Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here at the Whitney, and I have to say that one of the last times I was here, incredible exhibition on Alvin Ailey, and it is lovely to be here today to celebrate alongside members of our administration and colleagues, both in government and in organized labor.
I want to say first a thank you to Council Member Gale Brewer; who has been working with DCWP on this issue for quite some time; as well as our Council Member Harvey Epstein, a former colleague in Albany and now here in the City, who is the new chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection; and Rich Maroko and our brothers and sisters at HTC who have long been leading the fight for dignity and decency when it comes to our hotels; as well as our commissioner, Sam Levine, who has been a champion of what it can look like to use the law as a tool for working people as opposed to a weapon against them.
And most of the hardships that New Yorkers contend with on a daily basis make no effort to conceal themselves. When a bus takes 20 minutes to arrive, you feel that hardship when you’re late to work or to school drop-off. When your fingers go numb as you wait, when your phone battery dies in the January cold, when you open up Bus Time and you see it’s supposed to be there in seven minutes, and then it disappears and it’s as if the bus was never there at all.
But there is a specific kind of hardship that New Yorkers only reckon with long after the fact, when they check their credit card bills at the end of the month, or they dig deep into the fine print of a confirmation email that may be in their spam folder, because those imposing it do not want to be caught.
I speak of the hidden fees that plague New Yorkers’ lives any time they have the audacity to book a hotel room, not only when they’re in our city, but when they’re booking that room from here for wherever they’re traveling around the country. These fees go by many different names: destination fees, resort fees, hospitality service fees. Whatever you call them, they are slippery, they are elusive, and ultimately—quite simply—these junk fees that hotels and booking sites sneakily impose on the people of this city without them knowing, this is something that we are bringing to an end.
And what we see is in the three weeks since we took office, I have stood alongside our Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine several times to lay out an agenda and actions that would protect New Yorkers from greedy corporate interests that seek to take advantage of them.
We’ve stood up to be champions for delivery workers whose hard-earned tips have been denied by the companies that employ them. We’ve signed executive orders to target junk fees that add costs to New Yorkers’ rent payments, gym memberships, or concert tickets. We’ve created a Citywide Junk Fee Task Force, and we’ve gone after the subscription tricks and traps that deceive our neighbors.
Today, we are taking the next step in our efforts to stand up for workers and consumers. As we announce DCWP’s final rule, banning junk fees on hotel stays. While this is built on the great progress achieved by the FTC at the national scale, our rule goes one step further, requiring transparency on mandatory credit card holds and deposits. This will protect New Yorkers when they make bookings both here in our city, as well as when they travel across the country. And it will keep costs down, too, for those visiting our city, whether they’re coming from the other side of the country or from just across the river to visit the Whitney.
As we prepare to celebrate the World Cup in mere months, a tournament that has already started to become defined by exorbitant costs that threaten to price people out of the world’s game, this will help lower costs and dissuade any business that’s operating outside of the law from cheating these kinds of customers. Because make no mistake, most hotels in the city do not employ these kinds of predatory practices. They have nothing to be worried about with this rule. Those who treat their customers fairly will not be affected.
But to those who have long approached business as an opportunity to mistreat those who they serve, let today be a warning. If you do not change your practices, [the] City government will change them for you. Life in our city does not need to be defined by hardship. It can be defined by costs that come down, by businesses that give you what you paid for, and by City government that New Yorkers know is actually fighting for them. Thank you so much. And now, Commissioner Sam Levine.
Commissioner Sam Levine, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Good afternoon. It is so great to be here. Two weeks ago, Mayor Mamdani signed a historic executive order directing my department to lead a citywide crackdown on junk fees. Today, we are delivering, announcing a ban on hidden junk fees that would drive down costs for New Yorkers and for the millions of visitors who come to our city each year.
These fees, often called resort fees or destination fees, as the mayor alluded to, are incredibly frustrating to consumers. Last year alone, our department received more than 300 complaints about them, and economists estimate that they cost New Yorkers and our visitors more than $65 million every year in wasted time. Political leaders have been vowing to address this problem for decades, but it took Mayor Mamdani to deliver.
Today, New York City is implementing the strongest hotel consumer protections in the United States. We are not only banning hidden fees, but are also cracking down on surprise credit card holds and deposits, the first requirement of its kind in the nation. All-in pricing requirements take effect one month from tomorrow.
I am proud to stand here beside the mayor, and it’s telling that so many business, consumer, and council leaders and labor leaders are standing with us as well. They understand that hidden fees are not just a problem for tourists. They cheat honest hotels that advertise their prices transparently. They put frontline hotel workers in an impossible position, forcing them to absorb travelers’ frustration over policies that they have no control over. And they damage New York City’s reputation as a welcoming, world-class destination. As New Yorkers prepare to host the World Cup this summer, we will show the world what it looks like when a City truly puts working people first.
For DCWP, that means not only enforcing our junk fee ban, but also ensuring that visitors to our city are notified about service disruptions at their hotels, and that corporations can’t undercut hotel workers through illegal subcontracting. This is an administration committed to using every tool we have to make New York City more fair and more affordable. Last week, we blew the whistle on a $550 million scheme to cheat deliveristas of their tips, announced a compliance split to make sure this would never happen again, and filed a major lawsuit to shut down a delivery app preying on New York’s delivery drivers.
And in the weeks and months to come, you’ll see more actions by this administration to root out junk fees and drive down costs for the people of this city. We are only three weeks into this administration, but Mayor Mamdani is already proving the government can deliver on the promise of a fairer and more affordable city. DCWP is proud to be a part of this effort, and we will continue to show, every day, what it means to have a City government that truly puts working people first. Thanks very much.
President Rich Maroko, Hotels and Gaming Workers Union, AFL-CIO: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Rich Maroko, and I’m the president of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council. And as someone who has the privilege of representing 40,000 New Yorkers who work in the hotel industry, I am genuinely excited to be here today. Because today is not just about announcing new DCWP policies. It is about unveiling a reimagined DCWP under a Mamdani administration.
Look, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection may be the most important City agency that New Yorkers have never heard of. You know, its core mission, as its name implies, is to protect working New Yorkers and New York consumers from those predatory corporations that seek to line their own pockets at the expense of the most vulnerable of us. But for years, DCWP has been a sleeping giant. No longer. Under the Mamdani administration and with Commissioner Levine, that giant has awoken.
Their commitment to creating a DCWP that actively enforces consumer and worker protection laws and their plan for an agency that both has the will and the ability to go after corporate lawbreakers is a beacon of hope to everyday New Yorkers. It demonstrates in the starkest terms that this administration intends to put working New Yorkers first and that it has the courage to go after those powerful corporate interests that seek to take advantage of them. But nowhere is that need for protection more acute than it is in the hotel industry, because both consumers and workers are often victimized by those practices that are both unique to, but all too prevalent in the hotel industry. And it’s not just practices like those junk fees that catch guests by surprise when they open their bills.
It also includes practices like failing to protect hotel workers from sexual assaults, assaults which are all too common up on the floor, or the appalling practice of taking advantage of the most vulnerable workers through subcontracting, or, and this is the one that is most important to us as a labor organization, whose master contract covering 27,000 New York City hotel workers expires this July 1st, and who are facing the real prospect of a potential citywide strike for the first time in more than 40 years. It’s the practice of failing to notify guests before they arrive that there’s a strike, and the practice of then refusing to grant them refunds when they choose to honor our picket line.
It’s because of these types of practices and many more that the hotel industry is and should be the focus of the city agency [that is] dedicated to protecting New Yorkers. Fortunately, DCWP already has the tools that it needs to protect New Yorkers by enforcing those existing laws regulating the hotel industry, and I have no doubt that under this administration, that is exactly what they will do.
So, I would like to thank the mayor and the commissioner for making it clear that New York City is on our side, on the side of working New Yorkers. You know, this administration doesn’t just talk the talk. They walk the walk. We are less than one month into this administration, and already we have seen the mayor and his team putting working New Yorkers front and center. And I know this is just the beginning of our work, but I can’t think of a better partner and a better advocate for hotel workers as we go into this historic period. So, thank you, mayor. Thank you, commissioner. I appreciate it.
Mayor Mamdani: And Council Member Brewer.
Councilmember Gale Brewer: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, commissioner. And it is an honor to be here today. I never go anywhere. I stay right in Manhattan. But stay vacations, though maybe they would be more interesting than they have been in the past if we actually know what we’re paying for. That would be very exciting. But I do want to say that New York City experienced the highest hotel occupancy levels among the top 25 markets in the country in 2025, at over 85 percent compared to about 60 percent nationally.
And obviously, with the soccer [tournament] and other activities here, we now have a special rate for hotels. More tourists are coming. However, luxury hotels experience the biggest gains in occupancy and average daily room rates. The average client of a luxury hotel spends $1,710 per night. Affordability matters to tourists.
New York City wants visitors of all incomes. And obviously, with this wonderful announcement, they’ll have a clearer sense of what they are paying for. So, if you’re traveling on a budget, junk fees may mean [that] when the tickets at the Whitney are at full cost, [so] you can’t go to the Whitney if you’re paying those junk fees. But if you don’t pay junk fees, you can go to the Whitney. Thank you very much.
Mayor Mamdani: Council Member Epstein.
Councilmember Harvey Epstein: Thank you, Mayor Mamdani. Thank you for your work. You know, three weeks into this tenure, we’re seeing real change in this city. You talk about affordability; these are those moments. You talked about a vision for a bold change for New York, and this is it every single day. You know, as the chair of Consumer Work Protection of the Council, our job is to collaborate with the Mayor’s Office, and Sam, thank you for your leadership in your work, to figure out how we make it fair for consumers, how we make it fair for workers to live in this city and to work in this city.
Every day, we hear about people being scammed and being abused. These hidden fees are just one example of problems across our city. And we have the opportunity now, with a bold, new vision, and a mayor who’s unwilling to back down from powerful interests, willing to take risks, and willing to stand up, to say: this is the New York we believe in.
This is the New York for all of us. And that’s what these fees are about, saying, “Hey, if you’re buying tickets here or coming here, we want to make sure that you’re clear about these costs and those opportunities, as well as working with HTC Protect—the tens of thousands of workers who are in those hotels—to make sure they have good, solid, union-paying jobs and have a fair opportunity to stay in those hotels and not be harassed. Across the board, this is a win for New Yorkers. This is the future of what New York looks like.
And three weeks in, if we continue, and I know the mayor will continue to focus on affordability, this is what changes it for New York. This is what makes it available for folks, for my children who are afraid they won’t be able to live here, or for other people’s children. This is the New York for all of us, and we need to make sure it happens. This is a critical step to say, we’re not going to back down to whatever those interests are to make sure New York becomes more affordable for all of us. Thank you.
Question: How are these regulations and rules different from what Mayor Adams proposed last year? And can you articulate that particularly?
Commissioner Levine: This has been part of an effort both by the Biden administration, when I was at the FTC, we put forward a rule, and the Adams administration also proposed a rule. What we’re doing today is actually turning that proposal into law. I think there was a lot of concern that there would be lobbying efforts or efforts to water this down.
But we’re saying with this rule, this is the strongest hotel consumer protection anywhere in the country. Nothing has been watered down at all. And I can say as a former federal official, that with the FTC really asleep at the switch, I’ve heard it described as a coma, we need strong City enforcement to make sure New Yorkers and visitors to our city aren’t getting ripped off, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do at DCWP.
Question: These are identical to what Adams did. Is the rule online?
Commissioner Levine: I believe the rule is online. That’s right.
Question: Mayor, I think it was you who mentioned a $65 million number in wasted time that hidden hotel junk fees cost the city. I know you’ve also promised to expand DCWP’s budget by the same amount, $65 million. Is that a coincidence?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, it’s very much a coincidence. The money that we are saving New Yorkers is money that’s going back into their pockets. And the money that we’ve spoken about with DCWP is money that is to be funding the agency’s work. And we’ll be giving more specifics as we get closer into the budget process.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: For the last three weeks, had a steady drumbeat of consumer-focused economic announcements. Can you tell me when you plan to articulate your economic development mission? And how is the process going to find a new head of EDC? I understand Andrew Kimball is still around.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Mamdani: The process is going well. We continue to conduct interviews for the position. And we are an administration that is dedicated to the continued generation of prosperity in the city, and ensuring that that prosperity reaches the lives of each and every New Yorker. So, in addition to the policies we’ve put forward to protect New Yorkers and consumers and as workers, we’ve also put forward an executive order that directs every agency to cohere every single rule and regulation that a small business faces by operating in this city with the directive to reduce those fines and fees so that we can make it easier for those businesses to actually survive here.
The other point that I’ll echo, from Commissioner Levine a few press conferences ago, is that there are a number of businesses that are following the rules. And what they see in an environment where impunity tends to govern the response from City government, or lack thereof, is they ask themselves, “Why am I going through the trouble of following the rules, if there are so many others that can operate outside of them?” And so, today is not just to hold bad actors accountable. It’s also to say to those who have been good actors, that we see the work that you’re doing, and you’re right to do it, and we’ll support you in doing so.
Question: So, you were talking about the World Cup and affordability. But right now, if you check the prices on hotels, for example for July, they are $2,000, $3,000, $4,000. And even Airbnb is another issue. Because right now, New York City regulations make [it] impossible to find [an] Airbnb here. Everyone goes crossing the river to New Jersey.
What are you going to do to make those regulations [more flexible] and to make [it] more affordable, not like spending $2,000, $4,000 a night just to stay here in New Jersey?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, the focus on affordability is something that drives us each and every day. Whether we’re talking about the prices for a tourist to come into New York City, or also what the cost of the game is to actually go and watch a World Cup match. I had somebody stop me on the street the other day and ask me for help to get them tickets for Brazil-Morocco. And I told him, I know Rich Maroko, but that’s as close as I can get to it. And he supports Brazil.
But I think that this is one example of the ways that we are trying to make this a city that’s easier to visit, and also a city where it’s easier for a New Yorker to take a vacation. What we do think the key here is, how do we do this work in a manner that makes it cheaper to visit and also protects the dignity of the workers that are keeping these hotels running?
I can tell you I had the privilege, frankly, of meeting with an HTC member by the name of Shakira, who used to live in a shelter working at a non-union hotel. And the difference it has made for her to work in a union hotel, is one where she has her own apartment, where she can raise her children, and where she knows that this is a city where she shouldn’t just work, but one where she should be able to live as well.
Question: I want to ask you a question about the weather, Mr. Mayor. The current forecast is for upwards of a foot on Sunday. I’m wondering if you’ve already begun the discussions about what might happen Monday. Are you open to a traditional snow day, where there’s no school? Or are you moving forward with the possibility of a virtual school day if the forecasts hold?
Mayor Mamdani: I knew this moment would come. As someone who grew up in this city, and used to put the trash can at the bottom of the hill and pack it with snow, this is a question that I have anticipated. Look, we are taking every single precaution that we can. I think at this time, a lot of these are hypotheticals.
But what I can tell you is that we are not going to be taken by surprise about the weather coming this weekend. And we are also going to communicate directly and clearly to New Yorkers what they should expect. Right now, the spectrum of possibilities is large. As that gets closer to the date, we will be able to share exactly what New Yorkers should be looking for.
Question: What about the snow day?
Mayor Mamdani: Yeah, well, that depends on exactly what I’ve just said.
Question: Mr. Mayor, I’m wondering if you could indulge me for a second. I’d like to show you some video that we shot. It’s four homeless encampments that we found in the city. Two on the [Upper] West Side and two in Hell’s Kitchen.
Council Member Brewer actually has been trying to get your office for weeks to deal with the two on the [Upper] West Side. She wants to see them put into supportive housing. I’ve personally talked to these people. I’ve seen them for weeks as well. What is your office going to do about it? And is it acceptable, given the fact that it’s 21 degrees, for these people to be there on the street on the Upper West Side and getting no help?
Mayor Mamdani: First, I will say we’ve only been in office for weeks. Today does mark our third week in office. And it is not acceptable for a New Yorker to have to find shelter outside, whether on the Upper West Side or anywhere in the city. New Yorkers should be able to find a place to call their home. And what I have said consistently, first as a candidate and now as the mayor, is that outcomes are how we judge ourselves.
And in the previous administration, the approach to homeless encampments has been one where only three New Yorkers were connected with supportive housing over the entirety of a year. And so right now, one of the focuses of our administration, as well as in conversations with the councilwoman, but also internally, is how we change those outcomes. Because the answer is not that someone should find the safest places outside. The answer is, how do we connect them with the services they need? And that’s going to be the policies that we’ll be putting forward.
Question: I just need to follow up. I spoke to the man today who was on the Upper West Side, and he said he’d been in a shelter at Bellevue. And he had to leave because people there were smoking K2 and he didn’t think it was safe. And I asked him, “Would you go into supportive housing?” And he said, “Sure, I would go into supportive housing, if somebody would offer it to me.”
Mayor Mamdani: And I think this is the key here, is that it’s not just the question of how we approach homeless New Yorkers or encampments. It’s also, why are they choosing to live there? And what does it say about the options that we’ve been giving them? And that’s why, at the heart of this, has to be the connection with services that they want, that they will use, that they will actually utilize. And so that’s going to be a key part of what we’re actually going to deliver as our administration’s new policy. Thank you.
Question: So, yesterday in your statement, during the governor’s budget address, you seemed to be taking a shot at Governor Kathy Hochul, accusing her of austerity politics and for not giving the city its fair share. I was hoping you could elaborate. And were you being critical of her budget? And do you feel like the city’s not getting its fair share from the state? What more would you like to see?
Mayor Mamdani: I think the governor’s budget makes meaningful investments that move us closer to an affordable and a livable New York. And I think especially we’ve seen that in terms of early childhood education, which by the way, the deadline for enrolling is February 27th, for any parents who are watching, for Pre-K. I think that it’s actually the governor’s fiscal stewardship. I think it’s also the strength of our city’s tax base that the state is on firm financial footing.
The issue, however, is that the city is not. And that is a result, a direct result, of Eric Adams’ gross fiscal mismanagement. You know, unlike the prior administration, we’re not going to sweep problems under the rug. We are going to restore long-term stability. And we continue to believe that will require taxing the most profitable corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers their fair share, so that we can actually build a city that has a firm fiscal footing.
And we will also look to change the relationship between our city and the state, in terms of one that better reflects the city’s status as the economic engine of the state. And what we’re talking about, in many ways, are reflections of prior administrations, both at the city level and at the state level. And now is the opportunity to actually deliver on a new era.
Question: I’m actually following up directly on Morgan’s question. So, we talked last week when the report came out, you just kind of alluded to it, about the $2 billion budget deficit and $10 million, or $10 billion in the next year.
The budget is out. There is no millionaire’s tax. There is no corporate tax. Are you at this point, and I know you don’t want to do cuts, you’ve said as much, but at this point, is your Office of Budget preparing potential pegs in case the money doesn’t come through?
Mayor Mamdani: Our administration is preparing to make the case that it is the time for New York’s most profitable corporations and wealthiest residents to pay their fair share. And I also was speaking about the relationship between the city and the state. To just put it into exact terms, the city makes up 54.5 percent of the state’s tax revenue. It receives 40.5 percent.
This is a reflection of then-Governor Cuomo’s decade-long effort to shift cost burdens from the state to the city. And so, what we are looking to do is to tackle longstanding fiscal issues that both have to do with the need for more revenue from the highest earners, but also the relationship between City Hall and Albany.
Question: So, you’re not preparing cuts just in case behind the scenes at this point? To be clear, that’s not an order you’ve given your office?
Mayor Mamdani: The order is to continue to make the case.
Question: There was a New York Times story yesterday that reported that your aides in December privately told the governor’s team that they were willing to set aside the demand to tax the rich and wealthy corporations, if you got the money for childcare. Can you confirm if that’s true and elaborate what your position is to the governor on that?
Mayor Mamdani: I’ll say it again. I continue to believe that now is the time to increase taxes on the most profitable corporations that do business in New York, and the wealthiest residents that call this city home, so that they pay their fair share. So that we can create a city that delivers for all of us. What we are talking about here is New Yorkers who make a million dollars a year or more, increasing their personal income taxes by 2 percent.
I had – I spoke to one New Yorker, just the other day, who identified themselves as making more than a million dollars. They said, “Is it true you wanna increase my taxes?” I said, “Yes.” And they said, “Why? You know, how much is it gonna be?” I said, “It’s 2 percent. It’s $20,000 additional in tax. They said, “That’s all?” And I said, “Yes.”
And I think part of this is that there is a lack of understanding as to what exactly it is that we’re talking about. And also, that this has to be one part of proving to New Yorkers that every dollar they give to the city is a dollar they’re going to see back in services. Because just as much as I care about public goods, I care about public excellence. I want to make sure that you can look at your tax dollars going in and you can see them coming back in the form of a quality of life that is unparalleled in this city and in this state and in this country, rather.
Question: So, are you disputing the [New York] Time’s story?
Mayor Mamdani: I very clearly continue to be supportive of taxing the wealthy.
Question: Mr. Mayor, the detectives union just issued a statement. They said that the officers that were on duty that saw treatment at [NYU] Langone [Health]-Cobble Hill were met – and I’m reading, “With rudeness, disrespect, and a lack of basic professional courtesy by hospital administrators.” What is your understanding of what happened there and why was there such an issue in providing the medical assistance?
Mayor Mamdani: That’s the first that I’m hearing of that, but that’s something that I’ll follow up on. Thank you for flagging that.
Question: Do you have an update on the appointing of a new DOC commissioner? And has the upcoming appointment for a remediation manager or receiver made that hunt more difficult?
Mayor Mamdani: So, we do not have any additional personnel announcements at this time, but we will make those public as soon as we do. We are conducting a number of interviews for positions across the admin and are very excited, frankly, by the team that we’re building.
Question: On the matter, has that made it more complicated, the fact that there is gonna be a receiver likely appointed?
Mayor Mamdani: No.
Question: How do you feel about your police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, dining with right-wing radio host Sid Rosenberg last night?
Mayor Mamdani: I can tell you that of all the questions that I ask my police commissioner, who she had dinner with the night before is not one of them. The focus that the two of us share is on delivering public safety to each and every New Yorker, and that’s the work we continue to do.
Question: And do you have an update on replacing Zach Iscol? I know it’s – you previously mentioned there’s a snowstorm coming this weekend. Is there more urgency in cementing a head for that agency?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I’m incredibly grateful for Commissioner Iscol’s service and the work and dedication that he has done in preparing New York City for everything from extreme weather to fires. And I can tell you that in just the first days of being the mayor of our incredible city, there were two five-alarm fires consecutively. And each time that I got to the scene, I found Commissioner Iscol there.
And we’re also grateful that he will continue to be in his position through February 11th to ensure that there’s a smooth transition, and that we are completely prepared not only for this weekend’s potential severe storm, but that we are also continuing to work with our Emergency Response Team for anything that comes in the time in between.
Question: I have a question, the New York Nurses Association just put out a statement or a press release saying they’re going back to the bargaining table tomorrow, because of you and Governor Hochul urging them to. Could you talk a little bit about what you’ve said? Obviously, you’ve been on the side of nurses in this scenario, but yeah, can you just talk a little bit about what you exactly have been urging them to fight for?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, I’m very heartened by the news. And each and every day that I’ve been at the picket line or spoken about the strike, I’ve always encouraged a swift and immediate resolution to the strike. And also recognizing the incredible work that nurses do in this city.
And I can tell you that I am tired of speaking to a working person and asking them where they live in New York City, and then they tell me it’s a state nearby, because they can’t afford to live here. And I’m heartened by this news and I look forward to the resolution of the strike.
Question: You said on Friday that you ordered a legal review on the buffer zone measure. The speaker said that she wouldn’t have introduced it if it didn’t pass the legal muster. My question is, one, have you spoken to the speaker about this specific legislation? She’s planning to introduce it quite quickly. And if she passes it and you determine, or by the review, that it’s not necessarily illegal, would you veto it?
Mayor Mamdani: I will not sign any legislation that we find to be outside of the bounds of the law. I speak regularly with the speaker. We haven’t discussed the specifics of this legislation. I do continue to look forward to the findings of that review of its legality, from my police commissioner and my Law Department.
Question: I wanted to get your response to your comptroller, Mark Levine, saying that he was open to buying Israel bonds on Saturday. Is that something New York should be doing, and do you have any leverage, negotiating power to express your stance?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I’ve made clear my position, which is that I don’t think that we should purchase Israel bonds. We don’t purchase bonds for any other sovereign nation’s debt, and the comptroller has also made his position clear and I continue to stand by mine.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: A group of Staten Islanders have asked you to reclose a park roadway in Silver Lake to vehicle traffic. Mayor Adams reopened it last year. I just wanted to get a sense of where you’re at on that. Do you support closing the vehicle traffic and what do you think of their request?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, that’s something that I’m gonna follow up with and get back to you on. I think that I want to take very seriously both the request from Staten Islanders themselves, and also give you an answer that I can hold myself to. But I appreciate you for flagging it, it’s something we’ll get back to you on. Thank you all.
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