Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live in WCBS Newsradio 880 to Discuss Paris Terror Attacks

November 13, 2015

Host, WCBS Newsradio 880: Mayor Bill de Blasio is on the news line right now. And, Mayor, as the mayor of the city of New York, when you hear the reports out of Paris, which are getting worse by the hour, it's your job, of course, to protect the citizens of the city of New York, but when you have such evil forces against a city, what can you do?

Mayor Bill de Blasio: There's a lot we can do. And let me say at the outset, our hearts, our prayers are with the people of Paris. I was there in January after the horrible attacks then. And you could see how mortified the people of that city were, and how, you know, a previously peaceful city had its entire life shattered by that, and now even worse in so many ways. So we understand what that feels like – we went through 9/11. But I can tell you with great assurance, the NYPD every day is doing things that protect us against terror, and they've obviously proven it over 14 years now, the ability to protect us from terror. There are, thank God, no specific threats right now against New York City. I've been updated regularly by NYPD. And NYPD, in fact, is in direct touch with Paris because we have an NYPD presence there. So we're getting direct information from our own personnel there. But we have no threats against us at this time. We do have heightened vigilance by NYPD, additional NYPD forces out in front of our busiest areas tonight, and certainly at French government locations in the city, including the Mission to the U.N. and the Consulate. So people should be very, very clear that the NYPD is in a state of great vigilance this evening.

Host: Mr. Mayor, our city is safe right now. And I understand you've been giving some credit this evening to former mayor Bloomberg, former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly for – for laying the framework to keep our city safe.

Mayor: I do give them credit for laying a strong foundation. And under Commissioner Bratton, we've been building on that. We actually just a few months ago added almost 400 additional counterterrorism officers as part of our Critical Response Vehicle effort – folks who are being trained specifically for anti-terror activity, to be able to respond instantaneously and with very, very substantial equipment and weaponry in the event of any kind of attack like this. So, yes, I am very blessed to say I received a strong foundation to work with. But it's something we work on every day because we're watching a changing environment, even in just the last two years. You know, two years ago, we weren't talking about ISIS. We have a new reality now. But I guarantee that there's one police force on this earth that is agile enough and strong enough to make the adjustments and stay ahead of the bad guys – and that's the NYPD.

Host: Mayor Bill de Blasio – so many of us have an affinity for Paris, a passion for France. I know you were there right after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and you've developed a relationship with the mayor there, Anne Hidalgo of Paris. It's got to really hit you hard, particularly after the time you spent there after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Mayor: It does, indeed. Anne Hidalgo is a wonderful person. She's been doing great things in Paris. I had a chance to meet with her many times, but I – I went with her to the memorial outside the Charlie Hebdo offices and the memorial outside the Kosher market, the [inaudible] Market, and I could see how much she personally felt the loss of her people. I can only imagine what she's experiencing tonight – the pain – and obviously it's an ongoing crisis, and my heart goes out to her particularly. But, look, the French people, to their great credit, in the aftermath of those attacks, came together and were very clear that they were not going to be in any way forced to change their lives and change their democracy by these evil terrorists. And, you know, there was an amazing show of support from around the world. You're right – there's a special feeling for Paris all over the world. And that is something that's going to play out again – people will act in solidarity with Paris, I'm absolutely sure of that.

Host: Mayor, we wonder if you can give us an inside look of how things work inside a major City Hall. Obviously, in Paris, there's an upcoming big conference on the environment. What is going on inside the City Hall there as far as decision-making as to whether that should go on and precautions to take and things like that, from your experience?

Mayor: From my experience, we'd say that there will be a quick and strong determination to continue as planned – and I don't want to speak for them, obviously, but this is certainly what I would think – that we cannot let the terrorists win. This is a cardinal rule. Remember, after 9/11, the massive amount of loss and destruction, and yet there was a clear determination in this city and in this nation to show the terrorists that they would not prevail. Our elections we were having that day were postponed, but only two weeks. A lot of our cultural activities resumed after only a matter of days even – the baseball playoffs continued. Because it was a message that was being sent that we would keep to our culture, keep to our ways, keep to our democracy. And, I think that's part of our strength. So I strongly believe that conference in December – which the eyes of the world are looking towards, to try to address global warming – I strongly believe they'll decide to keep it there and to add additional precautions

Host: Mr. Mayor, before you go, you have the best anti-terror forces anywhere in the world here in New York City. And, as you say, you're in touch with the NYPD in Paris and officials in Paris. Is this Al Qaida, is this ISIS, what are you hearing? Nothing has been confirmed yet.

Mayor: Nothing has been confirmed – and it would be irresponsible to offer a definitive answer. I certainly would not be surprised if it were ISIS based on what we're seeing. But it's very important to wait until we have all the facts. But, whoever it is, the response has to be the same – that we are going to fight back in every way, but we're also going to not let it destroy our democratic values. We're going to hold dear to our values. We've proven in this city – New York City after 9/11 got right back on its feet and has remained safe since. So it can be done – and that's the spirit we have to bring to this.

Host: Mayor, [inaudible], you have a great affinity for the city of Paris and the French people. We appreciate you coming on the radio tonight.

Mayor: Thank you very much.