Transcript: Mayor Mamdani, NYCHA and the Public Housing Preservation Trust Announce $607 Million Modernization at Nostrand Houses
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be in Sheepshead Bay as we mark the beginning of a new chapter for residents of Nostrand Houses and those in NYCHA developments across our city. You know, before we begin, I would like to take a moment to speak about NYCHA maintenance supervisor Leighton Brown, who was tragically killed while working an extra shift during this past weekend storm. I am heartbroken. This is a loss that is painful beyond words for his loved ones, for his family, frankly, for all those who live and work at Cypress Hills Houses, and for our city as a whole. He will be deeply missed. And if you are like me and have seen the videos that people have put forward of what he meant to them, his nickname of “Mr. Fix-It,” you know that this was someone who was cherished, almost even considered as if a superhero in the neighborhood. And his legacy is one that he leaves to this city that all of us will strive to meet. I also want to acknowledge here before we begin a number of leaders that we have alongside me, both inside and outside of City government. We have our deputy mayor, Leila Bozorg. We have our executive director of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants, Cea Weaver. We have the Senate sponsor of the legislation that made this possible, State Senator Julia Salazar. We have our NYCHA CEO and trust board chair, Lisa Bova-Hiatt. We have the president of the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust, Vlada Kenniff. We have NYCHA board chair Jamie Rubin. And we have representatives from our governor Kathy Hochul's office here with us. And we also want to acknowledge labor, as well as housing advocates that are here in the house. And a special shoutout to all residents of Nostrand Houses. Now, when Fiorello La Guardia first proposed a citywide public housing system in 1934, the idea was unprecedented. It might seem fundamental now, but nearly a century ago, the concept of a city providing the people it served with decent, dignified housing was borderline revolutionary. It was an idealism that many deemed impossible, or, God forbid, radical. And yet, by the 1960s, that idealism had taken shape as the largest and most ambitious public housing system in America, providing more than 500,000 New Yorkers with quality, affordable homes. But as the years progressed, the imagination and ambition that built our public housing system slowly withered into the past, and as those founding convictions were neglected, so too were the homes that NYCHA residents deserve. Over the past decades, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers living in NYCHA have been forced to contend with a very different legacy, a legacy of disinvestment. They experience it each time a ceiling leaks in the rain, each time black mold grows as a result, each time an elevator sits out of service, and in every broken refrigerator and stove, cabinet and counter long left in disrepair. This has taken more than a physical toll. It has also taken a psychological one. NYCHA residents have come to expect that when they ask for help from their government, their government will look the other way. Those in power will determine that the scale of their need is too vast. Those with the ability to deliver change will say that NYCHA residents are not worth the effort. My friends, today we come together to start to bring that legacy of neglect to an end. Today, we mark a major milestone on the path to a new era for NYCHA: the first-ever financial closing of a $610 million modernization project done with the NYCHA Preservation Trust right here at Nostrand Houses. And I just want to also acknowledge — we can have a round of applause for all of the staff that worked on this tirelessly. They worked on this so well that we actually had to steal a couple of them to work in City Hall. Now, the Preservation Trust is 100 percent public. Its actions will be guided by residents' input at every step of the way. When residents vote to participate in the trust, as they did here at Nostrand Houses, they unlock more than 10 times the amount of public funding to deliver the improvements they have long waited for. Throughout the conversion, NYCHA will retain full ownership and management. I want to commend the residents of Nostrand Houses, many of whom are here with us today, for their courage to do what no NYCHA tenants have ever done before: coming together to vote for a new future built on the same vision and determination that first defined our public housing system. Beginning this fall, that vision will come to life. The design-build team, Community Modernization Group, will begin the full renovation and rehabilitation of 1,148 homes across 16 residential buildings. This will be a five-year, six-phase project. It will include repairs and upgrades to heating, hot water and plumbing; new elevators and electrical wiring; as well as major upgrades to security systems and expanded CCTV coverage. The apartments where New Yorkers rest and relax, cook dinners for their loved ones, celebrate graduations, birthdays and holidays will be transformed as well. Back in May, I had the privilege, alongside a number of leaders in City government, of touring a model unit here at Nostrand Houses for the upcoming conversion and seeing what that transformation really looks like. It looks like new appliances, quartz countertops, scratch-resistant flooring, double-pane windows and new intercom systems. It looks like dedicated laundry hookups and heat pumps that keep residents warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And it looks like remediation for lead and mold and precautionary measures like mold-resistant paint finishes that will help residents stay safe and help residents to stay healthy. This is just the beginning of our work to revitalize tens of thousands of NYCHA homes across the city via the Preservation Trust. All of this while delivering accountability and oversight at every step of the way. And it is just one part of City Hall's broader commitment through our historic housing plan, Block by Block, to transform our public housing system with a $5.6 billion investment in NYCHA, the largest capital commitment in decades. Because longevity is the goal. We will make sure these renovations last for decades to come. And as we do so, we will return to NYCHA's roots as a public developer. Not just repairing housing, but building the new, high-quality homes that will deliver even more New Yorkers lives of dignity. The tenants of today deserve nothing less, as do the tenants of tomorrow. That is not a luxury. That is what government owes its people. On Jan. 30, 1934 — just a little bit before I was born — the day that NYCHA was officially established, Fiorello La Guardia published an op-ed in Liberty Magazine. In it, he wrote, “I have been accused of being an idealist in this matter; I propose to go right on with my idealism. Further, I know now our ideals can be brought to reality.” Today, we too are going right on with our idealism, and we do so guided by the knowledge that our ideals can and will be brought to reality. Thank you so much.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceBefore we begin, if I could just ask every resident in Nostrand Houses to just stand up so we can provide a round of applause, if possible. Thank you so much. [Crosstalk.]
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAbsolutely. So, just to go through it, we're talking about six phases of construction over five years. That is going to begin this fall. And I'm going to pass it over to our deputy mayor to add some additional details.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOkay, so I'll go through your first question and then your second. When it comes to the pied-� -terre tax, again, this is a tax on secondary homes worth more than $5 million. It's a tax that's about fairness. It's a tax about ensuring that those who own a luxury second home in our city pay their fair share towards making sure that our streets are safer, our schools are stronger — that our city is, in fact, the greatest city in the world. And we know that there [are] a number of different lawsuits that are taking place right now. Some of them — the one that you mentioned, and there are also, I think, a couple in Suffolk County yesterday. Just to provide an update on our response, we're going to be moving to intervene in those lawsuits. We will be standing with our partners in Albany to defend this surcharge. And while the process moves forward, we will continue administering this surcharge fairly, efficiently and in full compliance with the law, as we have been thus far. To your second question: Yes, I have my security clearance now.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think we have appealed the ruling that came from the judge. I think that whenever there's a new tax, there will always be questions. We have sought to ensure that we're also providing all of the resources to our City's Finance Department to ensure New Yorkers can walk in and ask questions, no matter which of the five boroughs they call their home. Also, they can call 311 to have their questions answered as well.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, first, I want to just speak about the plan at large, which is a plan that builds on our commitment that we fulfilled to increase funding for the Office to Prevent Hate Crimes to $26 million. That is an increase of about 800%. What the plan lays out is that we are also going to be doubling hate crime prevention grants to $6.4 million. One of the organizations that you mentioned, the Jewish Community Relations Council — the doubling of that grant means that their funding will increase from $385,000 to $975,000. A lot of the focus of this plan is that so often when we're speaking about antisemitism and the scourge of antisemitism in our city, it is in response to acts of antisemitism. We want to do everything we can to also prevent those acts in the first place. And so, our focus is also on education, on young people, PATH programming, which is one of the things that are focused on within this plan. In the last fiscal year, it reached about 280,000 participants — about 7,500 young people. And then the strategy as a whole — this was developed in consultation, in meetings with more than 100 Jewish leaders across our city. And when it comes to what the protections will provide, they will be protections for Jewish New Yorkers regardless of their views on any issue. When we're talking about investments in securing synagogues or in investing in either existing or creating new Jewish cultural institutions, we are doing so with a commitment to protect every congregant, every visitor, no matter how they feel about Israel and Palestine, no matter whether they agree with me or how they feel about me. And frankly, when it comes to criticism of the Israeli prime minister or the Israeli government, that has no bearing on our responsibility to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe — and also, to say very clearly, that the responsibility for the Israeli government's actions lies with the Israeli government. It does not lie with Jewish New Yorkers.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think criticism of a prime minister, criticism of government policy, is distinct from bigotry of a people. And what my job is to ensure is not only that we are proud of being the most Jewish city in the United States of America, but that we also make this a city where Jewish life can continue to flourish.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I fully believe that this law is constitutional, and we are moving to intervene in these suits because of that belief and our commitment to standing alongside our partners in Albany to defend this surcharge. And I just want to take a moment. We're, we're standing here talking about public housing, a legacy of investment, and I say this to call attention to what those lawsuits are about. They're about protecting people who own a secondary home in New York City worth more than $5 million. Yes, I do believe that it is legal and it is right to have a surcharge on the taxation of those homes so we can provide for everyone in the city. Because when I look at the residents of Nostrand Houses, when I look at the residents of NYCHA across our city, I see people who have poured themselves into this city, but they often haven't received that love back. And raising $500 million by taxing those who can afford a second home worth more than $5 million to then put that money back into every New Yorker's life, I think that's not only the right thing to do — it's the thing that we have to do.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYes, it was a very fruitful meeting, and I truly appreciate all the different business leaders who joined our council and were a part of that meeting earlier this morning. We had conversations around what does success look like for each of those businesses; what does it look like to flourish in five years, 10 years, 25 years; what can the City be doing in order to be a partner in that. And it was a pleasure to be there surrounded by leaders in a wide variety of industries, whether we're talking about healthcare or we're talking about housing or we are talking about even just food and the distribution of food. We also had one of the leaders of the New York Liberty, and so we did also get to celebrate the fact that the Liberty are now through to the next round. [Crosstalk.]
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, when you lead a city of 8.5 million people, you have to expect at least 8.5 million opinions. And if I only met New Yorkers who agreed with me, I would ask where I was, because it wouldn't be New York City. And it was a pleasure to celebrate Sukkot, to be in a number of different sukkahs, and also to appreciate what Sukkot means to so many Jewish New Yorkers. It's really a celebration of coming together and thinking about the plants intertwining with lulav and etrog and the recognition that we all have a role to play in making that whole. It is a beautiful moment for reflection. It's a beautiful moment, also, to appreciate that no matter which sukkah you're in, you're looking up at the same sky, the same moon. And too often we don't have time to appreciate that in the hustle and bustle of our city. Does it bother me? I think my job as the mayor is not to get bothered by other people's opinions. My job is to deliver for them, no matter what their opinion is.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYeah, I'll take your question. So, well, I think to your question, I fundamentally believe that education is a critical part of preventing hate. And what we've seen is too often there's a tendency to believe that with the passage of time, there is simply an awareness of all that came before. And if you look at especially the level of education and awareness around the Holocaust, for example, how that has declined over the last few years, I think it's critically important to have education that provides that to each and every New Yorker. I myself, I went to Bronx Science, and we were lucky to have resources of Holocaust education. I remember going recently to a number of museums where we could see what that actually meant, and that's something I want to provide for every New Yorker. 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, NYCHA and the Public Housing Preservation Trust Announce $607 Million Modernization at Nostrand Houses.