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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. At the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn today, Mayor Adams will deliver what his office is calling an address on his first 100 days in office. Today's actually day 116. On day 100 itself, you'll remember the mayor was diagnosed with COVID-19 after attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, which had lots of singing, but few masks, people sitting close together, no pre-event testing. Just as the mayor was urging all New Yorkers to go back to their pre-COVID routines, you could say he led by example.

In this day 116 speech now that he's recovered, the mayor will give details of his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1st.

The total budget will be around $100 billion. 11 billion of that goes to the NYPD. Members of City Council yesterday called for an extra billion or so in funding for crime prevention measures, such as mental health services and a year-round not just Summer Youth Employment Program. The mayor and the council negotiate the final budget together. That's a good note on which to meet the latest guest in our series 51 Council Members in 52 Weeks in which we are welcoming every member of New York City Council in this year when most of them are new because of term limits, and its majority female for the first time ever.

It's week 17, and today we welcome the council member from District 17 in the South Bronx, Rafael Salamanca, one of the longest-serving council members now first elected in 2016. He chairs the very important Land Use Committee, important because of the constant flow of controversies overdevelopment, gentrification, and affordable housing. Before joining Council, he was president of the 41st Precinct Council, the neighborhood group that works in conjunction with the NYPD around there. That's, of course, very relevant to the mayor's top focus and what many New Yorkers consider issue number one right now.

Council Member Salamanca's district includes Concourse Village, Crotona Park East, East Tremont, Hunts Point, Longwood, Melrose, Morrisania, Port Morris, North Brother Island, and South Brother Island, and West farms 10460. Councilman, thanks for joining our series 51 Council Members in 52 Weeks. Hi.

Rafael Salamanca: Hi. Good morning, Brian. Thank you for having me.

Brian Lehrer: I'm asking every council member what's the most common reason that constituents contact your office this year? In your case, since you've been there for six years, I'll also ask how that has changed over time from before the pandemic to today?

Rafael Salamanca: Yes. No, definitely. Look, I had the honor and privilege to serve my community for the last 12 years in government, the first five and a half years as a district manager of my local community board. Then, in 2016, I came in in a special election as a council member. I would say throughout the 12 years in government, the issues have staggered. Affordable housing has always been an issue, public safety, education, but what I've noticed that these last two years, crime has been the number one concern in my community. The uplift of gun violence, the uplift of gang activities, and most importantly, shoplifting.

Many stores such as Rite Aid, and Duane Reade, some of them are closing in my council district, and when we walk in to shop, the shelves seem to be empty. We're getting flooded with calls as to what are we going to do to address this issue. We've been working closely with the management and these pharmacies and also with PD to ensure that there's a police presence to be a deterrent so that we can minimize the amount of shoplifting that's occurring in my council district.

Brian Lehrer: Well, the mayor so far has been emphasizing law enforcement responses to crime. Major crime citywide are up by more than 40% so far this year according to the city's own stats, in addition to what you said about your district in particular, but The New York Times notes this morning that the mayor has yet to release a housing plan. Is the mayor getting the balance about right or not so much in your opinion on where he's putting his energies and longer-term or shorter-term responses to crime?

Rafael Salamanca: I met last week with Jessica Katz. She is the housing czar for the mayor. We were discussing as to the mayor's housing plan and I know that a plan will be released soon, but in my discussions, we spoke about out what's true affordable housing given the AMIs that the federal government at HUD gives us, which myself and many of our colleagues feel that they're truly not affordable. We spoke about homelessness in our communities. About a month and a half ago, the mayor and I, we did a ribbon-cutting for a safe haven in my council district to help those individuals that are chronically homeless, that are sleeping in the hallways in the ER waiting rooms of Lincoln Hospital.

Actually getting [crosstalk]--

Brian Lehrer: Those new safe haven beds with wraparound services are supposed to be better quality than the typical shelter, right?

Rafael Salamanca: Exactly. They get wraparound services. First, they get a bed, they get a meal, they get to shower, and most importantly, they get services. They get to see a doctor, a provider, get to see mental health provider, and also the social workers help them with ensuring that they have the benefits that the city of New York is offering. When we're speaking about the mayor's housing plan, yes, we're eager for it to be released, but I have confidence in working with his administration that we're going to be able to get a plan that is adequate and that we can work with as a whole body.

Brian Lehrer: Were you among the council members on the steps of City Hall yesterday calling for the social services additions as part of a more holistic approach to fighting crime?

Rafael Salamanca: No. I was not on the stairs yesterday, but I am a member of the budget negotiating team, and I am supporting my speaker and my colleagues on this ask for this $1.5 billion. We understand that public safety has to be a priority, but we also have to balance that out with programs. We need to ensure that there are mental health programs for those who really need it. Most importantly, we need to provide programs and opportunities for our youth, whether they're after-school programs or all-year-round programs for employment. We need to figure out how to get our youths jobs so they can keep money in their own pockets, avoid hanging out in the streets.

Also, with these programs that we keep our adolescents in these programs, these after-school programs, there'll be tired at the end of the day, they'll go back home and start it all over again. The goal here is to ensure that we keep our adolescents occupied.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have a review yet of the mayor's neighborhood safety teams as they've been deployed in your district? The fear as you know is these teams are more likely than ordinary uniformed cops to arrest a lot of young people for small things, ensnaring them unnecessarily in the criminal justice system, mass incarceration, and also these teams being a higher risk than other cops for an Eric Garner or Amadou Diallo style tragedy. Do you have a review yet of the mayor's neighborhood safety teams as they've been behaving in your district?

Rafael Salamanca: I am constantly speaking with my commanding officers from my precinct, especially the commanding officer at the 41. When we speak about crime and gun violence, that was the number one call that I was getting from my constituents. I supported the mayor when he came out with this neighborhood safety team. The focus, and this is what I'm speaking to my commanding officer constantly, that the focus has to be in areas where there's high crime, in areas where there is high gun violence, and that has been the focus. Look, our communities want to feel safe. We want to see a presence.

We want to see a PD presence, but what we don't want is overzealous cops who are beating on our young kids, our Black and brown kids. That message has been very clear to all my commanding officers, we will support them when they're right, but when they're wrong, we're going to call them out on the issue.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take a phone call from your district. I see Anthony in the Bronx. You're on WNYC with your council member Rafael Salamanca. Hello, Anthony.

Anthony: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. Hello, Councilman. I have a concern. I live in Concourse Village and our local CVS which was [unintelligible 00:09:16] from us closed recently because of the issue with the people stealing. Then, there's the other one on 149th Street in Melrose, and right in front of it for the last two weeks, there's been nothing but open garbage on the street. I've been in there twice over the past weekend and asked whether or not they're going to pick the garbage up because [inaudible 00:09:40]. They refuse to pick it up. It's right over there in front of Lincoln Hospital.

In between 161st Street and 149th Street in Morris Avenue, there are no trash cans and no signs telling people to pick up after their dogs. Can you tell me what you can do about that, please?

Rafael Salamanca: Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I know that on 149th Street and 3rd Avenue we have what's called the 3rd Avenue Bit, they do an excellent job in cleanliness. Now that area after Times Square has the most foot traffic and so there's constant overflow of garbage. Now between 149th and 161 and Morris Avenue, I will reach out to sanitation to see how we can improve the cleanliness in that area.

Brian Lehrer: Anthony, thank you, and feel free to call the council member's office and say you spoke to him on the Brian Lehrer Show for a follow-up. Anthony was also an example backing up what you were saying before. Drugstore chains are going out of business with the individual locations of some of the major chains. They're going out of business because of the robberies that are taking place. It's really shocking to a lot of people to think a Rite Aid, a Duane Reade, or something like that, this is part of a major corporation, could be so intimidated by shoplifters, by thieves breaking and stealing a bunch of stuff that they would actually go out of business, which is a surrender and a statement that it can't be policed.

How should we understand this?

Rafael Salamanca: Well, it's frustrating to see that shoplifting continues and it seems as if it's a revolving door for those individual who are shoplifting. Many of those individuals that are shoplifting have substance abuse problems and that's something that I see in my council district with opioid use. Those individuals that are constantly shoplifting, it's because they want to support their habit. That's why I'm an extremely big supporter of ensuring that in the budget we're ensuring that there's adequate funding for programming so that we can get those individuals who have substance abuse problems and are shoplifting so that they can sustain them.

How do we get them to help that they need, how do we get them off the streets? How do we address the substance abuse so that they no longer have to shoplift so that they can maintain their habit? It's an ongoing problem and it's something that we're working with our colleagues and city government to see how we can get those individuals that need the help, how do we get them the help that they need so that they can stop this pattern.

Brian Lehrer: Councilmember Rafael Salamanca with us from District 17 in the South Bronx on week 17 of our year-long series, 51 Councilmembers in 52 weeks in which we're going district by district and we're going to talk to the city council representative from every neighborhood of New York City this year, in this year when so much of City Council is new and it's majority female for the first time ever. Councilmember, as we told your office when we invited you on, we're inviting every member to bring a show and tell item from their district.

Just something that they would want to tell the rest of the city, the rest of the whole region, all our listeners about that they might not know about from your district.

People have been bringing pretty light or fun or promotional things for the most part. Last week's council member from a neighboring district said, "Hey, the Bronx Zoo is in my district. It's a great thing." Another one from the Bronx said, "Hey, Van Cortlandt Park is in my district." I see that you've brought something much more serious and very poignant.

Rafael Salamanca: Yes, I brought with me my asthma pump. My community, we suffer from many health disparities, whether it's diabetes, hypertension, and of course asthma. We have the world's largest markets in Hunts Point, we have the meat market, fish market, produce market, and we have over 700 businesses in the community. For decades, we've had over 15,000 trucks who come in and out of the Hunts Point community daily so that we can feed the entire city of New York.

I am proud that the state has stepped up and they've added $1.8 billion so that where they have restructured the Chevron Expressway, where they're adding ramps in and out of Hunts Point so that trucks no longer have to drive through our communities to get there. The reason that I brought my asthma pump as a show and tell is I'm born and raised in my community. My dad worked in the Hunts Point market for 18 years, and as a result of living in this area where there's high pollution because of the amount of trucks that are coming in and out, I'm an asthmatic, so is my seven-year-old son, and so are many constituents of mine in my council district.

We're working with the city to see how we transform the markets who are running on diesel, that they can run on something that's a more equitable on electricity. We're eager for the state to finish the construction of the ramps so that these trucks no longer have to drive through our communities and they can go directly to the destination and out of our communities.

Brian Lehrer: When you talk about asthma and respiratory illness and health disparities, your district got hit very hard by the pandemic, I know. Can you put it in any numerical or human terms like how many COVID orphans you have now in your district or anything?

Rafael Salamanca: I don't have those numbers, but I can tell you that I lost my dad during COVID at the height in April of 2020. I lost many family members and friends and it hit home. During the pandemic, we did not just see how it affected our health in terms of the health disparities, and then you compound that with COVID, what we also saw was the food inequities in the South Bronx. We have the world's largest markets, but yet we have food deserts in the Hunts Point community. During the pandemic, my office, we partnered with different businesses in Hunts Point where in a year and a half we fed over 65,000 families providing them with fresh produce and fresh food that was donated from the markets.

The last final years that I have in the council, my focus will be on addressing health disparities, but most importantly addressing the food inequalities that we have in the South Bronx.

Brian Lehrer: Where are you on the debate now about how much to lift COVID rules and let protection be a matter of personal choice with N95s and vaccines and going indoors to things or not and because of the antiviral treatments being available now, at least in theory? I ask because the argument for keeping a lot of rules on is largely to protect the most vulnerable among us and your district has a disproportionate number of vulnerable people by many measures.

Rafael Salamanca: Yes. Well, look, I follow the experts. In my household, everyone in my home is vaccinated, including my seven-year-old son. My son goes to school, it's up to them, their choice if they choose to wear their mask and so I allow my son. It's his choice if he chooses to wear his mask. I think we just need to be vigilant. First, I encourage everyone in my council district to get vaccinated. Especially because of the health disparities that I have, we know that the vaccine saves lives, and I encourage everyone as well when you're indoors when you can to wear a mask if you're around individuals that you don't know if they're vaccinated or they're not family members.

Again, I am not the expert on this issue, I follow the science and I follow the recommendations from the professionals.

Brian Lehrer: Masks for two to four-year-olds in daycare or pre-K, have an opinion?

Rafael Salamanca: It's challenging. They cannot be vaccinated and I just don't have an answer for you on this. I follow the experts on this.

Brian Lehrer: Continued vaccine mandate for all in-person private-sector workers in the city?

Rafael Salamanca: I think it's important that everyone be vaccinated, yes.

Brian Lehrer: This is WNYC FM HD and AM New York, WNJT FM 88.1 Trenton, WNJP 88.5 Sussex, WNJY 89.3 Netcong, and WNJO 90.3 Toms River. We are a New York and New Jersey public radio, and live streaming at wnyc.org. A few more minutes with Bronx city council member Rafael Salamanca. Question from a listener via Twitter, "Ask Salamanca why he stood with notorious homophobia Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr for an endorsement event for Diana Reyna for Lieutenant Governor." What would you say to that listener?

Rafael Salamanca: Well, let's be clear here, I've known the reverend for many years and I've been very clear from the very beginning that I do not stand with him on his stance on marriage equality, and and that's clear from the very beginning. I endorsed Diana Reyna yesterday because I believe in Diana Reyna. I've known Diana for over 15 years. I believe in her passion, and given the politics of what's happening with the Lieutenant Governor position at the moment, I think that Diana has a shot as being the first Latina Dominican woman, or the first Latina or Latino to hold public office in the state of New York, and I'm proud to have endorsed Diana Reyna yesterday.

Brian Lehrer: Now, Diana Reyna, many people may not know, is the candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic primary, running on a ticket with Tom Suozzi running for governor. People can vote separately. A lot of people don't realize that it's not like President and Vice President of the United States where you vote for them together. You can vote for your Lieutenant Governor and your gubernatorial candidate separately in the primary. Are you also endorsing Suozzi at the top of her ticket?

Rafael Salamanca: Absolutely not. I've endorsed Kathy Hochul as my governor for Governor of the state of New York.

Brian Lehrer: All right, and our next guest, just coincidentally, is Jumaane Williams, sitting for his April candidate interview. We had Governor Hochul two weeks ago, we had Congressman Suozzi last week. It's Jumaane Williams' turn in just a few minutes here after we finish up with Councilman Salamanca. One of the things that your office told us that you're interested in, something that a lot of listeners who have kids in the public schools might be interested in, but don't even know is a thing, a school cafeteria grading system like the health department grades for restaurants. Does this mean you think a lot of school cafeterias are unsanitary?

Rafael Salamanca: No. As a dad of a seven-year-old, and he's in school, and also as a council member, I'm constantly visiting my schools, looking at what capital needs they have, whether they need air conditioning for an auditorium, they need technology. I'm constantly visiting the cafeterias and speaking to the workers. I ask questions, I want to know what happens when food is rotten. When they get food that's given to the kids and it's rotten, what happens with that food. They have a process. They separate the food, they put it in another room, and they send it back to the vendor. I asked questions about rodents. Some of these schools are extremely old, and therefore, they have rodents.

Well, I want to know what do they do, what does the custodian do, what does the janitor do to address these issues in terms of rodents. In doing these walkthroughs, four years ago, we came up with the idea that every school should have a letter grade attached to the cafeteria just like they have a letter grade attached to how well they're doing in terms of their education. I proposed a bill that will require every public school in the city of New York to have a letter grade at a visible location so that parents know the cleanliness of their cafeteria. Should the school get a C or a minus that the school must immediately inform every parent in that school.

Brian Lehrer: Last question, we just have a minute and a half or so left. It's really too big a question for our time, but one I'm guessing you think about growing up where you grew up, representing the district you represent. Everyone talks about the South Bronx as a high-poverty community for decades, probably since before you were born. Programs come and go, but it retains that status with all the problems that go with it that you've been talking about, higher crime, more health problems, more problems in the schools. Why is it so hard for the neighborhood to turn the corner?

Rafael Salamanca: Well, our community in the South Bronx is turning that corner. Just a few years back, we shut down the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, and we're building 700 units of 100% affordable housing with open space, new health facilities, a new daycare, a new Headstart there. In [unintelligible 00:24:11] in the [unintelligible 00:24:12] part of the district, we're building 1,000 new units of 100% affordable housing. A YMCA has recently been built, we're going to do the ribbon-cutting shortly. I think a lot has to do with the perception of what the Bronx was and what the Bronx is now. The Bronx is safer, but there are challenges that we have such as we have the markets in Hunts Point.

They're an economic engine in our communities. My dad worked there for 18 years. That's how my family survived. He was a local tool member, but the cons to that is the amount of trucks that we have driving through our communities. As someone that is born and raised in this community and has the privilege to represent it now, I take it extremely serious when I go to City Hall and we're negotiating the budget that I'm ensuring that we're getting our fair share in our communities. I'm also very vocal about all the substance abuse programs being brought into the South Bronx, all the homeless shelters being brought into the South Bronx.

That's a problem that we have in our city in terms of fair share, not all communities are doing their fair share. I'm using my voice. I'm using my platform as the chair of the Land Use Committee and my relationships with the administration to bring this to light so that every community can do its fair share and we can prosper.

Brian Lehrer: City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca from District 17 in the South Bronx on week 17 of our year-long Series 51 Council Members in 52 Weeks, interviewing every representative from every neighborhood in the city. Councilman, thank you so much for a good conversation today. We really appreciate it.

Rafael Salamanca: Thank you for having me.

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