Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Nominates Midori Valdivia as Chair of Taxi and Limousine Commission
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good evening, everyone. All day and all night, as planes arrive and land, the hardworking taxi drivers of our city wait here for their next fare. And for too long, as they have waited, their leaders have done the same. The consequences of this inaction have been stark. As cab drivers here at LaGuardia wait for their next passenger to arrive, their minds often wander to thoughts of the debt that many of them hold, the rising childcare and grocery costs that they feel increasingly out of reach, the weight of instability that forces them to work seven days a week. And still, it isn't enough. These are not abstract concerns. These are in fact the very things that drivers shared with me each of the 15 days we sat on hunger strike during 2021. Our stomachs aching with hunger pangs, our commitment to defeating predatory medallion debt, lending practices unshakable. We mourned the nine drivers who had been driven to take their own lives, the cruelty and dismissiveness that defined the vast majority of these drivers' interactions with power, and vowed that if we ever had the ability to write a new story, then that is exactly what we would do. We won that protest, and we won more than $475 million in debt relief. And as I said to one of our hunger strikers, Richard Chow, from the stage on election night on November 4th, my brother, we are in City Hall now. From City Hall, we will deliver meaningful change in the lives of the working people, too often forgotten by our politics, and in the day-to-day existence of the taxi drivers who deserve a forceful champion at the TLC. That champion, my friends, is the woman to my left, Midori Valdivia, who I am so proud to nominate today to be the commissioner and chair of the TLC. Few New Yorkers can boast the extensive transportation background that Midori possesses. She served as the deputy commissioner for TLC, making historic strides in expanding accessibility across our taxi fleet. She served as the senior advisor to the executive director at the Port Authority. She currently serves as the chief operating officer at the Coro New York Leadership Center. And most of all, she deeply loves transit in this city, and she sees it as the foundation of the vibrant place that we call home. Midori's work will extend to the more than 200,000 drivers who crisscross this city every day, and the decisions that she will make will reach not only their lives, but each of the New Yorkers who step into one of those cabs. Roughly one million trips [take] place every single day. And I have appointed her not only for her experience, but frankly also for her vision. It is a vision of a New York City where those who drive our people are not passengers in their own life, but rather one where they are empowered to live with the dignity and the purpose that they deserve. And it is the vision where taxi drivers, for-hire drivers, [and] paratransit drivers have the representation and the voice in government that they have too long been deprived of. Whether the sun sits at its highest place in the sky, or whether it is dipped beneath the horizon, one of the few constants in this city is that taxi drivers of New York will be here waiting for you, ready to serve you. Let us add a new constant in the story of this place that we call home. One where those drivers, and every other working person, can expect the same consistency, the same service in return from their government. Thank you so much. And now, our nominee to be the next chair and commissioner for TLC, Midori Valdivia.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI won't speak to legislation affecting those outside New York City, as the legislation that you indicated does. But I take the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously, and we'll always make sure that our policy and our decision making is focused on the drivers who are here alongside me, in front of me, behind me, to keep our city moving.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOur values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips. I will always defend this city and every single person who calls this city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear. And I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand. I've yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York City.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThere are many threats that are made to New York City on a regular basis, and I am confident in our city's ability to fight those threats back. And we've also seen, whether it be in the courts or whether it be beyond that, our ability to win those fights.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI absolutely do not support the way the Iranian government has responded to that. I think that the Iranian government and every government should respect the right of people to express their political opinions, and for people to be able to do so safely.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI've exchanged a handful of texts with the president since we met in the Oval Office, and those texts, the conversations that we've had, they always come back to New York City and the importance of delivering for the people who call this city home. Thank you guys. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceGood evening, everyone. All day and all night, as planes arrive and land, the hardworking taxi drivers of our city wait here for their next fare. And for too long, as they have waited, their leaders have done the same. The consequences of this inaction have been stark. As cab drivers here at LaGuardia wait for their next passenger to arrive, their minds often wander to thoughts of the debt that many of them hold, the rising childcare and grocery costs that they feel increasingly out of reach, the weight of instability that forces them to work seven days a week. And still, it isn't enough. These are not abstract concerns. These are in fact the very things that drivers shared with me each of the 15 days we sat on hunger strike during 2021. Our stomachs aching with hunger pangs, our commitment to defeating predatory medallion debt, lending practices unshakable. We mourned the nine drivers who had been driven to take their own lives, the cruelty and dismissiveness that defined the vast majority of these drivers' interactions with power, and vowed that if we ever had the ability to write a new story, then that is exactly what we would do. We won that protest, and we won more than $475 million in debt relief. And as I said to one of our hunger strikers, Richard Chow, from the stage on election night on November 4th, my brother, we are in City Hall now. From City Hall, we will deliver meaningful change in the lives of the working people, too often forgotten by our politics, and in the day-to-day existence of the taxi drivers who deserve a forceful champion at the TLC. That champion, my friends, is the woman to my left, Midori Valdivia, who I am so proud to nominate today to be the commissioner and chair of the TLC. Few New Yorkers can boast the extensive transportation background that Midori possesses. She served as the deputy commissioner for TLC, making historic strides in expanding accessibility across our taxi fleet. She served as the senior advisor to the executive director at the Port Authority. She currently serves as the chief operating officer at the Coro New York Leadership Center. And most of all, she deeply loves transit in this city, and she sees it as the foundation of the vibrant place that we call home. Midori's work will extend to the more than 200,000 drivers who crisscross this city every day, and the decisions that she will make will reach not only their lives, but each of the New Yorkers who step into one of those cabs. Roughly one million trips [take] place every single day. And I have appointed her not only for her experience, but frankly also for her vision. It is a vision of a New York City where those who drive our people are not passengers in their own life, but rather one where they are empowered to live with the dignity and the purpose that they deserve. And it is the vision where taxi drivers, for-hire drivers, [and] paratransit drivers have the representation and the voice in government that they have too long been deprived of. Whether the sun sits at its highest place in the sky, or whether it is dipped beneath the horizon, one of the few constants in this city is that taxi drivers of New York will be here waiting for you, ready to serve you. Let us add a new constant in the story of this place that we call home. One where those drivers, and every other working person, can expect the same consistency, the same service in return from their government. Thank you so much. And now, our nominee to be the next chair and commissioner for TLC, Midori Valdivia.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI won't speak to legislation affecting those outside New York City, as the legislation that you indicated does. But I take the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously, and we'll always make sure that our policy and our decision making is focused on the drivers who are here alongside me, in front of me, behind me, to keep our city moving.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOur values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips. I will always defend this city and every single person who calls this city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear. And I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand. I've yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York City.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThere are many threats that are made to New York City on a regular basis, and I am confident in our city's ability to fight those threats back. And we've also seen, whether it be in the courts or whether it be beyond that, our ability to win those fights.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI absolutely do not support the way the Iranian government has responded to that. I think that the Iranian government and every government should respect the right of people to express their political opinions, and for people to be able to do so safely.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI've exchanged a handful of texts with the president since we met in the Oval Office, and those texts, the conversations that we've had, they always come back to New York City and the importance of delivering for the people who call this city home. Thank you guys. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Nominates Midori Valdivia as Chair of Taxi and Limousine Commission.