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Brian: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Now it's time for a Friday Ask the Mayor call-in, my questions and yours for Mayor Bill de Blasio at 646-435-7280. 646-435-7280, or you can tweet a question, use the #AskTheMayor, or watch our Twitter feed go by for good questions. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC.

Mayor de Blasio: Good morning, Brian. How are you doing?

Brian: I'm doing okay. Thank you. Let me start with a very practical question about vaccine distribution. You said the arrival of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will allow you to go door-to-door to homebound seniors. Where does that standard as of right now and how can those seniors sign up?

Mayor de Blasio: We're going to get the signup process out very shortly. What we're doing to begin, Brian, is we are focused on Co-Op City in the Bronx, which is over 40,000 person community with a huge number of seniors, including homebound seniors. So we know there's a lot of people you can reach quickly there. We're also going to be in Brighton Beach right away. That's another place where we have a lot of buildings where we know we can reach people. What we're doing is about to announce-- We just have a few pieces, we have to sort out a sign-up process.

What's great here is a number of parts of the city are working together, department for the aging, helping to lead the way with the health department, and the fire department is actually providing the medical personnel who are going out, and this is literally you have to go apartment by apartment, home by home and do this one-on-one. It takes time. It's labor-intensive, but now that we're starting to get the Johnson & Johnson doses, we're going to be able to do it, and very shortly, we'll be providing people a way to sign up all over the city.

Brian: It's the lack of refrigeration requirements, like the Pfizer and Moderna. I know they're different from each other as well, but Johnson & Johnson is even less so that allows you to do this, as I understand it. When you say the medical personnel, are people going to hang around for 15 minutes in each case after somebody gets a shot because that's what people are doing? When they go places to get their shots, they're supposed to stay there for 15 minutes to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction.

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, that is my understanding. We'll certainly as we talk to people about the signup process and how it's going to work, we'll address that, but that's certainly my understanding. We want to make sure everything's safe, especially for homebound seniors who obviously are folks dealing with real health challenges, but you're right what you said before, Brian, because Johnson & Johnson does not require the same rigorous level of refrigeration, we can take it out into a community and use it effectively.

The other thing that's really important for everyone to know and this is why I'm going to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine when my time comes, but particularly for homebound seniors, the fact one-shot does the entire job, means that you know it's done. Obviously, a homebound senior cannot get out for a second shot, they would have to wait for someone to bring it to them. I really like the notion of anyone knowing that the first shot has taken care of the entire mission, and that's something we'll be talking about a lot. Again, it'll take us time to get to every homebound senior, but that's what our goal is to reach everyone who needs it and wants to have it.

Brian: You know there's a COVID variant now being called the New York variant because it was discovered here first, and it might be more transmissible and we don't know yet if it evades the vaccines at all, but are you seeing case, or hospitalization numbers that would indicate this variant is either a big deal or media hype?

Mayor de Blasio: Yes. First of all, I talked to Dr. [unintelligible 00:03:54] about this yesterday, no one should prejudge. He believes by not too far into next week we'll have much more definitive information about it, but here's where we should avoid any possibility of hype or misunderstanding or alarm.

Let's talk about our numbers for today. The city's overall positivity level today, seven-day average is 5.80%. It hasn't been that low in quite a while, and the hospitalizations 221. We're getting close again to our threshold of 200, it's been going down steadily. This is really interesting to see these numbers, the confirmed positivity level among our hospitalizations was under 40%. Again, we have not seen that in a while. I would say if we're looking at trend lines, no, we are seeing, in fact, an improved situation, but we're going to get a full report out to the public on what the Department of Health has learned as its analyzed this new variant.

The most important thing I can say definitively that across all the variants that have been out there Britain and South Africa, et cetera, our health team consistently says the vaccines are working against the variance and the single best defense is to go out and get vaccinated.

Brian: Jacob in Queens, you're on WNYC with Mayor de Blasio. Hi, Jacob.

Jacob: Yes. Hi. Hello, Mr. Mayor. I've had my second Moderna shot yesterday. My question was, I travel abroad quite a bit. I have relatives in several countries, is there any way to get some vaccine passport, something that you can show some foreign authority, "Hey, look, I'm kosher?"

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, thank you. Thank you, Jacob. This is something we're working on right now, trying to determine the best way. We, of course, want to really respect people's privacy, but you're right. There are situations particularly with travel where it might be very helpful to have a clear, certified example of the fact that you've been vaccinated. We're working on right now the best way to address that, and we'll have more to say on that I think next week.

We got to help people to be able to navigate what will be a much better world and I want to get five million people vaccinated fully by June. I think we're well on track to do that. Last week, last Friday, we had our biggest vaccination day since it began. We got 76,000 people vaccinated in one day. As long as we get supply, this is going to take off, we still need more supply. You're right, we got to have a way as more and more people get vaccinated for it to be confirmed in ways that people need, and we'll be working to work that out quickly.

Brian: Gary in Manhattan, you're on WNYC with the mayor. Hello, Gary.

Gary: Hi, Mr. Mayor, I have two teenage children who have not been in their public high schools in a year. Private schools are open, gyms are open, now movie theaters are open. The toll on their lives in every way has been immeasurable, they are suffering, they are withdrawn, they are not outside, they are not socializing. The CDC, the experts say, "Open the schools." Can you commit to a date when the high schools will be open again? Thank you.

Mayor de Blasio: Gary, thank you. Thank you for the question. I feel your passion, and I'm a parent, I absolutely want to see kids back in school. We did have high school opened in October and part of November, but of course, we then had a huge uptick in the positivity end of the season, we have to deal with that. We are going to bring back high schools. How and when we're going to have an announcement next week on the details. I am very hopeful that we are going to be able to continue to build up the number of kids coming back into school.

Remember, we've got right now where the next thing-- We had middle school start last week, it's been very successful. I'm looking forward to high school, then the question, "Can we bring even more kids back in in the course of the school year?" Which will depend on what happens with the disease and the vaccinations. Then, September, where I want literally every kid to be able to come back to every school. This is going to move aggressively, but Gary, you're right, kids have gone through hell here and it's not healthy for kids to be out of school. That's the bottom line.

Brian: We have a question on Twitter, from the listener who says, "All families deserve info about the plan for September, what can you tell us specifically about that plan?"

Mayor de Blasio: Well, I just had a long meeting with our new school's Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter, and her team on this very question. What I can tell you is we intend to be able to accommodate every single child. Every family that wants their child back in school in September, it is our expectation we can accommodate everyone in-person five days a week. The fact is a lot is going to happen, but it's a long way from now from March to September and a lot could happen, good, or bad, or mixed with the Coronavirus.

My hope is that we have advanced so far by September, that there's literally no one who wants to be remote anymore. I have to be honest that I think even if we have advanced a lot, there will be parents who still won't be ready, won't be comfortable. My expectation is, we'll have to have a remote option. I think there's only two realistic pieces here, a full five-day-a-week calendar for kids in-person, and then a pure remote option for families that just won't be ready at that point, but I do not foresee blended being a part of the equation anymore. I think we've got to get kids in school, maximum number of five days a week. That's the vision we're working on.

Brian: Here's more of that Twitter user's question that's kind of a follow-up to what you just said. This person writes, "What would he say to parents who are leaving New York City Schools for private or other options because we have no September plan and the two case rule?" What about the two-case rule in this scenario that you just laid out, because I think it's something like if there are two cases, close enough together in one school building, then everybody has to go from home for a while?

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, it's a little more complex than that, but what it means is, if there's two cases that cannot be traced in such a fashion to a specific cause, that it might mean there's more widespread distribution of the Coronavirus in the building, that's what causes a shutdown. That rule is being reevaluated as we speak because we continue to see improvement in fighting the Coronavirus, more and more people vaccinated. We're over 2.1 million people vaccinated now. There's a lot moving and changing and of course, the schools have been just absolutely consistently safe throughout, extraordinarily low amount of coronavirus positivity in the schools.

When you think about all of that, we're going to keep looking at that two-case rule and figure out what we can do, but that's now. September is going to be a whole new ballgame. I would say to your core question, Brian, and I'm saying this as a parent, I would say to anyone, okay, if you believe in New York City public schools, if you want a great public school education for your child for free, here's what I'll tell you about September. I know that our new Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter believes in this 110%. We will be fully open in September. That will be five day a week instruction for everyone, period.

We, of course, will have to have health and safety rules depending on what's going on with the Coronavirus, but it'll be an entire reset as we figure out where we stand and we'll work with all the stakeholders, we'll work with our health team, especially to determine what the ground rules need to be in that new environment in September, but I expect September to be a much, much-improved environment compared to now. Folks who are trying to judge September according to today's reality, are making a mistake. Public school will be available for all in-person in September. That's the plan.

Brian: I have another two-case rule question that comes from a story in Brooklyner about whether it's too rigid, particularly, there's a school called K280, Pre-K in the Bishop Ford Complex shared with two middle schools. It's a big campus compound in Windsor Terrace. The Pre-K kids are now shut out for 10 days because there was one case there, but the other one in the middle school that they don't share air with at all in a fairly distant wing of the building from what I gather. Have you seen stories like that or have new thoughts about co-located schools where the two groups are very physically separated and the two-case rule?

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, I think that's an area that we're absolutely reevaluating that needs to be reconsidered in light of what we're seeing, because that takes the underlying concept, and I think in some ways misses the point. The underlying concept was if there is spread in a school, if we can't rule it out, we have to be cautious, and of course, that was a standard-- To be fair to everyone, that was a standard built-in August and September for a very different reality than what we're facing now, a time when we did not know if and when we would get the vaccine, for example, we're in a very different reality now.

We're continuing to open up the schools. We're continuing to make changes, this is being reevaluated as we speak. We'll have more to say on it, but I do want to emphasize to people, don't presume. I want to be open and honest, don't presume where we are. In the beginning of March, is the same place we're going to be in, April or May, and certainly not the same place we're going to be in September.

Brian: Here's a caller who hopes to be in high school next fall. Samuel in Brooklyn and eighth-grader. Samuel, you're on WNYC with the mayor. Thanks for calling in.

Samuel: Hi.

Brian: Hey there?

Mayor de Blasio: Samuel, how are you doing? [chuckles]

Samuel: I'm good. How are you?

Samuel: Good, good. I am calling because I'm a homeschooled eighth-grader. I'm applying to public school for high school, and I just found out from the high school enrollment office three days after the applications were due, that my grades can't be entered into the system. So I can't ever have a chance of being accepted into a screened high school that requires grades for entry. There are 10,000 homeschool children who this affects and it limits my choices by 100 schools, over 100 schools, and I believe that this is unacceptable and it's discriminatory against homeschooled children. I ask you, how is this fair?

Mayor de Blasio: I appreciate the question, Samuel. This is the first literally, the first I've ever heard of this problem. Please give your information to WNYC. I'm sure there's some way to address this, and let's see what you're giving us as an example will help us find a solution because obviously, I do not want to see anyone left out. Give us your information and someone will follow up with you today, and then we'll figure out from your example what we need to do in general.

Brian: Let me ask you about the Andrew Cuomo scandals. You've been criticizing the governor, but what would cause you to join those calling for him to resign, as the USA Today Editorial board is the latest to do. What would your bottom line be?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, let me start with the events last 24 hours. I watched the interview with Charlotte Bennett, and it's just painful. It's so disturbing. I find her just 100% believable, and I feel empathy for what she went through, and she speaks so clearly and powerfully. That never should have happened, and I think it's just profoundly troubling that it did.

Brian, to answer your question. Look, I think evidence is mounting. I think as more evidence comes in, it's just a matter of we need all the facts, but the facts continuing this pattern, I don't see how he goes on. I think it's as simple as that.

Brian: Some people are saying he should temporarily step aside now because he can't govern properly while the sexual harassment investigation goes on. I'm curious if you as mayor think Cuomo remaining in office or stepping aside during an investigation would mean different things for New York City during this period, for example, the state budget has to be finalized this month that always has implications for the city. Do you think that or anything else comes out differently for the city with Cuomo in limbo, as opposed to Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul stepping in?

Mayor de Blasio: I think it's a couple of points. The first is there's no one indispensable. Folks try to create the image of being indispensable, no one's indispensable. The state of New York is going to continue on no matter what. We have two very effective experienced legislative leaders in Carl Heastie and Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Even if the governor stepped aside, the budget will happen on time. I don't have a doubt in my mind.

The second question is trying to be objective about the reality the governor has created because so often he is worked against the interest of the people of New York City, and used his power and his stranglehold on a lot of the process to disadvantage our people. I can't tell you how many times I have had the experience in Albany, of the governor believing he could take things from New York City because he thought he could get away with it politically.

I don't think it's a given that it improves or worsens the process because I've seen a lot of things in the process, that were really broken. I think Albany has been broken for a long time, and the governor has been governor for a decade. The two points go together. I'm not afraid at all of some disruption in that. I think in terms of the pandemic, look, we're moving forward. This city is moving forward rapidly, recovering, the healthcare situation is getting better.

The Biden administration is here. That's the real X-factor, the Biden administration is here, and they're moving the vaccine supply and the things that we need to happen are happening, but this governor didn't give us the freedom to vaccinate. He literally stopped us from vaccinating senior citizens, and first responders, and teachers. That wasn't good government, that wasn't helpful. I'm quite certain we will all move forward together, even if he does have to step aside.

Brian: The state legislature is rescinding some of the governor's pandemic emergency powers. For example, as I understand it, he can still order the city to open or close schools or restaurants or whatever or distribute vaccines in a certain order, but the public and now you as mayor get to express your opinion in a more formal way before he can make any such decree if I'm understanding what I'm reading correctly. I'm curious if that's your understanding of what's changed and if you think that's good, bad, or neutral for the city.

Mayor de Blasio: I think your summary is pretty accurate. I would add, of course, the notion that it empowers localities to go back to the normal process of creating their own executive orders on the issues that we have to deal with. Look, it's a step in the right direction. I do appreciate the action legislator is taking. I think it will help us, but it is not full local control, it's not normal governance and we need to get back to it as quickly as possible.

We're not done with the pandemic, but we are rapidly coming out of it. Democracy is democracy. Our government system was set up to empower localities to manage the reality of our people's lives. We need that restored, especially given the dysfunction in Albany and given the mistakes the governor has made. That moment, again, where I had to fight for the freedom to vaccinate was very telling.

We knew that the vaccination process was dysfunctional because we couldn't reach-- So many people needed it and we couldn't create a viable agile system if we were not allowed, for example, to vaccinate people over 65 just didn't work. That was a long-drawn-out fight with Albany. If we had local control again, that would have been done instantly and a lot more people would have been vaccinated earlier.

Brian: Sandra in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with Mayor de Blasio. Hi, Sandra.

Sandra: Hi, mayor. I want to thank you for a call. I called you probably about two years ago about supporting motorcycles in the city and you connected me with Chief Chan at that time. We now have a motorcycle at the city council. We're working on getting practice space for motorcyclists to address the increase in motorcycle fatalities as well as there was an increase in car and car fatalities.

I wanted to mention something else. I see that you have a great initiative to increase bicycle parking and the local motorcycle dealers are finding that motorcycles are flying out of the shops with people looking for alternative modes of transportation. I want to urge you to consider adding motorcycle parking, where congestion reducing and have a very light footprint with getting people to practice and educate, it's a really viable alternative mode of transportation. Please consider adding motorcycle-only parking. We don't require that much. You can get about six motorcycles to the space of one car, if not more.

Mayor de Blasio: Thank you. That's really helpful, Sandra. I appreciate that. I'm going to let our new transportation commissioner Hank Guttman know that-- Who was the person who actually announced the 10,000 new parking spots for bikes. I'm going to let him know about this conversation. I think you're making a really valuable point.

I think the more alternatives that we can support the number one thing is to get people out of cars when it's one person, one car, that's the single worst thing for both the environment and for congestion. I appreciate what you're raising and please give your information again to WNYC and I'd like to make sure the commissioner and his team follow up with you.

Brian: Dale in the East Village you're on WNYC with the mayor. Hi, Dale.

Dale: Hey, good morning, Brian, and good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor de Blasio: Good morning. How are you doing today?

Dale: Okay. I'm calling in because with the Open Restaurants' Program, which I think we'll all agree was a great idea to get restaurants and bars a chance to make it through the pandemic, but at the same time for people like me, and there's a lot throughout the neighborhood who live across the street or above the restaurants, the noise from diners and outdoor music has become a real problem where there was none until the program got created. With that in mind, just a couple of quick questions it seems that there were program guidelines prohibiting outdoor music, but no one on my block is following them.

Are there guidelines and how can we get them enforced? Because calling 311 for music issues, I haven't gotten any results from that. Secondly, just the general noise from diners can get really loud too. As the economy recovers and restaurants get back on their feet, is there any chance that the city can reevaluate the permanent status of open streets? Because right now I feel trapped by things and can't afford to move to get away from the noise.

Mayor de Blasio: Listen, thank you for raising this and we don't want anyone feeling what you're feeling. We want to make sure there's a balance struck. I'm going to ask our nightlife office to follow up with you. If you please give your information to WNYC, the nightlife office has a really good track record of mediating and coming up with solutions.

Look, we do believe-- I believe a 100% in open restaurants and open streets. This is something we're making permanent. I believe it's a really valuable part of our future and we learned it in crisis, but it's something we will be able to use in much better times to make the city a more vibrant place. I hear you loud and clear. I totally understand because I've experienced it too over the years, it's very alienating when you feel there's too much noise and it's not being addressed.

That's why our nightlife office was created to go in immediate. If we have to bring enforcement, of course, we will. A lot of times, if we say to a restaurant or a diner, we say, "Look, you have a problem with your neighbors and you got to find a balance point," they'd get it. They want to be good neighbors and they don't want the danger of penalties. Let's see if we can resolve your case, but I want to affirm to everyone, the future New York City is continuing the Open Restaurants' Program and the open streets program. It is going to be part of what brings us back and we need a strong recovery. It's going to be a very important part of that.

Brian: Does that require any specific additions to the noise code for the circumstances because I do get these calls fairly frequently from different parts of the city. People who didn't have this noise problem before understanding that we need open restaurants and open streets, especially in the pandemic, but having a noise problem that they didn't have in their apartments.

Mayor de Blasio: I don't know of a specific change that there needs to be made in the noise code. I think this is about and it's our obligation as the city government to keep moving with the changes, doing the right education of the business owners, the right mediation with the nightlife office, the right enforcement, if that's what's needed. I really think we can do that. I think this is such a positive thing. Right now, we already know that open restaurants brought back about 100,000 jobs.

It's just so important to the city and by the way, it's a beautiful thing. It's brought additional life and vibrancy. That's going to continue and be true well beyond the pandemic, but it has to be balanced like everything else in this beautiful crowded place. We have to keep perfecting our strategy. If we have to add something to the law, we will, but I think right now we have the tools that we need to address the problem.

Brian: Jack in Gowanus you're on WNYC with the mayor. Hi, Jack.

Jack: Hi, Brian, and good morning Mayor de Blasio. I'm a member of the community group Voice Of Gowanus and I've got a question for you about affordable housing, which is such a crucial issue. I know it's something you've been trying to address, but our group is very concerned about these shocking public comments made by Christos Tsiamis the Environmental Protection Agency's lead engineer for the superfund site in Gowanus.

At a recent public hearing he validated the community's longstanding concerns about the dangerous levels of toxic pollution at a site known as Public Place, where private developers, your administration, and council member, Brad Lander want to put up an affordable housing complex called Guanes Green and put a school. Mr. Tsiamis who has a master's degree in chemical engineering and has studied this site for over a decade said that the current remediation efforts are dangerously insufficient and could put future low-income residents and school children at risk.

The toxic pollutants run over 150 feet deep at this site and have been linked to elevated rates of cancer and learning disabilities. This location is also in a FEMA special flood hazard area that flooded during Hurricane Sandy. At a December 15th press conference. You said, "We're never going to let people be in a situation that's unsafe." In responding to a question about this.

What I want to ask you today is given the stakes, especially for low-income residents and kids and your administration's mixed record on housing, health, and safety, will you commit today to inviting the EPA and FEMA to coauthor, supervise, and help execute any environmental impact study that includes this site. I'd love to get a yes or no answer and an explanation of your reasoning.

Mayor de Blasio: I appreciate the question. It's a complex question is the honest truth. I don't agree with you, but I like to always be transparent. I don't agree with you on the "mixed record." I think there's been a very strong, consistent record on health and safety in housing. We've been expanding on that. Bluntly a lot of the past in this city, there were not particularly strong efforts on health and safety and housing. We've changed a lot of that. Look, it is a really important question.

I know the site, I am concerned. I want to make sure we get it right. We're going to work, of course, with the APA and FEMA, but I also want to be clear that they have a perspective. We want to understand their perspective, but ultimately a decision has to be made locally. We need affordable housing. We need to support folks in the city who cannot afford to stay here. That's really important, but it has to be done safely.

I'd like you to do please, Jack, give your information to WNYC, I'm going to have someone senior from our team get back to you, talk this through. I want to make sure the team provides me with all the facts of what the individual from the EPA is saying. We'll certainly look at this, but I want to at the same time say, I really have believed for a long time there was a way to do development in the Gowanus area safely.

I think for so many people who need affordable housing they want to know, of course, that the foundation of it all will be safe, but they also rightfully are intolerant of endless delays, creating a more affordable housing. We've got to figure out how to balance that we're not going to do anything unsafe, but once we know it is safe, we should stop hesitating and we should create the housing.

Brian: Thank you for your call Jack, we'll take your contact information. Last thing, Mr. Mayor, then we're out of time. Today, movie theaters in New York City can reopen at 25% capacity. As you know you've been critical of the Texas plan to allow reopening of everything to a 100% capacity, yet people are still debating New York too fast, too slow. Depends who you ask. There's some skepticism about movie theaters coming back at 25% today, for example, in light of the variance, would you feel safe going to the movies or sending your kids today?

Mayor de Blasio: Quick frame, I'll be very fast. I think that this all needs to be done with the decisions of our health leadership all based on data and science. I worry anytime it's anything other than that. Certainly, Texas is the poster child for doing it the wrong way. I have a wait-and-see approach on the question of how much things are being expanded. These are decisions made by the state, not by the city. We're going to be watching very carefully.

We're obviously concerned about the variants. We're going to be updating the public on them. The jury's out on this to me, of whether this is the right amount or where we go from here. Look, in the end, one thing I guarantee is once it's a state decision, it's our job to do our best to make it safe and to send out the health inspectors and others try and make it safe. I have confidence that our inspectors are doing their job and on that level, I would participate out of confidence in them. That doesn't mean that it's necessarily the right thing to do going forward if the evidence proves otherwise.

Brian: Thanks as always Mr. Mayor. Talk to you next week.

Mayor de Blasio: Take care, Brian.

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