Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Launches “Public Interest Technology (Pit) Crew” to Rapidly Build Digital Solutions to Public Problems
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here today at New York City's biggest speedway, the Coney Island go-kart track, to speak about how we are making City government faster and more efficient for the working people who call our beautiful city their home. And I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders here both inside and outside of City government. We have our deputy mayor, Julia Kerson; we have our commissioner and chief technology officer of OTI, Lisa Gelobter; we have the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Rajiv Shah; we have our city councilwoman and chair of the technology committee, Carmen De La Rosa, who's here with us; we also have our chair of the State Senate Internet and Technology Committee, Kristen Gonzalez; as well as our associate general counselor for DCWP, Andy Schwenk [and] members of our Tech Transition Committee. And we want to thank Luna Park for having us here today. Now allow me for just a moment to turn back the clock. It is early August 1994; I am not quite three years old. Pulp Fiction is dominating the box office; Sony is gearing up to release the first-ever PlayStation; and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is humming with the kind of energy that only comes with a moment that will go down in history. It is the inaugural Brickyard 400, a race that has drawn the largest crowd NASCAR has ever seen. And Jeff Gordon is speeding towards victory, thanks in no small part to his revolutionary pit crew, the Rainbow Warriors. Unlike the other crews out on the Speedway that day, the Rainbow Warriors were not your average mechanics. No, they were an organized team who trained together, practiced together [and] learned together; who transformed pitting into an art and pushed one another to a new standard of excellence. Today, I am proud to announce that City Hall is launching five of our very own game-changing PIT Crews, Public Interest Technology Crews, under the Office of Technology and Innovation. Driven by the same spirit of innovation and efficiency as the Rainbow Warriors, these PIT Crews will raise the bar for what New Yorkers can expect from City Hall. Each team will be comprised of product managers, designers, engineers, user researchers and data experts. They will work closely with city agencies to launch digital solutions to government processes that have long been defined by piles of paperwork. And they will do so with a speed rarely seen in government. Instead of waiting years for new government technology, only for it to work slowly — if it is not already, frankly, outdated by the time that it's released — our PIT Crews will move ideas to implementation in a matter of months. Last Friday, I announced that New York City will be enacting the nation's first ever click-to-cancel rule, a major step in protecting New Yorkers from costly subscription traps and hidden fees. Today, I'm proud to say that our first PIT Crew will be dedicated to making this rule a material reality for New Yorkers. They will work with DCWP to build an online portal where New Yorkers can file complaints against companies that trap their customers in subscriptions that are near impossible to cancel. The platform will not only provide recourse for New Yorkers who are being exploited, it will also provide a database that City Hall will use to hold violators accountable. And we will have four additional project-specific PIT Crews that will similarly make life more affordable for New Yorkers by making city platforms easier to use. One of these teams will be launched with support from the Rockefeller Foundation via the Mayor's Fund; we are deeply grateful for their partnership. But this work is not just about making City government more efficient, it is about improving the way that government works. In 2026, nearly all of the services City Hall offers New Yorkers are dispensed through digital platforms. Every confusing step and every dead-end portal makes it more difficult for government to deliver for New Yorkers, and for New Yorkers to trust that government is working to deliver them. Every straightforward experience New Yorkers have on city platforms rebuilds that trust and our PIT Crews will help us do exactly that. So, if you're an experienced product manager, software engineer, designer or a technologist who wants to help make City government work better and faster, please apply to join one of our PIT Crew at nyc.gov/pitcrew.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAbsolutely. Let's take the example of what the first PIT Crew will be doing. They will be focusing on operationalizing the Click-to-Cancel Rule. The Click-to-Cancel Rule is estimated to save New Yorkers more than $160 million a year when in operation. So, if one-fifth of $5.4 million makes that rule a reality and then it saves $160 million, it's an immense amount of money saved. And what we're also not measuring in the conversation around dollars is time and the stress that also comes from so many of these subscriptions. I am currently subscribed to something that I don't even know my login for, but they have my credit card information, and I don’t know how to cancel it. It's a publication and I'll leave it at that. But I think that is what gives you a sense of what these PIT Crews can make real, and I also really want to thank the Rockefeller Institute, because that contribution of $2 million — it really helps to bring this to life, and it shows that this is the bringing together of the public and the private at once for the benefit of all people who call the city home. And as I'm acknowledging that, I also want to acknowledge our soon-to-be Congressmember Brad Lander is also here with us in the crowd.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, we will be launching the first product by fall of this year, and I'm just going to pass it over to our chief technology officer to offer a few additional details to your second question.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI will continue to work with Morris Katz. He remains a top advisor of mine. And for Sunday's final, my focus will be on the game, and I anticipate just watching for 90 or 120 or maybe even penalties as well.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI was not there this weekend, though I know that it was a moment that many New Yorkers are going to hold dear for years. Nas and Jay-Z performing together, it's incredible, and I know there's just so many more moments that we could all be listing. And last night is something that we're going to follow up on because I know many New Yorkers were delayed after there was a breach of security by those that didn't have tickets and then it resulted in a multiple-hour delay for many others, so that's something we'll follow up on. I mean, the first album I was ever given was a clean version of The Blueprint, which is unfortunate. I learned about the importance of freedom of expression. So, I mean you know, “H to the Izzo,” “Girls Girls Girls.” I just remember that and the Jogproof Walkman and then learning that there was actually an explicit version that I needed to memorize the words to.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYeah, I think that paraprofessionals are a critically important part of our workforce, and I appreciate the councilwoman's leadership on highlighting that. I do also believe that the conversations around compensation are ones to be had at the negotiating table and that'll continue.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, the first time that I met Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa was when we were both serving in the New York State Assembly. And that was the year when we advocating to increase taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers by raising income taxes on those who made more than a million dollars across our city and state. And we were told then that if we were to do that, that we would have fewer millionaires in the years to come. And what we found is after passing that and raising billions of dollars that helped our state to finally meet the terms of the campaign for fiscal equity, that we, in fact, had more millionaires than we had prior. So, I think the conversation will always continue. I've been very clear about the fact that we live in the wealthiest city and the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and it's unacceptable that one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty. And I believe that the wealthiest can do a little bit more to ensure that everyone can afford to live here. And the little bit more, you know, when we're talking about the pied-� -terre tax; it's a tax on non-resident New Yorkers' secondary homes that are worth more than $5 million. I think that that's common sense. I think most New Yorkers feel the same way. And I look forward to continuing to advance a vision of our city that has room for everyone, because that's also what makes the city so incredible. And to your first question, I want to first just go over what our administration's focus is. We are focused on connecting New Yorkers to shelter and on establishing a pipeline to stable housing, not just moving New Yorkers from one place to another place. And so, we made it very clear at the beginning of this year that our approach was going to be one where we would have DHS outreach teams lead the work of conducting daily outreach to homeless New Yorkers who were living in an encampment following the notice of that encampment sweep. So, those would be a full week's worth of daily engagements and outreach once that notice was provided. And the goal of that outreach is to ensure that we're building trust, that we're actually able to connect those New Yorkers with services, and that we can connect them with any other things that they need, whether it be medical care or whether it would be housing support. And then by the seventh day the notice — following the notice, the encampment will be cleared. And to the specific encampment that you brought up, we're going to look into the details of that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, we are following up on a lot of the different projects that were either paused or canceled by the prior administration. And we are also looking to ensure that the way that we are going about doing so is one that is both in line with the legal requirements and also in line with ensuring that those projects will be durable for not just the short term, but the medium term and the long term. And I think just going back to your earlier point — we are an administration that believes there should not be a hierarchy of safety. Whether you are driving, whether you are walking, whether you are biking, whether you are using public transit, you should come to expect the same level of safety in our city. I don't know, deputy mayor, if there's anything you'd want to add. Okay, alright. Thank you very much. Yes. So, to date, there are 59 confirmed cases and no deaths associated with this cluster. If you live, work or have visited the area since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms, whether they be cough, fever, difficulty breathing, then we encourage New Yorkers to contact a healthcare provider. Now, I know that at some points when there are Legionnaires’ outbreaks, there are concerns about the use of water. I want to be very direct to New Yorkers that they are completely safe to drink tap water, to use it to shower, to bathe, to use their air conditioners. There is no concern from this outbreak about their ability to do so, whether they live in the area of the cluster or anywhere across New York City. And we've also just released the addresses of the buildings that had positive PCR tests. And that is the first time an administration has done so in a number of years, because we're looking to be as transparent as we can with New Yorkers about where we're seeing this outbreak. And I also do want to say a note of thank you to city workers who've been working around the clock on turning these tests around and on ensuring that New Yorkers know exactly what they need to know. [Crosstalk.] You know, I think the first thing that we are doing is looking to utilize every tool we can to both keep New Yorkers safe and move as quickly as possible in doing so. And that is going to continue, whether as we are talking about this cluster or we're talking about in the future. And when it pertains to the Upper West Side, you know, our Health Department is aware of a building independently conducting Legionella testing, and they did so in their internal plumbing system. Now, this is unrelated to the cluster of Legionnaires’ on the Upper East Side. And what the focus has been from the Health Department is on cooling towers in the Upper West Side. There is no cooling tower at this building on the Upper West Side and the reason for that focus is typically those towers are the cause of this outbreak, but we're going to be following up on that building as well. Thank you all very much. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Launches “Public Interest Technology (Pit) Crew” to Rapidly Build Digital Solutions to Public Problems.