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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Before we talk to New York City Comptroller Mark Levine about the snowstorm and the financial storm that he says is about to hit New York City, here just for some historical context and curiosity about a snowstorm most New Yorkers of today weren't alive for yet, here is a New York Times look back at the blizzard of February 9, 1969, and how it almost brought down a mayor.

The headline by the New York Times reporter Sewell Chan is Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City. It says, "The blizzard prompted a political crisis that became legendary in the annals of municipal politics, nearly brought down the administration of Mayor John V. Lindsay and offered an instructive lesson to elected officials in the politics of snow removal." It says, "The snowstorm is recounted in Vincent J. Cannato’s The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York," which was published in 2001. It says, "15 inches of snow fell on Sunday, Feb 9th, 1969, defying the predictions of the United States Weather Bureau, now the National Weather Service, which had forecast a change to rain by that afternoon."

Was very much a Queens story. "Queens was relegated to the status of a neglected stepchild. For days, the streets were impassable, and residents were all but barricaded inside their homes. At one point, Ralph J. Bunche, the diplomat and undersecretary-general for the United Nations, sent Mayor Lindsay a telegram that said never in his 17 years living in Kew Gardens had he “experienced such neglect in snow removal as now.” The it continues, "There were no buses, taxicabs or delivery vehicles, and no trash or garbage collection for days. The it quotes Dr. Bunche saying, “As far as getting to the United Nations is concerned," from Queens, "I may as well be in the Alps. This is a shameful performance by the great city of New York, which should certainly condone no second-class borough.”

Then it continues, "Mr. Lindsay traveled to Queens, but his visit was not well-received. In Kew Gardens Hills, the mayor was booed. One woman screamed, 'You should be ashamed of yourself.' In Fresh Meadows, a woman told the mayor, 'Get away, you bum.'" Then it continues, "Mr. Lindsay's predecessor, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, had spent an enormous amount during the last major blizzard in 1961, but the Lindsay administration was wary of going over budget. There were rumors that sanitation workers-- still angry about the Lindsay administration's heavy-handed actions during their strike in '68-- were deliberately ignoring Queens to sabotage the mayor."

"Dr. Cannato reveals a fascinating episode during the mayor's walk through Fresh Meadows. A woman called him 'a wonderful man,' prompting the mayor to respond, 'And you're a wonderful woman, not like those fat Jewish broads up there,' that is a Lindsay quote, pointing to women in a nearby building who had criticized him." The article tells us the comment was recorded on tape, but the New York Times, the Associated Press, and WNEW Radio declined to run with the story.

The back to Dr. Cannato wrote that book about the storm of '69. He says, "Had the press had used this story, John Lindsay's political career would have been over." He noted that Al Shanker, the powerful head of the teachers union, had already raised concerns about Mr. Lindsay's views toward Jews. "In the end," it says, "Mr. Lindsay won re-election in the fall of 1969, though the terrible snowstorm of 1969 highlighted how the handling of severe weather is a crucial test for politicians."

How about that? That from the Times in 2009, looking back at the big snowstorm of 1969. With that, we welcome New York City Comptroller Mark Levine for the first time in his new role. He was borough president of Manhattan before. We will talk about the storm and also a financial storm or a fiscal storm that he predicts is coming to the city really soon. We'll talk about those numbers as well. Comptroller Levine, always good to have you. Welcome back to WNYC, and congratulations belatedly on your election. First time you're here in this role.

Comptroller Mark Levine: Thank you so much, Brian. I'm thrilled to be here. Hello to all the parents and school kids who may have the radio on in the background today. I have to say, hearing you recount the horrors of that storm in 1969, this is the stuff of nightmares for New York City elected officials. I'm very happy to say our city did much better yesterday.

Brian Lehrer: Well, you think you're running for jobs like mayor or Manhattan borough president or maybe even comptroller for lofty goals like universal childcare and equal justice under the law. Then you realize you have to take out the garbage and clean up the snow, and yes, you will be judged by that. Did you have any memorable weather events when you were Manhattan borough president?

Comptroller Mark Levine: It does seem that we had-- The last major storm was three years ago, and it was also well handled. I think the last time we had a politically controversial storm response was in 2014. I was in the City Council at the time. The then mayor, Bill de Blasio, was accused of being under attentive to the Upper East Side and that caused him some political headaches. Nothing like what John Lindsay endured, but it's a reminder that even today, we have to be incredibly vigilant about giving a full response to every community of the city. I do think that happened yesterday.

Brian Lehrer: How do you measure it?

Comptroller Mark Levine: This was a major storm that the city saw coming, deployed early for, and, thanks to hard work by thousands of sanitation workers over ruling 12-hour shifts, they did a great job of clearing the streets. I've heard remarkably little complaints about that. Some caveats: I think this city has a problem with clearing space for pedestrians in heavy snow. Crosswalks, pedestrian ramps, bus stops. We just don't have a good enough system to clear those areas. Again, we do very well on the streets. That's important, but not well enough. It's been a problem for years in the sidewalk infrastructure.

Then, Brian, it's just heartbreaking, but we did lose, it now appears, seven New Yorkers, presumably unhoused New Yorkers who were found dead or were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospitals yesterday. We're still awaiting for a report by the city's medical examiner on cause of death, but we can assume it was due to cold and the storm conditions. I think this should cause us also to do some introspection and how we are reaching out to and serving the most vulnerable people during storms like this.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. I want to ask you in a little more detail about unhoused people and other vulnerable people in this. Before we get off the politics of mayors, Mayor Mamdani was very active this weekend on many media outlets, WNYC included. He was here and many, many others, including social media influencer sites, where a lot of people get their news these days, as well as more traditional media.

I've seen it praised as being like his campaign media operation in a good way to reach so many different audiences and demographics of New Yorkers. Thinking about that John Lindsay 1969 story and how Queens became the-- what did Ralph Bunche call it? The second-class stepchild, or something like that, of the city, very consistent with the values in general that Mamdani ran on. Listen to what he said on Saturday as he was preparing for this storm.

[Audio Clip - Mayor Mamdani]: Every single New Yorker is going to receive the same level of service where we prepare the city, take care of the city, and then get the city back on its feet in time after the storm.

Brian Lehrer: The way he referenced every single New Yorker saying, in fact, if you're in a remote or low-income part of the city, you're not going to be neglected any more than anybody else. That's important, and it's very Mamdani, right?

Comptroller Mark Levine: That's incredibly important. I think the city succeeded on that count. Look, one of the biggest challenges in storm response is communicating to the public so they know what's coming, what precautions to take, what resources are available from the city, where they can seek help. I think the mayor deserves a lot of credit on using new media to reach people who might not otherwise get those messages. I think he deserves high marks for leading yesterday and this morning as well.

Brian Lehrer: On taking care of unhoused and other vulnerable people, I'm going to play another clip. This is the Office of Emergency Management First Deputy Commissioner Christina Farrell.

[Audio Clip - Christina Farrell]: They've been going out every night to places where unhoused people are known to congregate, encouraging them to come in to shelter. You may have heard that the city last night opened 10 warming centers.

Brian Lehrer: From your perch as city comptroller, even though you're not directly in charge of that-- again, you've been Manhattan borough president, so you've had that perspective-- and you are one of only three citywide elected officials: mayor, public advocate, and comptroller, talk about what responsible governance is to unhoused people and, for that matter, other vulnerable people in a storm situation like this and the cold snap that we're only just entering.

Comptroller Mark Levine: First of all, I want to point out that one of the functions of this Office of Comptroller is to evaluate storm response after the fact so that we can learn the lessons and do better. We expect to be doing that for this storm as well as we do after most major weather events. Look, we lost seven fellow New Yorkers yesterday. I think all of us have to ask ourselves, what can we do better? This is just heartbreaking. It is true that we opened warming centers, two in each borough. I want to point out that I think there's some flaws in the system here.

These locations change storm to storm. In this case, they were announced Saturday night. It's going to be hard for the average person in the street to keep track of that. It's not like it's going to be a routine location they can go to again and again. There were only two per borough, and this is a big city, so there would have been a lot of travel required in some cases. I do think we need to evaluate both the scale of the network of warming centers, whether we can have a more stable group of locations and just what our practices are for getting information out to people who are vulnerable and might need those services.

Brian Lehrer: Where can people turn in city government if they're not getting heat, or they think they see a dangerous tree branch or power line situation, or any other storm related threat?

Comptroller Mark Levine: All great questions, Brian. There's very clear laws in New York about heat and hot water. In winter months, your landlord is required to heat your apartment to at least 68 degrees during the day and at least 62 degrees at night. If you're not receiving heat at that level, you should call 311 immediately. As for things like downed trees, it's going to depend on whether there's a life and safety emergency or not. In general, you can call 311 and that will be routed to the Parks Department. If you think that someone is in danger because of a downed tree or power line, then you should call 911 for sure.

Brian Lehrer: Let's see if we have any calls for you on the snow. Otherwise, we're going to go on to some other things. Definitely your warning about the city budget gap that the city is facing, and the implications for city services. We're going to get into your disagreement with the mayor over investing in Israel bonds. I don't see any questions for you on the snow. Oh, maybe. Here's one in a text. This is really New Jersey.

Here in New Jersey, there was a major salt shortage. Our town and many others complained they could not get salt to spread because of corruption at the port. Someone else says, "Don't you hire part time helpers to shovel MTA and corner street access?" That was about what you said about corners and bus stops being less well cleared than the streets. What would you say to that listener?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Yes, people might not know that we actually have a program for hiring temporary emergency snow shovelers. It pays about $19 an hour, and the city needs more. Clearly, we're not deploying enough of them. Look, it is a lot of terrain to cover. I think we also have a jurisdictional challenge here, where it's not always clear whether a certain patch of street or sidewalk is the responsibility of the Department of Transportation or the MTA or a private property owner. There's a lot of work we need to do on getting pedestrian infrastructure better cleaned.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes, "My landlord said because I have a rent-stabilized apartment, I have to pay for my own heat. Is that right or is he required to keep it at 68?"

Comptroller Mark Levine: That is absolutely not right. The landlord in that case is responsible, as they are in all buildings. Again, it's 68 degrees during the day, 62 at night. If your listener is not receiving those services, that's not on him or her to pay for; the city should intervene to fix that.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Let's take a break and we'll continue with New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. We will talk about this potential budget crisis. You'll tell me if crisis is too strong a word that the city is about to face. As I said, we'll also talk about your disagreement with the mayor, and I guess your predecessor, Comptroller Brad Lander, over Israel bonds, the city investing in those.

Comptroller Mark Levine: Brad Lander, yes.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. What I said, Brad Lander, is obvious.

Comptroller Mark Levine: You said Mark lander.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. You're Mark Levine. He's Brad Lander. I'm Brian Lehrer. We continue after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC with the new New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. All right. Your office put out a report that predicts the city will face an immediate $2 billion budget shortfall this fiscal year, that means between now and the end of June, and then another $10 billion gap for the next fiscal year which begins in July. How'd you calculate that and what are the implications?

Comptroller Mark Levine: I just want to remind people, Brian, that it's the city budget that we rely on for so much of what impacts life here in the city, everything from public schools, public safety, parks, affordable housing, snow removal. A gap of this size is really quite alarming. Just to put it in perspective, cumulatively, $12 billion between this and next fiscal year is a gap we haven't seen since the 2008 financial crisis. Again, it's a 2 billion gap mid-year.

Now, this is remarkable. We rarely see this. Usually, we have slight surpluses mid-year. This gap has to be closed between now and June, when the year ends, and then a 10.4 billion gap in the coming year. People might presume this is because the economy slowing down, that would be the normal cause for a budget gap. Actually, on the whole, our economy is in decent shape. There definitely are some problems for people who are struggling now, which we can talk about. Tax receipts are up in New York City so far this year.

We have this budget shortfall in a time of rising tax receipts. How did this happen? It's budget practices of the previous administration that relied particularly last year on some one-shot tactics to push budget obligations down two years ahead, and especially the reliance or the under-budgeting on expenses that we know are going to occur for things like housing vouchers for special ed funding through Carter and Connor cases, and more.

We wanted to put this out there in a very clear way to sound the alarm as we're heading into budget season with the city and state. It's going to take some work to close it, but it's doable with, I think, smart budget practices and still leaves us room to do bold things. We need to now, but only if we can be honest about the scale of the challenges ahead.

Brian Lehrer: The city's Office of Management and Budget had projected much smaller gaps. They'd reported that the city would break even in fiscal year 2026, the one we're in now through June. Then in the next fiscal year, we would see a gap of $4.7 billion. That's half of what you're projecting. Why is your estimate so much higher? What are they missing or underestimating?

Comptroller Mark Levine: First of all, my office has assessed a much larger gap. State Comptroller has, the Independent Budget Office has. There are a variety of reasons why we're quite confident that the previous mayor was undercounting the size of the challenge. One is I mentioned housing vouchers. We have a wonderful program known as CityFHEPS that helps families who are struggling with homelessness pay for housing in private apartments. The cost of the program is rising rapidly at about 4% a month. They have wildly underestimated the cost.

We project next year it will be over $3 billion and that's responsible for something like 2 billion in the under budgeting. Just one example of clear discrepancies in the projections that the previous OMB was making. We wanted to call it out so we have an honest accounting. I want to give credit to Mayor Mamdani and his budget team, which are also, I think, being quite realistic about assessing the scale of the challenge, as they should. They didn't create these problems. It's going to be on them to solve it. The best thing we can do now is to be honest about it.

Brian Lehrer: What are the implications for city services starting with the immediate future between now and June?

Comptroller Mark Levine: I think all options are going to have to be on the table, and we're going to be hoping for as much help as we can get from Albany. I want to remind people that we send billions more up to Albany every year than we get back. Though I'm really grateful that the governor has put a couple of billion on the table to help us expand free child care in an agreement with Mayor Mamdani. This is great news, but we're hoping for more for sure.

We're also going to have to tighten up expenses here closer to home, and those are not easy decisions. With the gap of this size, there's really no choice. Of course, to the extent that we can grow the economy and make this a place where businesses are expanding, this is the best way to expand tax receipts in a way that doesn't require cuts. We have a lot of options on the table, and we have time. I'm confident that we'll be able to get through this, but we definitely have tough work ahead.

Brian Lehrer: Can you get specific about any policy choices, spending cut choices that City Council and the mayor have to face between the $2 billion gap for the rest of this fiscal year through the end of June and the $10 billion gap for the next fiscal year? We know a third of the city budget goes to the public school system. Do you think they need to cut anything out of that or go down the line?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Yes. I mentioned already two areas of expenses that are growing rapidly that are being under budgeted for this housing voucher program called CityFHEPS and special ed services, which we provide through what used to be known as Carter and Connor cases, which I'm sure many of your listeners are familiar with. I'll say a word on both. We have, for very good reasons, expanded quite significantly eligibility for housing vouchers.

We are in the midst of the worst housing affordability crisis we've ever faced, and so we had good reason to do that. With growth of 4% a month, I think we're going to have to reexamine some of the recent policy changes so that we have more stable expenses there. Then, on special ed, where we're now spending more than a billion a year, actually approaching a billion and a half a year on helping public school parents get special ed services in the private schools, it's an important program when the Department of Ed fails to meet the needs of kids needing special services.

The obvious solution is to improve the provision of those services in our public schools so that kids who need assessment and special services can get them in a traditional public school and aren't then forced to sue the city for payment of tuition in private schools. These are two expense lines which are growing rapidly, which are major contributors to the budget gap, which I think, if we're smart about, we can make surgical changes to and really help to bend this curve.

Brian Lehrer: You mentioned some budgetary changes that might be needed to close these budget gaps in your last answer. You didn't say anything about tax hikes. Governor Hochul released her state budget proposal last week. It did not include any new taxes. Mayor Mamdani has to present a preliminary budget next month. The first deputy mayor, Dean Fuleihan, said back in December that the administration of the city would not include new city taxes unless they were in the governor's budget first. We have texts that are coming in from some people hearing all of this, saying, "Tax the rich." Do you want the city or the state to raise taxes?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Brian, we are in a new Gilded Age where the inequality, the wealth gap, is growing at an alarming rate. I think it threatens this society in profound ways. I absolutely believe in progressive taxation for that reason. My preference is always that that be done at the national level so that we avoid states playing off each other. I think because of the size of our gap, everything has to be on the table. I know there's discussions underway right now between the mayor and the governor. I'll be in close consultation with both parties and looking closely at what the mayor proposes in a couple of weeks. I think because of the scale of the gap and the scale of the crisis, we can't rule anything out.

Brian Lehrer: Listener writes, "When he talks about the potential budget gap, doesn't he fault Brad Lander?" That's your predecessor as comptroller. Obviously, you faulted Mayor Adams, previous mayor. Listener asks, "Doesn't he fault Brad Lander?"

Comptroller Mark Levine: No. Actually, then Comptroller Brad Lander issued a report in December identifying these exact same budget gaps.

Brian Lehrer: Now I want to move on to the topic of the city investing in Israel bonds. I'm going to read from a Times of Israel story from a couple of days ago. Headline is "Mamdani rejects comptroller’s plan to invest in Israel bonds, hardening fault line." It says, "NYC mayor repeats opposition to the investments, shortly after Mark Levine voices his support, putting the two on course for a potential collision just weeks into their terms."

It continues, "Investments in Israeli government bonds have emerged as a significant fault line between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s comptroller, Mark Levine. Levine and Mamdani have long held opposing positions on the bond investments, but the potential dispute came into focus this week, as each took opposite sides on the issue in public statements, just a few weeks into their terms." One more line, it says, "Levine said last week that he intends to resume the city pension funds’ investment in the bonds. His predecessor, Brad Lander, had decided against reinvesting in the bonds after they reached maturity." That from the Times of Israel. Did they get their facts right?

Comptroller Mark Levine: There definitely is some sensationalism in the headlines. Can I just take a moment to talk big picture of what's happening here, Brian? We have a pension fund of $315 billion. If you're going to invest that across diverse assets, you're going to have to own the entire world economy. This is how we can deploy so much money in a way that's prudent, that gets good returns for our retirees. That means that we own everything. We are a universal investor. We're a perpetual investor. We own stocks and bonds. We own private equity and infrastructure and real estate and hedge funds. We own domestically and internationally. We own almost every publicly traded company in the US and abroad. We have equity.

Brian Lehrer: Wait. Let me jump in on your answer so far about owning everything. Aren't there social investment guidelines that the city pension funds have and that you intend to stick to, maybe tobacco companies, fossil fuels, others?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Yes, we have. We have opt-outs in a few narrow sectors where my predecessors have determined that there was severe financial risk in the entire sector. That is true. We broadly own virtually everything else in the economy. That includes investments in scores of countries and in almost every major stock market around the globe. It includes real estate investments in many countries. It includes government bonds in a number of countries, from Mexico to Italy to Romania, and throughout most of the last half-century, government bonds in Israel as well.

They've historically paid above-market-rate interest and never missed a payment. That's why they have always been seen as a prudent part of the portfolio for New York and for many other institutional investment funds around the country in the world today. At the end of the day, we have a fiduciary responsibility here to do what's right for the health of the pension fund. Now that is separate from very serious and important political questions, Brian, that I don't shy away from.

I'm open about having very deep personal ties to Israel through friends and family and language, and also about having very serious criticisms of the policies of this government. Certainly, I'm absolutely horrified at the scale of civilian suffering in the Gaza conflict and have spoken about that as well. We also have a fiduciary role here to do right by the pension fund and get maximum risk-adjusted returns. Israel bonds have always been part of our portfolio because they meet that standard.

Brian Lehrer: We have a number of people calling and texting to express their unhappiness with this decision. I will take one to represent the group. Let's see. How about Bill in Manhattan, who says he is a city pensioner. This is obviously pension fund investments that you're talking about. Bill, you're on WNYC with Comptroller Levine.

Bill: Hello. Good morning.

Comptroller Mark Levine: Hi, Bill.

Bill: My name is Bill, and I'm a city worker. I pay into the pension, and I grew up here, so I really care about-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: I just want to correct myself. I thought you were receiving a pension, but you're paying into a future pension as a city worker, just to be accurate. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Bill: Yes, no problem. I'm very concerned about the investment in Israeli bonds. These are loans to Israel that New Yorkers pay with our tax money. As I'm sure you guys know, the United Nations has accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. My question is, why are you supporting investments in genocide that are paid for by the very people who elected you and want to see some good change in this city?

Brian Lehrer: Bill, thank you very much. What do you say to Bill and the other people who are calling with similar feelings?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Bill, first of all, thank you for your service to the city. Do you mind me asking what agency you work with? I think we might have lost, Bill.

Bill: Sorry, I don't want to disclose that for fear of retaliation, but I am a city worker, and my pension pays into that.

Comptroller Mark Levine: Sure. I only ask because we have five different pension funds. It gets a little complicated, but we have a police fund, a fire fund, teachers fund, and two others. Typically, they act in concert, but sometimes on issues like this, they act individually. It may be that your specific union is in a fund that won't be moving on this. Nonetheless, as I said before, we have political questions to evaluate here and fiduciary ones.

I have been quite open about my criticisms of policies of this government, while acknowledging that I feel deep connections to the country, and I also have a fiduciary responsibility to make wise investments. I might not agree with all your characterizations of Israeli conduct. We could perhaps talk about that. That doesn't negate my own criticisms, and those are valid. Look, we have criticisms of the American government. I'm heartbroken and infuriated by what's happening in Minneapolis. Yet we own billions of dollars of American treasury bills, and we do it because it's part of our prudent financial strategy.

These are complex, I know, but this is the mandate that I've been given as comptroller. I do want to emphasize that all of these funds I talked about, the five funds, they're governed by a board of trustees where the bulk of votes are held by union trustees. Of course, I'm a trustee as well, the mayor is as well, but I don't do anything unilaterally. We give financial assessments, investment recommendations, and trustees' votes. That's why I'm curious to know what union Bill is in. He can, of course, express his opinion through that channel, and that'll be reflected in the trustees.

Brian Lehrer: Vote to finish up on this, on the question of whether they're a good investment and what you said earlier about being consistent with the city pension funds policy of basically investing in everything, with those few exceptions that you mentioned, it seems like you're on a different page from your predecessor, Brad Lander, in this regard.

That same Times of Israel story says Lander decided against reinvesting in the bonds after they matured, saying the decision was not political but in line with the city's investment policies. Lander noted the city held other Israel assets worth more than $300 million and said it did not invest in bonds from other countries. This Times of Israel article is characterizing Brad Lander's position as what would be consistent here is not investing in any country's bonds. Your reaction to that?

Comptroller Mark Levine: This is a little technical, but the fact is that most of our investments are through fund managers, 99% of what we invest. We own government bonds in Canada and Italy and Mexico and Poland and Romania, through fund managers. Millions of dollars in such investments. It is true that the only direct government bond purchase we made, not through a fund manager, was to Israel. I think that's a pretty technical distinction. That is a result of state law, which defines the kind of investments we can buy directly or must buy indirectly. The truth is that we invest globally. We invest in every major economy. We own stocks in Israel, we own real estate in Israel, we have for decades, and we own government bonds in many countries as well.

Brian Lehrer: Who decides? I mean, obviously, there will be listeners who are on your side of this and listeners who are on the mayor's side of this. The Times of Israel headline was, "Mamdani Rejects Comptroller's Plan to Invest in Israel Bonds." Who has the last say?

Comptroller Mark Levine: The mayor is represented on our pension boards, but really only generally a single vote. The weight of the vote among the trustees goes to our municipal labor representatives. Of course, I am a trustee as well, but my role really is to make investment recommendations based on our fiduciary responsibility. Ultimately, the trustees in any given pension fund would vote. There could be a vote in fire or police or teachers or Board of Ed retirement services. It is a democratic process with a lot of checks and balances and a lot of transparency, and New Yorkers will be able to follow this as it moves forward.

Brian Lehrer: All right. To come back to the budget gap for the final question, do you expect to have updated stats soon as City Council and the mayor start having to grapple with this gap that has opened up?

Comptroller Mark Levine: Yes. First of all, we get updated revenue numbers regularly, and our economy has been doing well despite all the chaos created from the White House. We're hopeful that we'll have a positive update on revenue numbers soon. The scale of the gap is so large that I don't think anyone expects that the entire $12 billion will be closed without us taking some assertive action.

Brian Lehrer: All right. The new New York City Comptroller, Mark Levine, congratulations again. Thank you for making this first appearance, and we look forward to having you on with us many times during your term.

Comptroller Mark Levine: Thanks, Brian. Great pleasure. Thank you.

 

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