Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Restarts Just Home Supportive Housing Initiative, Reversing Prior Administration’s Efforts to Block Project
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Good afternoon, everyone. I want to say thank you [for making] this day possible. Thank you, Fortune Society. Thank you to Health + Hospitals. And thank you to the elected officials who made today possible in the months and years prior to this moment. And I'm proud to say that [Councilwoman] Nurse is also here with us. Thanks to her for being one of those. We are together here to announce the reactivation of Just Home, a first of its kind housing initiative that promises to transform the lives of those that it serves. But I don't need to tell anyone that this day was far from promised. We stand here only because of the hard work of so many whose names I have shared as well as those that I have not, advocates and activists in the Bronx and as well as across this city. Only because of the untiring work done by so many in the Council who believe that this project could be won despite the opposition and only because of New Yorkers' refusal to abandon the most vulnerable among us and only also because of the incredibly talented public servants that I am proud to call a part of my administration. It feels fitting, frankly, that we are celebrating this progress on the day set aside to remember a man who dedicated his life to fighting for the downtrodden. Because make no mistake, as we reactivate the Just Home Supportive Housing Project, we are not simply creating 83 new apartments and supporting those who are struggling. We are advancing the cause of justice. I think of what Dr. King said in his Three Evils [Of Society] speech when he called for our nation to undergo a revolution of values. That revolution, he said, “Will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.” True compassion, he said, “Is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” I know that many of us have no difficulty questioning the fairness and justice of many of our city's past policies and those who pursued them. But I seek not to dwell on questions of blame. I seek instead to pursue that rule of true compassion, to focus City Hall's attention on the restructuring that so many of our fellow New Yorkers have called out for so long. Because today, as we stand together near the future site of Just Home at Jacobi Hospital, we are doing exactly that. This initiative is a testament to the new city that we are building together. One that uplifts those among us who have struggled the most, one that is innovative and creative in its solutions, and one that does not shy away from the challenges that we face. If you do not mind, I would like to take a moment to extol this project's virtues, because there are many. It is comprised of 100 percent affordable housing. It will create 83 apartments on this campus, apartments which will support New Yorkers who have medical conditions that leave it impossible for them to be cared for in shelter, who have a history of cycling through the criminal justice system, [and] who have too long been deprived of the external support that has been proven time and time again to reduce recidivism and to improve outcomes. This is a project which will provide a rent-stabilized lease to every single tenant. And it will prove that our commitment to homeless New Yorkers and those who need supportive housing is anything but abstract. It is tangible, and it is actionable. I know that we have walked a long, hard, contentious path to arrive where we are today. And my sincere belief is that soon, Just Home will be seen as clear evidence of New York's commitment to a new era where every one of our neighbors, even those who have made mistakes in their past, is entitled to dignity and safety and to a home that they can call their own. And I thank all of those who refuse to abandon any New Yorker who calls this city home, and all those partners who are standing alongside me in this moment, who are sitting in the crowd in front of me and those beyond the walls of this building, who worked together to make today not only possible, but inevitable. Thank you so much, and I would like to call up Dr. Mitchell Katz. Dr. Mitchell Katz, President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals: Wow, what a great mayor we have, and what an amazing commitment, right? For those of us who've spent our careers working on trying to take care of the most vulnerable, Mr. Mayor, it's great to have you and to know that in the next [few] years we can really expand our programs to help people who need it the most. So I welcome all of you first to Jacobi Hospital, a place where lives are saved and healed every day by dedicated nurses and doctors and social workers and the people who support them. So it's a great hospital. As a primary care doctor, I know that the most important prescription for my unhoused patients is housing. It's a permanent solution that changes. Unlike blood tests, hospitalizations and MRI scans, housing changes the arc of someone's life, and that's why we're so glad to be here, and why we're so glad that the mayor has affirmed his support for this amazing program. And I want to tell you, Mr. Mayor, we got land, and we want to house people. We see that housing is part of the health continuum, and we want to be at the forefront. We want to use our land in order to house our patients, and we look incredibly forward to the next few years with you. Thank you. And I now have the privilege of calling up our Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source Just before we start with questions, I do also just want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible team in my administration that have helped to make today possible. So if you can please join me in a round of applause for our deputy mayor for Housing and Planning, Leila Bozorg. Our deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Helen Arteaga. Our new heads of HPD and DOB, Ahmed Tigani [and] Dina Levy. I want to take this moment to say their names because so often in politics we lose sight of the people who are making this possible behind the scenes. For this announcement to take place, it requires meetings, it requires pushes, it requires a fluency amidst an ambition and an imagination. And I'm so lucky in each of these incredible New Yorkers we have exactly that, that can make a day like today possible. But we can absolutely start with questions now.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source You know, I think what it says more is that even to build 83 units in this city has taken so much struggle. It should not be that way. This should be something that is far more straightforward. We said over the course of the campaign that we wanted to build 200,000 truly affordable homes over the next 10 years. We absolutely intend to fulfill that. This is an example of the scale of progress that was being held up for years, progress that we will now deliver, and then return back to the scale of the crisis at hand for each and every New Yorker.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source What I can tell you is that we want to build as much as possible across this city. We want to build for those who call this city home and those who would love to call this city home if only it were more affordable.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source We're here to talk about today's announcement, but what I will absolutely commit to you is, as there are more, as there will be in our plans to build more housing across New York City, we will absolutely be communicating that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source I was wondering where the segue was. I haven't made any plans to attend a gala at this time. What I can tell you, however, is that the housing crisis is going to take all of us. It's going to take the private sector, building in a way that they haven't been able to for years before. It's also going to take the public sector, understanding that we need to build truly affordable housing. I'm so thankful to have partners in government and our public advocate and our councilwoman who are here, who have long been proponents of what it looks like to make for a more affordable city.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source So after I was inaugurated on January 1st, I went to meet with tenants of Pinnacle Realty and there was one woman who gave me a tour of her apartment and she took me into her bathroom and she said, “This is the kind of state of disrepair that I'm living with.” And I could see and feel the rust quite literally coming off in my hands. I asked her, “How long have you been living in conditions like this?” She pointed to her son, who's more than 20 years old. She said, “Before he was born.” Because we decided to intervene in that case, the new owner of these apartments has committed to $30 million in repairs and rectifying the violations. I consider that to be a victory and I consider it to be an example of what it can look like when you have an administration that looks to use every tool at its disposal to make a case for those that the corridors of power have often overlooked.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source I appreciate you flagging this issue. This is something that we'll follow up on and let you know. Thank you very much.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source Yes, the vetting process is a complete one that presents all this information to us in advance of any hiring decisions. And I can tell you that Afua has built a career where she has been dedicated to New Yorkers who have often not been thought of within the corridors of power, whether they be at the city level or the state level or the federal level. And she has frankly been a brilliant addition to not only our campaign, our transition, but now also our administration. And I have the utmost confidence in her ability to fulfill the mission to make this a city that each and every New Yorker can afford, no matter their race, their religion, where they were born, [and] where they come from. Thank you so much. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Restarts Just Home Supportive Housing Initiative, Reversing Prior Administration’s Efforts to Block Project.