Deputy Mayor Julie Su, Economic Justice: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here. I especially want to thank the mayor because now when anybody asks me if I've been to the gym, I can say yes. I'm Julie Su, the deputy mayor for economic justice. Right now, companies make it easy to sign up for things and hard to cancel them. They advertise one price and charge you another. That costs you New Yorkers real money, up to $162.5 million a year. Commissioner Levine, Lina Khan and I spent years in the federal government protecting consumers and workers and recognizing that the vast majority of consumers are workers that corporations count on being too small to fight back. This mayor is leading that fight here. So, it is my honor to introduce the mayor who has made today's exciting announcement possible, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani - I was debating how much of a whole name to say!
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: It's the dramatic pause that makes it worthwhile. Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here at this rec center alongside so many friends, fellow New Yorkers and partners in government. And I want to thank the members of our administration for all of their work in making today possible, whether it is our deputy mayor for economic justice, Julie Su, [or] our commissioner of DCWP, Sam Levine. I also want to thank our former chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan - and a co-chair of our transition - as well as State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, who is here with us and who is the chair of the New York State Senate's Internet and Technology Committee and has been a fighter when it comes to this issue.
Now, in Adam Sandler's criminally underrated 2006 film, "Click," Christopher Walken, in his role as Morty the angel of death, begs us to "consider the leprechaun." "He's always chasing the pot of gold," Walken says, "but when he gets there at the end of the day, it's just cornflakes." Whether it's an internet provider or a commercial gym, too many in our city have made and developed the bad habit of disguising cornflakes as gold. New Yorkers reckon with it as almost every part of the customer experience - when they are not told how much something truly costs and when they get a mess of hidden fees that they never signed up for, cannot cancel and cannot afford.
Life in our city is already hard enough. New Yorkers already feel a pit in their stomach as they check out at the grocery store. They scrimp and save to make rent. They sit at kitchen tables with piles of bills, wondering how they'll ever be able to afford all of them. The last thing that New Yorkers need on top of all of that are airlines or credit card companies making life even harder by trapping them in a web of hidden costs. Those traps are concealed when you book a hotel, when you buy concert tickets, or when you finally cave and get that free trial to watch the World Cup. It might be a $5 surcharge, or it might be an added $20 at the end of every month. Either way, it adds up fast.
It is estimated that the average family of four loses more than $3,200 per year on junk fees and hidden costs. New Yorkers already struggling to afford the basics simply do not have that kind of money to lose. And it's not just working people who suffer as a result of these costs - it's also businesses that operate with integrity and play by the rules. City Hall will not sit idly by while some exploit those same working businesses and people to pad bottom lines. Four days after I took office in January, I signed two executive orders to hold these kinds of abuses accountable and to crack down on junk fees, on subscription traps and deceptive practices in New York City. Then, we were also in State Senator Kristen Gonzalez's district.
Today, I am proud to announce that we are taking this work a step further with two new rules that we're enacting under the authority of our consumer protection law. First, we will be launching the nation's first-ever Click-to-Cancel rule. Because if you can sign up with one click, you should be able to cancel with one quick. Second, we are enacting a new junk fees rule that will require fully transparent, all-in pricing. That means no additional costs, fees or charges after you've already made that purchase. Together, these laws are estimated to save New Yorkers more than $162 million per year. And for any who have built a business model on hidden fees and exploitation, consider this to be an official notice. If you violate either of these rules, you will be held accountable to the tune of $525 per violation. And just like those junk fees, I promise it does add up, and it does so quickly.
New Yorkers have enough to worry about without these kinds of hidden costs weighing on their minds. No longer will our city be a playground for those who think they can make a quick buck on the backs of hiding this kind of information from New Yorkers. City government will instead be standing alongside New Yorkers who deserve to know what they are paying for, businesses that operate ethically and transparently like so many across our city do, and against those that harm millions of working people. Thank you so much.
Deputy Mayor Su: Our next speaker is Commissioner Sam Levine.
Commissioner Sam Levine, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Thank you, Deputy Mayor Su. Thank you, everyone, for coming. I also want to thank our mayor. There is simply no bolder leader in the fight for a government that puts working people first, and I should add, no one else who could convince me to eat a Crunchwrap Supreme on camera or come to the gym on a hot day wearing a suit. I also want to thank my friend, mentor and former boss, Lina Khan. In her time at the FTC, Chair Khan proved something indispensable in Mayor Mamdani's administration: that committed public servants can successfully challenge concentrated power and deliver results that working people can feel. Lina, in short, made people believe in the power of government again.
Now, speaking of believing, I want to share a short story. Twenty-eight years ago, a future DCWP commissioner desperately wanted to get his hands on Cher's new album, "Believe." Unfortunately, he had not been bar mitzvahed yet, and he didn't have the $15 to go to Sam Goody and buy the CD. But then salvation arrived in the mail, an offer of 10 free CDs shipped to his door. All he had to do was sign one little form. I didn't know it then, but I had just signed up for my first subscription. A couple of months, a stack of CDs and a pile of bills later, I experienced something else for the first time - my first subscription trap. It would take a rueful confession and the intervention of my parents to cancel that subscription.
I share this embarrassing tale of my 90s childhood to make the point that subscription traps are nothing new. But today, amidst this affordability crisis, the largest companies in the world have weaponized the same tricks, building whole business models and ripping people off. Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. You check your receipt and find charges you can't explain. You make it all the way to the end of the checkout only to be bombarded with extra fees. You sign up for a gym membership, a streaming service, a subscription, and canceling it somehow is harder than signing up. Or you make what you think is a one-time purchase only to learn you've been signed up for a subscription. I think many of us have come to feel this is inevitable. The feeling like we're navigating a minefield when we're shopping is simply the price of modern convenience. But here in New York, we are rejecting that as a false choice. We're insisting on an economy that treats people with fairness and dignity.
And it's with that commitment that we are announcing two landmark consumer protection rules that will save New Yorkers hundreds of millions of dollars, restore fairness to the marketplace and put an end to practices that flourished across the country because Washington, D.C., failed to act. First, New York City is banning subscription traps - for good. Delivering on Mayor Mamdani's Executive Order 10, DCWP is implementing the first municipal Click-to-Cancel rule in the United States, guaranteeing that New Yorkers can cancel services as easy as they can sign up for them. If a business can enroll you with one click, they can let you cancel with one click. It's that simple. No more free trials that secretly become monthly charges. No more cancellation pages buried beneath endless menus. And it's going to make a big difference. The Roosevelt Institute estimates that this rule will save New Yorkers up to $160 million dollars a year and 600,000 hours. But we're not stopping there. Today, we're also proposing a groundbreaking affordability reform that carries out Mayor Mamdani's Executive Order 9, which directs us to crack down on junk fees across the city. And we are not nibbling around the edges.
We're proposing a ban on junk fees in New York, mandating all-in pricing and requiring businesses to advertise the total price for any good or service up front. The price you [see], should be the price you pay. Over the last six months, we've exposed these spurious charges again and again at DCWP. From outlawing bogus destination fees secretly tapped on to hotel stays, to holding companies - just this week - extra space accountable for levying undisclosed late fees to bait and switch consumers and drive their costs even higher. These are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of an economy that profits from confusion instead of competition; rewarding businesses that trick their customers, and punishing businesses that play by the rules. Our proposal puts an end to that. Companies will finally need to compete on price. Those that break the law can face steep penalties and be forced to pay back their customers. I urge all interested New Yorkers to provide feedback on our junk fee proposal. For decades, corporate lobbyists and high-priced lawyers quietly decided what policies came out of City Hall. In this new era, the working people of New York will call the shots.
Let me close with a broader observation. In the first 100 days of this new era, we move quickly, using executive orders, inspections, enforcement actions, compliance splits, and community outreach to send a message that this administration is relentlessly focused on driving down costs. I'm sure many expected that with a hundred days behind us, we would slow down and return to business as usual. Today shows that the opposite is true. The flurry of announcements we made in the first hundred days only laid the groundwork for what we're announcing today - systemic reforms to drive down costs, lift up honest businesses and make New York's economy fairer for all. At DCWP, we're proposing, implementing and enforcing the strongest consumer and worker protections in the United States, and we're doing it in record time. And I can assure you, we are just getting started. So, thank you again for being here for this historic announcement. Together, we can believe in life after subscription traps. We can believe in life after junk fees. We can believe in a city strong enough to deliver a fairer economy for all. Thank you, and let me turn things back to the deputy mayor.
Deputy Mayor Su: Now we'll all be humming that the entire day. Our next speaker is Senator Kristen Gonzalez.
Senator Kristen Gonzalez: Thank you so much, deputy mayor. Good morning, everyone. It is such an honor to be here, during what is a summer I have never been prouder to be a New Yorker. We had a Knicks championship, we have the World Cup, our buses are getting faster, and now by banning subscription traps and tackling junk fees, we are literally putting money back in all of our pockets. My name is State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. I represent this area and I chair the Technology Committee in the State Senate. And something that unites my constituents across the three boroughs is the feeling that they are paying more and more, for less and less. For too long, companies have been able to stick us with junk fees and make it incredibly difficult to get out of subscriptions. I believe that technology should make all of our lives better. And it shouldn't trap us in subscriptions that we don't want or need. As you heard, on average, a family in New York pays $3,200 a year in subscription fees. That means with Click-to-Cancel, we stand to save yearly $162 million. That's 162 million that goes into our economy; that goes to our working New Yorkers; that goes towards building a New York that we can be able to live in and afford to live in and love. So, I want to thank our Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has been leading on this effort and so much more. I wanna thank our Deputy Mayor Julie Su as well. I want to thank Commissioner Sam Levine and certainly thank Lina Khan, who has really started these conversations nationally for years. And I have to say, again, as a legislator and a New Yorker, I am so proud to stand here today to show that this is what it means to have a government that works tirelessly for all of us, a government that leads with integrity and a government that is literally going to save real New Yorkers time and money. Thank you so much.
Deputy Mayor Su: And our last speaker is a national and global leader, a hero to consumers and workers, New York City's own Lina Khan.
Lina Khan: Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor Su. It's so wonderful to be here with all of you on such an exciting day. From the day that he launched his campaign, Mayor Mamdani promised New Yorkers that making this city more affordable would be the North Star of his administration. Over the last six months, we have seen a relentless focus on using all of the tools of government to do just that, and today's announcements mark yet another clear step to deliver on that promise. Subscription traps and junk fees have become a common business tactic for cheating people. At the Federal Trade Commission, we would receive tens of thousands of complaints each year from people who had lost hard-earned money to these predatory schemes. People wrote to us about spending days trying to cancel a gym membership, about charges that kept appearing months after they'd been canceled, about having to navigate a maze of confusing webpages, sit for hours stuck in a doom loop on the phone or even get on a plane just to cancel a subscription. These are not just the tactics of fly-by-night scammers. These are now part of the business model for some of the largest companies in our economy. Our FTC investigations found that Amazon executives, for example, had an actual business initiative designed to make cancelation more difficult. They even called it Project Iliad, likening the process of cancelation to Homer's epic about the Trojan War. Adobe executives, meanwhile, admitted that their early termination fees had become "a bit like heroin for the company, a form of revenue they just couldn't quit." Some of the richest companies in our economy now treat subscription tricks and traps as a systemic way to squeeze more and more money out of Americans.
That's why I'm so thrilled to see DCWP announce this final Click-to-Cancel rule, requiring that firms make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one. Commissioner Levine helped pioneer this work at the FTC and I cannot imagine a more fearless and dedicated public servant for standing up to this misconduct here in New York. That's not all we have to celebrate today. It's also fantastic to see DCWP published a draft junk fee rule for New Yorkers to weigh in on, [in] the coming weeks. These junk fees have also proliferated across our economy, inflating how much people pay, including in transactions where they have no choice. At the FTC, for example, we found that Invitation Homes - the country's largest landlord of single-family homes - was using junk fees to deceive renters about how much they would have to pay every month. People would see one rent advertised and then go see the property, pay the application fee, sign the lease, only to then get a monthly bill that was hundreds of dollars - and sometimes even thousands of dollars - more expensive.
These fees are more than just annoying. They represent an upwards transfer of wealth; often from people who are already living on the financial margins of this city, to people who ultimately looking to buy a private jet or a second yacht. Both the Click-To-Cancel rule and the proposed junk fee rule are designed to protect people from predatory tactics that are proliferated as more and more of the economy moves online. They are going to save New Yorkers real money, and they're ultimately about ensuring that we have an economy built on fairness and honesty - rather than on cheating and deception. It's been remarkable to see in just six months how committed this administration is to using all of its tools to take on the affordability crisis. And I know between the mayor, Deputy Mayor Su and Commissioner Levine, and with terrific partners like Senator Gonzalez, they're just getting started. Thank you so much.
Question: There are some state laws around this, and previously customers have been writing to the state attorney general with complaints on resolving this, so I wonder how this is going to exactly work and how customers can reach out if they have to cancel something.
Mayor Mamdani: So, I think first and foremost, this falls firmly within DCWP's legal authority as it is regarding companies that are transacting with New York City residents. These are rules that will be put into effect on October 1 of this year so that companies have time to be able to comply with them before DCWP begins its enforcement. And I do also just want to credit New Yorkers because it is thanks to their complaints that they made to 311 and through DCWP's online portal that we were actually able to secure the close to $2 million that [the] DCWP commissioner referred to earlier when it came to the settlement this week. So much of this is only possible because New Yorkers have alerted us as to where these kinds of practices are flourishing across our city. I don't know if anyone else wants to add any additional details.
Senator Gonzalez: Absolutely. Yeah, I certainly see this as working with the state laws we already have implemented. I certainly want to credit Senator May as well for her leadership in this area. And what I'll say is at the state level, this has been a fight. We had corporations lobby us at incredibly high levels to make sure that we were actually passing a weaker version of Click-to-Cancel. And while they were fighting us in Albany, this is proof that here in New York City, your mayor is fighting for you. And so, this is actually a model that I want to see across the state but also across the country.
Question: So, I am curious about whether there are any specific industries or even specific companies where you guys have found that these practices are most prevalent. What do you have your eye on?
Mayor Mamdani: I think you've heard from a number of us this morning around specific sectors where New Yorkers have found themselves trapped in subscriptions time and again, whether it be the location that we're all gathered here today in terms of gym memberships or it has to do with even airlines, credit cards [and] things of that nature. I don't know if our commissioner would like to add anything.
Commissioner Levine: Yeah, thank you, mayor. I was just going to add [that] we see subscriptions flourishing in the economy. I read my speech on an iPad today because my printer didn't work. I don't want to buy a new printer because I don't want to have to subscribe to a printing service [and] to a cartridge service. Cars you buy now - often automakers are trying to sell your subscriptions.
Wall Street has sent a clear message to large corporations that they love to see consumers and subscriptions, and we know why. There's friction around cancelation, when consumers stay enrolled. Companies get the debit from their account every month, and consumers don't even often know about it. That's why we're putting an end to those practices in New York City. Subscriptions can be great, but if you want to get out of one, you can, thanks to this new rule.
Question: To what extent will this affect people outside of New York City, and is this part of your vision of the kind of 21st-century sewer socialism?
Mayor Mamdani: I would say we would not be standing here were it not for the leadership of Lina Khan and of Sam Levine and Julie Su, all at the federal level. And it served to create an inspiration and an example for what municipal policy could look like. And we want to make it very clear, as you just heard from State Senator Gonzalez, that this is possible to do. Because so often the knock that a progressive policy receives is that it's a good idea, but it can actually be implemented. And now we're showing, in fact, that Click-to-Cancel is something that can be implemented. It can be just as easy to cancel a membership as it is to start a membership. And we're looking forward to using the power of example to show that this isn't just an intellectual victory; it's a victory that will be measured in more than $160 million that New Yorkers will save.
Question: So, how exactly will this be enforced? Will you be going company by company and looking at their practices? Is this just a blanket - okay, we expect everybody to adhere? How will this really be applied?
Mayor Mamdani: We're first gonna start with Cher fans who've been taken advantage of. No, I'm just kidding. I'm gonna pass it over to our DCWP commissioner.
Commissioner Levine: It's going to be enforced by ordinary New Yorkers in the first instance going to us, calling 311, going to nyc.gov/consumers and telling us when they're trapped in subscriptions. If you file a complaint with the City of New York [or] with our department, the first thing we'll do is we will mediate that complaint. We will try to get money back in your pocket and make sure you can cancel that subscription.
If we see a pattern, the same company as we saw with Amazon at the FTC ripping off a lot of people. We will take that company to court, as we did with Extra Space earlier this year, and we will fight to get money back into New Yorkers' pockets and a permanent injunction so they can't keep cheating people.
Mayor Mamdani: And I'll just add one additional point, which is that we are looking to make it as easy as possible for businesses to comply with this. This is done out of a desire to make an even playing field across the city, one where consumers are not being taken advantage of and one where businesses who play by the rules are not feeling like they're being left by the wayside. And so, we are going to give businesses months in order to comply [with] this before enforcement begins. And all of that comes back to the fact that there's no desire to be punitive for punitive sake. There is a desire, however, to ensure that people are not being taken advantage of.
Question: Can you please address the controversy that has developed over the city's immigrant enclaves list? Do you believe that there are neighborhoods that were left off that list? And if the city plans to add more, which other neighborhoods do you think should be added?
Mayor Mamdani: So, this map was initially created by the prior administration in 2023, and when we inherited it, we added a few additional neighborhoods. It's clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home, and we're going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that and that includes adding Little Italy to the map.
Question: I have two questions. At The City Reporter, we published a story last month about the untold number of New Yorkers whose SNAP benefits have been stolen from them in skimming schemes, and there's no recourse for them to get the money back. So, you have people who are already food insecure, who are losing thousands of dollars, and they can't buy necessary food. In some states of California, they repay the money and there is some kind of victim's compensation for it. They don't have that in New York. Is that something that you would look into with the state to consider? And then I have a second question.
Mayor Mamdani: You know, when I was the Assembly member for Astoria and Long Island City, we were hearing complaints from constituents about an aspect of this, which is also the theft of cards and the inability for all of the protective measures that should be in place to actually be in play. So, I'm aware of that conversation as it was happening at the state level, but I will follow up on the conversation around compensation and the comparison to California's law.
Question: My second question - I mean, it feels like a long time ago now, but last week, obviously, there was a big wedding at Madison Square Garden that used a lot of police resources. Months ago, local community groups, local organizations, you know, block associations and that kind of thing, were told that they could not have events on those days around the Fourth of July because of strained police resources with Sail250 [and] with the World Cup.
But then they were upset to see that police resources were brought, obviously, for a billionaire's wedding at Madison Square Garden. Do you wanna address some of that controversy, because it seemed like there was almost like a, not to borrow a former mayor's term, but a tale of two cities about who gets to have events and who doesn't? And could you also confirm that Taylor Swift will be paying the city back any and all money for police overtime, and if so, how much and to whom?
Mayor Mamdani: So quite a few there. Taylor Swift will be paying - has paid already - the cost of the permit that was lodged, which was over $160,000 for that event and for the response to that event. And that was a permit that was finalized, I think, just the days before the event itself. Now when it comes to this summer, as you heard it from State Senator Gonzalez, as being a summer where we've not only had the Knicks' first championship of 53 years, the World Cup, [and] our nation's 250th anniversary, a number of what are both historical and generational events. We have made clear that there would be limitations in terms of what the city would be able to do. However, that would not actually limit New Yorkers' ability to go to the park, to have a barbecue [or] to have a lot of the things that were feared about at first. And then, I will be following up on the earlier questions around SNAP.
Question: Mr. Mayor, this has to do with Legionnaires' disease. I know that there are a number of buildings on the Upper East Side where you found it, but apparently DOH is not going to release that list until later today. I wonder if it could be released earlier, given the fact that people might now have to make plans to move if there's disease in their building. But also, the council speaker is asking for you to test the water tables and towers, not only in the affected buildings, but a wider swath so that people, especially older people on the Upper East Side, could have some peace of mind.
Mayor Mamdani: So, I'll just take this opportunity, Marcia, to first give New Yorkers a sense of where we are at this moment. Right now, we have 46 New Yorkers who have tested positive for Legionnaires'. As of this time, there have been no New Yorkers who have lost their lives as a result of this outbreak. Now, if you live, work or have visited the area since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms, whether that is a cough, fever, or difficulty breathing, I would encourage you to contact a healthcare provider. Now, there are times when there are outbreaks of Legionnaires' where New Yorkers have concerns as to whether this impacts their ability to drink tap water, to bathe, to use an air conditioning system. This does not impact that; you are fully safe to continue to use all of those different aspects of living in our city.
And to your point, we have completed sampling and testing [on] every single one of the cooling towers in the affected area. And that is alongside taking an aggressive posture, where we have ordered every single one of those buildings to clean and disinfect their cooling towers on the basis of our initial testing results. Now, we're going to release a full list of potential addresses shortly [and] we are in touch with the Department of Health on that. I know that in prior administrations, that hasn't been an approach they've taken, but we want to be transparent with New Yorkers about this. We're looking to do it as quickly as we can. And what we're also looking to make clear is that this is something that will continue to be a top priority for our health department.
Question: [Inaudible]
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, it's safe to drink tap water, to bathe, to shower, to cook [and] to use the AC.
Question: I'm also following up on Legionnaires', so just two follow-ups based on what you just said. Is there going to be any offer of free testing to anyone who wants it in those ZIP codes? Say if they're experiencing symptoms or just maybe have concerns, they are near one of the buildings that has been identified. And then also, I understand everything you just said. Was it ever considered to just order everyone in the ZIP codes to clean every water tower, which specifically is what Speaker Menin suggested the other day?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I will get back to you on the first question and I think where we've wanted to focus our efforts is first on anywhere that may be affected at this time and then start to expand that out. So, I'm glad that thanks to the Department of Health, their beginning of their work during the holiday weekend, at which point the cluster was at two people, to continue to expand that in terms of the cooling towers. I know that work's going to continue.
Question: My question for you is, recent reporting showed that the International Affairs Commissioner An María Archila was trying to meet with Iran's ambassador. Thoughts on her coordinating that meeting without your awareness? Also, what do you see Archila's role as the Commissioner of International Affairs? Is she supposed to be making these types of foreign policy, I guess, decisions behind your back? I mean your reaction to that. And also, did you see the Graham Platner video and your thoughts on that?
Mayor Mamdani: I haven't seen the video. I want to be clear on your first question: That meeting did not take place. It will not take place, and I did not know about it until there was a press inquiry regarding it. And when it comes to the work of our commissioner and our International Affairs Office, it's to ensure that as we are a city of the world, that we are also there to meet with leaders from across the world. The focus is always on our city and in our relationship. Thank you.
Question: [Inaudible] for planning the meeting?
Mayor Mamdani: The commissioner recognizes that this was made in error and we're working on a new process in terms of new meeting requests. Again, this was a request that came into the office, not one that originated from the office.
Question: But do you support her meeting with the ambassador of Iran?
Mayor Mamdani: I've said that that meeting will not be taking place.
