Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Press Gaggle in Albany

May 27, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: You get the first one for your – your persistence. 

Question: Thank you, mayor. I just want to [inaudible] first meeting with the Senate majority leader, did you get to any sort of common ground with him? Anything you could agree on coming out of that?

Mayor: It was a very good meeting, a very respectful meeting. I appreciated Leader Flanagan’s time. He brought together some of the key leaders in the Senate, and obviously the members of the Senate from New York City. I think it was a productive conversation, and I look forward to working with him. I think, you know, we covered a lot of the important issues, and there was a spirit of thinking about ways we can work together, and obviously trying to give him a clearer sense of where we’re trying to go on some of the key issues. 

Question: Mr. Mayor, you said earlier you hadn’t gotten any commitments on the changes in terms of substantive stuff. How do you get the ball across the goal line at this point with three weeks left?

Mayor: Look – as I said, three weeks is a long time in this work, and we’ve all been around for the end of session in Albany. A lot plays out, even down to the final days and hours. I think it – as I said earlier – it comes down to the democratic process. The people of New York City are certainly making their voices heard on why we need to not only extend rent control, rent regulation, but strengthen it; why we need mayoral control of education; why we need more affordable housing – we believe the 421-A reform plan is going to achieve that. So I think that all the folks here who do the voting are going to hear those voices and know that they have to be accountable to millions of people who need action. There’s a real urgency today, because, yes, there’s time – three weeks is enough time – but there’s an urgency, because these issues affect millions and millions of people.

Question: Did you have to smooth anything over with Senator Flanagan from the battle over last year’s elections?

Mayor: No, I thought it was a very respectful, substantive conversation. I think, from our first conversation by phone some days ago, the tone has been collegial and substantive. And I give him a lot of credit for wanting to figure out how we can work together on substantive issues. It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything in the first instance. People have to learn how to work together. People have to learn each other’s perspective. But it was a great sense of he was willing to hear our perspective, and I said to him I want to help in every way I can to show him what we’re trying to do, and hopefully find some common ground. 

Question: But no discussion of last year’s elections?

Mayor: Nope.

Question: At all?

Mayor: Not at all.

Question: [inaudible] hear your side of the story, but is there a willingness that you sense that they’ll actually do what you want them to do?

Mayor: Well, again, I don’t do hypotheticals on what’s going to happen. I think there are urgent issues here. I think there is a positive dialogue going on. I think the weight of the issues speak for themselves – you know, rent regulation, again, affecting over 2 million New Yorkers; what we’re doing with mayoral control of education affecting 1.2 million children and then all their family members beyond that. These are weighty matters. It’s going to be, obviously, a lot of people looking at the outcome, so I think everyone’s aware of that fact, but what I care about is is there an open door, is there a real substantive dialogue? And I think today was a good example of that – yes, there is. 

Question: [inaudible] shift from – between Senator Flanagan and Senator Skelos? Has there been a shift at all in terms of that open door? Do you feel like Senator Flanagan is giving you a fairer hearing?

Mayor: You know, I never had much opportunity to know Senator Skelos well. And I believe, even where there’s two parties and different viewpoints, that people can work together – and certainly that’s been the reality of my experience within New York City. I’ve worked very well with Republican members of the City Council – I have even back to when I was a City Council member. So I appreciated that Leader Flanagan was willing to have a substantive conversation and talk about ways that we could have a real dialogue. I thought was healthy and I appreciated it.