ZOHPAMINE

Absolutely. So, I'll just also invite MONS and MOCS and our deputy mayor as well to come up to add some additional details here. But what I will first say just broadly is that to affirm the central premise of your question, which is that nonprofits are a critical partner in delivering services across the city. I also say that as someone who used to work at a nonprofit in Jackson Heights and Richmond Hill, and so often I knew that if I wasn't working with my client, then there might not be anyone that they would be able to work with because of the language fluency that came in that organization. And so, today's announcement, it is in large part thanks to the advocacy of nonprofits, because it's scaling up an approach that has worked. But there's also larger systemic issues at hand. And right now, what we've been focusing on is how do we process as many contracts as possible on a much faster timeline. So, when it comes to the timeliness initiative within our administration, agencies submitted about 96 percent of all fiscal year 2027 human services contracts for comptroller registration by Sept. 1. That then allowed nonprofits to start to receive advances. When it comes to this work, it has to continue. It has to scale up. I think what we've also shown is that it worked for 100 nonprofits, we're expanding it to 800. We're going to keep taking that approach across the board. Anything that works to expedite these payments, we will do. I don't know if there's anything you want to add.

Right now, my focus is inside New York City. You know, the governor has been a real partner, not just to me, but, frankly, to the city of New York as a whole. On Day 8, she delivered $1.2 billion to realize universal childcare. She's been there time and again when we've needed someone, especially when we were facing a generational fiscal deficit. She was there. And she's running against someone who responded to the news of universal childcare by calling parents lazy and by saying that people who needed to have a place where their children could be taken care of were just at home watching The View. That's Bruce Blakeman. That's somebody who looks at what ICE is doing and says, “You know what? I would like to have a private militia in Nassau County.” That is not what New York State needs, not what New York City needs, and I'm excited, frankly, to be supporting the governor, especially with less than a month to go.

What I would say is that as the mayor of this city, my job is to deliver for all 8.5 million people of this city. And if there is something that you are seeing of City government not working as well as it should, you should hold me and City government to account. And one of the things that gives me the most joy, frankly, is when I hear from New Yorkers about what little thing we could do to make their life that much better. De nada.

I want to be very clear that I do not believe that we can or must choose between safety and justice in our city. And there is no amount of driving down crime that will make making some certain people the exception to that an acceptable cost. And so, yes, as you mentioned, we're talking about things that predate our administration, and also this is work that has to continue. And that's why, alongside driving down murders and shootings and shooting victims to record lows, what we have also done is end the disparity that we were seeing in the issuing of criminal violations to cyclists across the city. We're finally bringing parity with the way that cyclists and drivers are treated, at the same time. And in actually having the first head of the CCRB since 2020, as well as ensuring that we're releasing bodycam footage within 30 days of any of these incidents — this is also how we ensure that safety and justice are being delivered in tandem. That work has to continue. It will continue. And that, to me, is part of what it means to live up to this job.

And now last, but most definitely not least, The Bushwick Starr co-founder and artistic director, Noel Allain.

I think the lesson for all of us is that humanity has to be something that we believe in in its fullest sense. We have to protect it. And we have to be able to call an atrocity what it is and fight for a future where everyone is protected, no matter who they are, where they come from. And as the mayor of our city, my job on Oct. 7, my job every day, is to ensure that we're keeping people safe. And when it comes to Oct. 7 specifically, we are going to be increasing security at vulnerable sites across the city.

Well, you know, I think it is hard for them to portray as scary filling in 200,000 potholes, delivering universal childcare for 2-year-olds, winning more than $130 million in money for delivery workers. These are the kinds of things that we're doing in our city. And as much as they might want to hold this up as something that Americans should be fearful of, I know that Americans are facing the same cost-of-living crisis outside of the city. And so, to Republicans, I would say that they're welcome to use this however they may want to, but what we've seen so far is that actually there are far more people interested in this kind of politics than scared of it.

Yes, I'll be at an Israelis for Peace event that I was at last year as well, where they read out the names of people who were killed on that day and since.

So those discussions are ongoing. What I would also say is just a slight addendum in that in some of the bike lane projects that we have restarted that the prior administration had indefinitely paused, in some cases, we've also expanded the scope of those projects. I used to have the privilege of representing Astoria and Long Island City. The bike lane that was proposed in Astoria that was then paused in litigation is one that we've actually been able to expand. And that, I think, is incredibly important because safety should be something that every New Yorker is afforded no matter what street they're on, no matter whatever mode of transit they're using. And personally, as someone who used to avoid biking down 31st Street purely out of safety concerns, going out of my way to try and stay safe as a cyclist, I think it's incredibly important that that project is also moving forward. To your first question, the importance for us when we're talking about an approach to Vision Zero Reimagined is to be data-driven. And when it comes to that kind of data it means focusing on whatever kinds of incidents are putting New Yorkers in danger, not privileging any one mode or the other on anything except for the statistics of what the actual impacts are. And that is, to us, you know, we've seen progress in the time that we've been in office. We're looking at, even just since the beginning of Vision Zero, progress since the de Blasio administration of about 28 percent decline, and yet we also know the point is in the name. It has to be zero. So long as there are traffic deaths in the city, there's more work to be done. But thank you for fighting.

Yesterday was a day of profound grief for so many New Yorkers. When it comes to that proposal, our administration is reviewing it, and I'll let you know once we actually get through that.

I still feel that we have all the power that is necessary to deliver on our vision. Again, you know, when it comes to our commissioner, he's someone who I have full faith in. He's also the first formerly incarcerated New Yorker to now be leading that work. And when it comes to the monitor, when it comes to all the different aspects of what it means to deliver on this vision, I think that there's a lot of work to be done. I think we're heading in the right direction. We as an administration want to close Rikers Island. We will close Rikers Island. We also know we're inheriting a level of work that was not done about that over the last four years, where that actually wasn't an intent of what they were doing. I said this over the course of the campaign. It's practically impossible to hit the deadline of 2027, given that the prior administration slow-walked so much. I mean, when we came into office, we were able to open an outpatient set of beds at Bellevue Hospital that had been waiting to be opened for months, if not even more than a year. That's the kind of work that they were not doing. And so I think that date is going to have to shift. What we actually want to do, though, is close Rikers Island, not just push it off.

I mean, we run the NYPD, which keeps people of the city safe everywhere across the five boroughs. We're confident we'd be able to do so as well on an additional public walkway.

As I've said before, my focus is on New York City, and that's where I've kept my endorsements for this time. But I did have the pleasure of meeting with Dr. El-Sayed just yesterday in a small gathering. And when I look at his campaign, I see what so many are excited by across the country because in his campaign he summarizes it as "Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for all." And that, to me, is what so many Americans want from their politics in this moment. And when you ask, "What's at stake?" What's at stake to me is whether or not working-class Americans look at democracy as something that can deliver for them or as something that's a value that they can't afford to care about. Because there are too many people who work so hard every day, they still can't afford their rent; they still can't afford their groceries; they still can't afford their childcare. And I'm hopeful for Democrats across the country, but hope doesn't win the elections on its own. Everyone has to do everything that they can to get across the finish line.

We've seen our city come together many a time, and we know that we will also continue to do so, all while understanding the fact that this is a city of eight and a half million people, and if we didn't have eight and a half million opinions, then we wouldn't be in New York City. And when it comes to my responsibility, I've said is not only to deliver for New Yorkers but also to be honest with New Yorkers about what I think. And I've been very clear, both as a candidate as well as the mayor of our city, of my firm belief that we have to extend human rights to all people and that that has to include Palestinians. And that as Americans we have a special responsibility given our federal government's complicity in funding so much of the weaponry that has been used over these last three years. And we also know that when we are commemorating the anniversary, three years of horrific war crimes, three years since Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted hundreds more. Three years of an anniversary that has brought unthinkable devastation to so many. That also the Israeli government used and continues to use that day, those war crimes, as a justification for an ongoing genocide against Palestinians. And that this is something that has shattered the lives of so many New Yorkers. Whether in those who I was standing alongside at the vigil, recounting their own family members who were killed; or reading the testimonies of Palestinians whose family members had been killed; or the Palestinian New Yorkers that I met soon after that vigil, who shared with me, for example, a Palestinian Christian nurse here in New York City sharing with me that she lost 17 of her family members when the Israeli military bombed a church. It has devastated people's lives across our city.

When I talk to him about Sunnyside Yard, I also talk to him as the most famous developer this city has ever seen. The prospect of building something that has been spoken about for 50, 60 years, but never been able to get across the finish line — now it might be exactly the right time to do so.

35. One day 36. I'll tell you, I am still trying to figure that out. I don't have a clear plan as yet, but it's going to be more gray hairs, whatever I do. Real pleasure. Thank you, guys. ###

Right now, my focus is on the governor's race. The congressional candidates that I had endorsed, they all have quite straightforward paths to election. That's Darializa, Brad, Claire. Very excited for them to become congresspeople.

You know, I was proud to attend last night's vigil, as I did last year, to listen to testimonies from family members of those who were killed on Oct. 7 and those who have been killed in the three years since. And all of whom united in a vision for peace and an end to the genocide in Gaza. And when we're speaking of that genocide, we're speaking of one that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians in the last three years. As for those protesting me, I am the mayor of New York City, and this is what I signed up for.

I think, ultimately, this is a strategy to root out antisemitism from our city. And we know that Jewish New Yorkers make up anywhere from 10 percent to 12 percent of our city's population, yet they continue to constitute a majority of victims of all hate crimes. And that's unacceptable. And so, to me, a metric of that is how do we start to drive those numbers down and never be satisfied until the number of hate crimes across the city is zero. And so, you know, the work that Phylisa is leading — it is work of also ensuring that our response to hate crimes, it's not only a response where you condemn it after the fact, it's that you're doing the work to prevent that kind of a hate crime. And we know a lot of that has to do with education, a lot that has to do with funding the kind of work that has been critical in ensuring that our youngest New Yorkers grow up in the city with an awareness of not only Jewish history in this city, but also the history of the Holocaust, which is something that we've seen lower and lower amounts of awareness of in recent years.

We're looking to use every tool at our disposal. And as you said, some of these are delays that are coming down due to decisions being made at the federal level, but we're always going to advocate for Staten Island, for the city as a whole. One of the things that we can do and that we have done now is increase funding for the Bureau of Coastal Resilience. This is a bureau that wasn't staffed at the level that it could have been, which meant that it wasn't operating at the capacity that it could have. And that means that we can actually operationalize a lot of whether we're talking about seawalls or even we're talking about flood walls, like in Lower Manhattan. The other thing is, if we're talking about a 100-year storm, we're talking about Superstorm Sandy. We know that Staten Island saw a significant amount of damage. Not only did a number of Staten Islanders lose their lives, but also, when we're talking about more than $10 billion of damage, that was damage that Staten Islanders have to contend with to this day. And so one thing that we've been focused on is the park, the recreation center that was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy. We're finally going to be opening a new recreation center at that very park next year. And to me, obviously, there's not just one place, but it's an example of how do you actually remedy what people are having to deal with?

I think, you know, many people know him as the president. We also, as New Yorkers, know him as a New Yorker. And so, when you're sitting down and having that conversation, sometimes you're talking about things that you might talk about with any president. Other times, you're talking about things that only a New Yorker would know. The first time that I sat down with President Trump, he brought up ULURP in Midtown Manhattan. And that was not what I expected to be speaking about in the White House for my first visit to meet the president of the United States.

Thank you so much to the Finance chair. And now we will pass it over to Council Member Lincoln Restler.

Results. It has to be on what you actually deliver. And look, when we're talking about Staten Island, we're talking about so many New Yorkers who are looking to build their lives. One of the highest rates of homeownership of any borough in New York City. People are looking to set roots down, and we have to make it easier for them to do so. We have to make it easier for them to raise their kids there. And one of the times that I visited Staten Island as the mayor was to announce an increase in the number of 3-K seats, especially on the island, decreasing the amount of miles you have to travel from your house to the site where you drop off your kids significantly, which makes it easier. The other thing is the results of delivering when it comes to pothole politics. One other time I was on Staten Island was to fill in the 100,000 potholes that we had actually put in.

You've got to remember, Columbia University in the City of New York is the full title of the institution that we're talking about. And so it's not just for college students. It's for anybody who lives on 160th and Amsterdam; they're trying to get to the 1 train, they walk through it. And as a kid growing up right there, you know, I went to middle school on 112th. There were so many times I walked through, and it wasn't just to go to something at Columbia. It was also sometimes to get to Morningside Park, to get to the other side of Harlem. And so we made clear to the courts, as well as to the institution, that we're taking a very different position than the last administration. We believe that this is a public walkway. We believe that that's what the agreement was made between the City and Columbia decades ago. And that also, you know, that is a belief that we are willing to back up if necessary, and that we're hopeful for immediate compliance with what that vision looks like.

So, one of the clear things we've done in these nine months is we've put our city on a path to universal childcare. We have, for the first time, offered free childcare for 2-year-olds. So Latino families that were spending $20,000 a year now, just as of about a month ago, can enroll their child into one of these schools where they will be able to save that money. Additionally, we took 10,000 families that were off the waitlist that were waiting for childcare vouchers – we've given them those vouchers as well. So, families, making it easier for them to be able to afford to live in New York City. The other clear thing is we have put everything of the power of City government in delivering for New Yorkers, even when it means holding large-scale corporations accountable. And when it comes to DoorDash, one of the largest companies in New York City, we held them accountable for more than $131 million, delivering money that they had not paid or underpaid to more than 260,000 delivery workers.

To your first question, I think that there has to be engagement from the Parks Department when it comes to the creation of a monument like this. That's my understanding at this time. That is why the review is critical. Once that review takes place, then I'll have better thoughts to answer the second question.

You know, I believe that there must be room to mourn every single life. There must be room to mourn the lives of the more than 1,100 Israelis that Hamas killed three years ago. There must be room to mourn the 74,000 Palestinians that the Israeli government has killed since. There must be room to reckon with the ways in which so many New Yorkers' lives have been shattered. And that, to me, is a part of what it means to believe in a sense of humanity, that we need not choose between which death we will mourn and which we will ignore. That we can reckon with the fact that all of it is to be opposed. And what I so appreciated about being at the vigil yesterday evening, as I had been the year before, is that it was a vigil that brought together and brings together New Yorkers to read testimonies of their own family members, testimonies of others who have been killed either on the day or in the genocide since, and ends with a shared vision for peace and for an end to the genocide. And that, to me, is the future that we have to fight for.

Thank you, Speaker Menin. We will now hear from the Finance Chair of the City Council, Council Member Linda Lee.

I don't think we have to pick what kind of enforcement needs to be done. I think we have to address anything that puts New Yorkers in danger, and that's part of our belief that there shouldn't be a hierarchy of safety based on what mode of transit you use.

Well, I think, to be very clear, I do not believe that any criticism of the Israeli government or of any prime minister is antisemitism. What I believe is unacceptable in this city is acts of antisemitism that we have seen continue across the five boroughs. And we're talking about a hatred of a people by virtue of them being a people. And that is something we will never have tolerance for here in the city. It's a city that is the most Jewish city in the United States of America. That is something that I'm proud of and something that we're going to continue to do everything we can to ensure that Jewish life flourishes in the city.

So, I'm really glad that you asked because these are sometimes the things which can feel overly bureaucratic or as if they're removed from people's lives. But when it comes to these five proposals, they are about New Yorkers' lives, because what these five proposals are about is whether or not to make government faster. And so, for families – let's say if you're a family in Corona that owns a restaurant. These ballot proposals are about whether or not you can get outdoor dining faster. If you're a family in the Bronx waiting for the construction of affordable housing, these ballot proposals are about whether or not that housing construction can be sped up. If you're a family on Staten Island and your kid has to cross the same dangerous street every day, these proposals are also about speeding up the construction of those kinds of streets. So really, whatever proposal you're looking at, one through five, it's all about making government faster. And it came out of something we commissioned called the Commission on Government Efficiency, because we want a City government that works as fast and as well as New Yorkers.

These are a number of the kinds of things that we would talk about, is any way that the federal government can help the city. And, as you know, one of the focuses of those conversations has been about Sunnyside Yard, the more than $20 billion that would unlock the largest housing development the city has seen since the early 1970s. But it expands beyond that. And that's also why I think it's important that I meet with whomever has the power to change the lives of New Yorkers for the better, because that's what New Yorkers depend on me to do.

Well, my sense is that, overall, we are driving down crime. We're talking about the lowest number of murders in recorded history, the same when it comes to shooting incidents as well as shooting victims. That is work to be celebrated. That is work that has brought our city to a very different place than where it was about 30, 35 years ago. And also, as long as there is any crime in the city, there is more work to be done. We can never let this be an excuse to pat ourselves on the back. Because, as you know, it is not just about ensuring that we're fighting crime. We also want every New Yorker to feel that they can walk around the city no matter where they are, what time they're doing so. And that's why the work has to continue. We're proud that we are driving down crime in our subways as well. But again, any incident of crime is one too many.

I think that, when we're talking about what our agenda is, it's about ensuring that working people can afford a dignified life. As much as I believe that we are the greatest city in the world, I also know that our problems are the same problems that other Americans are facing. And I think that candidates running on a clear agenda of lifting up working people will be successful, whether they're in New York City or whether they are in swing districts. And I'm hopeful for Democrats across the board come Election Day, but hope doesn't actually get it done. We gotta do everything we can between now and then.

I can actually offer one early diagnosis, is that nearly 70 percent of our city's human service contract backlog consists of discretionary contracts. That then leads to payment delays for providers. And I actually think that Council Member Restler was quite apt in his description that a program like this is not only meaningful for 800 nonprofits that are receiving grants of less than $25,000. It's also meaningful for MONS and for MOCS to be able to process the larger-scale contracts that are typically being responded to in kind with this scale of a $5,000 or $10,000, what would be a grant.

Please join me in welcoming the representative of this district, City Council Member Sandy Nurse.

I think that Oct. 7 is a day that is immensely painful for our city and is a day of mourning. And so, whether in the statement, whether in the attendance of the vigil, as I had done the year before, or whether in meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers after that, all of it is part of reckoning with what that day has meant for this city and the fact that we know that it brings up the most horrific memories for so many in the city. And also for others, it is a day that is continuing in the Israeli government's use of it as a justification for a genocide. And so, to me, it is critically important to be able to mourn for all of those who were killed and have been killed since, especially given that we know this is ongoing, as opposed to something simply that was three years ago. I think that the statement, the attendance, the meeting, it all speaks to a reckoning with horror. And a horror that devastated the lives of New Yorkers three years ago, and it also continues to devastate New Yorkers today.

Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here in Bushwick alongside friends, nonprofit leaders and partners in government. I want to acknowledge we have leaders both inside and outside of City government here with us today. We have Speaker Julie Menin. We have Council Member Lincoln Restler, City Council Member Linda Lee and the in-district representative of this Council district, City Council Member Sandy Nurse. We also have leaders from within the administration, our deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Dr. Helen Arteaga; our Mayor's Office of Nonprofit Services executive director, Annie Minguez; our Mayor's Office of Contract Services director, Kim Yu; and I also just want to give a special shoutout to the Bushwick Starr. If we can have a round of applause for the Bushwick Starr. Truly. And for Noel Allain, co-founder and artistic director, and all of the nonprofit organizations who are gathered here today, what you do, helps to make this city so special for all those who call it home, and we can't thank you enough, truly. Now, our city has long been fascinated by those who go fast. In October of 1904, New Yorkers took the very first ride on a subway, sitting in awe as they shot underground across our city. In 1969, we watched in wonder as our country won the race to the moon, only slightly resentful that Buzz Aldrin had grown up across the river in New Jersey. And half a century later, we leapt to our feet on Randall's Island as Usain Bolt broke the world record for the 100-meter dash at Icahn Stadium. Today, we add one more groundbreaking chapter to that story of speed as we celebrate a new feat of civic agility: expedited discretionary grant funding. I'm proud to announce that together with the City Council, City Hall is expanding a pilot program from last year that will make it easier and faster for nonprofit organizations to access the money that they are awarded. And while this has not yet been described as one giant leap for mankind, it is certainly one not-so-small step toward cutting unnecessary red tape, making City government more efficient and supporting the nonprofits that enrich our communities every day. Here's how this will work. Every year, thousands of nonprofit organizations receive discretionary funds from the City Council. Many of the awards they receive can be as small as $5,000, the little bit they need to keep vital programs running. But no matter how small the grant may be, for years nonprofits have been treated as if they are entering into a large contract with the City, like those needed to construct a new municipal building or provide an extensive service across the five boroughs. As a result, they have been forced to fill out mountains of documents and endure months of delays. This one-size-fits-all system creates a huge backlog for our city and often forces nonprofits to wait for more than a year to access funds that they've already been promised, all while they are already struggling to make ends meet on razor-thin budgets. The discretionary grant pilot seeks to solve that. By cutting out nine steps from the traditional contracting process, it will treat nonprofit discretionary funding of less than $25,000 as what it actually is: a grant, not a contract. And it will allow City government to dispense funds in a fraction of the time. When the first iteration of this pilot was launched last fall, more than 100 organizations participated and received their awards in fewer than 90 days. That is nine months faster than the traditional wait time for discretionary funds. Now, with the expansion of this pilot, up to 800 nonprofits will stand to benefit. That means they can spend less time tracking deadlines and filing paperwork and more time providing essential services to our communities. The Parodneck Foundation can skip the tax affirmation documents and focus on helping low-income New Yorkers access the housing resources they need. Bronx Giants can stop filling out lobbying certification forms and keep teaching football, cheerleading and the skills needed to succeed on and off the field. And Bushwick Starr can spend less time on agency self-registration and more acting and writing with the men and women of Palmetto Garden Senior Club. In the coming weeks, City Hall will notify the 800 qualifying nonprofits that they are eligible for this pilot. After a much simpler clearance process, one that City government hopes will help these organizations navigate, they can expect to start receiving their payments come winter. This expansion reflects the call of nonprofit leaders who spoke up during our Commission on Government Efficiency hearings. It represents one critical step in the work of getting nonprofits the funding they need when they need it. And it is a step that we will continue to build upon in the years to come. It will be felt across our city. It will be felt in every neighborhood, in every difference that nonprofit organizations and their workers make every single day. In food pantries that feed the hungry. In after-school programs that enrich our children's lives. In the arts and culture that is the beating heart of our city. Today we are standing together to support our nonprofit partners in the work of building a better, more livable, more beautiful New York. And making sure that when it comes to streamlining City government and delivering services to New Yorkers, no one has to wait. And Usain Bolt, in case you are tuning in for this press conference on discretionary grant timelines, we would love to have you as our spokesperson. Please let me know. Thank you. Now I will be serving dual duty as also the emcee for today. So, with that, I would like to introduce the speaker of the City Council, Julie Menin.

I think when we're talking about the third anniversary of Oct. 7, we're talking about the third anniversary of a horrific war crime, where Hamas killed more than a thousand people, kidnapped hundreds more. We're also talking about the anniversary of when the Israeli government responded to that by initiating a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza that has continued to this day. It has killed tens of thousands of people, and we know that throughout its time, it has been one that has been financed by our tax dollars.

So, I've said this over the course of the campaign and also as mayor, is that I am just as committed as I was at the very beginning in the importance of disbanding the SRG, the importance of decoupling response to protests from counterterrorism, which, as we know, [is] what SRG was founded for a little more than a decade ago. And what we have been working on over the time that I've been in office is how to ensure that that decoupling is one that doesn't come at the expense of New Yorkers’ safety or at the expense of the protection of their constitutional rights. And it is something that is a priority, has been a priority, and we will have more to share soon. ###

I think what we've seen is that our police department is not only doing the job that many New Yorkers have the full faith in; it is also setting an example for what it looks like to be unrelenting. Because what you've heard from the commissioner, what you heard from the chief, and what we have heard from leaders across departments in prior announcements is the fact that these are not only figures that are oftentimes better than last year. Sometimes these are figures that are the best that the city has ever seen.  And yet we also know that so long as there is a single murder, a single shooting, a single shooting victim in the city, that is one too many. And so, I have full trust and faith in our police commissioner and our police department to do what is necessary.  And also, when it comes to the colder months, we are going to do everything that we can to ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers, homeless New Yorkers, are finding a place to rest their head that is a bed, a shelter. And we are doing everything we can to increase our shelter capacity to ensure that no New Yorker feels that they have to sleep outside or sleep anywhere that is not an actual bed to find that kind of safety. 

Look, I'll say whenever it comes to the safety of the people of our city, we will explore every single measure in front of us. And also, we want to address systemic issues at a systemic level.  You've heard from the police commissioner of just how significant a number of the incidents on public transit are driven by individuals who have a previous, they have a previous engagement with the mental health system across our city. That means that there's an opportunity for us to do better when it comes to that kind of work. That's why we talk about a whole-of-government approach to all of this. 

Your question is about the Borden Avenue Veterans Shelter. Yes, just in specific relation to that veteran's shelter, the services are continuing as they were. The switch of funding, where it used to come from the federal government — now that is not, that has not impacted any of the services that we're delivering at that shelter. 

Can we have another round of applause for José? I had never thought about thighs that way. And now I'm going to be thinking about it. �Cómo estás, New York? �Buenas noches! It is a pleasure to welcome you all here to Gracie Mansion as we celebrate our Hispanic community here in New York. Truly, welcome home. And I want to acknowledge we have leaders both inside and outside of City government who are here with us. First, you've heard there are many members of our administration who are here. I'm just going to say a sweeping declaration to all the members of the administration that are here. You know them; you love them. But we also have to give some love for the people that we've already heard from tonight. We have DJ �XoloHuizo!. We have Rafaella Abeo. We have the one and only Frankie Miranda. We have Ligia Guallpa. We have our deputy mayor, Helen Arteaga. And the man who reminded us of the beauty of the color of a yellow cab, José Olivarez. I also want to acknowledge that we have the consul general of Mexico in the building, Marcos Bucio Mújica. And we have a number of elected leaders here. We have our state senator, Gustavo Rivera, in the building. We have Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes in the building. She's over there. Marcela is the person who asked me, "Do [you] really want to know what Bad Bunny is saying on Callaíta?" I said, "I just want to listen to the song." We have the Assembly member of the district I used to have the privilege of representing, Diana Moreno. And we have the Assembly member who, rumor has it, might soon be a Congress member, Claire Valdez, also in the building. So truly, it's a joy because, as you know, there are so many more leaders than the ones that I have named. But it's a joy to have all of you here because what today is about is celebrating this community that has given this city so much and too often has not been recognized for what it has done, for who it has served and for what it has created. And so, I'll say it out loud because we're all thinking it. For as long as there has been a New York, and even before we called this city what it is now, Hispanic people have arrived on these shores, searching for work, for opportunity and for a better life. You can even go back to Juan Rodríguez, a trader from Santo Domingo, who came — Santo Domingo is in the house — came to this island as a translator on a Dutch ship in 1613. And when the ship sailed home, he decided to remain. He was the first non-Indigenous resident of what would later become New York City. In 1868, when the Cuban people rose up against colonial rule, New York became a refuge for those escaping the conflict. They found work alongside Puerto Ricans, rolling cigars in the factories and tenement workshops of Lower Manhattan — made this city their home. In the 1980s, Salvadorans and Guatemalans arrived here, fleeing civil wars back home. They worked double shifts in kitchens, cleaned office buildings overnight and saved what they could. And we see the fruits of those labors today in bakeries, in churches, in pupuserías from Elmhurst to Woodside. Hispanic immigrants arrived in our city from every nation. But if I tried to name every nation, I would get accused of doing a terrible Benito halftime show impersonation. So, I'm going to leave it there. Now, some families did not choose to leave home, but they chose to make New York City their new home, and they chose to stay. Those decisions were rarely easy ones. It took time to settle in, to find a winter coat that would fit, to grow comfortable with familiar dishes cooked with new ingredients, to find a rhythm in a new language, in a new city, in a new country. And yet the story of Hispanic New Yorkers is also a story of refusing to be daunted by that hardship, of never accepting adverse odds as anything other than something to be overcome. And whether you arrived in this city weeks ago, or your family has lived here for generations, Hispanic New Yorkers keep this city running. As I speak, a bus driver from Oaxaca is finishing a route on Staten Island. A doctor from Honduras is checking the charts at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn. And a construction worker from Ambato is tuning in to a radio show in Kichwa on his commute home in the Bronx. But la chamba is not all you bring to this city — it's not. Hispanic New Yorkers help to give our city its flavor, its sound, its very sense of style. Where else can you savor the aromas of chaufa and champurrado on the same block? Where else can you hear Mixtec and Quechua on the train? Where else can a Dominican barber give a Venezuelan kid a fade, a life lesson and a new accent all in one visit? And this summer, when the World Cup came to our city, the world watched as our city's Hispanic communities came together to celebrate the beautiful game. In Brooklyn, Panamanians and Colombians packed into living rooms and restaurants to watch their teams play. In Corona, Mexicans and Ecuadorians battled over the right to claim Roosevelt Avenue. It was El Tri vs. La Tri. And moments like these only happen in a city where people have the opportunity to stay long enough to become neighbors. But we know that that opportunity is under threat for far too many Hispanic New Yorkers today. That is why we are here not only to celebrate this community, but also to commit that we will work every day to ensure that that choice to remain in this city is one that is accorded to all. That means building a city that, yes, families can afford to stay in. And it also means defending our immigrant New Yorkers by upholding our sanctuary protections, by saying it with pride, ensuring 100 percent compliance of all of those protections, no matter what agency we're speaking of, and keeping our clinics, our schools, our shelters open to everyone, regardless of their immigration status. And you know that for so many in our administration, this work is deeply personal. You've heard it already in the words that I will have a hard time ever forgetting that our deputy mayor has described what it means to be a Latina woman in leadership. The obstacles that you face, oftentimes ones that are not seen by anyone else but are deeply felt by those having to go through it. And we know that in each of these commissioners and each of these executive directors, in each of these New Yorkers, there is a story of those who believed in this city's promise, who fought to overcome every obstacle placed in their way and whose children now help to run New York. And it is the same words we say to them [that] we say to every family who chose this city: Welcome home. This is your home. This is a place that is proud that you have chosen it. It is proud because we can see that legacy in all those that I've named, all those who go beyond. I look out there [and] I see a few soon-to-be Assembly members in the back. David Orkin, [inaudible], I think I see you there. Who else? Is there somebody else there? Brian Romero. Can't forget Brian Romero. And what I see in all of that is a commitment that we don't just celebrate our past. We continue to work together to secure that future. And it is a future where Latino New Yorkers know that they can be both of those things. There is never a tension in the identity of being Hispanic and being a New Yorker. If anything, it is one of the best definitions of what it means to be New York. Truly. So, I say this as someone who recently started eating pandebono and now have no idea how I'm going to lose weight. It is such a pleasure to welcome you back home. This is your home. We are so proud of you, and we're so happy that you're here. Thank you. ###

We got to come back to the Bronx. Sen. Luis Sepúlveda. 

I think it is incumbent upon all of us to play a role in responding to what is one of the most important questions of our time, which is artificial intelligence, the response to it, the regulation of it. And I think that it is right that City Council is having a hearing on this. I look forward to reviewing the proposals that they put forward.  I also think it's critical that we in City government continue to lead as well. Recently, we put forward a nation-leading moratorium on generative AI for students in the ages of 2-K through eighth grade, with limited use for students in high school.  We've also seen our DCWP; we've led with the creation of restrictions on the use of AI to advertise apartment listings. A lot of New Yorkers are unsure when they open up a listing, whether it's real or whether it has been generated by artificial intelligence.  And we're also in the process of developing a new rule that mandates that after a certain amount of interaction with a chatbot, that you have to be connected with an actual human individual that can respond to your question, so you're not stuck in the kind of doom loop that so many New Yorkers are right now. 

Yes, so I think a few things first. I'll just start with your last question, then I'll go into AI. You know, the focus for us is how do we make it as easy as possible for New Yorkers to both understand what civil service jobs are available and how they can apply for them.  And so, this builds on the work that we did with opening up 2 Lafayette as a walk-in center for anyone who's interested in applying to a public sector job. They can come in from Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And we want to demystify this process. We also want to make New York City lead by example when it comes to being an employer in our city. And these are some of the steps that are required to do so.  Kelly, to your other questions about artificial intelligence. You know, I don't use much AI in my day-to-day life. However, like most New Yorkers, whenever I use any kind of a popular search engine, AI has now become imbued in part of the results that are being generated.  So, if you're using Google, if you using DuckDuckGo, it seems to be built into the system itself. And when it comes to how I think of artificial intelligence, you have some of the leaders of the creation of this technology saying that there's a 10 percent chance that humanity could come to an end as a result of this.  I think when that kind of language is par for the course, when companies are asserting that each of them has faced something similar to the Hugging Face incident. It does demand a level of response that goes beyond just the political topic of the day. It does raise itself to understanding artificial intelligence as one of the most consequential technological shifts in the last few generations of the world. 

So, I'm looking forward to reviewing all the legislation that's been put forward by the Council. And once we do so, I'll be sure to share. And Madina, could you say the first part of your question again? 

Good morning, everyone. It is such a pleasure to be here today alongside so many parents, so many providers, so many advocates who, as we've just heard, have long called for change. Those whose tireless work to make childcare free for all has brought us together today.  And it is a privilege as well to do so at BronxWorks, an organization that not only runs high-quality childcare centers, but is a key partner to our city in the work to help families here in the Bronx apply for and receive childcare vouchers.  I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders both inside and outside of our administration who are here with me today. We have our ACS commissioner, Rebecca Jones Gaston. We have our deputy chancellor for Early Education, Erica Phillips. Our ACS deputy commissioner, Elizabeth Wolkomir. We have the person that you call all the time and I call all the time, the mayor's office of childcare executive director, Emmy Liss. We have a person that when you say the Bronx three times, she appears, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson. We have the chair of the Children and Youth Committee in City Council, Council Member Althea Stevens. Young people, young people, young people always.  We have the chair of the Early Childhood Education Committee of the City Council, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, one of the foremost champions for childcare at the City Council.  We have my former roommate and State Sen. Jabari Brisport, chair of the Committee on Children and Families. We have someone who has fought long and hard for this day, Council Member Lincoln Restler, who is here with us. Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, who's here with us; Assembly Member Landon Dais, who is here with us — both of whom [are] welcoming us to their districts. We have Assemblywoman now and soon to be Sen. Jessica González-Rojas. Councilwoman Julie Won. We also have Rabbi Moishe Indig, who is here with us. We have UJO Associate Director David Katz, who is here with us.  Now I want to name a few other names: Cardi B, Richard Avedon, Al Pacino. The woman who inspired countless New Yorkers to pursue their dreams, to build an empire, to make music. A man who reshaped what a photograph could be and how far it could reach. And the actor who warned us in “Heat,” “Brother, you are going down.”  Three different visionaries, but one common thread: Three children of the Bronx. They each became great figures because they possessed that drive, that hunger, that ambition that lives deep in the heart of the city that we are proud to call our home. And each of them also spent time in this borough's public parks, in this borough's public schools. The foundation upon which they built that excellence was also laid in part by public goods and by public services.  And yet we know that those services were not inevitable. They had to be fought for. They had to be won. The state's childcare assistance program, an initiative that provides parents vouchers to help them afford childcare, is an example of one of those services.  For nearly three decades, the voucher program has helped give children in the Bronx and across our city a strong start in life, regardless of how much money their parents have in their pocket. But we can only serve the number of children that the funding allows. And in May of 2025, the number of children in need of vouchers exceeded the program's capacity. New families were placed on a waitlist — a waitlist that kept on growing.  Today, there are more than 29,000 children on that waitlist, with more being added by the day. Over the last few months, I have had the privilege of speaking with parents and childcare providers who have shared with me how much of a lifeline that program is. How painful it is for them or for their clients to be stuck on that waitlist with no end in sight.  And today, I am so proud to announce that there is light at the end of the voucher tunnel. For the first time in 15 months, New York City is taking children off the voucher waitlist, and this is only the beginning. We will continue to do so on a rolling basis.  And I am deeply grateful for the leadership and support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose $1.2 billion investment in our city's historic universal childcare program included $475 million to stabilize and expand the voucher program.  And I also just want to take a moment to commend City Council Member Lincoln Restler. Because I swear every time I see him, he has to say the word “voucher,” “waitlists,” “parents.” And it is that kind of relentless commitment, relentless drive that ensures that this kind of a topic is always at the heart of the conversation that's taking place in the halls of power. So, thank you to Lincoln and thank you to every other relentless advocate for this. Truly.  And that's the kind of work that is so critical in ensuring that today is possible. Because thanks to that work, thanks to every single person that is here, we are now able to deliver affordable childcare to thousands upon thousands of additional families who need it most.  And I have to be honest, when I say “affordable,” I might be misspeaking because what I mean to say is 100 percent free.  This past August, we announced a $5.2 million investment to cover the fees that families would otherwise have to pay out of pocket. That means that every family currently in the program and every family coming off the waitlist will not have to worry about whether or not they can afford the copays traditional to the voucher program.  And for families trying to find childcare providers that participate in the voucher program, our city's first ever childcare provider map at nyc.gov/childcare, one that we launched together a few months ago, has launched a new feature: a filter that will allow families to search for providers that accept vouchers, like many of the high-quality home-based providers who are with us here today.  Now expanding our voucher program is just our latest effort to make childcare a truly universal public good here in our city. And I know that there are cynics out there who reject our efforts to deem universal childcare a public good; those who might label this kind of an initiative as idealistic or radical or naive.  And yet we also know that that same cynicism was once applied to public schools. It was once applied to public parks, to subways, to libraries, to sewers, to trash collection, even to streetlamps. The marker of progress, my friends, is expanding both what is promised and to whom it is promised.  Bringing New York City closer to a future where every New Yorker can access universal childcare is about more than just lifting a financial burden from New Yorkers' shoulders. It's about building a city where the people know they can demand more from their government and one where their government delivers more in kind.  Thirty years from now, when our city is dancing to a beat we cannot imagine or taking in art more creative than anything we've ever seen, it will be in no small part because the children of this city had the support and the public goods they needed to succeed. The parks in which they could play, the public transit they could ride to visit new worlds, and the universal childcare they could rely upon to learn, to grow, to become themselves.  And while we may have some more gray hair then, we will know that progress was made, that greatness was made possible because of a program like this one. Because government provided its people with the foundation to succeed.  And because, and I say this specifically to all of the providers and the advocates, because you were willing to believe once again that something different could happen. Because I know that every time you sat down with me, you sat down with Emmy, you sat down with Nick, you sat down with Yvonne, you sat down saying the same things you've told people in power for years; the same things that you have grown tired in having to testify about.  And yet you believed that this time something could be different. And if you didn't make that choice, we couldn't make this one. So, thank you for continuing to believe, thank you for continuing to fight. Thank you for making today possible.  And with that being said, I'm going to say the Bronx, the Bronx, the Bronx. And here she is, the Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson. 

Thank you, Council Member. You have been a real partner in this work. And I think what was so exciting is that we know this work is one that has to be done every single day. It's not just in announcements; it's not in the first day of school; it's every day. And you've been a partner for every day of that, truly.  And now, you know, when you go to Brooklyn, you gotta come back to the Bronx. And if we're gonna talk about young people, there's only one person to talk about it. So please join me in welcoming City Council Member Althea Stevens.