Dan Mannarino: Mr. Mayor, thank you for doing this once again and joining us. PIT Crew announcement - a very clever idea doing it on go-karts, by the way. Digital solution to public problems, right? Explain to me a little bit in layman's terms for people at home. How quickly - because people hear PIT Crew and they think of an instantaneous reaction to an issue. What's it going to look like timewise?
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Last week, we announced that we were going to implement the nation's first Click-to-Cancel Rule. This is going to save New Yorkers more than $160 million. The first of the five PIT Crews is going to operationalize that Crew. They're going to do that by this fall. And I'm telling you that on a timeline where we know oftentimes government and technology - by the time that the technology comes into government, it's already outdated. These PIT Crews are going to actually reverse that relationship. We're so excited to see what they're going to do.
Mannarino: So, you're talking about quick results, right? So, for Click-to-Cancel, for example - somebody has an issue and they go to the PIT Crew. Tell me how it works.
Mayor Mamdani: So basically, what happens is you have a PIT Crew that's going to operationalize these kinds of rules. They're going to build the websites, build the portals. And a lot of times the actions that city government does, those are on the basis of complaints that New Yorkers bring forward. Last week, we announced more than a million dollars in a settlement with a storage company. That was only possible because New Yorkers called 311. Same thing is going to happen with these PIT Crews. These websites, unlike a lot of government websites, are going to be ones that are actually painless to be a part of.
Mannarino: People who don't follow the Click-to-Cancel Rule, who's -
Mayor Mamdani: So basically, to say it clearly, every New Yorker knows whether they know the word click-to-cancel or not - you sign up for a subscription; it's very easy to sign up; you have no idea how to get out of it.
Mannarino: Who holds them accountable? The PIT Crew? You?
Mayor Mamdani: It's going to be city government. City government is going to hold these companies accountable. Starting in October, we're going to have a rule where you have to make it as easy to cancel as it is to sign up. And if you do not do so, the city will fine you more than $500 on each violation.
Mannarino: Okay. While I have you, I want to talk about a lot of other topics, one of them being Legionnaires' disease. We're talking about the city's responsibility here, and every year we seemingly go through this issue where buildings didn't maintain their cooling towers [and] the City has to step in, test them [and] find out that there's Legionnaires' disease or Legionella bacteria. Is there something the city can do to prevent this from happening year after year in terms of actionable items against some of these landlords.
Mayor Mamdani: We're looking to see every single tool at our disposal to not only better address these kinds of outbreaks but to do the work of prevention as you said. For the first time in a long time, city government, we have put forward the addresses of the buildings where those have been found positive, and we're seeing an outbreak right now on the Upper East Side. We have around 60 confirmed cases and, at this time, no confirmed New Yorkers who have lost their life as a result of this. And what we're looking to do, and what we've done already, is test every single cooling tower in that neighborhood, and for anyone that has a positive PCR test to start the work of cleaning their entire tower.
Mannarino: When do you think the numbers will stabilize?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we're already seeing that the growth is a much smaller level of growth than where this began, which was around July 4 holiday weekend, as the cluster was at about two. But we're not slowing down in our response because, as you said, this is New Yorkers' health that we're talking about. They deserve everything.
Mannarino: I want to talk about the budget. I spoke to Speaker Menin right after the handshake agreement. She pointed to something that you did as a mayoral candidate. She said you campaigned on the city voucher program, not wanting to eliminate it, wanting to drop the lawsuit against the City Council. And she said you came into office and didn't follow through on that. Is she accurate in what she was saying in terms of campaigning on one thing and then doing another when you became mayor?
Mayor Mamdani: The accurate representation is that I came into office, we settled this lawsuit, and now we have created a new voucher program. And as I have said over the course of my time running for mayor and now as the mayor, our focus has to be on delivering for working New Yorkers and doing so in a fiscally prudent manner. And that's exactly what we've done with a new voucher program of $175 million that also has the safeguards that the prior program did not so that New Yorkers know when they get that voucher, they're going to be confident that that voucher's going to remain true.
Mannarino: Did it take a little bit of a push from her?
Mayor Mamdani: I would say that we always knew we wanted to settle this lawsuit, and we wanted to get to a place where we could meet the spirit of this extension and do so in a way that doesn't then follow what we've seen in the past, which is a program that starts at less than $50 million and gets up to almost $2 billion. We have to do it in a way that is a little more level.
Mannarino: Something else that she brought to my attention was the number of police officers obviously didn't increase. She said you'd called her the night before [and] she was a little bit caught by surprise. She said though that rape and felony assaults are concerning to her in terms of the numbers and that she [and the] Council will continue to push for more officers. She said the NYPD is touting low numbers, but she's looking at different numbers. Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
Mayor Mamdani: I believe the NYPD when they put forward their numbers. What we're seeing are some of the lowest numbers that New York City has seen in recorded history. Especially when it comes to murders and shootings, these are the lowest we've ever seen. And what I think is important to know is a lot of the increase in rape also comes from an expanded definition of what counts as rape, as well as survivors coming forward for acts that took place years prior. And we are thankful for them coming forward, the courage, the bravery it takes, but just to provide New Yorkers with that context. And I'm proud that in working with Commissioner Tisch, we were able to fulfill the two hopes that we had earlier in the year to provide two different Command Centers in the Bronx like we do in Brooklyn and in Queens, and to also provide additional training to officers all within the originally authorized head count.
Mannarino: On the midtown building situation, obviously the city did quick work on getting that building stabilized, which was really important. The focus now shifts to whether or not MetroLoft has any responsibility. I know the city is launching the investigation. Should they, while there is an investigation, be allowed to continue with other projects, not only this one?
Mayor Mamdani: Well, our focus right now is on, as you said, the safety of that building. We are confident in the steps that we've taken thus far. We haven't seen movement in that building. We have an area that is around the building to ensure that we can actually catch any kind of debris or anything that may result from a lot of the renovations that we are doing right now to keep it safe. But as you said, as soon as that safety work is done, we're going to be doing a full investigation into this contractor.
Mannarino: I want to squeeze in one more question about politics. I spoke to a lot of folks after primary night, and they called you a kingmaker. Looking at the landscape of all of this, do you believe you had an impact on some of these elections? And will you lend your voice moving forward as the so-called kingmaker?
Mayor Mamdani: Let's be clear, there's only one king in New York, that's Jalen Brunson. I was proud to play a small part in these elections. You know, we saw the three congressional candidates we endorsed, they won. The five state legislative candidates we endorsed, they won. And now I'm excited to see what they're going to do. My focus has been on New York City races, and that's where I'm at right now.
Mannarino: So, let me ask you something. I spoke to Gustavo, the cochair of the DSA, and he said a lot of people are going to be looking at the senate race for Chuck Schumer. And he believes that he is not representing the district well and would like to put up a candidate. Is that also a race that you are looking at in particular?
Mayor Mamdani: I can tell you I'm living in 2026. I'm living in the now, brother.
Mannarino: I got you. We are in a go-kart facility. We've got a go-kart behind you. I would be remiss not to ask you, one, [what is your] favorite ride here in Luna Park?
Mayor Mamdani: Okay, I gotta say, The Cyclone. Incredible. 1927. We gotta give it a shout out. I also have to give a shout-out to Deno's Wonder Wheel, which is technically just adjacent to Luna Park. It's a family-run business, and I had a great time on their Ferris wheel.
Mannarino: I did a quick poll here around the newsroom and around a quick little couple of New Yorkers [about] what the song of 2026 is so far. You know there's a summer song every year. What is Mayor Mamdani's summer song of 2026?
Mayor Mamdani: I've already reached the age where I'm living in the past. And so, the World Cup, I'm just listening to "Waka Waka" by Shakira. Again and again.
Mannarino: Well, they said "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. Somebody played it for me this morning. I said I've never heard this song in my life.
Mayor Mamdani: I couldn't have named it if you hadn't said it to me right now.
Mannarino: Drop Dead by Olivia Rodrigo.
Mayor Mamdani: Alright, thank you.
Mannarino: Mr. Mayor, good to see you as always.
Mayor Mamdani: Good to see you, my friend.
