Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Holds Press Conference With NYCEM
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
So first and foremost, we mourn the loss of any and every New Yorker, and we are keeping those five New Yorkers in our thoughts as well as their friends and their family. At this time, it is still too early to say what the cause of death was for any of the five of them, and it seems at this moment that we do not think any of them were homeless. The Department of Homeless Services is conducting regular outreach to homeless New Yorkers across the five boroughs. We are speaking about outreach that is being conducted every two hours. Prior to Friday, we had already been in Code Blue. That's when we go below freezing temperatures, and what that means is it's a moment where we bypass the typical intake procedures that take place at a shelter. At this moment, the focus is not on filling out forms, it's on filling our shelter beds. So, we were having city workers, incredible city workers, who are doing such important work right now, canvassing homeless New Yorkers across the city and connecting them with shelter, connecting them with services. If they are in need of immediate medical services, then doing so as well. And I do also just have to both appreciate New Yorkers who have been calling 311 whenever they see a homeless New Yorker who's outside at this time, as well as ask New Yorkers to continue to do so, because those calls are rerouted to 911, and that is then another point of outreach that we can have to keep somebody indoors.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think the first thing you should do is call 311, so that the city is aware of it. I am heartened by the reports that we've received thus far that we have not seen such outages as yet, though a key part of our briefing was both anticipating and hearing the reports of what the current status is. Additionally, when I am telling New Yorkers to stay home and to stay safe and to avoid unnecessary travel, I would also remind every New Yorker that in a moment such as this, with this kind of immense cold, to also be very careful with the use of remote space heaters. We are speaking about the need to ensure that you always monitor the operation of a space heater, as well as keep it more than three feet away from anything that is flammable.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I haven't yet been in contact with Governor Sherrill over the course of this snowstorm. What I can tell you, however, is that I've been in close contact with Governor Hochul and Governor Hochul's team. We have all been in regular, constant communication as we know that these conditions pose a real danger to New Yorkers. I am thankful for the incredible work of our sanitation workers, as well as the workers and the leadership at the MTA for ensuring that when we speak about service in our public transit, it is continuing at this time. If anything, there may be minimal service delays, but by and large, it is as expected. Now, the key part of this is not just how we meet the moment of the storm, but also how we recover from the storm. And as you said, for tomorrow, we are still trying to take every precaution we can so that if a New Yorker does not have to come into work, that they actually do that work remotely. For those that do, we are trying to do everything we can to make it as least hazardous as possible. I don't know, Janno, if you want to add anything.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAt this time, it doesn't appear that those New Yorkers were homeless. You know, there is a medical examiner's investigation that is currently ongoing. As soon as we have the results from that autopsy, we will be releasing that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I think there's always the tussle between the head and the heart. I can tell you as a New Yorker who loved snow days growing up and would sit and watch local news at 5 a.m. to see if my school was mentioned on the ticker at the bottom, I know what this means for students. It's why I've invited them to pelt me in the face with a snowball. However, New York City also operates in accordance with state law where we have to have 180 days of instruction. And given the additions of holidays over the past few administrations, it reduces the flexibility that we can have to have an old-fashioned snow day.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, the first thing I would say is we've already increased our capacity at our help desks from about 90 to 140 people. If there is any kind of an issue that a parent or a student is facing, I would tell them that they should call our support desk. They can do so at 718-935-5100. That is a support desk that will be active from 6 a.m. tomorrow to 6 p.m. And I also just want to acknowledge and appreciate the work of our chancellor [and] the work of our DOE, because what they've been doing is ensuring that we learn from the lessons of the past. That means stress testing the system such that it can handle [the] capacity of the entire school system logging on. Now, we know that tomorrow it will not be the entire school system because high school students and students at schools that have grades 6 through 12 already have a previously scheduled day off as part of professional training day. And yet, what we know is that the system would be prepared even if that was the case. So, for every student that will be logging on tomorrow, our principals are fully prepared. Thanks to the hard work of those at DOE, we will have staggered start times. Students have their tech, and it's going to be a good remote learning day. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Holds Press Conference With NYCEM.