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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. If it's Friday, it's Ask The Mayor day, my questions and yours, for Mayor Bill de Blasio. Our phones are open at 646-435-7280. For your questions for the Mayor, 646-435-7280, or you can tweet a question. Just use the #AskTheMayor. Good morning, Mr. Mayor, welcome back to WNYC.

Mayor de Blasio: Good morning, Brian, and I have some breaking COVID news for you.

Brian Lehrer: I'm all ears.

Mayor de Blasio: Breaking news; New record set yesterday for vaccinations in New York City, 93,380 vaccinations yesterday, Thursday. That's the most by far that's been achieved in a single day. Very good sign for the future. One other piece of news, we can now confirm that we have 65,000 Department of Education employees who have been vaccinated.

Brian Lehrer: I guess those are all good trends. Looking at the vaccine data, it looks like the number of vaccine takers might have peaked though in early March, March 1st, from the numbers I'm seeing, showed a seven-day average of about 50,000 people taking first doses a day. Now I'm seeing it as 32,000. What does that mean?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, I wouldn't read into that any lack of demand. Demand is absolutely skyrocketing. The reality is you've got first doses and second doses. More and more people are now coming in for a second dose, we obviously have to reserve those doses and that takes up a bigger piece of each day, but what we're finding, especially as eligibility has been expanding is just- and we put appointments up, they get snapped up immediately. We are seeing less hesitancy for sure, particularly in communities of color where there were some real issues with hesitancy originally, we're definitely seeing improvement there. I think we're going to be able to fill every appointment we have for months to come.

Brian Lehrer: At the same time, I'm looking at the New York Times COVID tracker for New York City, cases are up 22% in the last two weeks, deaths are up a couple of percentage points. There were nearly 200 new hospitalizations for COVID in the city. Yesterday, I saw in another report, 200 is considered a danger marker toward the potential for overload, and you're calling for people not to get together in crowds for Easter, I understand. So, where are we today, vaccinations aside, in terms of the state of the virus in the city?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, first of all, very important question. I'd say, I won't put vaccinations aside because vaccinations obviously are going to change those numbers rapidly over time, but I would say this, first of all, on gatherings for Easter, for Passover, everything, we're saying the same thing, our health leadership is saying please, one more time, keep it small, keep it safe, social distancing, mask-wearing when you're not eating, this is the last time we have to do this. The last year we'll deal with this, by next year, people can gather together as normal, so please, let's really protect each other one more time.

To the overall numbers, the hospitalization numbers, the one we are particularly concerned about and that actually, Brian, over the last few weeks, we've had a number of days where we're below 200, that had not been true for quite a while. That trend has been a little more favorable because we're starting to get back down to the area we need to be. Overall, we've seen a C-change compared to what we saw a year ago in terms of the ability of hospitals to handle these cases.

I'd say we do see the pressure of the variants, that's some of what you're referring to. Absolutely, we take that very seriously, but I think in the end, as we are particularly able to do more vaccination, so this is why this number this morning, the 93,000 from yesterday is so important, we really can outrace the variance if we keep expanding the number of vaccinations.

Brian Lehrer: Tell me again, I know you wanted to highlight the Department of Education numbers. Tell us again about the teachers' numbers and remind us, do teachers and DOE staff have to identify that they're teachers when they sign up so you can really know how many teachers are getting vaccinated?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, in fact, we believe there are a lot more than this number. This is just a number we've been able to document. It is all educators and staff combined, 65,000 confirmed vaccinations, but we do believe there's a substantial number beyond that, so that's a really, really good sign. We have about 110,000 staff total in our buildings now. This says we're making tremendous progress in terms of getting DOE employees vaccine.

Brian Lehrer: Well, is there a way to distinguish between private school teachers and New York City public school teachers in that number?

Mayor de Blasio: I want to be very clear, this is New York State Department of Education. 55,000 is just our Department of Education employees, educators, and staff.

Brian Lehrer: Does this have specific implications for to what degree the public schools reopen between now and the end of the year or in September?

Mayor de Blasio: I think it helps. We already know that the CDC has said we can change the approach, go from that six-foot rule to that three-foot rule. That's what we're planning on. We have an opt-in period right now for parents to choose to have their kids come back if they want to. That's going to go through next Wednesday. The CDC guidance is what's crucial here. We're waiting for the state of New York to speak to it, but the guidance is based on the evidence that has been found in schools all over the country of how to keep schools safe. This is just an additional very, very positive factor. When you get this higher percentage of the adults in the building's vaccinated, that is a game-changer.

One of the things Dr. Jay Varma, my senior advisor did a scholarly journal article a few weeks back that pointed out about 80% of infections in schools were coming from the adults in the schools. When you get adults vaccinated on this high level, it fundamentally changes the reality. On top of that, we already had persistently low levels of COVID in our schools now for months, so this is a real good sign.

Brian Lehrer: Question in this ballpark from a listener on Twitter. Mama, mommy-- Okay, this Tweeter is going as mama, mommy, mom, so we know what this person's role is. The tweet says, "We can't let the Mayor go today without asking about the two-case rule. It's been two months that he's thinking about it. Please, ask the Mayor," says mama, mommy, mom. I just that's the rule that with two cases even unrelated in a building, the school closes and a lot of parents remain very frustrated by that.

Mayor de Blasio: Now, I understand their frustrations. To be fair, there's different types of rules depending on whether there is a relationship with the cases or not, and that's what our health team put together to protect everyone. Look, again, we see a very different reality now because of a very high level of vaccination, which is fantastic because of everything that we've been able to prove about how to keep schools safe, really with a gold standard of health and safety measures. Next week, we'll have an update on the two-case rule. We're doing a little more work with our health team on the right way to approach things, but we will have an update on that next week.

Brian Lehrer: I saw Eliza Shapiro, The Times education reporter, speculating the union is very much against changing the two-case rule. For families worried about in-person schooling, they're worried if they do with it that this won't convince those families to come back. Can you comment on either part of that?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, I'm not going to speak for the union. I would say to the question of families comfort, first of all, that's a very individual decision, and I know some families are going to want to wait till September when we plan on having everyone back that's ready to come back, but I do think a lot of families are looking at the current situation, they see how safe the schools have been. We want to get them all the information possible is why I think it's important for families to understand just how many people have now been vaccinated in the schools.

I think that's the most important factor for those open to coming back, and there are certainly some who are just generically not open. I respect that, but for those open to coming back, I think what they're looking at is, can we continue to prove the health and safety levels in the school? I think the evidence has been overwhelming. Now you know, a high level of vaccination in the schools and the CDC guidance.

The CDC guidance was based on the new CDC, not the previous one which we sometimes had to question, but Joe Biden CDC, looking at the evidence from all over the country and seeing how consistently clear it has been that schools can be kept very, very safe with the right measures, and those are the measures we're using here.

Brian Lehrer: Jonathan in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Jonathan.

Jonathan: Oh, hi. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

Jonathan: Okay, great. Thank you. I'm a Progressive, but I'm still, unfortunately, a little conflicted about the whole issue of marijuana legalization. I know we obviously have to fix the terrible and unfair aspect of mass incarceration, and I believe people have a right to smoke. The problem is, I don't want to smoke with them. Already as it is, people smoke openly on my front stoop. It creeps into my apartment, there's a children's school on my block and people smoke next to the playground.

My question is, is legalization an all-or-nothing proposition anywhere and everywhere, or are there ways to create boundaries, concrete boundaries, like coffee shops in Amsterdam, designated public smoking areas, even in a park, but a designated part of the park, while also making it off-limits elsewhere, or is toxic marijuana smoke simply going to be ubiquitous? Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Jonathan. Mr. Mayor?

Mayor de Blasio: Thank you, Jonathan. Really, really good question. I think a lot of people have a range of feelings about our new reality, but I think the most important point here is legalization is the right thing to do. The reality we've dealt with for so many years of something being ubiquitous but officially illegal, that wasn't really productive.

The new law makes clear that marijuana smoking is only allowed where cigarette smoking is allowed. That's really important because, in this city, we have really clear and extensive limits on cigarette smoking, which is a really good thing and this city led the way and a lot of the rest of the country is followed. There's many, many places you cannot smoke a cigarette in New York City, including in a lot of areas and parks, and the same rules will be applied to marijuana.

I also think, Jonathan, you made a really important point there, is everything set in stone or not? I would urge people to realize this is a beginning. There's a lot that will be worked on at the state level to figure out the right regulations related to marijuana, particularly dispensaries, issues like that, that's going to take a while to be worked through. As we're experiencing it, of course, there's an opportunity to make adjustments, but the first thing to know is not allowed wherever cigarette smoking is not allowed.

Brian Lehrer: It is a big change, that under this new state law as of today, as of two days ago, smoking marijuana openly in public, outdoors in places where cigarette smoking is allowed, is now legal, and that's really new and different. I'm curious what this will mean for the way that you have the NYPD interact with enforcing any remaining marijuana laws, there still have been thousands of marijuana arrests a year under your watch, though down significantly, and still disproportionately of young Black and brown people. What will this new legal public smoking change in terms of NYPD behavior?

Mayor de Blasio: I think it will change things a lot. You're right that over the last years, we've greatly reduced marijuana arrests and moved much more where there was even a need for enforcement to summons. This takes a number of the areas where there might have been previously an arrest or summons and just take some off the table. There still are things that are illegal, particularly related to sales on a larger level, but that's something, look, we're going to make the adjustments now to this law, you will definitely see changes in the NYPD approach.

I think we're all going to learn by doing this, but the bottom line is, I think the good news in this is it allows us to focus attention on a lot of other areas, which I think deserve attention more than this in terms of how we police, and certainly allows us to get past the mistakes of decades in which people's lives were ruined by convictions for very small marijuana offenses. The expungement of those past convictions is a really important part of this law. I see the challenges, Brian. I know we're going to have to work through some stuff, but I do want to celebrate, there's a lot of good here.

Brian Lehrer: Mika Ella in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hello, Mika Ella.

Mika Ella: Hi. Thanks for taking my question, Brian. Mr. Mayor, last week, families who have lost loved ones to the NYPD sent a letter to City Council. The letter states their strong opposition to your police reform and reinvention plan because it does not adequately defund the NYPD. They also oppose the plan because it claims to hold police officers accountable for brutalizing, sexually harassing, or assaulting, and killing New Yorkers, but as we know many officers who have killed New Yorkers are still on the force and collecting paychecks, including officer Wayne Isaacs who killed Delrawn Small in 2016.

Will you commit to directing the NYPD to stop stalling and turn over all Wayne Isaacs-related files to the CCRB, and will you commit to scheduling Wayne Isaacs' disciplinary trial for the spring so that he can be fired for killing Delrawn Small?

Mayor de Blasio: First of all, respect the question, but I think anyone who reads, in my opinion, anyone who reads the full reports related to the reform plan, I believe you're going to see a lot in there that changes the NYPD and changes the relationship between the NYPD and community and adds a lot more accountability. It's going to change the composition of the police force because there will now be a preference for hiring New York City residents, which means more and more people of color will be in the police force. It changes disciplinary approaches, makes sure that promotions are based on disciplinary history, as well as positive factors.

There's a lot in there that I think changes the fundamental reality, so I just have to say that. I urge people to go look at the full reform report, look at the disciplinary matrix. I think you will see a lot that's different from the past.

The second point on that trial, I think it's a high priority to start it quickly. Everything has been slowed by COVID, obviously, but I know the CCRB wants to start it quickly. I certainly want to start it quickly. I can't give you an exact date but I want it to move as quickly as possible, and I'll try and see if we can publicly put out what that timeline is. I do think it's really important for that to be resolved once and for all.

Brian Lehrer: Chris in Park Slope, you're on WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Chris.

Chris: Good morning, Mr. Mayor. I'm wondering, I know you haven't endorsed anybody for Mayor, but we're all facing an election this summer with many, many candidates. Now that you've been Mayor for almost two full terms, I wonder what you think are the most important skills that a candidate and a Mayor ought to have? Is it management skills, policy vision, familiarity with the city, ethnic representation, the ability to communicate, your stamina? I know to some degree, all of those things are important, but when you take a step back from your time as Mayor, what stands out as the most important characteristics of a good Mayor.

Brian Lehrer: What a great question. Wow. Well, Chris, obviously, you immediately saw that your list was fantastic, by the way. All of those are factors. You're right, it is some of all the above. I think what I would put front and center is empathy, a connection to the people, and a real empathy for what people live through every day. I think one of the things that really bothered me, when I was in the City Council when I was Public Advocate, was I felt there was a real massive empathy gap. I felt, with all due respect to Mayor Bloomberg, he did some good work, but I really didn't feel like he could connect and understand the everyday life of people in this city.

For example, was the first Mayor with a child in the public schools while serving as Mayor, at least at that anyone could identify or in recent memory. I think that's an example of being able to connect with what people are actually going through and govern with their eyes, with their perspective. I think not having it be a Manhattan-centric approach to governing but truly five-boroughs since 7 million people live in the outer boroughs and that's really where the center of gravity should be in some ways. That's what I'd say and obviously, look, if we want an object lesson of lack of empathy, it would be Donald Trump on another level.

I think a Mayor, especially today with what everyone has gone through with COVID, needs all those elements you talked about as high a measure as possible, but they really have to feel the lives of the people and be able to communicate back to people a vision that fits their lives and their reality.

Brian Lehrer: Let's go next to Noah in Nassau County, but a city worker. Noah, you're on WNYC with the Mayor.

Noah: Hi, Mayor. How are you?

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

Noah: Good. I am a municipal worker. I work at an agency for the city, obviously. I'm just wondering, why is it that City Hall is having municipal workers return to the office, although there is the possibility of another surge, and is City Hall reevaluating the May 3rd date for that return? Also, my agency specifically, much of the work that we do is still being done remotely and there's really no need for us to be in the office.

I understand that at some point, you'll want to have as back in the office, I do agree with that, but I just think now it's a little too early and in my agency specifically, there's a lot of growing concern with the May 3rd return date. Further, state workers don't have to go back until July 2nd, so I was just wondering if you could maybe expand on this and if City Hall is maybe re-evaluating the May 3rd start date. Thanks.

Mayor de Blasio: Thank you, Noah. Thank you for the work you do on behalf of the people of the city. Look, we have been making all the decisions based on the data, based on the science with our healthcare team, and what we learned in the schools and what we've learned anywhere public employees are working is, if you put the right health and safety measures in place, that's what matters. We are planning on bringing folks back beginning May 3rd. We'll constantly watch what's happening for sure. We're always watching to see if anything comes up that changes the approach.

Right now I feel very comfortable because we're going to have all of the elements that work so clearly in the schools, mask-wearing, distancing, constant cleaning, proper ventilation, et cetera. We are confident that city workplaces, we control them, obviously. A lot of the concern I've had over time is when you're talking about places where the public sector can't reach in or doesn't know what's happening and people, unfortunately, take liberties and don't follow the rules. In our own workplaces, we can guarantee that things are done the right way.

I do believe that people do better work when they come back together, even with restrictions. That's been my experience. Look, I've been at City Hall the whole time, I could not do what I do to say at least, remotely. My job's a little different perhaps than many others, but I know the folks who've been at City Hall throughout, we get a lot of what we need to do for the people done because we do interact in person. It makes a huge difference, but we do it safely.

Brian Lehrer: Well, let me ask you a follow-up question that combines the last two callers' concerns in a way. Noah there about returning to offices and the previous caller who asked you about what you want in the next mayor. Mayoral candidate, Andrew Yang spoke to a business group yesterday as you probably saw, and proposed a commuter incentive to come back to offices in person for the private sector, the opposite of a commuter tax, which Progressive's usually want to impose on people coming to the city for their livelihoods if they don't live here because they use city services a lot, but pay their taxes to their bedroom communities.

Andrew Yang wants the opposite of a commuter tax because he says like you say, that the city's recovery depends on people going back to office work in person. He wants to pay commuters to come back to their office jobs in the city. Do you support that concept?

Mayor de Blasio: I am surprised at that concept. I have not seen this specific proposal so I'll just be careful not to speak in detail until I do, but I'm surprised at it. I think the more essential way to approach things is to continue to vaccinate folks, continue to prove the models that work for safety to keep the city reopening the things that we can reopen safely. We talked about Broadway last week, a tremendous excitement about that. That's a little ways down the line, but we're going to reopen Broadway safely. We're going to bring back our theater and cultural community.

A lot of it will be outdoors of the summer, but with Broadway by September, back indoors. I think it is recreating the life of the city and continuing to deepen the vaccinations. That's really the best way to get people back. I think that's what's going to work most fundamentally.

Brian Lehrer: You haven't said yet if you're endorsing the Democratic primary to succeed you, but would I be right if I guessed that Andrew Yang would not be your first choice?

Mayor de Blasio: Brian, I admire your journalistic skill, but again, I've been real clear that I'm not answering any of those questions until I see a lot more from this field. It's early still, it's a little under three months away until that election. I think we have not heard enough from these candidates and I'm watching carefully, and if at some point I feel it's important to weigh in. I will, but that's a ways down the line.

Brian Lehrer: By the way, we have some breaking news from the CDC. I wonder if I can get a spontaneous comment from you regarding how you think this might or should affect people's travel plans to or from New York. This is from the Washington Post's write-up just out. For domestic travel, people who are two weeks past their final shot do not need to get a Coronavirus test before or after their trips, and do not need to self-quarantine after travel.

That means grandparents who are fully vaccinated can fly to visit their grandchildren without getting a Coronavirus test or self-quarantine, provided they follow the other recommended public health measures such as wearing masks on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation. Do you have a comment on that and how it might relate to your interest in tourism returning to New York, for example?

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, I think my first impression, I want to see all the details but my first impression is that's sensible to say that folks who have been fully vaccinated, we can treat differently. I think, in fact, the good news about that is it rewards vaccination, which is what we want to see. We want everyone to realize the power of vaccination. I think right now we know, the polling shows it and just our own experience, the vast majority of people do want to be vaccinated and are working hard to get vaccinated.

I think the more people understand that vaccination is the way to travel, the way to getting back to work, et cetera, the better off we'll be because there's still a certain number of people who need to be motivated. This kind of rule I think hearing it first [unintelligible 00:26:04] sounds sensible.

Brian Lehrer: Do you want tourists to hold off for a while on coming to Times Square and other crowded places in New York?

Mayor de Blasio: Well, first of all, I want us to be careful about crowding overall for the foreseeable future. I think there's been a lot of good measures in place to avoid crowding at some of the places that historically it's happened and we need to keep doing that, but do I want tourists to come back? Of course, and more and more right now, we have over four million vaccinations have happened in this city. As you heard, with 93,000 yesterday alone, rapidly increasing, you're going to see that have more and more effect. Certainly, folks coming here, following the right health and safety guidance, but coming here and participating in the city makes a lot of sense. I think you're going to see a lot of it this summer.

My prediction, Brian, is that this summer you're going to see a huge amount of domestic tourism directed to New York City. Folks are not going to be traveling as much internationally, they're going to want someplace that they feel good about. I think we're going to hit that goal of five million fully vaccinated New Yorkers by June. By summer, I think it's going to be verifiable that this is a place you can come and do a lot of great activities, a lot of great outdoor cultural activities, outdoor dining, and a lot of other things, and be safe. I think it'll be a big part of our recovery.

Brian Lehrer: Peter in Washington Heights, you're in WNYC with the Mayor. Hi, Peter.

Peter: Hi, Brian. Hello, Mr. Mayor. I'm with a group of residents in Washington Heights in Harlem. We're trying to save an 1851 house linked to the underground railroad and it's set to be bulldozed. We went to the Landmarks Commission and they gave us their standard rejections, sorry, the houses too rundown to be landmarked, even though it's the last remnant of an abolitionists community that was just discovered in a community of color where landmarks are rare.

Last week, Jamani Williams, the public advocate came to visit. He said that communities of color are always told why things can't happen, but wider wealthier neighborhoods get landmarked all the time, and you can see this if you just pull up the Landmarks Commission's own online map of where landmark buildings and landmark districts are in the city. Only you can help change this at this point. How can we work together to fix this problem and save this touchstone to our city's history? Thanks.

Mayor de Blasio: Thank you for the question, Peter. I want to look into this further that there is a site, and maybe you're speaking about the same one I believe on Riverside Drive that I know has gotten some careful consideration.

Peter: Yes.

Mayor de Blasio: That one I need to double-check, but I do think that connection, that story is a little grayer than in some other cases we dealt with. We just did have an example of landmarking on Duffield Street in Brooklyn, something I was involved in and my wife Chirlane was involved in that I think was a great example of exactly what you're saying. More landmarking of the true history of this city, the history of people of color, the history of the abolitionists movement.

There is a lot more that can and should be landmarked. As fact, this is something that is going to be looked at by our new Racial Justice Commission. How we rethink our entire approach to preserving our history and to landmarking. I will look again at the site you're raising, but again, I think each one is different and we just have to make sure if we're trying to achieve that goal, that we are dealing with sites that really do fit that vision.

Brian Lehrer: Can he follow up to get the results of your review? [crosstalk]

Mayor de Blasio: Yes. Peter, please give us your information. Absolutely. Please give us your information to WNYC and we will have folks follow up with you today.

Brian Lehrer: Peter, thanks. Hang on we'll take your contact information. Mr. Mayor, can you stay on to help one 85-year-old homebound person who just called in and is having trouble getting access to a shot?

Mayor de Blasio: Absolutely.

Brian Lehrer: Eileen in Greenwich Village, you're on WNYC. with the Mayor. Hi Eileen.

Eileen: Hi, Brian. Hi, Mayor. Thank you very much. Yes, I did call the Vaccine Command Center, the 877 number on the March 17th. They took my name and phone number and told me that somebody would be calling and indeed, on the 26th someone, and here's the question, from the Public Engagement Unit, or who said she was from that and may have been legit, took more information, date of birth and so forth, and said the Fire Department would be calling me within two weeks, which this is just about is.

My concern is not so much access because this may come to pass, but I get- old seniors get a lot of scam calls that are targeted specifically at infirmities' age health. I get false Medicare, false Walgreens. What can be done in terms of the agency and in terms of the seniors themselves to identify. This is phone, I don't have internet

Brian Lehrer: I understand, and I have to cut in for time, Eileen, but I just want to be clear. You think you are on the way to getting that shot coming to your home as there is a program for seniors in your circumstance, you think that's going to work.

Eileen: My question is about the authenticity of the call and how to verify it.

Brian Lehrer: Right, I understand. These calls are so rampant, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor de Blasio: Yes, I know. Eileen is making a very good point. First of all, Eileen, please give your information to WNYC at the end of this call so that we can make sure that you get your vaccination quickly. The Vaccine Command Center and the Public Engagement Unit, those are real places, real pieces of the city government. Those are all legit. In fact, I was with the medical personnel, the nurses, and the folks from the Fire Department just a few days ago, as they were going out, fanning out all over the city, going to people's homes to do these in-person vaccinations.

It is painstaking. It does take a lot of time to reach everyone because they literally have to go to each apartment, each home and take time with each person, but they are moving steadily through thousands and thousands of people who need in-person in-home vaccination. Yes, help is coming and we will make sure you get an appointment right away.

Brian Lehrer: The scam calls come in constantly, which I guess was her main point. Is there anything more the city can do?

Mayor de Blasio: It's a great question and I will pursue that. I think the bottom line is, we'll try and figure out a way that our folks can identify themselves in a way that is clarifying. I would say everyone should be, I think many seniors are aware of this, be really careful when people are offering you something and asking you for your personal information and anything related to money, obviously.

We'll try and figure out the right way to get our message across and confirm it. It might be smart to send a follow-up letter or something like that that will help to confirm, but the most important thing is even while we're trying to deal with the issue of the scams, the work is happening and thousands of home-bound seniors and other folks who are home-bound are getting the vaccinations right in their homes.

Brian Lehrer: Well, maybe one of these days I'll respond to one of these scam calls and do it on the air. You can give me somebody from law enforcement to listen in and we'll bust somebody live on the radio. We'll see.

Mayor de Blasio: You want a live bust. I'm impressed. You have a sense of the dramatic, Brian.

[laughter]

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. As always, Mr. Mayor, talk to you next week. Happy Easter.

Mayor de Blasio: Happy Easter. Take care now.

 

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