Mayor de Blasio Resolves to Deepen Commitment to Affordability
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he plans on sticking to his New Years resolution: to spend more time in all five boroughs, listening to what New Yorker's need.
"Now it's time to really spend much more time in our communities, articulating what we're doing and hearing what's working and what's not."
The mayor discussed a range of current policy issues, including affordable housing, homelessness, minimum wage, ensuring paid family leave for city workers, and more.
On homelessness, Mayor de Blasio outlined his new HOMESTAT intiative, which involves sending outreach workers all over the city - "you're going to see it, very visibly" - to check on homeless people on the streets and identify their specific, individual needs. He calls it "an extraordinary outreach effort."
When Brian prompted him about efforts from both Governor Cuomo and the mayor's office to ensure higher wages in the public sector, Mayor de Blasio said change needs to come from the top and span across the board:
"If the public sector shows that the wage levels must go up, it is a bellwether for the private sector…I think the national debate has moved in an extraordinary fashion just in the last year or to where $15 an hour used to be considered impossible; now it’s being talked about everywhere. And that’s the minimum people should be getting if we’re going to have a decent standard of living everywhere."
As for what's to come in Year 3 of his term, the mayor didn't want to get into specifics before his State of the City address, but he did say he'll continue to deepen his commitment to inequality and affordability issues.
On @BilldeBlasio's New Years resolution (Brian's too): spend more time hearing what's working/not in 5 boroughs. https://t.co/Zw0uDDMYiL
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 8, 2016
"I am mayor for everyone...I want ...solve problems across the board," @BilldeBlasio tells @BrianLehrer when asked about racial gap in polls
— Brigid Bergin (@brigidbergin) January 8, 2016
.@BilldeBlasio says vision for year 3 in office: deepen commitments to tackling inequality and affordability.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 8, 2016
"We've got to do better...these are decent people," @BilldeBlasio tells @BrianLehrer abt men he met at Bellevue intake center last nigth
— Brigid Bergin (@brigidbergin) January 8, 2016
.@BrianLehrer:# goal for homeless? Mayor lists programs, says:"To figure out what it's going to mean numerically, we're still not there yet"
— Ben Max (@TweetBenMax) January 8, 2016
Mayor @BilldeBlasio says city is investing $60 mill into legal aid for tenants who are being harassed/illegally evicted. Call 311 for info.
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) January 8, 2016
