Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. It is a true pleasure to be here at Phoenix House celebrating your 59th anniversary. This is the oldest opioid recovery center in New York City, and it's a privilege to be joined by those who know the cost of the opioid crisis all too well. Those who have dedicated their lives to helping others overcome addiction. And I want to first acknowledge our hosts at Phoenix House and our president and CEO, Ann-Marie Foster, who is here with us. I want to thank our electeds who I'm standing alongside. We have the elected representing this district, Council Member Chi Ossé. Thank you for having us here. And my former Council member and partner in this work, Council Member Tiffany Cabán.
And I want to also acknowledge Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin, who leads our DOHMH, as well as peer recovery coach for Phoenix House, Shabazz Wilson, who is standing alongside us and is an example of just how critical this work is. Now in 1967, six former heroin addicts met in the detoxification unit at Beth Israel Medical Center. Even though they were substance-free, there was no clear path forward beyond the hospital doors. No community there to catch them if they fell. So, with the support of Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, the then deputy commissioner of New York City's Addiction Services Agency, they decided to build it themselves.
Phoenix House was born in a brownstone on West 85th Street. It was built around an idea that might feel straightforward today but was revolutionary at the time. No one recovers alone. But as Phoenix House grew its capacity to support New Yorkers over the decades, the number of New Yorkers in need of help grew too. Because in 1996, Purdue Pharma brought OxyContin to market. While OxyContin and other opioids have reaped tens of billions of dollars in financial rewards for corporate giants like Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, McKesson, McKinsey and more, they have plunged countless New Yorkers deep into the depths of addiction.
There are times when corporate greed is subtle, where the ripple effects of an all-consuming profit motive are not immediately apparent. That is not the case with the opioid epidemic. There is no denying the staggering human cost of Big Pharma's greed [and] the toll it has taken on our city. In 2022, it was estimated we lost a New Yorker every three hours to an overdose. We feel the effects of this crisis in families, missing parents and children, or when we see someone struggling with addiction on the subway or on a park bench. Too many of our neighbors, especially in neighborhoods like Morrisania, Tottenville and East Harlem, have known the struggle of addiction. Too few have had access to substance abuse treatment and resources. But those who have suffered have not done so in silence. They have organized. They have called for change. When Attorney General Tish James secured $3 billion in a landmark settlement win against the pharmaceutical giants who created this crisis in 2019, returning the resources extracted by corporate greed back to those who needed it the most, it was in no small part thanks to New Yorkers who stood up to injustice.
Thanks to those resources, thanks to our on-point overdose prevention centers, and thanks to the continued work of organizations like Phoenix House, slowly things began to improve. In 2024, overdose deaths across the five boroughs dropped by 29 percent, the first substantial decrease in nearly a decade. That percentage is not abstract. It translates to 864 more New Yorkers who are still with us today. Provisional data from 2025 shows that that downward trend has continued. This momentum is too valuable to squander. So, as we look to the future, we are building on what we know works, what we know saves lives.
Today, I am proud to stand here alongside partners in government to announce that we are investing $12 million of the settlement fund secured by AG James to support community-based organizations like Phoenix House. This money will be allocated to seven nonprofits across the five boroughs: Phoenix House, Pillars, Fortune Society, Samaritan Daytop Village, Odyssey House, Exponents and Community Health Action of Staten Island - to expand outreach and grow peer-to-peer specialist programs. Peer specialists offer something no other provider can, the credibility of a shared experience and evidence that recovery is possible. And they provide New Yorkers in the midst of recovery with the structure, the stability [and] the purpose that helps them maintain their progress.
Jean Scott, a former Phoenix House member and employee, is proof of how this model works. Born and raised here in Brooklyn, she fell into heroin addiction and a cycle of arrests before arriving at Phoenix House - jaded and skeptical. In her words, her fellow members would say, "Good morning." And she'd say, "What's so good about it?" But the peer-to-peer model worked. She slowly learned to trust those who shared her struggle. And she began to glimpse a different path for herself. She recovered, then spent the next four decades working at Phoenix House, facilitating prison treatment programs across the country. We want to see more stories like Jean's.
That is why we have set a goal of reducing overdose deaths across the city by 25 percent within the next four years. Today's investment will help us get there, and it will build on the work City Hall has already done to address this crisis over the past four months. Since January, we have extended hours and expanded health services at OnPoint Overdose Prevention Centers [and] expanded the Health Department's nonfatal overdose response program, and we have supported harm reduction, recovery and treatment services on Staten Island. This work is just beginning.
Those in this room know better than anyone that recovery is not a linear process. Yet we are committed to being a partner in that process for all who call this city home and to providing that partnership without pain and without stigma. Because when corporate greed shatters lives [and] when profits plunge people into despair, we will not hesitate to use the full force of government to both hold responsible those accountable and to invest in those who endured such pain.
Phoenix House was named after the Phoenix, which was reborn from the ashes. Fifty-nine years later, the commitment upon which it was built - that every New Yorker who needs a second chance deserves one - remains our commitment today. And I will say that as someone who, as an assembly member, was able to see up close and directly the work of this organization in our shared district, it is such a pleasure to return here today as the mayor to speak about the importance of this work and to urge all of us to work to support those who need our help and to deliver a city where every person is treated with dignity and with compassion. Thank you very much. And now, I'm going to pass it over to our DOHMH commissioner, Dr. Alister Martin.
Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: One more time for Mayor Zohran Mamdani. So, my name is Alister Martin, and I'm the Health commissioner, and I will be your MC for today's run of show. Huge thank you to all of you for joining us today, and thank you to Phoenix House for hosting us. I also want to do a quick shout-out and thank you to the organizations that do this work every single day. Many of you are here today in this building.
We've got Community Health Action of Staten Island, we've got Exponents, Fortune Society, Odyssey House, Let's Talk Safety and then Samaritan Daytop Village. Look, as the mayor said, the peer model for treating substance use disorder was born right here. Nearly 60 years ago, six New Yorkers in throes of heroin addiction moved into a brownstone together to support each other through their sobriety. Those six people laid the groundwork not just for Phoenix House but for an entire nationwide movement on peer recovery. This model honors the fact that people in recovery have a story to tell that no one else can.
And what those six New Yorkers knew in that brownstone, I had to learn from myself as an ER physician just about ten years ago. Ten years ago, my team and I were running a hospital-wide program to get emergency room physicians an extra certification so they could provide treatment to folks with addiction. But there was one thing standing in our way. The training took a whole lot of paperwork and a whole lot of time. It added eight extra hours on top of a busy doctor's schedule. We couldn't mandate the training, and we didn't have any money to pay people to do the work, but we needed to show physicians why they should do it anyway.
There was one thing that worked. We found people our ER doctors had treated before. Our frequent flyers. People whose substance use disorders had landed them in our care in the ER night after night after night, and when they stopped coming to our ERs, it was easy to assume that they had succumbed to their disease. They had died. But what we found instead was that many of them were still alive. They were in long-term recovery. So, we invited them back to the ER to tell their stories.
One of those people walked in wearing a light blue suit and a tie. He started off by telling us this was the second most important speech he was giving this week. The most important had been the one he gave two days before, asking his girlfriend to marry him. He was back in college. He was planning a wedding. He was building a future with the people he loved. He told us that it was only possible because of the love and support he got from his family and because a doctor took the extra time to be there when he was finally ready to start his own journey of recovery.
Hearing from him and other patients of ours is what convinced my colleagues to spend the time to sit through that eight-hour training so that they could give their next patient the opportunity to take their first steps on their own roads to recovery. Because of stories like his, 95 percent of our hospital's ER physicians ended up getting certified to treat substance use disorder in the ER. These stories have a special kind of power. The people who have been through it themselves tell stories that no one else can. It's what moved providers to action, and it's what moves people struggling with substance use disorder, too. That's why today's $12 million investment will go towards a peer workforce development program, including internships, scholarships and direct hiring opportunities.
Over the next four years, this money will go towards helping deploy 500 more peers in communities just like this one. It's 500 people ready to retrace their own steps on the road to recovery and bring someone back with them. It's 500 people who might one day walk into a room wearing a suit. We are proud to make this investment and proud to stand with organizations doing this work every single day. We also know that none of it happens alone, and I'm grateful to my colleagues all across the city who are helping to do this work every single day. I am now honored to be able to invite Chair Cabán to give some remarks, who is one of those people fighting every single day right here.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán: I'm shorter than the doctor. As was mentioned, my name is Council Member Cabán. I am the chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use. I'm also the co-chair of the New York City Council's Progressive Caucus. I don't think it needs to be said, but we're going to say it anyway: I think all of us have been impacted in some form or another by the opioid epidemic and substance use in general. Whether we ourselves have experienced it or we've seen a parent, a child, a friend, or a colleague struggling, it has touched all of our lives, and each of those individuals add up to a public health crisis. Substance use is a symptom of pain. It's a symptom of alienation. It's a symptom of when our society comes up short for people. And we should name it.
It's also a symptom of when our government comes up short for people. Yet for decades, this country has dealt with it through policing and punishment, with devastating consequences for our communities. It's been used as an excuse to justify policing and incarceration, especially of low-income Black and Brown New Yorkers. And incarceration, in turn, only exacerbates substance use. And in fact, we've seen that when people exit incarceration, their risk of overdose death jumps exponentially. It's like somewhere upwards of 200 percent more likely. We also know, through data, through evidence, through the stories of others who have lived it, that coercive treatment and straight abstinence not only [don't] work most of the time, but they endanger lives. Like I mentioned, increasing that risk of overdose deaths and traumatizing those who are subjected to it. And the result has been skyrocketing overdose deaths, untreated trauma and cycles of incarceration that just stack on top of one another.
And it was also fueled, as was mentioned by our mayor, by pharmaceutical companies recklessly pushing opioids that they knew would hook people into a cycle of substance use disorder. And the so-called War on Drugs, more aptly a war on people who use drugs, criminalized people struggling and suffering from substance use disorder and whole communities tearing people apart, destroying lives, while ignoring root causes. Over 1 million people have died of overdose deaths in this country in recent decades. And each one of them is a family member, a friend, a member of a community. And we can't bring them back. We can't heal the wound that is their loss, that has been left with their families and communities. But this historic investment can be part of the path to ensuring that not one more person dies of an avoidable death from substance use, that not one more family has to mourn the loss of a loved one.
And I'm proud to have Council Member Chi Ossé here, because we in the Progressive Caucus, we fought and won $4.5 million specifically for peer programs as part of our successful $80 million Crisis to Care campaign in last year's budget to better serve New Yorkers struggling with substance use and mental health. And the Mayor's announcement today builds on the groundwork that we together have laid. Through programs like these, we can begin to care for, not criminalize, people who use drugs for myriad reasons. And when we invest in harm-reduction efforts rather than policing and incarceration, we see incredible results. It gives people who use drugs agency and a choice in what they do. And that is vital for their recovery.
Study after study shows that peer outreach works. In one trial, peer outreach reduced hospitalizations by as much as 56 percent for people who use drugs. And for those who did still go to the hospital, they only required half the amount of time in the hospital as those who did not have a peer mentor. That amounted to thousands of dollars saved per patient in healthcare costs. People who had peer mentors reported much higher quality of life, feeling a sense of empowerment and confidence that enabled them to find employment. This stuff works. And it keeps people alive long enough to be able to seek the care they need. This is a crucial step towards providing people with the tools they need to survive and to thrive and to make those choices for themselves with the support of peers. We need more resources taken from the failed strategies and moved into data-driven harm reduction strategies like this. So, thank you, mayor. Thank you to all of the organizations doing this work. Thank you. Most of the thanks to the peers doing this work. Thank you all.
Commissioner Martin: One more round of applause for Council Member and Chair Cabán. So next, I am thrilled to be able to invite up another fighter, another champion, another person who wakes up every morning and thinks about how to move this work forward every single day. And that's Council Member Chi Ossé.
Council Member Chi Ossé: Good morning, Bed-Stuy. You know, Mayor Mamdani and his administration have been stacking W after W. I think this is the fifth week you've been here in this district. So, we're getting some much-needed TLC [time, love and care] here in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. First, the largest civil penalty against negligent landlords in our city's history yesterday, and then now, you know, this announcement today [of] $12 million from an opioid settlement reinvested directly into the communities that need it most. This is our city under democratic socialism, and it's working. The pundits both online and on cable news don't want to believe it. We have millionaires and billionaires who spent millions trying to stop us, and we won. We have landlords who thought they were untouchable, and we held them accountable. And we have communities that have been waiting decades for their government to show up. And today, we are showing right here in Brooklyn with $12 million going right back into our communities.
You know, there's always talk about how we best pursue public safety through public policy, and these are the choices that prove it, because supporting substance abuse recovery, getting people off the streets and out of harm's way, and making sure they have the care they need is public safety in action. And you know, I personally want to shout out Ann-Marie Foster right here, if we can give her a round of applause. And then Shaun from Phoenix House is in the back right there. You know, these two, we've been doing this work for years at this point, right? Even prior to me getting elected. The first bill I passed in the City Council wasn't just policy, it actually stemmed from personal experience. I had a friend who overdosed, and you know, this bill that I passed working in lockstep with this organization was a bill that required and provided Narcan and fentanyl test strips to old bars and nightclubs across the city, and [one can] grab one on the way out. And you can train yourself here at this institution, because every single overdose is preventable, right? And having that mindset is such a life-saving mindset.
I always find that the people who [] and moan about homeless people on the streets and those dealing with drug addictions and those dealing with mental illness are the same people who are against this life-saving work that we are putting into practice, not just today, but every single day within this community. You know, politicians love a ribbon-cutting ceremony. I like them myself sometimes. You know, they smile for the camera, give their brief remarks, then most of the time they disappear. For too long, we've settled for politics of performance and spectacle instead of tangible change.
But the reason I ran for office, the reason the mayor ran for office, the reason Chair Cabán ran for office, the reason every single elected official here today was to use the power of local government to reinvest into our communities. This is proof that we are putting our money where our mouth is.
Last fiscal year, my office invested $20,000 from our own budget directly into Phoenix House. Then we went to the speaker's office and fought for another $50,000. That's $70,000, and I know that's not the milli that the mayor has power over, but it was still a lot for us in this small office. But as you all know, the work cannot stop at one office. We cannot seriously support substance abuse recovery without a whole-of-government approach that treats this crisis with the urgency that it deserves. Recovery requires investment at every level for housing, addiction resources, and long-term care. That's why $12 million from opioid settlement funds secured by holding the pharmaceutical companies that fueled the opioid epidemic accountable is now being invested in seven recovery organizations, including my home one of Phoenix House, the oldest recovery center in the city. Phoenix House has been doing this work longer than most of us have been alive - and the old reelected is standing right here - and I'm proud that we get to give this money back to the organizations that are quite literally saving lives. Mayor, let's keep holding corporate wrongdoers accountable, get that money our city needs and give it back to the people. Let's continue getting to work. Thank you.
Commissioner Martin: One more time for Council Member Chi Ossé. Next, I want to introduce someone who helps to make all of the magic happen right here and also throughout the city. That's Ann-Marie Foster, who is CEO of Phoenix House. Over to you, Ann-Marie.
[Crosstalk.]
Ann-Marie Foster, President and CEO, Phoenix House: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ann-Marie Foster, and I am the president and CEO of Phoenix House of New York and Long Island, and this is the oldest serving Brooklyn Community Recovery Center. And where you are right now is called the HeART Center. Little H-E, big A-R-T. Heavy on the art here.
I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Martin, the New York City Department of Health, the partners across government that I work so closely with every day. Across our city, too many individuals and families are navigating the devastating impacts of substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health challenges without the tools that they need. But with the right support, recovery is always within reach. And it's the coming together of a community that spurs lasting healing.
Today's investment is a huge step towards building an even stronger, interconnected support network. These funds will allow Phoenix House to enhance our peer professional workforce development, training even more New Yorkers to become certified recovery peer advocates, and putting them to work in the communities that need them the most and that they know the best. We will also launch the first-ever Neighborhood Outreach Wellness - N-O-W - van as an extension of the Brooklyn Community Recovery Center. Because while we're here in a brick-and-mortar building, there are communities all across this borough that need these services. And we're not expecting them to come here. We're going to go out to see them. And so that will allow us to bring recovery to all parts of Brooklyn.
Many thanks to Mayor Mamdani for his steadfast commitment to Phoenix House. Like he said, he was an incredible representative for our Long Island City residential. And I often say - I don't know if you see my comments on social media - that same smile existed back then in 2024, when no one knew him, when he was sitting in our room at Long Island City residential. And I am so proud for you to be here today with the commitment to bring this money to us, as well as our City Councilmember Chi Ossé. Even before he was a city councilmember, he was here at this center. So, we thank you. And of course, our City Councilwoman Cabán, she also represents the largest residential program in the city. So, they truly have put their money where their mouth is and the resources. Mr. Mayor, when we get these peers on board, I understand, you know, a little thing or two about organizing. So, we would love for you to come back here and help us organize our peers. Because what peers need is they need to be seen, and they need to know that someone cares. And we have a mayor that cares. Thank you so much.
Commissioner Martin: [We] have one more special guest that I'm going to invite up to the stage, and that is one of our peer recovery coaches here at Phoenix House. That's Shabazz Wilson.
Shabazz Wilson, Peer Recovery Coach: Well, good morning. Hey, everyone. I'm Shabazz Wilson. I've been working at Phoenix House for almost seven years as a recovery coach, and a criminal justice peer and a mindfulness and meditation counselor. And I'm in recovery myself. I came to the Brooklyn Community Recovery Center to attend meetings. I liked what I saw, what they were doing here, so I decided to volunteer. And then I was encouraged to take a recovery coach training course. And on my last day of training, the director - I want to shout him out again, Shaun Willis - he offered me a job, and it changed my life. I'm able to be an example for people I work with because I've been through this myself. Listen, what we're doing here at the Center should be used as a blueprint across the city, because what we do here is amazing. We're able to reach people where they are in very unique ways. Nobody's required to have insurance, and it works for so many people at the center.
At this center, I'm responsible for opening the doors and helping to keep the doors open. So, folks know I'm here and the center is here when they're ready. I apply my mindfulness and meditation training to every aspect of what I do here, and I teach folks how to relax and focus on their breathing. I know that might sound simple, but when you've experienced immense trauma like many folks in recovery, just the act of controlled, focused breathing can be very difficult. I teach them to focus on their breath, which is the most important thing we all do. Anything else we do is secondary. This is a tool that helps when you're stuck in a subway train, [in] line at a bank, walking on the street. It also helps when we are challenged or faced with difficulties or even tempted by familiar people, places, and things that trigger folks to relapse. With this, they develop emotional resilience that guides them through the rest of their lives. I see 35 to 40 individuals each week. Programs like this one help empower people in their recovery. More funding means more New Yorkers like me can go through recovery and use these tools to guide others who need them.
As a criminal justice peer, I advocate for alternatives to incarceration and I counsel many newly released people. Mindfulness and meditation helps them in their reentry. It helps prevent recidivism and supports their long-term recovery. Recovery centers help people with housing, vocational training, and any support they need to remove barriers in their lives so they can achieve long-term recovery. Recovery centers are not just great for people in recovery, but for the entire community they serve. I want to thank the mayor for being here and his administration for joining us today to spotlight this work. Lastly, I want to say to those in recovery, hold your head up. When you're in a triggering situation, one way to get out of it is to focus on the most important thing, and that's your breathing. If you can do that, you can get through it. And with that, I've got one more thing to say. Go Knicks.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: So, a bit of a budget mess unfolding in Albany right now. We just had Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie come out after the governor says there was a deal. He says there is not a deal. He has not seen numbers that meet his satisfaction. The governor mentioned in her remarks, she spoke with you numerous times yesterday, confirmed that there are not the new taxes that you wanted. So, I'm just curious your take on what you know of the budget, what you know of the city [is] going to be getting, and will you still have to make some painful choices?
Mayor Mamdani: So, we are reaching the end of the state and city budget processes. There is progress towards closing our historic budget gap. I think the Assembly speaker today said that - he said, "I think we're getting closer to getting the city to zero." And he was speaking about that in terms of a budget deficit. And frankly, I'm grateful to Governor Hochul, to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, to State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for their continued partnership in this. And I'm feeling hopeful about the direction of those negotiations. And as the governor said, yes, I spoke with the governor yesterday. I have been in regular contact with the governor. I was also in regular contact with the Assembly speaker, the State Senate majority leader. And those were productive conversations.
Question: Based on what you're hearing, you're not expecting to have to do the property taxes or other painful cuts to things like sanitation, fire, police, things that people care about.
Mayor Mamdani: The reason that we focus so much on getting that deficit number down to zero is, if we are to get there, then it means we do not have to raise property taxes. We do not have to make cuts. We do not have to rate our reserves. And that's why their partnership in getting that number down to zero is so critical. Because it allows the city to finally be back on firm financial footing, something we haven't been on for quite some time.
Question: I mean, are you at all worried or concerned that you're hearing that there isn't even a final budget number when it comes to the state? Part of the reason you got the budget extender was because you were waiting on clarity. And it looks like you're nowhere near closer to that as of today. I'm also wondering, the governor said that the details of the pied-à-terre are still to be ironed out. What are you hearing about? What's the holdup there? What's going on from your end?
Mayor Mamdani: I think a lot of those conversations are ongoing. And we've said time and again that we're confident in that tax's ability to raise half a billion dollars a year, which will be critical in putting the city back on that firm financial footing. And I would say that even since the announcement of the extension, we've seen progress in our conversations with our partners in Albany. And we're hopeful of that continued progress. While we know that there's still some work to be done in the final stages of the state budget, we will be putting forward our executive budget on Tuesday.
Question: Two budget questions. Governor Hochul didn't mention mayoral control during her budget press conference today. But as you mentioned, you did speak to her last night. Is it your understanding that you'll get the full mayoral control extension you had requested?
Mayor Mamdani: I think that a lot of these conversations are ongoing. What I will say is that I've been very clear to our partners in Albany, the importance of continuing mayoral control and having that be something that we resolve so that we can make it very clear as to what our vision is for our school system and our ability to implement that same vision.
Question: To clarify, [you're] not sure yet. We'll have to see.
Mayor Mamdani: I think we always have to wait until the final budget agreement to see everything that is actually included within it. But we've been very clear that it is a part of our agenda in working with Albany.
Question: And then one other quick one, please. One of the things the governor did announce was that the budget will include the state's version of buffer zone legislation. You had chosen not to veto the city's own version of that bill, which was sponsored by Speaker Menin. Do you foresee any complications with those two overlapping pieces of legislation?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, at the city level, we saw that the legislation as it was originally introduced versus the legislation as it was finally passed had a number of changes, many of which addressed the constitutional concerns that have been put forward. And we saw that legislation as addressing those issues. That's with regards to the city legislation. I think we'll wait to see the details of any state agreement.
Question: Based on your latest conversations with Governor Hochul, can you tell us, is there something new that gets you to zero? And also, can you just lay out the math for us? If you were to get whatever it is that's getting you closer to zero, you had your 1.7. Can you just lay out the math of how you get to the 5.4?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I think that the conversation as a whole is still ongoing. What I will say is that on February 17, when we put forward our preliminary budget, we said that we had been able to reduce that deficit to $5.4 billion. And we've seen progress since the 17 of February, including this pied-à-terre tax, which would raise $500 million annually for the city specifically. And the additional conversations, they continue with the governor. We've been clear that this is a structural crisis. This is not a crisis that is born of one-time spending that happened this year. It's one that was inherited of continued spending from years prior, spending that recurs. And what we've said is that for a structural crisis, you need a structural solution. And a solution that is structural can either be that of raising revenue that recurs or that of cost shifts that recur. And so, we've seen, you know, prior to the preliminary budget announcement, the governor's announcement of $1.5 billion in recurring assistance and cost shifts. We've continued to put forward a number of different options of how we would get to zero.
Question: Compared with where you were, say, a week ago when you and Julie Menin stood together and called for a couple of things that she shot down. Has anything new emerged since then that gets you to zero?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we've seen progress in the conversations since then. I would say that the final portion of that debate, that budget negotiation is still ongoing, so it's a little bit premature to say.
Question: Mr. Mayor, as the governor said in her announcement, you know, none of the new taxes that you asked for were included. There's been many folks who have been campaigning on your behalf supporting taxing the rich. As recently as last night, there was a phone bank trying to urge the governor. Do you think any of that has hurt the negotiations or hurt your relationship with the governor? Is there any sign or any hope left that any of that may change in the final agreement?
Mayor Mamdani: I think that any New Yorker raising their voice for a fairer tax system where the wealthiest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations, pay a little bit more so that everyone can afford to live here is doing a service to our democracy. And I will say that it is - the governor put forward a proposal that we very much support, that a vast majority of New Yorkers support, that would tax the secondary homes of nonresident New Yorkers that are worth more than $5 million. And that pied-à-terre proposal is, at its core, a tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers and one that is also critical to helping to resolve the city's budget deficit. And I think that we are seeing that there are still a few more things to be discussed and agreed to in that state budget negotiation, but we are hopeful as to the direction of that conversation and the progress that we've been seeing over the last few days and weeks.
Question: Are you going to have to put in budgetary placeholders in this executive budget on Tuesday? And how is it any easier releasing it now than the initial deadline, if very little has changed?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we will see in Albany, in these final days of a budget negotiation, there is still a lot that becomes clear hour by hour, day after day. And we already know more now than we did prior to the previous executive budget deadline. And we are confident that as we put forward our budget, it will be one that both accurately and responsibly makes clear the city's bill of fiscal health and also charts out a course to address what is the largest fiscal deficit the city has seen since the Great Recession and, frankly, dwarfs even that.
