Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon to Christopher Leon Johnson, the New York City press corps and everyone that has joined us today. Now, nearly eight months ago to the day, on an afternoon so cold that I and many others lost feeling in our toes, I stood before the people of the city, and I took a solemn oath. I promised that the government would do something it has failed to do for too long. We would be outside, even if it meant being outside with Christopher.
My friends, we are together today to celebrate the fulfillment of that promise as we sign into law legislation making outdoor dining year-round. Rain or shine, sun or snow, New York City, if you want to, you will be able to eat outside and be together outside. I want to acknowledge a number of leaders, both inside and outside of City government that are here with us today. We have our Deputy Mayor Julie Su. We have our Council Member Lincoln Restler. We have our DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn. We have our SBS Commissioner Kenny Minaya. And we also have advocates, business owners and Christopher Leon Johnson gathered here today.
Now, our city has come roaring back from the pandemic over these last few years. We are at a near all-time high for total jobs in our city. Subway and bus ridership are growing. Commercial office vacancies are way down. And murders and shootings have reached record lows. In nearly every conceivable metric, we are recovering from the darkness and isolation that defined that time period.
And yet, as our city has rebounded, we have left one of the few positive changes behind from the pandemic: outdoor dining that transformed our streets into vibrant hubs of community, that kept small businesses alive, that connected New Yorkers to one another. Outdoor dining is more than a table and chairs in the street. It's much more than spaghetti being eaten while being serenaded by our city's symphony of car horns and New Yorkers speaking to one another, or, as a tourist would describe it, shouting at one another.
It is what allowed so many small businesses to survive a time of desolation and another opportunity for our city's entrepreneurs to show off their unparalleled creativity. It is what brought New Yorkers out of their homes and back into the five boroughs. It is what filled our streets, whether during Sunday brunch or at dusk, as the sun began to set and dinner was served with laughter and conversation.
And it is what made it possible for those of us who are not particularly proficient at Resy to hold out hope that we, too, could one day secure a reservation at Semma. None of these things are accidental. They are policy choices. Today's bill signing is reflective of a different policy choice, one that will make New York City feel even more alive than it currently does.
As the law currently stands, seasonal restrictions prohibit roadway cafe operation from Nov. 30 through March 31. That means that small businesses who receive permits have to build structures that can cost tens of thousands of dollars and then have to tear them down just a few months later. Most restaurants or cafes do not have tens of thousands of dollars just lying around.
This legislation will make it possible for small businesses to keep those structures up year-round, as well as allow the use of weatherproofing and weather-winterizing materials needed to operate outdoor dining through the slush and chill of winter. And this November, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on ballot Proposition 1, making it even easier and more affordable for small businesses to open outdoor dining. Prop 1 would cut the eight-month application process down to two months and save small businesses up to $1,800.
I want to thank City Council Member Lincoln Restler for introducing this legislation and for shepherding it through the City Council. Today is only possible because of his leadership. Lincoln, I know you pride yourself on being accessible and open to your constituents; I just hope that you are now ready to answer questions about trash containerization and affordable housing mid-bite. And I want to thank Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn for how tirelessly he has worked to help us arrive at this moment. Thank you, commissioner.
In just a moment, I will proudly sign this bill into law. I cannot help but think of all that it will deliver, the joy that it will spread across our city [and] the memories that will be made. Neighborhood favorites will stay in business for years longer. Families will be able to dine al fresco. New Yorkers will go on first dates beneath the stars. And friends will finally be able to ask one another, "What's your Venmo?" under the light of the moon.
Outdoor dining transformed our city once before. I'm so excited for it to do so once again. Thank you. And now let's get to signing Lincoln Restler's Introduction 0655 into law. Thank you so much. With that being said, I'm going to pass it over to Commissioner Mike Flynn.
Mike Flynn, Commissioner, Department of Transportation: Thank you, Mayor Mamdani. Over the past six years, outdoor dining has reshaped our city. It's not only brought new life to our streets; it's also been a lifeline for small businesses across the five boroughs. New York City DOT built a successful permanent outdoor dining program, learning lessons from the pandemic. We moved away from the flimsy wooden sheds toward setups that are cleaner, more resilient and more accessible.
But despite our successes, the law relegating roadway dining to a specific portion of the year had been a substantial hurdle that hurt participation. I'd like to thank Council Member Restler, as well as the entire City Council, for their support in removing this barrier to entry. I'd also like to thank the talented staff of DOT's Dining Out NYC team for their continued work launching this program and refining it. We'll continue to support all efforts to make it easier for restaurants to participate in this critical program. Thank you. Next, I'd like to introduce Council Member Lincoln Restler.
Council Member Lincoln Restler: Thank you, commissioner. Thank you, mayor. You know, I was going to say this is the one cafe in New York City where you wouldn't get mobbed, but Christopher Leon Johnson finds a way, you know. It is good to be with you all. You know, the Adams-era regulations of outdoor dining nearly broke this program. The data couldn't be more clear. From the height of the pandemic to the present day, we saw a nearly 90 percent decline in the number of restaurants that participate in outdoor dining. And the reason is simple. It is stupidly expensive to have to construct, take down and store outdoor dining structures every single season. For most restaurants, the math no longer made sense.
By restoring year-round outdoor dining, we are expecting thousands of restaurants to participate in this program once again. That is great for the New York City economy. With every restaurant that adds outdoor dining, on average, according to [the] comptroller report, that's a new job in New York City. That's great for the health and sustainability of our local businesses and our workforce, but it's also great for all of us. We're going to get to enjoy a meal at so many more wonderful, dynamic restaurants outside.
Outdoor dining has really, truly reimagined the streetscape in New York City. What has worked well in the Adams-era program is that outdoor dining is much cleaner. Last year, there were 11, 11 311 complaints relating to cleanliness at outdoor dining sheds. That number is so small, it doesn't even exist. We, through changes in requiring that the floorboards of the outdoor dining structures be removed every week and the area underneath cleared, and by requiring that all of the furniture be readily removable, we have successfully addressed the cleanliness issues, garbage issues, rodent issues that had plagued the earlier version of the program.
All of those great regulations remain in effect as we bring the program back to year-round. And we also are going to make outdoor dining friendlier for neighbors. Right now, outdoor dining structures can stay open until midnight. We're modifying that to 11 o'clock at night, just so we can bring down noise a little bit for folks who live nearby.
All in all, this outdoor dining program would not have happened without the tremendous support of both sides of City Hall. The mayor included this on his campaign platform last year, bringing back outdoor dining and restoring it in neighborhoods across the city. Speaker Menin made it a priority when she was chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee in the council. And together, we were able to build an impressively diverse coalition of Council members who support this bill. Thirty-seven to five was the final margin of the vote. Republicans and Democrats from moderate communities and socialist ones, and everything in between, are embracing the fix to outdoor dining, so that we can actually bring back this successful model to commercial corridors all across our city.
I really want to thank everybody who worked so hard on this, on the Council legislative team, Rachel Cordero and Sarah Swain, on the city legislative affairs team. I want to thank Jacob Hunter and Odetty Tineo, all the good folks at DOT and City Hall.
And I especially want to just thank my team, my amazing communications director Eliza Relman, and especially my chief of staff, Molly Haley, who is the most brilliant person I have ever worked with. They really drove this forward. And so, I just want to thank everybody for their hard work and their help in getting this done.
What we're pulling off here is a bit of a bureaucratic tightrope walk. We completed an environmental review process, passed legislation, and now we'll complete rulemaking all before the outdoor dining season ends in November, so that every restaurant that has outdoor dining right now will be able to continue it this winter. And I just want to thank everybody who's worked so hard to make that happen. Thank you.
[Mayor Mamdani Signs Outdoor Dining Bill.]
Question: There were four bills passed in this package. The other ones have to do with the scheduling of payments and violations for sanitation and enclosing cafe sidewalk sheds in the winter. Do you support those as well? I know you're only signing this one today.
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, those will be lapsing into law. One of the key reasons to sign this legislation into law was not only the scale of the impact that this legislation will have on thousands of small businesses and restaurants across New York City, but also the fact that if it was to lapse into law, then it would create a lapse in service that was actually being delivered.
Question: You and the Council member have said you expect thousands of restaurants to participate in this. Do you have a more specific estimate on how many - who might join? How many more might join? I think there's only 1,600 restaurants right now in the program.
Mayor Mamdani: What I can say is that what we've found, we heard this from the Council member earlier, is that the prior administration's policy and rulemaking had led to a significant majority of previously participating businesses opting out just because it was too expensive to be a part of. I don't have additional details as to the specific number we expect, but it will be an increase from what we're seeing today. I don't know, Council member, if you want to add.
[Crosstalk.]
Question: Last week, I spoke with Mike Mulgrew about the paraprofessional bill, and he had suggested that negotiations were improving because you personally had gotten involved in this. I'm wondering if you can give us any update at all or kind of characterize what types of solutions you're talking about with the UFT? And then I had a question after that.
Mayor Mamdani: Go for it.
Question: Do you have any reaction - I know you talked before this RSS rally at MSG that happened on Saturday. Do you have any reaction to just what was said there, and if you think that message resonates at all with New Yorkers? And Brad Lander, the congressional candidate you endorsed, was heckled by some people there over his positions on Israel. What would you say to those hecklers?
Mayor Mamdani: I haven't seen what that heckling was. What I would say is that I was proud to endorse Brad in his run for Congress, and I think that he will be an incredible champion for this city, and I think that he has put forward policy proposals that are reflective of our city's commitment to human rights. And then to your other part of that question, what do you mean by what was said there?
Question: Well, do you feel like the message of the RSS would resonate at all in New York City? Do you feel like that's something that, you know, voters and New Yorkers here would be receptive to?
Mayor Mamdani: No, I think if it did, then I wouldn't be the mayor.
Question: And then just really quickly on Mulgrew and the UFT-
Mayor Mamdani: Those conversations are ongoing. They are productive, and they're reflective of the fact that we are aligned in the recognition of the critical work that paraprofessionals do every single day and have been doing for quite some time. And that our issue with the legislation was more on the question of its legality as it was written. And so, I'm hopeful in those conversations, and I know that they're ongoing.
Question: Two public safety questions for you. The first is that a nurse was killed on Third Avenue and Sunset Park over the weekend by a hit-and-run driver. There have been six pedestrians and five cyclists killed on Third Avenue since 2014. Do you have a plan to speed up the safety work that's been planned there by the DOT for several years? And how are you going to address that spate of traffic violence?
And the second question is, in one week, we have J'Ouvert and the West Indian Day Parade. Every year, there's a debate over how much security the parade and J'Ouvert sort of merits. Can New Yorkers expect to see more security, the same amount, and are you going to be marching in the West Indian Day Parade?
Mayor Mamdani: I will be there at the West Indian Day Parade, and I was proud to be there last year, and I'll be proud to be there in the years to come.
When it comes to security protocols, we're going to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe. This is a day where so many New Yorkers come out to celebrate, and it's also a day where we have seen acts of violence in the past that we want to make sure are not a part of what it means to celebrate this parade.
And when it comes to your question on Third Avenue, we have seen tragic hit-and-runs across the city over the past seven days, and they underscore the importance of Vision Zero, and they underscore our administration's commitment to ensuring that New Yorkers can get to where they're going safely, no matter if they're biking, walking, driving or riding public transit.
And when it comes to Third Avenue specifically, we are going to be moving forward with the redesign of Third Avenue that had been stalled for quite some time. We will have more information soon.
I do also just want to say that we, all of us here at City Hall and, frankly, across the city, are keeping the victims' family in our hearts, because these are horrific, horrific hit-and-runs that we've seen over the past week.
Question: I have two questions for you. The first is about the 2-K rollout, which I know you and the chancellors announced today that there's going to be a, quote, "whole-of-government" approach. I'm just curious: why did it take a week before school starts - well, a week and change - with lots of reporting about the delay in payments for this whole-of-government and this $43 million investment to begin? I know that there's always been issues with nonprofit payment, but I just wanted to know if it took that long.
And the second question is, my colleague Greg Smith wrote a story about an African burial ground in Elmhurst that's owned by an Episcopalian church in Queens. The pastor wants the site to be landmarked, and he wants the city to buy it. I don't know if you've seen the story and if you have any thoughts on that.
Mayor Mamdani: I haven't seen the story as yet, but if you send it to the press team, I'll be sure to read that.
[Crosstalk.]
And then on your first question, I just want to be very clear that the delays that we are discussing are unacceptable. And ever since these were identified, we have been working around the clock to both ensure that they are fixed for the upcoming school year and also that they are fixed in general. Because, as you said earlier, some of these are also reflective of an issue that has plagued City government, not for months, but for years. And what we are talking about is rebuilding the capacity that has been severely decreased over the last few years of staff who are charged with both setting up and maintaining our early childcare system, as well as increasing headcount and putting systems in place to ensure that we're overseeing these contracts and actually expediting the process by which they are registered.
As you mentioned, that is going to be done in tandem with a $43 million investment that specifically hires 200 people to address these kinds of critical gaps, but also overhauls the entire system as it pertains to contract registration and communication with early childcare providers.
Now, I also just want to take this opportunity to address that in the time since we've all last spoken about this issue, we have reached out to every single early childcare provider, and we have done so while also sending emails, as well as making over 800 calls to ensure that every organization hears from us directly. Since last week, the team has counseled over 50 providers who had expressed any kind of concern. They have all been connected with loans, as well as with additional supports.
We have also tripled the number of staff who are working to process contracts. Any provider who has applied for a loan by today and has submitted a complete application will see their loan processed by the end of the week. We are also continuing to process these requests on a rolling basis with a rapid turnaround time, and also any provider who requests supplies by this Friday will receive them before the first day of school. And we will also continue to process those kinds of requests on a rolling basis.
Question: When were you first aware of the challenges and the issues that could in some ways delay and mar this major initiative?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we've known that when we're talking, as you had mentioned earlier, the kinds of contract delays that have been endemic in City government, that's something that we've been attuned to, and the need to overhaul that overall. When it comes to the specific concerns that some providers were facing, last week as we became aware of this, we have now put everything that we have to ensure that we are resolving all of these concerns in time for the first day of school.
Question: Some transportation advocates have put forward the idea of tolling drivers on the city-owned section of the BQE to help pay for the reconstruction project. Is that something you've heard about? Is that something the city's considering?
