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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer, WNYC. April is Ask The Mayor Tryouts month here on the Brian Lehrer Show, just like we do Ask The Mayor every Friday with my questions and yours from Mayor Bill de Blasio. We've invited the eight leading candidates for the June primary to join us this month to do an Ask The Mayor segment with my questions and yours for them.

All eight have accepted, we started this last week with candidates Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer. Yesterday we had Shaun Donovan, and we continue now with candidate Kathryn Garcia. Her highest official title has been New York City sanitation Commissioner under Mayor de Blasio, but she's also been described frequently as de Blasio’s go-to person to fix big problems because she is website emphasizes this saying she's been the go-to crisis manager for our toughest moments as a city.

During COVID-19, she created an emergency food program that has delivered 200 million meals to New Yorkers in need. She served as incident commander during Hurricane Sandy. She stepped in to protect children from lead poisoning in our public housing. Some of you will remember Mayor de Blasio appointed her to deal with that when that scandal broke. It's my questions and yours now for candidate Kathryn Garcia at 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280, or you can tweet a question, just use the same hashtag we do on Fridays #AskTheMayor.

Just let me remind you of the ground rules that we established on this last week. We want these to be policy questions, not got you questions or negative attacks. If you get on the air and we think you're a plant from a rival campaign, just trying to make any of our guests look bad, we will give you very short shrift. With that as prelude, Commissioner Garcia, welcome back to WNYC. Thanks for doing an Ask The Mayor Tryout.

Commissioner Kathryn Garcia: Thank you for having me. I wish that we were in person, but it is not to be quite yet.

Brian: Absolutely. I know you've all done about a million and a half Zoom forums, is there a most common ask the candidate question that members of the public tend to ask you?

Commissioner Garcia: Both on forums, as well as when I've been out talking to voters is, what is going to happen? How are we going to bring back jobs? What does economic recovery look like? People want to know how the city is going to help them reopen their businesses, or recover from a job loss and particularly women and caregivers who were just hit incredibly hard during the pandemic. I find that women are often the backup plan, whether or not that was for childcare or for eldercare.

People are starting to feel more optimistic about the future. They've suffered a great deal and need to know how we're going to fix it. How is the city going to be the city they remember? How is it going to be better? My plan to reopen to stay open will deliver meaningful economic relief to small businesses, which is 50% of our private sector employment, and to our arts and culture sector, which suffered 60% job

losses.

Now, I want to make New York City the easiest place to open a small business by reforming our permitting process, which is literally a bureaucratic nightmare right now, and creating a one city permit. We need to make this a more livable city. Part of what makes New York City livable is our commercial corridors. This is where we experience our interaction with people and our interaction with the world at large. People stay on the trail all the time, they want real plans., they want experience. I do get asked about my experience quite a lot as well.

Brian: Do you think on the question of experience, having been sanitation commissioner helps or hurts your case? Maybe people diminish that job compared to other positions in city leadership. How would you characterize your experience including that and these other fix it efforts that you've been asked to lead, like being the mayor's COVID food czar to help fight hunger during the pandemic or point person on lead in NYCHA apartment buildings once that scandal came to light?

Commissioner Garcia: My experience is deep and broad in ensuring that we actually deliver for New York City residents. That they are customers, that has been true whether or not I was the chief operating officer delivering water and keeping our harbors safe and clean or at sanitation. I know how to get the job done, which is why I asked to do so many over the course of my career.

Brian: How would you assess your performance as sanitation commissioner? I realize I'm asking you to assess your own performance and it's going to be positive, especially in the context of a campaign, but the streets are really dirty now and I get those calls a lot.

Commissioner Garcia: Yes, I am hearing that as well across the entire city that we've seen a real deterioration. That was a huge budget cut from the Department of Sanitation, $100 million. I know that we were going to have these impacts, we need to make sure that we are designing programs that get the job done. I had done that as sanitation commissioner. When I got there, there was literally a logbook for the logbook for the logbook, and ensuring that we were looking at everything from how we did our collection routes to how we did our snow routes meant that we were faster at both, and we were able to accomplish more.

During my time there, the city actually did get cleaner. Then, all of those efforts declined. We also were able to do so many things for the environment, including rolling out the largest collection of food and yard waste in the country. Banning Styrofoam, being able to collect harmful electronic waste at the curb. You got to have a long view, particularly on our needs to address climate change, and not give them such short shrift.

Brian: Let's take our first call. James, a cab driver who says in Manhattan. James, you're on WNYC with mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia. Hi, there.

James: Hi, thank you for taking my call, Brian. I was actually wondering if the city other than the new mayor if elected, can consider tagging the vehicle that come in

the city in a series like they do in other countries. When your vehicle is not allowed to be in the city during a certain number of days in a week, you leave your vehicle home, and then that will alleviate the traffic.

My personal interest was the traffic light at various tunnel entrance. Those lights can be sequences, one can be green to let the car trend into to the various tunnel, while the other one is red, and then they can alternate. Will be just very, very helpful. It's unnecessary to cross the vehicle when they both light up green at same time or red at the same time. That is [crosstalk]

Brian: James, thank you very much both for the specific question about that light cycle, and the general question about cars on the street. Commissioner?

Commissioner Garcia: We have to make sure we're using the technology of our lights to make it so that they make sense. I know exactly the light, and that is why they ended up having to put traffic agents there to control the flow of traffic. There are also really interesting things we can do with technology including turning the light green for buses so that they move faster than any other form of transportation, particularly in the city in Manhattan.

I am very supportive of congestion pricing to incentivize people to leave their cars at home. We know that people get in their cars because it is faster, ensuring that we have a public transit system that is multimodal so you can take your city bike to the train or to the bus, and you have basically a one-stop ride.

Brian: James, thank you for your call. Let's go on to Sam in Windsor Terrace. Sam, you're on WNYC and he says he's a housing attorney. Hi, Sam.

Sam: Hi. Hi, everybody. Miss Garcia, you actually called me a few weeks ago to solicit my support for your campaign, and I appreciated that call. During the call, I asked you if you were going to be taking money from big real estate, and you candidly said, yes, you would. I told you that that was probably an issue that meant I couldn't support you. My question is we're heading into probably a horrible housing crisis when the courts start to reopen. How do you convince New York City tenants if you're taking money from big real estate that you will look out for their interests?

Brian: Thank you, Sam.

Commissioner Garcia: Thank you so much for that question. I am taking money from real estate, as I said, that includes my mother, who owns a house with two apartments in it. The fact of the matter is that in New York City most--

Brian: To be fair, that's not big real estate. That's not who he's worried about, I don't think.

Commissioner Garcia: It's also true that more broadly that I'm participating in the matching fund's program which significantly caps any money anyone can give to you in the city of New York. I'm not going to be swayed by any interest group, and that is what it's designed to do, to make sure that you aren't driven in any direction by

donors.

I do fundamentally think that we are going to be challenged on the housing front and on the need to make sure that we have affordable housing. The crisis that is coming up will be mitigated in part by the amount of money that this state just approved to support tenants and to support small landlords going forward.

How that flows is going to be very critical for the city of New York, but we know that people didn't pay their rent because they didn't have a job. Part of this is reopening our economy and getting people back in employment so that they can pay their rent, but in the longer term, it has to be about making this a more livable city, and that we have the housing stock, that means that you are not overburdened, that we're building more affordable housing, that we are building supportive units for people who've been experiencing street homelessness.

I have said that I would also ensure that people in New York City, regardless of documentation status, have legal representation when they are in housing court because we have to prevent homelessness. It is in our interest as a city, as a government because it's cheaper in the long run. We don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish in this area.

Brian: It's Ask The Mayor Tryout, if you're just joining us here on The Brian Lehrer Show with New York City mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia, the past Sanitation Commissioner under Mayor de Blasio and general troubleshooter for the administration on providing enough food for people who are hungry during the pandemic, on fixing the lead problems in NYCHA Housing when that scandal got revealed, and other things. Your Ask The Mayor questions for her 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280.

On inequality more generally, which the last caller's question suggests, Mayor de Blasio, as you know, got elected on a tale of two cities platform to fight the inequality that makes us in effect two cities. In your opinion, what were his most successful policies in that regard, and what would be your most important anti-poverty or anti inequality proposals?

Commissioner Garcia: By far, the most important change was pre-K. This was I think universally has been lauded as really changing access for our youngest kids to set them up on a pathway to thriving in the city of New York.

I have put forward many plans and I looked at this as we develop all of our plans through the lens of, "Are we making it so that we are a more equitable, more just city?" That includes ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality public schools across all age groups, that we are not testing four-year-olds for gifted and talented, that we are eliminating screens at the middle school, but also that we are taking a totally different lens on fighting crime and mass incarceration so that we are ensuring that people are safe in their communities regardless of the color of their skin or their income level.

We need to make it so that there's real opportunity going forward for everyone. I

have a plan to do that, both through internships for our CUNY students and for our trade school high school students, but also making sure that we're very intentionally of finding those good first jobs so that we are creating a more equitable New York City.

Brian: To follow up on one of the things you cited there. How would you fight crime and mass incarceration at the same time?

Commissioner Garcia: We need to make sure that we are pinpointing where there is dangerous crime, there's some talking about shootings and stuff like that, but we also know that we need to have meaningful police reform, and reducing crime does not need to be in conflict with that. I would ensure that we are raising the age of new recruits to 25 and that we are really holding officers accountable, and it's transparent and rebuilding trust with communities. If we don't have trust in the communities, we aren't going to be successful at crime-fighting.

As we think about this, I've done this before, I've led a uniform agency, I know what clear and consistent discipline looks like. If you take a bribe from a private company and put that garbage into a public truck, you get fired. That is the same type of no-nonsense, clear consequences that we need, but also, it matters what you measure. If you're just measuring arrests, and you are not measuring interactions with communities, that's all you get. If you are not promoting based on your values, you will not have a police force that culturally is changing and ensuring that we are getting what we want.

I applaud renewable Rikers, and I'm looking forward to the marijuana legalization, which I think are both opportunities to write past wrongs using those tax revenues generated for community reinvestment, and automatic and clearing criminal records, but we also have to deepen support for reentry programs and remove barriers for workers released from prison. Diversion at the start will help us do that. Diversion and through using our alternative courts like the Red Hook court, so that we are giving people the services they need, rather than moving them into jail.

Brian: Did you say renewable Rikers, what does that mean?

Commissioner Garcia: Renewable Rikers, I'm very excited about renewable Rikers. It means that we are converting Rikers Island into a hub for solar, wind, and battery storage, as well as composting sites. We are transforming what has been an island that was used to lock people up into something that is really positive for the city as a whole.

Brian: That's after Rikers closes completely which you support?

Commissioner Garcia: It is after Rikers starts its closing, it doesn't have to wait until it's completely closed. Some of this can get started before.

Brian: One more follow-up on your answer there. Do you support the police commissioner, or the Civilian Complaint Review Board, having the final say on how a police officer is disciplined after the CCRB substantiates an account of misconduct?

That's an issue in play right now, whether the police commissioner or the civilian CCRB after they make their determination should have that authority.

Commissioner Garcia: I want to make sure that when we think about discipline in the police department, it's often been outsourced to the five district attorneys, to US attorneys, the AG. When I am Mayor, hold the police commissioner accountable and his chiefs or her chiefs for ensuring that they are doing clear and consistent discipline. That is where I want the accountability to be as we move forward. The CCRB has to be empowered to do the investigations and have the resources ready. We have to be working as one so that we get the transparency we need. I believe that fundamentally the CCRB has to be the one who is empowered moving forward, but I want to hold the police commissioner accountable as well.

Brian: Which is to say you would allow the police commissioner to retain that final authority over individual officers found to have committed misconduct?

Commissioner Garcia: Yes, because as commissioner I often in some cases-- Not through obviously, we don't have this CCRB, we're always been-- Went for more significant discipline.

Brian: 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 in New York and New Jersey Public Radio. Few minutes left in our Ask The Mayor tryout for New York City mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia. Pat in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hello. 

Pat: Hello.

Brian: Hi, Pat.

Pat: Hi. NYCHA Housing yesterday, Shaun Donovan said that he wanted NYCHA housing to be converted to Section 8, and that's private money. That's private wealth. What is she planning on doing on maintaining the buildings? I live in a 70-year-old building that is very well maintained. My bathroom ceiling with 70-year-old pipes, my bathroom ceiling fell in twice. It was repaired within dates. When the news goes into these apartments and shows the wrecked walls and the wrecked ceilings, people think it is the tenants responsible or the tenants did something wrong. They did nothing wrong.

Brian: Pat, I'm going to leave it there and get a response. I think the policy question there is, do you support massive conversion of public housing rent to a voucher system under Section 8?

Commissioner Garcia: I do support the blueprint for NYCHA, which includes conversion to public dollars, which Section 8 is public dollars, as well as Tenant Protection Vouchers, which are also public dollars because that allows us to actually do those renovations that are desperately needed in NYCHA buildings. I certainly have been inside. I noticed it's not the tenant's fault.

A leak on an upper floor doesn't get repaired, there probably are 400,000 work orders open now at NYCHA, so it destroys every other apartment below it. I do

believe that we need to be reworking fast and furiously to make sure that we are doing the renovations not only to the individual apartments but to things that are also critical, like elevators and heating systems.

Brian: You would be the first woman and first Latinx 6mayor of New York, how important do you think those firsts would be for the city, and in what ways?

Commissioner Garcia: I absolutely believe that being the first woman would really change the game. We as women bring different set of experiences to the table, whether or not that means that we have been working or that we have been single, that we had kids, or we didn't have kids, it's a very different lived experience than as you think about moving forward.

When you talk about what would you do about childcare? Or how would you reopen the schools? I come at it from the point of view of I was a working mom. I do think having that lived experience is incredibly important. Women, as managers and as leaders, tend to be better at team building and working across different stakeholder groups as we move forward. The Garcia is actually from the ex-husband, not from the parents.

Brian: Oh, just to be clear, forgive me, you're not Latinx yourself by heritage?

Commissioner Garcia: Not by heritage, my children are.

Brian: How about Mila in Harlem? You're on WNYC Hi, Mila.

Mila: Hi, Brian, love your show. Listen almost every day. Thank you for taking my phone call.

Brian: Thank you.

Mila: I was wondering if commissioner of the sanitation could manage budgets, how she wants to manage budget of the [unintelligible 00:23:22] I moved to Harlem not because I wanted, it's circumstances. I walk on 124th Street and it's full of-- Streets become disgusting, it's like you're in town. They defecated, they urinated, they do drugs on the street, it's from Lexington to Frederick Douglass. It's impossible to walk even at night because rats are running on the pedestrians.

I have to walk on a driving inside, and now it's like four big buildings being raised on 124th Street, so it's became even worse. I don't know if these people are homeless or if they're drug addicts. They never leave the street. They spending and, especially now without masks, they're talking across the staircases, getting in a subway. It's impossible to leave. What is going to be done? When you call 311, it hasn't been taking care of anything. I think people shooting drugs right in the subway. They've--

Brian: Go ahead Mila, did you want to finish that point? All right. Let's get a response then. First of all, would you characterize that part of Harlem as negatively as she does?

Commissioner Garcia: I have to say that I do agree with her. There's a real challenge in those few blocks, particularly on 124th and 125th, around Park and Lex. It has been an ongoing challenge for years, not only because of cleanliness but because of actually a lot of open drug dealing. This is partly due to the fact that is an area that has been overburdened by methadone clinics and draws people back. Not surprisingly, it draws people who are vulnerable, but it also draws drug dealers to it as well.

This means we need to ensure that we are not overburdening any community. We have these issues across the city, we need to make sure they are distributed across the city, but we can make it safer. We can make it so that there is a partnership between all agencies, whether or not that is homeless services, whether or not that's PDE, whether or not that's sanitation, to really address this because it has been an ongoing challenge for many, many years.

It needs resources to make it so that people feel safe in their communities, and that, particularly on 125th street, that small businesses can thrive. I've been there, I've been to-- There's actually a pretty fabulous coffee shop, right on the corner of 125th and Park. We want those types of businesses to be enjoying all of the commerce that should come from that area. We can fix it.

Brian: Mila, thank you for your call. You're ready for a short lightning round to conclude, Commissioner Garcia?

Commissioner Garcia: [chuckles] Yes, sure.

Brian: Yes or no answers, or very short answers. Did you think Amazon headquarters in Queens would have been more good or more bad for the city?

Commissioner Garcia: More good.

Brian: Should gifted and talented programs exist at all in the public schools?

Commissioner Garcia: Yes, but I would not test four-year-old's.

Brian: Have you ever ridden in a city bike?

Commissioner Garcia: I have ridden a city bike. I did take a city bike ride with Dave from Street [unintelligible 00:26:54]. I took the challenge.

Brian: Do you own a car?

Commissioner Garcia: I do own a car.

Brian: If you're raising children, or did raise children, do they, or did they attend public school the whole time?

Commissioner Garcia: I went to public school for my entire time in New York City and my children went to public elementary school. My daughter had the same teacher that I did when she was there.

Brian: Public elementary school and then private?

Commissioner Garcia: Then they went on to private school.

Brian: Do you have a favorite spectator sport?

Commissioner Garcia: Baseball.

Brian: Do you have a favorite team?

Commissioner Garcia: Yankees. I just lost half the electorate.

Brian: Yes, there goes Queens. Mets had a better day yesterday by far. If you donate as a member to any arts organizations can you name one?

Commissioner Garcia: I've actually focused my donations on autism organizations, and obviously, of course, the Sanitation Foundation, which does support arts across the city.

Brian: Name one thing that you do for fun in non-pandemic times that has nothing to do with politics.

Commissioner Garcia: Oh, I love to go out to restaurants and to shows. I have missed that and I can't wait to get back to do it.

Brian: Finally, with rank choice voting is there anyone you would like your supporters to list second?

Commissioner Garcia: I do not have a second choice.

Brian: Well, Commissioner Garcia, thanks very much for doing an Ask the Mayor Tryout today. If you're elected, we hope you'll continue the Ask The Mayor tradition on the show. Meanwhile, we're going to have you and each of the major candidates one more time in May. We look forward to having you back then. As I say to all the candidates, good luck on the campaign trail. Thank you so much for today.

Commissioner Garcia: Thank you so much for having me. I look forward to a future where I talk to you every Friday.

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