Mayor Mamdani Announces Historic Settlement for Workers

How are you? >> Yes, >> good morning everyone. >> Good morning. Mayor Mom Donnie promised just outside on those steps on the day he took office that we would tell a new story of our city. Not a tale of one city governed by the 1%. Not a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor, but a tale of eight and a half million New Yorkers. So often, many of those New Yorkers are those we depend on every day, yet who operate in the shadows. They are somehow ever present, but still invisible. Today, we're here to announce what happens when their stories are told. What happens when government listens and we take action? Hundreds of thousands of delivery drivers work in the city every day. Door Dash built a system that was quietly leaving out categories of trips and on call time. So the real amount of work by deliveristas wasn't counted. Worse, that practice was hidden from workers, making it almost impossible for them to know when they were underpaid. Some were paid late, some weren't paid at all. 260,000 workers denied a just day's pay for a hard day's work, while the company who profited from their labor hid behind an app. Today, we make things right, giving $115 million straight back to those workers. But today's settlement isn't just about looking back. It's also about preventing the abuses in the future. Because the most effective enforcement isn't just about what government can get for workers. It's about workers having a greater ability to protect their own rights. For the first time, the city's settlement gives workers an active role in enforcing their rights. an approach that we are taking across the administration. Workers themselves in partnership with the workers justice project and the workers that's right and the workers algorithm observatory will share their trip and pay data directly with the DCWP on an ongoing basis. The city will not rely solely on Door Dash's account of whether deliveristas are being paid properly for all their work. Workers own voices, their own data will guide our oversight of compliance and ensure that workers receive every cent they're owed. In this city, no one's earnings should be obscured behind an app. No one's hours determined by an algorithm. and no worker who makes our city run should be treated as invisible in it. And today we take a big step in getting closer to the city that Mayor Mandani promised. With that, it is always my pleasure to introduce New York City's mayor, Zoronwame Mdani. Good morning everyone. >> Morning. >> It is a pleasure to be here today alongside friends and partners as we celebrate a major victory for the working people who call New York City home. The largest enforcement action in New York City history. I want to acknowledge that we have leaders here both inside and outside of city government. We have our deputy mayor for economic justice, Julie Sue. We we have our commissioner of the department of consumer and worker protection, Sam Lavine. >> We have you heard from our deputy mayor about the importance of the workers justice project in both this work and all that will come from it. We are proud to have Liia Gualpa, the executive director of the workers justice project. We also have Rosendo Takam, one of the first deliveristas to file a complaint with DCWP about his experience. And I want to thank, you will see here, city council members who have been on the front lines of this fight for so many years. We have majority leader Sha Breu who's here, also the chair of the city council's transportation committee. We have council member and former assembly colleague Harvey Epstein who is here. The chair on the committee on consumer and worker protection. We have council member Sandy Nurse who is here. >> If ever you need a public bathroom and you find one, you should thank Sandy. >> And we have council member Jen Gutierrez who is here. >> One of the foremost voices and fighters for universal child care this city has ever known. And it is a pleasure because we are also finally joined by someone who once knew this building, then was the controller, and soon will be a congressman from our city, Bradlander. >> Now, two months ago, Tony Shu, the CEO of Door Dash, gave business owners a piece of advice. A CEO, he said, has to take the greedy algorithm and keep going all the way to see if there is more. In computer science, a greedy algorithm is one that makes the most optimized, best short-term outcome choice at every step and never weighs the consequences. New York City and the tens of thousands of delivery workers who call our city home have reckoned with greed as a business model for far too long. Every day in heat, in snow and in rain, delivery workers carry goods and food to every corner of the city. Early morning egg sandwiches, late night lain and the emergency Pepto-Bismol that could not have come sooner. Thousands of them deliver for Door Dash and thousands of them have felt the human cost of the greedy algorithm. For years, Door Dash failed to count every hour worked by delivery workers. This was not a rounding error or an accidental mistake. In 2023, when the city began enforcing a minimum pay rate for delivery workers, Door Dash left time out of the count, time on canceled trips, and trips that crossed city limits. Investigators at our incredible Department of Consumer and Worker Protection went through terabytes of Door Dash's own data. After analyzing 152 million payments and 110 million hours of work, they arrived at a staggering conclusion. Door Dash had underpaid more than 260,000 delivery workers across New York City between April of 2022 and June of 2026, often in violation of the minimum pay rate. Today, after years of corporate greed and impunity, we are holding Door Dash to account. I am proud to announce that Door Dash will pay more than $131 million, the largest settlement for food delivery workers ever secured in American municipal history, and a landmark win for those who have been mistreated and abused for years with nowhere to turn. City Hall will not sit idly by while a mega corporation that made nearly a billion dollars in profits last year rips off the working people who keep our city moving. Thanks to the work of DCWP, Door Dash will now have to pay more than $115 million directly to more than 260,000 delivery workers. No worker will have to file a claim or submit evidence. Our administration has already identified who is owed. And in late October, workers will receive an email detailing their exact amount. But we know accountability does not end when a check clears. That is why, as the deputy mayor said, for three years, Door Dash must also send DCWP detailed data every month to check compliance on minimum pay, maximum distance, trip disclosures, and pay and trip and tip transparency rather. To ensure those numbers are accurate, we are relying on the people who know this work best, the workers themselves. As you have heard, the Workers Justice Project and the Workers Algorithm Observatory are engineering software that lets delivery workers record the Door Dash app and share it directly with the city. For the first time, workers will have the power to crowdsource data and investigate the blackbox algorithms that dictate their schedules and pay. Door Dash cannot prevent or penalize a worker for using this tool. And if Door Dash tries, we will fasttrack any retaliation case to get that worker reinstated. Today's win builds on the work we have been doing since January to ensure that every delivery worker is paid what they are owed. That includes a settlement of more than $5 million in back pay and penalties from Uber Eats, Hungry Panda, and Fantoine, and more than $104 million won in additional tips. To every delivery worker, check your email in late October at the address you last used with Door Dash. If you have questions about what you are rightfully owed, go to nyc.gov/door dash. And to any corporation that has built a business model on greedy algorithms and worker exploitation, consider this your notice. If you keep trying to rip off New Yorkers, we will be happy to make history again. This is New York City, where hard work pays and greed will cost you. Thank you. >> And now with that, if you will please join me in welcoming someone without whom we would not be able to stand here today, our commissioner of DCWP, Sam Lavine. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. What a great day. >> We are in excellent company today. I'm grateful to be joined, of course, by the mayor, by a champion for workers, Julie Sue, deputy mayor Julie Sue, soon to be Congressman Lander, as well as our steadfast allies on the council, uh, Harvey Epstein, Sandy Nurish, Jennifer Gutierrez, and Shauna Breu. But most importantly, I am thrilled to be here with the delivery workers who make our city run. without whom this victory would not have been possible. I am incredibly proud today to announce this historic victory for New York City workers. As the mayor said, our action against Door Dash is the largest labor enforcement action in New York City history, recovering more than 131 million with 115 million of that dollars going directly into the pockets of hardworking deliveristas who were denied the pay that they earned. But as grand as that figure sounds, this case is really humble origins began when ordinary delivery workers, some on the stage, came to our department concerned that Door Dash was paying them late or not paying them at all. They stepped forward despite the risks to themselves, despite the constant threat of deactivation, and despite the cynicism so many people understandably feel about whether the government can actually deliver for them. Then DCWP's lawyers and investigators got to work. Through interviews with dozens of workers and rigorous analysis of billions of rows of pay data, we found for years that Door Dash had underpaid thousands of deliveristas for their work and failed to pay thousands more on time. I think there are a few important lessons in what happened next. First, this validates Mayor Mandani's historic investment in DCWP, the largest investment in worker protection in the history of New York City. This investigation began during the last administration, but thanks to the mayor's investment, we were able to accelerate our work dramatically. And Door Dash understood, as every company operating in the city should now understand, that if we could not reach an agreement that made workers whole, we were prepared to take them to court. It's clear that the mayor's investment in enforcement is already paying dividends directly into workers' pockets. But this case stands for more than that. This case shows that in New York City, the collective power of workers can still prevail against concentrated corporate power. So-called gig companies built a business model around isolating workers, making it harder for them to organize, harder for them to bargain collectively, harder to even know what the worker next to them is, whether they were being paid more or less for the same job. Algorithms, greedy algorithms, made that model ever more powerful. They allowed companies to make millions of individualized decisions about workers, their pay, their assignments, even whether they could continue working while workers themselves were left in the dark. This case rejects that model. It shows what happens when workers stand together, as we see behind me, and when they are backed by a city government relentlessly committed to enforcing their rights. Because in New York City, algorithms don't make the rules. the people do. And that principle is reflected in the settlement itself. I spent years as a federal regulator watching large technology companies mislead the government, ignore court orders, and cheat consumers and workers. And too often, government responded by outsourcing compliance monitoring to expensive consultants. Sometimes the very firms seeking business from the companies they were supposed to monitor. We're doing something a little different here in New York City. Door Dash will be required to regularly submit data to DCWP where our own staff will analyze uh will analyze it to make sure workers are being paid what the law requires. But we're not stopping there. Working with the Workers Justice Project and the Workers Algorithm Observatory, we are engineering software allowing workers to share their own Door Dash data directly with DCWP. That gives us an independent way to detect underpayment, compare what the company tells us with what workers are actually experiencing, and take swift enforcement actions if those numbers don't match. I'm enormously proud that we are putting this power not in the hands of management consultants, but in the hands of workers themselves. And that brings me back to where this case began. With the workers who knew something was wrong and were willing to speak up about it. Door Dash had the technology, the data, the enormous power, the greedy algorithm over the people who worked on its platform. But workers had each other and they had a government willing to listen, to investigate, and to act. Workers spoke up. We followed the facts. And together we turn billions of rows of corporate data into tens of millions of dollars back in workers pockets. This is truly what happens when workers stand together and government has their back. And I'm so grateful to everyone here for making this victory happen. Thank you so much. >> Our next speaker is Councilman Harvey Epstein. Who's got the power? >> Who's got the power? >> Thank you all for being here. For folks who don't know me, my name is Harvey Epstein, council member in district 2. Um, and I really want to thank the mayor, the deputy mayor, the uh the commissioner about the work that they're doing. We talked earlier in the year about the need to having more power, more tools at our disposal to do this type of enforcement action. And the mayor and the deputy mayor listened and they this is historic investment in DCWP. And it's really showing this year alone, I don't know, we've done six, seven, eight of these press conferences in in a nine-month year where we're talking time and time again how workers are getting screwed over, but government is here to respond. this $131.5 million enforcement action against Door Dash. That is historic. I really want to thank the mayor for his leadership, for your team putting this amazing team together to talk about how delivery workers day-to-day were getting abused and how corporations were taking advantage. Door Dash underpaid 260,000 workers, 260,000 New Yorkers who are low-wage workers just trying to survive. A corporation thought they'd take advantage of those individuals because they had no power. But today, we're sending a different message. We're saying they have power because of organizations like Workers Justice Project. We're saying they have power because of DCWP. We're saying they do have power because of the mayor of the city of New York. Those tools now are available to them. I want to thank my council colleagues before because before I got here, we talked about changing the laws on minimum wage for workers. We're talking about rules around deactivation and my colleagues who stand behind me were there on the forefront making sure that happened. This partnership, this historic partnership is transformative for low-wage New Yorkers, for New Yorkers who felt like they were being forgotten. We are sending the message out to every single corporation that hires or engages with low-income New Yorkers. We're watching. We're going to continue to watch. And for those workers out there who hear us today, if you have a concern or you have a question, come forward. You have a city who's willing to listen. You have a council that wants to hear from you because we together can make the difference for workers across this city. This is a huge victory for low-income workers. And I want to make sure that people understand how huge this is. But this may not be the last one this month. This may not be the last. Definitely not the last one this year. So workers and people out there know together we can fight for a better New York. Thank you all for letting me be here. >> Our next speaker is also someone without whom we would not be all standing here. It's executive director of the workers justice project Leia Gualpa. >> Thank you so much. >> Woo. Okay. Well, uh, well, thank you so much to the mayor, the deputy mayor, the commissioner, the council members, and everybody here who has had the workers justice project, but workers back since day one. And today is not just a beautiful day. It's a powerful day for the liaristas across the city. Today, workers who have been fighting for years are seeing the power of their organizing and are seeing justice being delivered to them. My name is Liha Walpa and I'm the executive director of the workers justice project which is the home of Losistas. And let me tell you who Losista are. It's a powerful union of app delivery workers who took the streets when the city shut down, organized, built power, fought for respect for new rights. And today, that organizing has led to a historic victory. Wow. $131 million settlement. putting hardearned wages back into the hands of their families and their homes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor Mandani. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Julius Sue, and the entire DCWT uh DCWP team who have been standing since day one against corporate greed, helping make this victory possible. Thank you for building a true partnership where workers can trust the city, their city government that will stand and will fight with them for them. But also, thank you to Loistas Unidos, the workers, the leaders. >> First and most Rosendo who had the bolds and the courage to stand up to Door Dash. And then to the organizers who are agitating in the street to all the workers saying you also need to come forward. Antonio, Allejo, William, Jose, Abu Bakr, Celu, Ria, Maria, and also Aadu and the entire team who work every day to build that bridge of trust between workers and their city government. And we know that's not easy. It takes enormous cou courage from a deliverista, a leader and a worker to look in the eyes of another worker and say the following. Let's trust our city government when the federal government have abandoned them. Let's organize and protest against greedy corporations like Door Dash when ICE is targeting them in their own streets. Let's speak up about corporate abuse even when the own apps are threatening them to retaliate and fire them. These are the workers and the leaders that took those risks. They protested outside of Door Dash when ICE was around. They spoke to the press even when they had fear of deactivation and potential ICE targeting. and they kept showing up demanding their pay, respect and justice they deserve. And today this city government, this administration, this commissioner have shown that workers shown workers that their trust is have not been misplaced. That this is what true partnership looks like. Government is standing with workers. workers building power and together creating conditions for workers who keep organizing and for b for fighting back for everything they deserve. And let this message go directly to Uber Eats, Grapop, Door Dash, and every little tiny corporations that is trying to grow big in this city. Don't mess with loist. Do not mess with angry, pissed-off workers. >> We will organize. We will fight back. We will definitely come after you. And it is time for every app to end unjusty activation because oh yeah, we're coming after you. And make sure you give workers everything they demand, but particularly the dignity and the respect they deserve. Because of you workers, the liberistas leaders will have power in the city. And let's make it clear to the apps. You're messing with the wrong New Yorkers. Not in our city, not in our streets, not with the liberistas. This is our city. This is our power. Deliverista >> power. >> Power. >> Deliverista power. >> Power. power. >> Power. >> As you've already heard, every enforcement effort by government is a partnership with workers willing to come forward even when there's great risk. Maybe especially when there's great risk. And our next speaker is Rosendo Takam, one of those workers. Buenos deliver. DC Victoria. Boy,ch. deliver. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Fore regal. Victoria, Victoria. Gracias. >> And now the mayor will sign the check. All right. All right, now we'll time have time for some on topic questions before we take off-topic questions afterwards. So, please questions about the deliverist's announcement to start. We'll start with James from Pix 11. And if you could just wait for the microphone. Thanks, James. >> Thank you. I appreciate you. James for from Pix 11. Uh congratulations. Uh just so we get the math right, it's 260,000 deliveries. That's about $500 a piece. Is that correct? And can when we've done any stories in the past that have involved uh inequality regarding deliveristas, uh the comproller had been part of this and the former comproller, we've done many stories with him about this very thing. Uh did it play any role in conjunction with DCWP? Thank you. I I will let our commissioner add some specific details, but before doing so, what I will say is you are correct that this is about roughly 260,000 workers. Of those, more than 27,000 will be receiving more than $1,000. Uh about a little over 4,000 will be receiving more than $5,000. And what this speaks to is not only the largest delivery workers settlement action in municipal history, but also New York City's largest ever labor enforcement action. And what is so exciting is, as you've heard other speakers say today, we know thatund more than 115 million will go directly to workers. And then of the remaining 16 million, it's civil penalties, its costs. It's also the kind of investment that is required to create the app that the workers will now be able to use to record their experience with Door Dash. Because what we're looking for is to not just protect these workers, not just to protect the incredible worker who stepped forward, but also to protect every worker that joins this workforce in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Commissioner, if you want to add anything. >> I I would just add briefly, we work closely with the controller on these cases all the time. This is one that we did on our own. Uh, our new research and analytics division, which we announced the launch of last week, played a key role in crunching these numbers and delivering this victory for tens of thousands of New York City workers. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Other on topic questions. Um, >> hi. Thank you, M. Mayor on. >> Yes. >> Okay. Hi, Claudi from the city reporter. Um, you talked about the uh software that is being developed um to track worker complaints. How long has that been in the works for and what's the plan to get it up and running fully because Door Dash um only has to comply for this for the next three years? Um so what's the plan there? >> Yeah, I'll add it over the commission. >> Sure. Well, let me just start by saying the Door Dash's obligations to comply with the settlement start today. We're not waiting for the software to be developed. Door Dash will be obligated to submit regular reports to us, much more granular than they have to do under the ordinary minimum pay law. Uh, we are also requiring Door Dash to regularly attest under oath that they are in compliance with the law. With respect to the app, this is something we've been thinking about for a long time. I mentioned in my remarks my experience in Washington where I saw companies like Meta ignore court orders over and over and over again, treat the law as a suggestion. That isn't going to be how things go in New York City. That's why we were so intent on giving workers the power themselves to collect this data, transmit it to us so we can respond to violations. uh we're going to roll out that software as soon as possible. You know, we we now have the funding to put it in place, but Door Dash's obligation to follow the law starts today. >> And just before we go to the next question, I want to just add that um this is also part of a larger commitment to holding these delivery companies accountable. You have heard many of us on this stage and beyond speak about the importance of uh interrogating the algorithms that are behind the incentives for delivery workers when they make their deliveries and what they are pushed to do. I just want to invite up our city council member Shauna who's been a real champion and focus on how to hold these kinds of companies accountable in case you have anything you want to add. >> Well, well, thank you for calling me, Mr. Mayor. I think that what what the commissioner has done as well with uh doing information sharing with the DA's office has also been important for DCWP data sharing has been important in terms of enforcement actions not only at the civil level but also criminal penalties as well. Um the the council's done a lot with tipping transparency laws. Uh we've done a lot with pay transparency as well and it's the commissioner's job and he's doing a great job at enforcing those laws and giving it teeth and so looking forward to that continuing partnership. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. All right, we'll go down the line. We'll go to Sophia and then we'll go to Laura. >> Thank you. >> Um, so I have one quick question which is is this new data going to be made public just like the other data is each quarter? And then my second question is, you know, all of these delivery workers are on the streets navigating the cycling infrastructure. They're riding bikes and mopeds. Um, and they're dealing with the dangers of riding bikes in the city. Do you see these kinds of settlements as related to street safety and to your vision zero safe systems approach goals? I think that they are all part of how we can protect workers because we know that it is delivery workers who spend the most amount of hours on our streets. They are the most exposed to either the presence or the absence of street safety infrastructure. And we want to make sure that not only are delivery workers being paid for the work that they do. not only are we holding app companies accountable to the law here in our city, but also that delivery workers are safe when they are using uh our streets. And you know, one of the reasons that I wanted to acknowledge our city council member uh Sandy Nurse, who was just here with us, was that one of the other things we've heard from delivery workers is can they access a bathroom? And the other day when the the mayor of Mexico City was here, we met with a number of members of the workers justice project and one of the things that Leia so proudly showed was a bathroom access card and a reflection of the fact that here in New York City, it is now the law that if you are delivering for a restaurant, you are allowed to use the bathroom of that restaurant. So all of this to us is is part and parcel of it. Uh commissioner, the question on the >> uh a lot of the data Door Dash is going to be turning over is proprietary, so it won't be made public. And I think that speaks to what is so remarkable about about this settlement. Council passed a really strong minimum pay rate law. It's complicated though. Uh the mayor has been committed to a government that can actually hold these companies accountable that's not afraid of complicated problems. And one of the things I'm really proud of is that we have some of the best data scientists and economists in the world. We're recruiting, by the way, nyc.gov/job who are able to actually crunch. I mean, think about all the delivery data New York City generates. Folks all over the city delivering thousands of p thousands of packages every day. We're going to be able to track that to a very granular level and make sure that this kind of mass underpayment doesn't happen again in New York City. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Okay, we'll take two more on topics before we clear the podium. You want to just go down the line? Go ahead, sir. And then we'll go to Laura from Bloomberg. >> Hi. Uh, give me one second while I pull up my question. Sorry. Um, so this this could be answered by you or uh maybe the head of DCWP. Uh, is there any concern uh because uh Mr. Lavine just said that this is proprietary data. Is there any concern regarding this uh recording app that you guys have announced that they might come back and say, "Well, that's our data. It's not theirs to even record uh that they might sort of try to draw a line about it being theirs." >> I'll say it in short and then I'll pass it over to the commissioner to say it in long. No, >> you know, for too long we have had this economy where these app companies collect vast amounts of data on individual workers, but neither individual workers nor government enforcers have visibility into what's happening across the board. What we're doing with this settlement is we are ending that asymmetry. We are recognizing for the workers behind me, the deliveries they make, that's their data. The pay they earn, that's their pay. The disclosures they get, those are their disclosures. So there's nothing inappropriate at all about having that data directly transmitted to us and it's making sure that the kind of underpayment scheme we saw here is not going to be repeated in this city. >> Hi >> Laura, go ahead. >> Hey, um, thank you. Um, I I have a two-part question. Um, the first is, uh, have the other, as far as you're aware, have other apps like Uber and GrubHub been compliant under the minimum pay rule? And then could you tell us um as far as the use of these uh greedy algorithms go, is this a a problem that's limited to delivery apps or is this something that you're seeing at other kinds of companies and other kinds of industries? Since everything uses tech these days, >> we are seeing across a number of different companies and a number of different industries a pursuit of profit no matter the cost. And we want to make it very clear that it does not matter how profitable your company is, how large your company is, you have to abide by the laws of New York City. They are not suggestions, they are requirements. And we are so appreciative of the workers who step forward and alert us to these violations because without them, we would not be able to have put into place what is the largest labor settlement in New York City history. and I'll pass it over uh to the commissioner to your first question. >> Yeah. >> Well, this is absolutely a huge problem and one of the things I find interesting and I I wonder if the DM deputy mayor would agree with me. You know, in Washington, everyone's searching, well, what are we going to do about all these algorithms? What are we going to do about AI? We're showing what to do right here in New York City. We're saying we don't care what the algorithm spits out. If you're a delivery worker, you're entitled to about $22 an hour in the city of New York. And what this enforcement action shows is that we can actually deliver on that commitment and put money back in people's pockets. So this is a problem across the economy and New York City is showing the way for how government can address it. >> And then just just the first question, are Uber and GrubHub compliant under the minimum pay rule as far as you're aware >> law? Sorry. >> Thank you. Thank you to uh future Congressman Lander. It is indeed a law and if they're not compliant, we're going to have another big event like this one. >> Thank you. Yeah, I know we have time for just one more actually from channel 7 last on topic. >> Hi. >> If you just wait for the microphone, Jen, thank you. >> Good morning, Darla Miles, channel 7. Good morning, everyone. >> Good to see you. >> Good to see you as well, mayor. Um, I just what we're hearing from you and your commissioner this morning is that these are very clear algorithms, a very clear uh pursuit of corporate profits kind of under the radar and and uh thinking that the law is an option to to quote what you said. So, I just wanted to know if you can uh directly respond to how Door Dash is characterizing this. Uh, simply put, we screwed up. Our mistakes meant some dashers were underpaid or paid late. While these mistakes weren't intentional, that doesn't make them okay. We pride ourselves in excellence. So, can you just speak to directly on the notes app? >> I mean, they're saying kind of like, "Oops, my bad." You know, can you respond directly to what Door Dash is saying? You know, I' I've never heard someone describe a $131.5 million settlement in that kind of a language. We are speaking about something that was sustained, something that was rampant for a quarter of a million workers and something that would never have been acknowledged, let alone rectified were it not for the courage of these very workers. And we also know that when workers step forward, they are typically not welcomed in doing so. That is why we are also making clear that if any worker is retaliated against for the use of the app that we are now developing alongside workers justice project we're going to fasttrack their retaliate the the retaliatory proceedings and to Door Dash we want to make it very very clear that we will continue to hold them accountable as we will any other company and we are not going to abide by the flagrant violation of the law no matter the tone and the tenor of that kind of a statement. Thank you very much. >> Thank you to our speakers. Thank you so much. >> We'll just have you guys move this way. >> Then we'll have speakers. Hey, nice to see you. >> We'll just give everyone a minute. All right, we're gonna start with Josie from the Daily News. We got time for off topics. We might just give everyone one more minute for the sound. We need the elevator music back. >> I I can hear you though. >> I think we'll be waiting for a long time. >> Um, so yesterday at your press conference, you mentioned that you and President Trump uh talked about the importance of the police department here. I'm wondering if you can elaborate a little bit on that. And I'm wondering if uh off of your remarks on Sunday if one of the areas you found common ground with the president on was a crackdown on quality of life concerns. Um I know you had talked about it on Sunday as uh a little bit different uh trees, potholes, etc. And the president has embraced some version of like broken windows policing. So, I'm wondering if you found common ground in that area or others regarding >> the conversation as it pertained to policing was just a shared appreciation of the men and women of the NYPD. Uh, my remarks on on Sunday at the U20 forum were about the importance of responding to potholes that need to be paved over, trees that need to be planted, the concerns that New Yorkers have on their block. Uh, but the conversation with the president was a much just broader appreciation. >> Thank you, Josie. All right, we'll go down the line. We'll go to Kelly from New York One. Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you? I'm good. I wanted to ask you, right now the city council's holding an oversight hearing on the signal chat and what went wrong there. Nobody from your administration actually showed up. I wanted to know why and why your your administration doesn't think it's important to show up to this type of an oversight hearing. And then I also wanted to get your response. Um, the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu today put out something on social media in particular. He said, just a sec. Let me just try to find it. Um, he said in particular that shame on you, Mr. Mom Donnie. Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews. I'm coming to the UN. I'm going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers. and I'm going to tell the truth about you and I wanted to get your response to that post as well. >> Well, we all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true. Um, what we do know to actually be the truth when it comes to the prime minister is that he is the subject of an international criminal court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. And as the prime minister, he is the architect of horrific genocide against Palestinians. and that just a few days ago his military killed an 11-year-old boy in what is deemed to be a safe zone in Gaza. So that is what I have to say uh to to his video. And then to your earlier question as it pertains to Signal, you know, as I said alongside my chief counsel, uh our administration took corrective action to ensure that we're in accordance with the city's recordkeeping laws. And I'm confident in the testimony that our administration is providing today uh that it will be sufficient in answering the council's questions. >> Thanks, Kelly. We can go to Joe next to her. >> If you can just pass it down to brother Anuda. >> Thank you. >> Here you go. >> Brother Anuda, how are you? >> I'm good. How are you doing, Mr. Mayor? >> Doing all right. >> Um I had another follow-up question about uh your conversation with the president yesterday. There was some reaction to the Sunnyside Yard uh discussion from local Queens officials, Julie Juan and uh Donovan Richards. And um the Queensboro president basically said he thought that there were other better uses uh maybe more efficient ways to build housing that didn't involve building a super expensive platform over this uh railard. and council member one basically suggested, you know, the local community wasn't consulted. The gist was kind of you're planning this thing with Trump without including the the neighborhood of Sunnyside. What would be your response to those >> reactions? >> What we're speaking about would be the largest housing project in New York City since the early 1970s. the largest development in more than 50 years, which would construct 12,000 homes, 30,000 jobs, and as the president said himself yesterday, a significant number of those homes would be affordable to to New Yorkers in terms of an intentional rate. And to me, this is such a priority because of the fact that when we look at the cost of living crisis in our city, the number one driver is a lack of housing. and I will do everything in my power to build more housing in this city and working with the president to fulfill an idea that has existed for 50 to 60 years. That to me is is clearly an example of what what could be done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joe. We'll go next to Craig from the Post. If you could just pass the mic down. >> Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you >> doing? Well, I just found out that the post was apparently founded on the porch of Gracie Mansion. Oh, you're getting it delivered now. >> No, no, no. That was It was It was founded. >> They just founded. >> No, no. The first conversation about the creation of the New York Post >> was founded. Okay. >> Was founded. Yes. >> Alexander Hamilton. Yes. Um, so just following back up on the Israeli prime minister. So, you've called for his arrest. You've called for the federal government >> to honor the ICC's warrant. Was this brought up with the president yesterday during your discussion at Gracie Mansion? And if it wasn't, why wasn't that brought up? And then separately, just circling back to the the influencer hearing that's happening with the council members right now. So there was a memo that we obtained that went out earlier this year from your chief counsel that explicitly said not to use WhatsApp or signal, not with the caveat of if you have the permission. So how do you answer for the statement that was put out from city hall afterwards that um from your lawyer Ramsey Kazim that you could they could use signal with permission? Was this was not being truthful? was not being understanding that this memo went out. I know there's a training also in March. So, how do you how do you square that circle? >> Well, I I think to uh quote the the chief counsel, there are trainings and there are retrainings and that will continue because for us being in accordance with the recordkeeping laws of the city is of paramount importance. Um I will defer to the chief counsel to answer uh more specifically to your question. When it comes to your first question, the focus of the conversation that I had with the president was New York City and New Yorkers. Uh that is a conversation that spanned Sunnyside Yard, as the president said, about Haitian New Yorkers. Uh as well as an appreciation of our of our police department. Uh and when it comes to the prime minister though, I've I've made very clear where I stand on that. >> So it didn't come up. >> You did not bring it up. >> Focus was on the city. >> Thank you, Craig. All right, we've got time for two more. We're going to go to Heather. >> Hi, Mayor. How are you >> doing? Well, how are you? >> Good. I want to ask about the Horizon's juvenile facility in um the Bronx. >> Yes, please. Today, Council Member Stevens and the Legal Aid Society as well as other community members are having another visit of the site. They visited back in July. I asked you if you were planning to visit yourself. You said that you were working internally on setting something up and making changes regarding the oversight of um overcrowding, security, and safety. Were you invited to go on this tour today? Have you set a date to go see the facility? and what internal conversations are you having about making changes and addressing particularly the overcrowding and the safety in that facility? >> So since uh you last asked me that question, I did uh visit the facility. uh visited both Horizon and Crossroads and we are firmly committed to not only providing the staff there with the support that they need, but also ensuring that we are in full compliance because this is critically important in living up to not only the intent that we have of our administration, but also um the importance of ensuring that we are providing all of the kinds of services that young people in detention need. What did you observe there? >> I I think it was uh maybe about a little more than a month ago. I can get back to you on the exact dates of it. Um what I observed there is both the improvements that our ACS staff have been able to deliver with newfound support as well as the need for this to be something that is sustained. And we need to provide not only you know I I was able to go with with a number of um the New Yorkers who were being held there into something called elite lounge where they were being taught skills about I think it that day it was it was running what was effectively a coffee shop. I saw the recreation area. I saw the incredible artwork that a lot of those young people have come together to be a part of. Uh there was also they were preparing for a karaoke competition and so so I heard a song that they were putting together. Uh but to me these these are young people who at some point will be returning home and we need to ensure that they are equipped with the skills, the education, the training so that they can flourish in our society. We're committed to doing that. >> Thank you, Heather. Last question will go to Jack. >> Hi, Mr. Mayor. How's it going? >> How's it going? >> Um yesterday we heard the president say a word he doesn't use often, which is affordable. You mentioned that earlier. um he's previously called it a hoax, a conj job, things like that. Um do you think he's changed or shifted on the issue, at least the rhetoric? Do you take any credit for that? Um how do you approach kind of that question of affordability with him? And then I'd love to get specifics on this. Uh when you think of Sunnyside Yard and the affordable aspect of it, kind of what percentage of afford affordable housing are we thinking there? What's a what's a goal for you? You know, I I want to be honest with you that that is exactly the reason why we're setting up the conversations at the highest level between our housing operations teams as well as the White House, which is what the president and I agreed to do coming out of yesterday's meeting. Uh it will be a focus, however, is developing that scale of housing, ensuring that a significant portion is affordable, and also constructing what will effectively be an entirely new neighborhood uh in New York City. Because as we know, one of the most difficult things in our city is to find land. And what this project would do is effectively create new land by creating a structure at top what is currently a railard. And then to to your first question, you know, what I've said publicly and also said to the president is anything that could help a working New Yorker's life, that's what I want to focus on. That's what I want to talk about. And I appreciated the president's consideration of that when it comes to building more housing than we've seen in this city since the early 1970s and uh the importance of stability in Haitian New Yorkers lives and just how critical of a role they play in this city not only as New Yorkers but also as the New Yorkers who are oftentimes powering our economy whether it is in health care, hospitality, construction and and I shared that I'm hearing this not only from those New Yorkers, not only from my personal um experiences of of seeing and meeting these New Yorkers, but also from their pastors, from developers, from the executives of hospitals, from across the board in the city. >> Discussed any other parts of your affordability agenda with him? You know, groceries, freezing the rent, anything else related to that or is it just specifically housing? >> It's it's a widespends to be the focus. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you all very much.