Ask the Mayor 'Tryouts': Raymond McGuire

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. April is Ask The Mayor tryouts month here on The Brian Lehrer Show. Just like we do Ask The Mayor every Friday with my questions and yours for Mayor Bill de Blasio, we have invited the eight leading candidates for the June primary to join us this month to do an Ask The Mayor segment with my questions in yours for them. All eight have accepted, so far we've had Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer, Shaun Donovan, and Kathryn Garcia.

Now, we welcome back to the show candidate Ray McGuire. He grew up poor in Dayton, Ohio, but got into Harvard. Got a bachelor's MBA, and law degree there from what I understand, just to show off, I guess, and eventually became one of the top executives at Citigroup until stepping down last year to run for mayor full time. He's been in the news recently for celebrity endorsements from Jay Z, Diddy, and Nas, adding to a roster that already included Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, LL Cool J, Steve Martin, and Spike Lee.

According to the New York Post, he will soon add a prominent one from the political sector, Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks, who is both the Democratic Party chairman in the Borough and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. On the policy level, McGuire has been in the news recently for proposing a comeback jobs accelerator, as he calls it, that he says could help create 500,000 jobs to get us out of pandemic unemployment by subsidizing 50,000 small businesses.

According to a Daily News article on a speech, McGuire gave about this last week. He would also offer a sales tax rebate aimed at helping small businesses and suspend the usual fees involved with starting a small business, and that he would fund these things in part by reducing the budgets of city government agencies by 5%. He's also in the news for wanting to lift the cap on the number of charter schools. On the not-for-profit side, he is chairman of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

It's my questions and yours now for candidate Ray McGuire at 646-435-7280. Or you can tweet a question, just use the same hashtag we do on Fridays, #AskTheMayor. Just let me remind you all of the ground rules that we established for this series, we want these to be policy questions, not got you questions or negative attacks. If you get on the air and we think you're a plat from a rival campaign just trying to make our guests look bad, whoever it is, we will give you very short shrift. With all of that as Prelude, Mr. McGuire, welcome back to WNYC, and thanks for doing an Ask The Mayor tryout.

Raymond McGuire: Thank you for having me. How are you today? How's New York today?

Brian Lehrer: We will find out how New York today is, as I will only speak for myself, but I know you've all done about a million and a half Zoom forums. Since this is Ask The Mayor, is there a most common ask the candidate question that members of the public tend to ask you?

Raymond McGuire: The "Why are you doing this?" The question that’s most often asked is, "Why would you want to take on the task of running New York City?"

Brian Lehrer: How do you answer?

Raymond McGuire: I love the city. The city has given me enormous opportunity, as you referenced my mother's sacrifices, she was a single mom. I didn't know my dad, sacrificed for me to get a great education. I came to this city with three things. I came with a great education, with a lot of debt, no money, and it's been great to me. That's where I met my wife, we're raising our three children. It is where I've been able to come in and compete in the world of finance and knock down doors, and make sure others got the opportunity.

The city now is in the midst of the crisis of COVID, the crisis of the economy, the crisis of social and economic social justice, and the crisis of what's taken place in each of our neighborhoods. I love the city and the city now needs a mayor who can change what has happened over the past however many years. What I intended to do is to lead the greatest most inclusive comeback to the city's ever known. I am the mayor for change.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have what you would like listeners to think of as your signature policy? I mentioned your recent jobs accelerator speech and some of the details of that, would it be that or do you want people to say, "Oh Ray McGuire, he's the one who plans to do," fill in the blank.

Raymond McGuire: The greatest most inclusive economic comeback in the city. If you got no jobs, you got no city. You got no jobs, you got no dignity. I'm also a proven leader. I understand the importance of hiring and developing strong talent to help them lead the city, empowering them to do and hold them accountable. I'm the best candidate to lead a strong recovery. I would say the policies on which I'm focused are policies of the economy, affordability of the city, safety, and education.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, we'll get to your questions very shortly for Ray McGuire, 646-435-7280 on this Ask The Mayor tryout. 646-435-7280, or you can tweet a question, use the #AskTheMayor. On funding the jobs accelerator, did I get it right that you would fund it in part by cutting 5% from the budgets of all city agencies?

Raymond McGuire: Let's be clear about what this is going to cost us. The elements of the comeback plan that have an expense are all economic stimulus, the wage subsidy for up to 50,000 workers in the small business support, which is keeping sales tax receipts and waving season licenses. Together, they're projected to cost probably $900 million over two fiscal years, and that's on the higher end. How do we pay for it? We're going to get $5.8, $5.9 billion in federal relief. If we keep the current hiring trades and other cost-saving measures in place, we'll balance the budget and have at least $1 billion rolled into the stimulus program.

Second, as we know, there are other state and federal funding sources that we can tap into, for example, money for shared work programs that would be applied to the wage subsidy. Finally, yes, we can reduce current city spending through staff attrition, and through agency efficiencies of up to 5%, which would yield over $3 billion per year when fully phased in. Just reminder, comeback plan or economic stimulus is designed to accelerate the recovery. We believe that conservatively, we could yield $300 million in additional revenues in 2022, and over $600 in 2023. We have the resources available with the federal stimulus to pay for this.

Brian Lehrer: I can imagine at least the city employee unions and maybe others asking, why would it be good to defund actual government services that much to put the money in the hands of private businesses?

Raymond McGuire: Well, that is not what this is intended to do. It is intended to be more efficient. As you know in past administrations, efficiency has been a core part of how they manage the budget. This is simply in keeping with that, and that is staff attrition, which we know is going to yield some significant funds, and then agency more rationalization. This is intended to help to jumpstart the economy.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead, I'm sorry.

Raymond McGuire: Without that, it's difficult for us to start the economy, especially small businesses, this is focused on just that.

Brian Lehrer: What was the wage subsidy piece of that you just mentioned?

Raymond McGuire: Wage subsidy is 50% of wages for one year or 50,000 jobs. That will yield, that causes I think conservatively $450 million a year.

Brian Lehrer: In other words, it's not giving the workers money above the minimum wage, let's say, it's giving the money to the businesses so they can afford to hire more workers.

Raymond McGuire: That’s exactly right. It's giving these plans are specifically designed to give businesses a support. Small benefits in the small business, 50,000 jobs to subsidize 50% of the wages for one year. Remember, while people are working, they're also eligible for other Earned Income Tax Credit benefits, so as to give them 50,000 jobs, 50% of the wages for one year. It is to help negotiate the retention of New York City sales tax receipts. They can reinvest in their businesses, and to give a fee waiver so that we can incentivize the formation of new businesses, and so that the burden, which many of our small businesses are now carrying, that we can address those burdens.

Remember, small businesses are responsible for half of the workforce, 50% of workers in New York City. They are also responsible for what happens in our communities, their lifeblood, culture lifeblood to what takes place in our communities, especially for our seniors, our elders, if you will.

Brian Lehrer: Louis in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with mayoral hopeful Ray McGuire. Hi, Louis.

Louis: Brian, thank you for taking my call. What I'm trying to say is that we know that there's a correlation between education, housing, and economic disparity in our society, especially in New York. This is manifested early on. My daughter who's four years old, I signed her up for pre-K and even though I chose most of the charter schools in my area, or the most diverse schools in my area. I live in an area that's, you could say it's a poor neighborhood, so the pre-K school that's very close to me, it tends to be surrounded by a lot of problems.

I tried to get my daughter to a better school, but it seems like the way it's set up, it doesn't allow me because I already been wait-listed in the schools, the better schools, I would say. What do you think you can do in order to give our youth a better chance in the future in terms of education?

Raymond McGuire: You're exactly right. I understand the challenges. Education has got to be the highest priority for us. Pre-K is good, but we need to start before pre-K, and we need to start zero to four, because by the time many of our kids get to pre-K, they're behind. I want affordable childcare, I want to make sure that we have care for the parents, and that we compensate those caregivers appropriately. Then for children like yours, it should not be the case that education is determined by their zip code. I want to guarantee that by the end of the third grade, every child in New York City can read, which is my cradle to career plan.

Why is that? Because between zero and end of the third grade, our children are learning to read, after that, they're reading to learn. I want to guarantee that every child can read by the end of the third grade. When it gets to the quality of schools, I want to have quality education in every borough, and that means I want to have quality district schools so that your kids can attend, I want to have quality magnet schools, I want to have quality parochial schools, and I want to have quality charter schools.

My focus is solely on the children and making certain that your child and every other child in New York City gets the option so you don't have to agonize over what's taking place in your neighborhood, but I've given quality education to your neighborhood, as well as given quality education to every other neighborhood in this city. I'm actually tired of us not having done that. I'm outraged at us not having done that.

You get a commitment from me that says that's going to be my highest priority, because what you outline from the outset is exactly right. I'm in complete agreement with you. We have to have a solution and up to this point, we have not had those solutions and that's got to change.

Brian Lehrer: In some quarters, your interest in lifting the cap on the number of charter schools is not considered a progressive policy. What would you say to people who look at it that way?

Raymond McGuire: I'm not looking for progressive policies, I'm looking for progressive children. I'm looking to invest in our children, and I want our children have the option for the highest quality education, independent of what form. I do not want to get caught up in the debate because our children suffer from that debate. I'm focused solely on fighting for our children. That's what I'll do in whatever form it takes. I'm prepared to have that fight. I need partnership in this because our children have gone backwards. Children have gone backward.

Educational system is not delivering and our children are suffering, and I'm not prepared to allow that to continue. I'm outraged at this to be quite candid with you. We cannot allow this to persist. We have to stop it, we need to intervene. I'm not getting caught up in the debate, I'm getting caught up in the debate fighting for our children. Every child in New York City deserves to have the highest quality education independent of his or her zip code.

Brian Lehrer: Where does desegregating the schools come into that for you and other topics that the candidates are talking about?

Raymond McGuire: If desegregation gets us into a position where we're going to have the highest quality education, then I think there are opportunities to do that, but remember, remember, the time we began in 1954, when the Brown versus board decision was handed down, Charlie Helmet and Houston, and Thurgood Marshall desegregated the schools. The same time in Levittown, New York, we had federal redlining of neighborhoods where the federal government subsidized the homeownership.

Can we disaggregate the schools with all deliberate speed that way that we've been talking about for the past 67 years? Interesting, but our kids are still suffering. Is that one of the ways that we can think about it? Yes. Mathematically, you cannot desegregate just given the demographics in the city, but we ought to make sure that some of the higher quality schools are better segregated, have a better reflection of the demographics of the city, but desegregation is one way to do it. We need to transform the entire system.

Brian Lehrer: Alex in Greenwich Village, you're on WNYC, with former Citigroup executive, Ray McGuire now running for mayor. Hi.

Alex: Hi. Your former employer, Citigroup, is the second largest banking investor in fossil fuels and actually in [inaudible 00:14:49]. Do you personally have a positive and proven track record on climate change and how can New Yorkers trust you to take action on these important issues to protect our city if you spent decades working in an industry that significantly funds our planet's destruction? Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you.

Raymond McGuire: To be clear, I have, while at Citi, made sure that we accident any support of the fossil fuel industry, including pipelines, where we have stood tall on that, and I have stood tall on that. When it comes to my plan for the future of New York City, I have been on record saying that we need to focus on climate change and invest and making certain that the city's resilient, and also making sure that we invest in attempting to make sure that we get to net zero by 2050, which is an ambitious goal. We need to figure out where we are with that scorecard.

I am for making certain that New York City is the greenest city that exists when it comes to reformulating buildings or building buildings. My plan is to make sure that we're out running this. I have a track record, while at Citi, of making certain that we were supportive of everything that was green and I think if you look at the track record and the leadership that Citi has taken on this, that is amongst the biggest leaders that exists in the corporate world.

Brian Lehrer: To the caller's question, what do you want people to make of your Wall Street success, generally? It's not an automatic plus in a democratic primary, as you obviously know, and you recorded in that Daily News article that I referenced about your jobs program, saying, "I know there are slight differences between running a company and running a city, but as someone who has managed thousands of workers globally, I believe the best predictor of future success is past accomplishment."

If the quote is accurate, do you think there are only slight differences between running a Wall Street firm, which people could argue has contributed to the concentration of wealth, and municipal government, which is about public service, mostly to poor and working class people?

Raymond McGuire: The answer is, at this moment in time, when I have a proven track record of leading, and managing, and hiring the best talent, and managing budgets through the depths of the financial crisis, and we now find ourselves in the midst of the depth of financial crisis, and pulling this city together, there is no one else in this race who has a proven track record. Now is not the time to get somebody who has no leadership and management experience, will likely need an interpreter to understand the budget coming in, managing what is one of the largest if not the largest budgets that exist anywhere.

A $92 billion budget, where people who have been in position to have not delivered. Now's the time you want me on that wall. Now's the time when you take the experience that I've been able to generate, the judgment that I've had to exercise, and a proven track record of having delivered managing large budgets, and negotiating transactions that are the size of this city's budget. Now's the time when you want somebody who's got that skill-set, who's got that respect, who has got proven track records of having managed and delivered budget after budget.

This is a moment in time when what I've been able to accomplish, and I say this with all humility, but this is a moment in time when that skill-set is needed. If there's ever a moment in time, it is now.

Brian Lehrer: That language that you use, "Slight differences between running a company and running a city," maybe that was something you just said casually off the cuff and you want to revisit it, but how big do you think the differences are between running a company and running a city?

Raymond McGuire: I would say and I did say slight, I do not want to revisit because I think of the people who have been in politics for quite some time, and I look at where the city is today, and the budget crisis that we have to manage, and the creation of jobs. I think many of these people who have been career politicians have had their chance, now's the time for something different. People are looking for something different, they want a change. The slight differences is making certain that the same kind of discipline, and the same kind of investment and involvement that I had on the corporate sector, that I apply that to what is going to be needed in the city government.

We need someone who's got management and leadership experience and who's got a proven track record. This is not the time for an experiment. We need somebody who knows how to run things, who's actually done something, not advertised, but actually has done, executed on a vision and has lead teams and led them globally managing large budgets. There's nobody else who's had to be able to manage those budgets and be held accountable for as many times as I've been held accountable. I did this for 13 years, longer than anybody else in the history of my job, 13 years.

Brian Lehrer: This is WNYC FM HD NAM New York, WNJT FM 88.1 Trenton, WNJP 88.5 Sussex, WNJY 89.3 Netcom, and WNJO, 90.3 Toms River. We are New York and New Jersey public radio. A few more minutes and I ask the mayor try out today with candidate Ray McGuire. Our next listener question comes from a listener via Twitter. Listener Wes writes, “What is McGuire's stance on police reform? Will he stand up to Pat Lynch and the police union as a fiscal expert?” The listener asks, “How does he feel that settlements from police misconduct are not the responsibility of the perpetrators?”

I guess that refers to the qualified immunity that does not require police officers to pay out of their pockets when the city is successfully sued for their misconduct. What would you say to that listener?

Raymond McGuire: To the listener, how do I think about this? I think about this the following way. It comes down to accountability and I have a outline, a culture of accountability, respect, accountability and proportionality. What does this mean in specific? I will have a new chain of oversight and accountability that starts with city hall. I will create a deputy mayor for public safety. In addition to playing a direct role and management department, this deputy mayor is going to have direct oversight of NYPD and the other criminal justice agencies, a mandate to direct and coordinate resources.

I'm going to hold the entire chain of command accountable for an officer conduct. I'm going to make sure that the concept data measures more elements reflective of the community. I'm going to have an emergency social services office, the city-wide network of 24-hour, 7-day a week emergency response units for mental health and substance misuse incidents. By 2023, this unit is going to be operating in every precinct in five boroughs. I will combat the homicides and gun violence by making sure that we shift the resources within NYPD budget to increase the number of officers.

I'm going to make certain that the CCRB gets full investigative authority rather than take 48 days through a video cam footage, it's going to be done in 48 hours. I will advocate for the ending of qualified immunity and I'll also make the families of victims of violence eligible for crime victim benefits. Those are some of the things. If I look at the menu of things that are going to be necessary to restore the relationship between the police and the community, we're going to have to invest and we're going to also have to invest in community organizations, community centers and making certain that our teenagers, make certain that they have summer jobs.

Every child in the eighth grade who wants a summer job in New York City in the public school, will have a summer job.

Brian Lehrer: You did say and qualified immunity as part of that, to the caller's question.

Raymond McGuire: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: You also said authority to the CCRB, does that mean you differ with Mayor de Blasio on the question of once there's a CCRB finding of misconduct by an officer, that it's currently the police commissioner who gets to decide not the CCRB, what happens to that police officer. The mayor supports it staying with the police commissioner. What's your position on that?

Raymond McGuire: I say the mayor, I would expect a police commissioner to make decisions that are fully informed by the finding of the CCRB. In cases of serious misconduct, if I do not agree with the disciplinary action and the commissioner, I am prepared to direct them to take additional actions. I'm ultimately going to be held accountable.

Brian Lehrer: Stay with the police commissioner, but with oversight by you. Dan in Flatbush, you're on WYNC with Mayor hopeful Ray McGuire. Hi, Dan.

Dan: Hello. Good morning. My question is as a CUNY student at Brooklyn College, we faced a wave of austerity, mostly at the hands of the governor, which has led to many, many cuts in faculty, deteriorating conditions of the school themselves, what is your plan to defend CUNY from this campaign of austerity that's coming from Albany? In addition, will you commit today to defunding the NYPD?

Raymond McGuire: On CUNY, listen, education is what got me here. CUNY is one of the most important educational institutions that exist anywhere in the country. I'd be prepared to support CUNY. We shouldn't reduce funding of CUNY, we need to invest in CUNY. CUNY is at the center of what I think about workforce training, is at the center of what I think about making sure that those people who wanted education in CUNY get an affordable education. CUNY is at the center of how I think about education and a path to success. CUNY is at the heart of that, that's number one.

Number two, with respect to defund, I am not for defund, I want to be clear. I am for reallocating along the line, because I've talked about re-investing many of those funds and the community-based organizations into community centers, returning to the police athletic league, which at many points created an enormously positive bridge between the police and the community. I'm for reallocating, I'm not for the language of de-funding. I think the language is divisive and the city needs to come together. We can no longer stand to be as divided as we are.

Brian Lehrer: Mr. McGuire, Mayor de Blasio made some news here Friday on the real Ask The Mayor. Many weeks, and get used to this if you get elected and you agree to continue Ask The Mayor, many weeks, the press will pick out one or two things that mayor says during the segment and make new stories out of them. Sometimes it's curious to me which things they choose. In this case, the mayor made some news here Friday on the real Ask The Mayor segment with a caller, who's a city government office worker, who complained that he felt like he and his coworkers are being used as coronavirus Guinea pigs under the mayor's plan to bring them back to in-person work starting May 3rd, even if they'd been productive working remotely.

The mayor dug in on the value of bringing everybody back in person. Meanwhile, your former company, Citigroup, made news for saying they would go more permanently to a hybrid model of some days in-person and some days from home for many employees. I'm curious if you think they're saying different things and I'm curious if you think one is a better approach than the other.

Raymond McGuire: I think what we have done, and I've not studied either of those plans, but that for which I'd be in favor is creating some hybrid plan. I think it is important that we do use that, first of all, we got to follow the data to make sure that people are safe, that they're vaccinated, that we are following strictly COVID protocol with masks, so I would be in favor of that. When people do return to offices, we need to make it a safe journey on the subway system. We need to have safety and by the time they are in cleanliness in the streets and by the time they get to their offices, we need to have protocol in place so that people do not feel that they're exposed.

I would say a hybrid model is one that we should explore, but I would really like to have people back into New York City so that we can regain the vibrancy of the city, but we do it with safety and precautions as the highest priority.

Brian Lehrer: All right. One more question and then a lightning round to finish up. I mentioned at the beginning, some of the recent endorsements that you got. Let me update one that I mentioned and did not see the update on earlier that Congressman Gregory Meeks of Queens, who's also the Democratic Party chairman of the Borough and he's the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I said it was reported that Gregory Meeks would endorse you. I see now that he has, in fact, endorsed you, so you have Gregory Meeks’ endorsement.

What do you want people to make of all these celebrity endorsements from hip hop and other entertainment sectors that you're getting? I mentioned Diddy and Nas, and Spike Lee, and Steve Martin, and all these people, many people questioned the relevance to whether someone would be the best mayor.

Raymond McGuire: They are New Yorkers. They have come up in this city and they've made it like me from the bottom. They understand what it's like to struggle. They understand the great hustle in New York City, and based on their love for the city, like my love for the city, they've come out and said that they are supportive of me. As they look at the field of candidates, they too recognize the status quo has taken us backwards. That those who were in office had their chance. They recognize that I've not been termed out, that I'm not looking for a promotion. That I've not served in any administration.

I come to this with a clear vision with the necessary track record of having run the city. It is Congressman Meeks and Senator Leroy Comrie, it is the matriarch of Queens, Vivian cook. It is Robert Rodriguez who was in Southeast Queens, it’s [unintelligible 00:29:33] who’s in The Bronx. I would look at the people who are on the ground, in the neighborhoods. I'm in Harlem today, and I had a hundred people have come to a breakfast this morning, so they could talk about the issues of Harlem.

I've been in Harlem, I've been on The Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, I'm talking to every day New Yorkers and the people who have been able to achieve the status that they've been able to achieve, who were once every day New Yorkers. These are the people who reflect the best and the brightest of the city, and to whom the city has given enormous opportunities, which is what I want for all New Yorkers. I want to change so that New Yorkers get the opportunity. It's all about opportunity, and that's what this administration, and that for which I stand, and that is that for which I stand from New York City.

The opportunity on the biggest stage to go compete, “Give me the tools. Don't give me a mineral, but teach me how to fish,” which is what New Yorkers want, which is what I stand for. Especially that caller who talked about the education for his children. I want that for all of our children, which is why I'm fighting so hard for the city because I love it. My mother say, "We do things for the people in places we love," and I love New York City.

Brian Lehrer: All right. You’re ready for the lightning round to conclude? Yes or no answers or very short answers. Do you think Amazon headquarters in Queens would have been more good or more bad for the city?

Raymond McGuire: More good.

Brian Lehrer: Should gifted and talented programs exist at all in the public schools?

Raymond McGuire: Yes. Expand it with different assessments.

Brian Lehrer: You worked for Citigroup, have you ever ridden a Citi Bike?

Raymond McGuire: Yes, frequently from the start.

Brian Lehrer: From the start. Do you own a car?

Raymond McGuire: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: If you're raising children or did raise children, I don't know your family status, do they or did they attend public school the whole time?

Raymond McGuire: We have three children, Leo who is 8, Ella who's 18, and Cole who's 20, who is the Starting Point Guard for the Orlando Magic.

Brian Lehrer: Did they attend public school the whole time?

Raymond McGuire: Parochial and no public.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have a favorite spectator sport?

Raymond McGuire: Basketball.

Brian Lehrer: I guess after what you said about your son, you better, right? That one.

Raymond McGuire: Well, I play it a little bit too. I got a little cross over too. I got some game too.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Are you more Knicks are more Nets?

Raymond McGuire: For more Orlando Magic.

Brian Lehrer: That is the politic answer, absolutely as the dead.

Raymond McGuire: [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: If you donate as a member to any arts organization, can you name one? I'm asking the same question of all the candidates. I know you have a big one in your portfolio, but if you donate as a member to any arts organization, can you name one?

Raymond McGuire: I have donated to Harlem School of the Arts, to their Studio Museum in Harlem, to the Whitney Museum, to the Schomburg, to the New York Public Library, to the Museum of Natural History. I have donated and continue to donate for decades to the world of arts education, arts and culture.

Brian Lehrer: Name one thing you do for fun in non-pandemic times that has nothing to do with politics?

Raymond McGuire: Play basketball with Leo.

Brian Lehrer: chuckles] You set that one up with a previous answer. Finally, last question, with rank choice voting, is there anyone you would like your supporters to list second?

Raymond McGuire: Me first and second.

Brian Lehrer: There we leave it with Ray McGuire. Thanks very much for doing Ask The Mayor tryout today, Mr. McGuire. If you're elected, we hope you'll continue the Ask The Mayor tradition on the show. Meanwhile, we're going to have you and each of the major candidates one more time in May. I know you've already agreed to that. We look forward to having you back then. As I say to all the candidates, good luck on the campaign trail.

Raymond McGuire: Thank you, Brian. Thank you for all that you do to make sure that New Yorkers are informed. Your leadership is exemplary and represents the best in New York City, so thanks for having me.

Brian Lehrer: That's very kind. Thank you very much. Listeners, our next Ask The Mayor tryout will be Wednesday with candidate Dianne Morales.

 

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