Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. It is such a pleasure to be here in Inwood at P.S. Ellen Lurie to announce New York City's latest milestone on the path to universal childcare: making our Pre-K programs accessible and inclusive to all. And I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders here with us this morning. I want to acknowledge our chancellor, Kamar Samuels, who is here with us. Our Manhattan Borough president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is here with us. Our councilwoman, Carmen de la Rosa, who is here with us. Our State senator, Robert Jackson, who is here. And I want to also acknowledge both of our deputy chancellors, Christina Foti and Simone Hawkins, who are here with us. And if you will join me in welcoming Erica, who is a parent and one of the focuses of today's announcement, please, if you can give us a round of applause.
You know, research has shown that preschoolers ask hundreds of questions per day, with a question asked on average every two minutes. Parents across New York City are all too familiar with the drumbeat of, "Why? Why? Why? Why is the sky blue? Why is the grass green? Why do flamingos stand on one leg? Why do my parents have to travel halfway across the city just so I can get the educational support that I need?" And I'll be honest with you; I have no idea about the answers to the first three questions. But today, City Hall is making sure that every parent in New York City can answer that last question with, "We don't have to anymore." I'm proud to announce that our administration is investing $67.5 million to expand our specialized education programs to students in Pre-K. And I'm proud to do so alongside so many leaders across our City government, because making Pre-K truly universal means that no family has to go without just because their child needs a little extra help. And it means that having an Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, does not deny your child the same opportunities as their peers to get a strong start in life.
Beginning this fall, we will expand our existing specialized education programs - Nest, Horizon, AIMS, Path, and ACES - into Pre-K for the very first time, so that students with autism and developmental delays can be served closer to home alongside their peers. And we will bring new preschool specialized education programs to families in every single borough, at 26 schools across 14 districts. But expanding our specialized education programming does not begin and end with new seats. We are also hiring hundreds of new staff members to strengthen every aspect of our Pre-K specialized education infrastructure; the systems that support families through the IEP process and help children access these services earlier. That means 35 additional new staff members, including psychologists, social workers, speech evaluators and occupational therapists to build out 10 additional preschool evaluation teams that will significantly reduce IEP evaluation wait times. It means 20 new administrators and community coordinators on our Committee of Preschool Special Education and 100 new New York City Public School staff members who will support families as they navigate the IEP process.
And it means building on the successful pilot of our special education itinerant teacher program by hiring an additional 29 therapists and specialists to help preschoolers with IEPs learn alongside their peers. Making specialized education services foundational to our Pre-K infrastructure is just common sense. Universal has to mean exactly that; it has to mean universal. Having a child with a disability or a special need should not make families the exception to that rule. Every preschooler deserves to learn why the sky is blue, why the grass is green, why flamingos stand on one leg at a Pre-K program in their community. And every parent deserves to know that no matter what educational needs their child may have, that they are safe, that they're supported and that they are learning. And every family in our city deserves to be free from the endless questions of how they will afford quality childcare in the city they love; because City Hall is finally providing an answer that includes everyone. Thank you so much. And now, the man who coined the term "New York's cutest," Chancellor Kamar Samuels.
Kamar Samuels, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools: Thank you so much Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much everyone for being here. I just had the opportunity to hang out with Erica and Erian in a classroom, and you're here with me in a classroom. I am very confident I am probably the only person in the city who will say I wish the first day of school was tomorrow. I'll say I'm looking forward to the first day of school. Thank you, DC Hawkins, Deputy Chancellor Christina Foti and their team for the hard work they've done to operationalize all of this; Emmy Liss, for your partnership from the Mayor's Office; and also, the mayor for your investments - $67 million in this critical, critical issue. It's such an honor to be here with you today [during] Disability Pride Month, to share - and we are sharing the details of this important step towards truly integrated and inclusive schools. Every day, every child deserves a strong start and that means access to high-quality special education services in their community.
I am proud that right here in New York City Public Schools, we lead the nation in providing autistic learners with 97 percent of our NEST and Horizon students ultimately graduating high school. In our AIMS programs, our students with intensive communication needs are excited to come to school and boast much higher attendance rates when in community schools. Our ACES programs was initially launched as a direct response to families who advocated for their children with significant intellectual disabilities to learn critical life skills along with their peers in an inclusive school setting. And today, families are proud to share that their children are thriving and building meaningful relationships with peers without disabilities as well. Parents of our PATH students with intensive emotional needs regularly share that their children are showing tremendous growth through the supports they received from trauma informed educators.
Now, for the first time ever, these programs will be expanding in our preschools through serving 250 students in the upcoming school year. We're also going to be staffing up, as the mayor said, to be able to provide related services, increase capacity to evaluate preschoolers for IEPs, and support our families as they navigate the shift to kindergarten. As you know, I believe firmly that every classroom should be academically rigorous and developmentally appropriate. And that is what we're doing here. This investment marks a major step towards truly inclusive and integrated schools, and I want to thank the mayor again for his administration's support in making this a reality. Thank you so much. I want to turn it over to Erica Cabrera.
Erica Cabrera: Good morning, everyone. I would like to express my gratitude to Mayor Mamdani, School Chancellor Samuels, deputy chancellors, and everyone who contributed to the implementation and expansion of autism programs such as the Horizon program in New York City Public Schools. Thank you for your efforts and collaboration to ensure the Horizon program now reaches Pre-K. Also, I would like to say thank you to Principal Christophe Anest, Assistant Principal Michelle Allen - which she couldn't be here today - and Assistant Principal Calisma Callwood for inviting me to represent one of the many voices that would like to share their experience of having a child with disabilities in New York City Public School systems. My name is Erica Cabrera. I am the mother of Erian Ribas, who will be a beneficiary of the Pre-K Horizon program at P.S. 5. Erian is a loving boy who just turned four, and at the beginning of the previous school year, he was nonverbal and not socially engaging. But I am happy to share, that as of this year, he is pre-verbal and showing signs of emerging language and emerging peer engagement. Thank you. I'm so proud of him.
My journey with autism started actually with early intervention. They did a multidisciplinary evaluation, such like speech, occupational and instructional. And at that time, they told me that he was delayed in all areas: speech, physical ability, motor skills and cognitive functioning. Naturally, I was devastated and started questioning myself; how, why, and if I caused this in any way. So naturally, as a concerned mother, I started to research the recommended therapies and how it will help these delays. During the time that he was receiving early intervention, I was planning to return to work and decided to enroll him into a non-specialized daycare program. I wanted him to socially engage with peers because being an only child and only toddler in the family, he was not exposed to many children his age. Unfortunately, he did not adapt to the large group setting and regressed. So, following this regression, I obtained an evaluation with a child psychologist, and he was formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, moderate level two, nonverbal. So, the psychologist suggested that I start ABA Therapy and continue his early intervention services. Erian started ABA Therapy; within a few months, I noticed changes in the level of comprehension and behavior regulation, but he still needed a lot more work.
The one-on-one sessions with minimal distractions was the type of support that he needed to improve in areas he was delaying. That's why having a small group setting is important for his improvement. I am excited that P.S. 5 will offer the Horizon program as early as Pre-K now. And I am honored and blessed to know that my son will be beneficiary of the Horizon program going forward. The Horizon program is a specialized social-emotional program geared towards students with autism spectrum disorder to reach their fullest potential. This small group environment is conducive for the development and improvement of all their areas. And most support, and I know that my son would benefit from the specialized support. So, for example, Ms. Safi and his speech therapist suggested that he needed an AAC device to be able to communicate more effectively, [for] which he was approved. Thank you.
And now we're going to be able to have a speech therapist more frequently in the classroom because he's going to part of the Horizon program. So, that's one of the benefits of the program, which is great; it's an added support for children that need it. There are so many important skills that are learned through the specialized supportive programs, like the Horizon programs, and I know that my son and his peers throughout the years of attendance will help them with transitioning into adulthood, which we know it could be a difficult thing for children on the spectrum to transition when they age out of the school system. And so, these are skills that will help. It will prepare them to enter the workforce with tools that can help them navigate their world in a safe and independent manner.
I would like to say thank you to all entities involved for choosing our most beloved school, community school, we're more a family to be part of the Horizon program. It gives parents like me a sense of certainty about my son's future education. I would like to say thank you to Ms. Safi, his teacher; his paraprofessionals, Ms. S, Ms. Robles, Ms. Ashley; and providers like speech therapists, occupational therapists, Nataly and Bayla; and physical therapist Gia. And like they say, it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to support and improve the life of a special needs child. So, thank you very much. Thank you. And also, I would like to say thank you to my family that, such as myself, they are navigating the autism world for the first time. And thank you for your support, your love and your understanding to my son. Thank you everyone for having me.
Mayor Mamdani: Can we have another round of applause for Erica, please? I think sometimes it gets lost of who this is for. And it's for the parents, it's for the children, it's for the principals, the teachers - it's for the entire village that helps to raise these incredible children. And I want to bring up the Borough president of Manhattan, my friend Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank very much. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough president. Thank you, principal, for having us here today. It's amazing. Thank you, chancellor, and of course Mr. Mayor. And I have two amazing colleagues here, our Council member and our state senator - and member Robert Jackson walked from New York City to Albany for educational equity. That's why he's in such great shape, among other reasons. But I just want to thank the mayor and the chancellor for this historic initiative. I mean, $67.5 million for early intervention. We've known the studies. We've known the record of what it means for students and for parents and for teachers to intervene at the earliest stage, and now we're actually putting it into action. And that means so much. I was speaking to the dean of the Steinhardt School who said that this is indeed transformative. So, take it from the expert, as I will. And I'll also say that, you know, as a parent of a child who has an IEP - another why, Mr. Mayor, is why is it so damn hard to apply for an IEP? And for you to have more resources to help parents at the earliest stage get their child into that IEP support system is going to make the world a difference. So, thank you again. I'm so honored to be here.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you so much to our borough president and now I'll pass it over to our City Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa.
Council Member Carmen De La Rosa: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, about three weeks ago, I was here with Mr. Anest, and we were visiting the school-based health center, which also lives here. And I invite y'all to take a look. It's an amazing project, an amazing initiative that deserves our support. And after the tour, we sat down in a room, and we began to manifest. And Mr. Anest manifested this moment. I have to say, he did. We specifically spent what felt like an hour talking about special education and the needs and the vision. And Mr. Anest, thank you for that vision. And Mr. Mayor, thank for making our manifestation a reality. This administration continues to deliver for our communities. Chancellor, your entire team, our superintendent, is here. We're so grateful.
You know, I'm a parent of a D6 student right down the block. She's in seventh grade. And we know that, Erica, when you say it takes a village, it really does. And this is the village. This is the village that spends sometimes eight hours with our children while we make the world go round. So, I want to thank you, Erica, for sharing your story, for making sure that your experiences turn into a better life for all of the students in District 6. And we're here for you. So, whatever you need. Shout out to mothers, cause that love - that love moves mountains. But as a City Council member in this district, I grew up just on the other side of NYCHA of Dyckman Houses, and you know, people ask me about my district and what I love about my district, and I always say our people are resilient, our people are resilient. But man, we shouldn't have to be this resilient. We shouldn't have to had struggled so much to get the bare minimum for our children. And I'm excited that today, we're setting all generational curses as I say, all those wrongs, on the right path with this program. And I'm excited that it's happening here at P.S. 5. So, today is a day for celebration. Yesterday we were in Coney Island on the go-karts. The mayor doesn't stop. Today we're in Washington Heights making sure that our kids are able to have the future that they deserve. So, thank you all.
Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor, a question for you related to education more broadly. The specialized high school admissions data came out late on Friday evening. I wanted to get your reaction to that data, which showed that Black and Latino students are still receiving a smaller share of those offers. On the campaign trail you had mentioned interest in an independent study to look at gender bias, racial bias. Can you give us an update on that?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes. So, you know, I think our focus - and you heard this earlier from the chancellor - is on how do we provide the best possible education for every single student across the city. And frankly, when we're looking at our school system, we know that there's so much more work to be done, especially to address the racial inequities that we've seen, not just frankly, when we're talking about the disparities and admissions of one test, but across the system as a whole. And one of the focuses of these past six months in the conversations we've been having internally with our chancellor, deputy chancellors, with the team at DOE is, "How do we start to address that in real tangible way?" And I really do appreciate the chancellor's focus on that because one of the things that really shunned through for me when I first met the chancellor was this emphasis on addressing racial inequities and doing so while providing the strongest and [most] rigorous education that is possible for New York City students. That continues to be our North Star.
Question: Are you still interested in that study?
Mayor Mamdani: We're going to be continuing to monitor this, and I think we're asking ourselves the questions of, "How can we transform the educational results in the years leading up to that test as well?"
Question: I just wanted to follow up on that. You went to a specialized high school, so what does it mean to you seeing those types of admissions when it's low, poor, Black and Latino? And then I also wanted to ask you, I guess either one of you could answer, the delay on digitizing OMNY cards for students. I know that was supposed to start in the fall, but it hasn't. There's been some issues so far. Can you tell us the update on that as well?
Mayor Mamdani: I will follow up with you on the question around the digitization of the OMNY cards. I will say that we know that a single test does not reflect the aptitude of students across the city. We know that Black and Latino students are excelling across the five boroughs, as are students in a wide variety of schools. We have to ensure that we're doing everything we can to deliver for those students at the earliest ages. And frankly, one of the things that makes me so excited about today's announcement, is we're talking about early intervention, and too often we have conversations about the last possible point for a student in New York City Public Schools and not about the first possible point. And today is one of many steps we're looking to take to rectify that imbalance.
Question: I just want to follow up - the City Council speaker recently threatened to subpoena the DOE for not releasing records tied to $12 billion in contracts. [I] wanted to get any kind of update about what's going on with that and any statement.
Mayor Mamdani: So, the City Council will have these contracts in the coming weeks and we know that long-standing New York City Public School posture has been that when sharing contracts with an external body that they would go through a vendor review and a redaction process. We know that the Council is an oversight body. We're looking to expedite that process as quickly as possible and that means speeding up the response time and also sharing non-redacted portions of those contracts.
Question: And then to follow up on the timeline. Previously, you know, there were certain dates that were set, it kept getting pushed back, so I guess what is different now that it will be produced in a few weeks compared to, you now, this standing timeline issue?
Mayor Mamdani: I think the focus here is making sure that we're operating in accordance with the law and that legal review is the focus of a lot of our efforts right now. [Crosstalk.]
And I want to acknowledge also our MOPD commissioner, who's here with us as well.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Two kind of different questions. You've talked a lot about economic development in recent months. It's been a big theme of the administration. I'm hoping you could provide an update on the hunt for a new leader of EDC, and then secondly, [on] horse carriage legislation. And that's gonna get a hearing tomorrow in the City Council. Do you foresee any issues with the legislation? Are you, kind of, wholeheartedly supporting it?
Mayor Mamdani: I'll start with your second question and go into your first. You know, we support the spirit of the bill. We are, however, critical of the insufficiencies of the worker protections, and we look forward to working with the Council to address those concerns as we move forward on an important issue for New Yorkers. And on your first question, we are continuing that interview process, and we are excited at the candidates that we're speaking with at this moment and we'll have more to soon.
Question: Do you have a timeline for when you're hoping to have a candidate narrowed?
Mayor Mamdani: I'll say soon. Thank you. Sorry.
Question: So, community members have told us - this is about the encampments on the West Side. I know that you said you would give us an update. I'm just curious. We've been told that the city has conducted some sweeps in the area in recent weeks in an attempt to sort of clean up the situation. You've given people seven days as [per] a settlement, allegedly, I guess it's with the Urban Justice Center. But we're told that some people in the encamps are just not accepting housing or shelter at the end of the seven-day process. So, my question is, do you have enough of the stabilization beds or the type of beds you need to convince people to come in, and what can you do to make it so that people don't at the end of the seven days just move to another corner, another spot, start the clock again without any ultimate solution?
Mayor Mamdani: I think when it comes to combating the crisis of homelessness across our city there's always more to be done and I know that one of the driving rationales in our policy was outreach every single day of those seven days and that outreach be led by DHS workers, because we're actually looking, as you said, to connect New Yorkers with those kinds of services. At the end of those seven days, whether it's the site that we spoke about the other day or any site for that matter, it will be cleaned up. But what we want to do is ensure that we are making connections with shelter, with supportive housing. And frankly, a lot of this also comes back to the investments that we're looking to make in constructing more housing across the city because we know that there is a relationship between the absence of housing opportunity and New Yorkers [who] are being pushed into homelessness.
Question: Is there anything different you think you have to do to get people? Do you need more beds? Do you need services to get more people to come in? Is it working?
Mayor Mamdani: I think that what we are dealing with and reckoning with is New Yorkers who have a long history of having been let down by government. And we are looking to convince them, in fact, that now it will be different. And the best way to do so is by proving that in the services we deliver. I think we've made steps to that end. I think there's always more to be done.
Question: Just back to the horse carriages. You said you weren't happy with the sort of exit strategies for the drivers, so what are your thoughts on that and what plans do you have in mind for getting them reemployed somewhere or somehow?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, I think I've said over the course of both the campaign and while in office that I believe that we have to bring the industry to an end and ensure that we're doing so in partnership with community leaders, labor partners. And I think that worker protections in that transition are critical, so that we ensure that those who have been working in this industry for years, some even decades, also have a future that they can look to of employment, of training, of development. And I think that there is a path forward to addressing that because I know that that's a concern that many hold whenever you're phasing out an industry as a whole.
Question: Any specific ideas like to drive something else or training programs?
Mayor Mamdani: I think that we have a lot of options in front of us that we can be considering. I think whether they are development programs, training programs, whether they're also the questions of how to phase out that industry. And I think there is an opening for us to have that conversation while we sunset this industry.
Question: About the DHS, you know, doing the seven days. At the beginning of that seven days, is the community somehow notified? I believe a page or a poster goes up. So, if we talk about this one near the Intrepid, how do they know when the seven days, you know, where we're at in that process? And then would they expect that Sanitation would come in right on that seventh day or eighth day?
Mayor Mamdani: The notice that is provided also - it indicates both the beginning of that seven-day period and then once that period concludes, that site is cleaned up. Now, every single day of that period is also characterized by daily outreach from city workers with a focus on connecting those New Yorkers with supportive services. I can get back to you with the exact imagery of what the sign looks like because I think it answers a lot of the questions.
Question: Thank you, and we'll follow up.
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, thank you all so much.
