Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Joins DCWP and NYC Health + Hospitals to Promote Free Tax Preparation Services for New Yorkers
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good afternoon, everyone. Before I share what we're doing to improve the tax process for New Yorkers, I want to continue to speak [about] the winter weather that impacts our city. We are now in our 12th day of this cold snap. Throughout it all, city workers have worked tirelessly on behalf of their fellow New Yorkers. Outreach teams have traversed the city making every possible effort to bring vulnerable and homeless New Yorkers in from the cold. We have now made more than 980 placements into shelters and safe havens since Monday the 19th. The number of New Yorkers who have passed away during this Code Blue remains at 16. That does not mean that the danger, however, has passed. If you see someone in need, please call 311. Outreach workers and first responders from NYPD and FDNY will respond and get those New Yorkers, the help that they need. In addition, to everything being done by those workers and those first responders, DSNY workers, New York's strongest, continue their work. They have now cleared over 52,000 crosswalks, over 11,000 fire hydrants, and more than 17,000 bus stops. Operations continue around the clock. They have melted more than a 150 million pounds of snow across our five boroughs and laid more than 200 million pounds of salt. Those same [Department of] Sanitation workers have also been collecting residential trash across the five boroughs. Every day, residents across our city set out about 24 million pounds of trash, recycling and compostable material at the curb. New Yorkers will be able to expect that their trash will be picked up on their scheduled collection day. We are one day behind schedule in terms of recycling collection. This cold is going to endure and so too will our efforts. I will continue to keep New Yorkers updated over the days ahead. Now it is a pleasure to be here at one of our great NYC Health + Hospitals location and to be here with so many New Yorkers, who dedicate themselves to bettering the lives of their neighbors. I stand here alongside not only our Council Member Harvey Epstein, as well as in front, our Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, as well as in front of Bishop Mitchell Taylor, and I want to say thank you as well to Michelle Lewis at Gotham Health for hosting us here today. I also stand here alongside a former colleague of mine who was doing tax preparation a long time ago. Good to see you, my friend. Tax season is upon us. For so many New Yorkers, a feeling of nagging dread begins to intensify as the April 15th deadline nears. Even now, in early February, I know that that pressure is beginning to mount. It is not only the pressure of making sure you include every piece of information, but it's the worry [of] how much you might owe, whether the refund you may or may not receive can cover part of the rent bill for the month to come, and how much it'll cost just to get through that paperwork. And in a city where a dignified life is already hard enough to afford, where the cost of rent and childcare and transit feel insurmountable to so many, a few added dollars can make all the difference. That is why, we are here together today to spread the word about NYC Free Tax Prep Program, which delivers relief to working people across the entirety of this city. This is a program that helps New Yorkers file their taxes for free, keep every dollar that they've earned, and avoid the predatory fees that proliferate, throughout so much of the tax industry. Nearly half of all New Yorkers are eligible. If your family earned up to $97,000, or if you're an individual who earned $68,000 in 2025, I encourage you to sign up for this program. Last year this program saved New Yorkers $38.2 million on 110,000 cost-free returns, or $346 per return. That is measured in 110,000 households who found it a little easier to afford groceries, to pay their bills, to make rent. There are over 140 locations across the city that can help with your specialized tax needs year-round. Some of these can be found in health system sites, including NYC Health + Hospitals locations, just like this one, because we know that financial counseling does not only affect financial health, [but] it also makes a lasting difference in overall health outcomes as well. I encourage every New Yorker to head to nyc.gov/tax prep. I know that's probably a website you never want to type in, but this will be one that can actually help make this a period that is far less stressful than what it has been, because what this website will show you is how this program can make a difference for you. And it isn't only this website and the information about it that is the example of the work we're doing to reform and improve the tax process for New Yorkers, because free tax prep only works if people are being protected from being ripped off. Since we took office 34 days ago, I have stood alongside Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine, time and again as we have enacted an agenda to protect working families. We've stood up for delivery workers whose pay has been systematically stolen by the companies that employ them. We've targeted junk fees that [broke] New Yorkers rent payments, gym memberships, concert tickets, hotel costs, created a citywide junk fee task force, and gone after the subscription tricks and traps leaking money from your accounts. Today, we are taking that work one step further. As part of our push to make the tax process easier and more transparent, DCWP will crack down on the exorbitant charges and deceptive practices that too often define the paid tax industry. DCWP will lead an aggressive citywide enforcement program inspecting in-person tax preparation locations and sending warnings as well to tax preparers so we can put a stop to the unfair fees and sketchy loans fleecing honest New Yorkers. There are many honest accountants in this city. A few of them are actually my friends. They serve their clients with integrity. DCWP are not going after those who employ fair business practices, rather they will target those who use slippery and deceitful tactics to rip New Yorkers off and to increase the characterization of those New Yorkers of taxes as a time of immense stress. Taken together, these efforts represent more than a commitment to lightening the stress that too many New Yorkers feel or taking an anxiety-inducing process and making it a little less complicated. They are proof that government can directly improve people's lives and that the people of this city can turn to City Hall and expect change that carries a tangible impact. We will measure their success when New Yorkers receive thousands of dollars in refunds, when our neighbors are no longer ripped off, and when the feared tax process inspires just a little less dread. And I want to end by saying this. I remember as an assembly member representing Astoria and Long Island City that I would take a walk with Bishop Taylor as we walked through my district, and I learned about the ways in which this kind of work was transformative in bringing dollars back into the pockets of working-class New Yorkers. And now as I stand here before you as the mayor, I am proud to be building on that incredible work that has already been done for so many years and now ensuring that this is something that so many more New Yorkers can experience as simply a fact of their life. With that, I'm going to pass it over to our Commissioner, Sam Levine.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source Look, I think before I was the mayor, before I was an Assembly member, I was a foreclosure prevention housing counselor at Chhaya CDC. And when I was at Chhaya with a few of my colleagues who are here today, one of my fondest recollections was the many different services that were provided. And tax prep was one of those services. And I think that we are proud of this city's history in the way in which it has stepped up to help working people. We know, however, that there is far more work to be done. This continues to be the most expensive city in the United States of America. And we know, that while we are proud of having served 110,000 households in the previous iteration of this, about half of New Yorkers are eligible for this. So that means there's still far more New Yorkers across the five boroughs who have yet to hear about this. And I think, as you were saying in your own work, the initial response is surely this can't be free. For many New Yorkers, it feels as if this is the scam, when in reality, the scam has been the many fees that they've been forced to pay time and time again. So, I think it's our job to utilize every single tool that we have. And I'm thankful that we have with us here civic leaders, religious leaders, political leaders, health care leaders who can help us to share this across the five boroughs.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source I am very proud to be supporting Diana Moreno and supporting her record of having fought for workers' rights for immigrants, also for focusing on the need for universal childcare across the city. And Astoria and Long Island City hold a very special place in my heart, and I think that she is exactly the right person to continue that legacy of fighting for working people.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, our city also helps New Yorkers with setting up those bank accounts. We want to be there for New Yorkers at multiple steps of the process. I'm gonna have the commissioner just add a few points on that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, I keep the conversations between the president and myself private. What I will tell you, however, is I've been very clear on the fact that our city's values, our city's laws, those are not bargaining chips. We will stand up, and we will defend them. And I think too often, frankly, the conversation around sanctuary city policies, does not acknowledge the fact that these are policies in place to keep New Yorker safe. We are often we often hear the justification of public safety as to why these policies should be attacked when, in fact, these are policies that used to be defended by Republicans and Democrats for decades. And so I'm proud to defend these policies, and I'm proud to also make clear to New Yorkers that we will defend you no matter where you were born, no matter which borough you call home, no matter where you come from, because you're a New Yorker, and that applies to the services that we're speaking about and also just our stance in general.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source I continue to be proud of my endorsement of former comptroller, Brad Lander. I think that he is exactly the kind of person who should continue to be a leader in this city. And what I will say is that time and again, you could find whether it be journalists, like those who are in this room or the past comptroller reports. There were a number of clear and public citations of the city's fiscal straits. What there wasn't, however, is City Hall's acknowledgement of that. And so, while we came into office expecting to see difficult financial conditions, what we did not expect to see was that these estimates were very much the ones that we would be in line with.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, I'll just first address this at large. Then I'll go into some of your specific questions. So, over the weekend, as you said, I spoke with the Chakraborty family, and I visited Jabez is in the hospital, and there is no family [that] should have to endure this kind of pain. Jabez has lived with schizophrenia for many years, and this situation underscores just how urgently we need a different and more effective mental health response system, that will be safer for New Yorkers who struggle with mental health concerns for their families and for police officers. Jabez needs mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution by a district attorney. And that is why, I proposed creating a Department of Community Safety to build a mental health system rooted in prevention and sustained care in real crisis response. So, officers no longer have to handle these situations alone. While we have been developing this implementation plan, I have told my administration to speed up this work and an NYPD investigation into this incident is underway. And as you said, my administration will be releasing the body worn camera footage from the first responding officers, later today. And I've seen that footage, and shortly, New Yorkers will be able to themselves.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, we are actively exploring many policy options with the North Star of keeping everyone safe. That includes the affected individual, the family, police officers, any other responding city personnel. And what [this] policy options include are various co-response models involving teams of behavioral health specialists, peer experts and, of course, police so they can intervene when the need arises. As I've said, when there is a violent situation such as with a weapon, NYPD will be on the scene.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, that investigation is underway. I'll have more to share when it's finished. No, that investigation continues. The later today is the release of the body camera footage.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, as I've said, when there is a violent situation such as with a weapon, NYPD will be on the scene and the North Star that we are building towards is one where every single person is safe. That includes the affected individual. That includes the family. That includes police officers, and that includes additional city personnel who are responding. This continues to be a focus for me, because we know that our current response system is not one that is setting our city up for success. It is one that deeply needs to be changed, and that is exactly what we're focused on.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, I absolutely support Council Member Restler's bill to create the Department of Community Safety, and we are also exploring a myriad of additional options such that no matter the pursuit of the legislative creation of this department, it continues to be a possibility for us. And that is something that I'm confident of. That is also something that we will continue to keep New Yorkers aware of. And throughout all of this, as well as just in general, our focus is on transparency. It's on being clear with New Yorkers about the information that we have and looking to share that New Yorkers directly with them as well.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source My job as the mayor is to be straightforward with the New Yorkers and also to inform them of updates. And in meeting with the family, in visiting Jabez at the hospital. And in viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney. And we're talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should. And an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years. And we have known of the need of a Department of Community Safety prior to this moment. This only highlights the urgency of that need and to be able to deliver it for New Yorkers.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So, I think there's a few things to say here. One is a lot of this is exactly the focus of the conversations that we're having internally in developing out this Department of Community Safety. Additionally, I want to make clear that a person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available, and that's exactly what we're looking at. Thank you all so much. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Joins DCWP and NYC Health + Hospitals to Promote Free Tax Preparation Services for New Yorkers.