing a full investigation into this contractor.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceLet's be clear, there's only one king in New York, that's Jalen Brunson. I was proud to play a small part in these elections. You know, we saw the three congressional candidates we endorsed, they won. The five state legislative candidates we endorsed, they won. And now I'm excited to see what they're going to do. My focus has been on New York City races, and that's where I'm at right now.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI can tell you I’m living in 2026. I’m living in the now, brother.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOkay, I gotta say, The Cyclone. Incredible. 1927. We gotta give it a shout out. I also have to give a shout-out to Deno's Wonder Wheel, which is technically just adjacent to Luna Park. It's a family-run business, and I had a great time on their Ferris wheel.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI've already reached the age where I'm living in the past. And so, the World Cup, I'm just listening to “Waka Waka” by Shakira. Again and again.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI couldn't have named it if you hadn’t said it to me right now. Alright, thank you.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Appears on PIX 11’s PIX on Politics With Dan Mannarino.