Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Kingsboro Temple of Seventh-Day Adventists, Holds Press Availability

August 23, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, everyone – a very happy Sabbath to all. And at first – the most important thing to do is to give honor to God. Without Him, this day would not be possible.  I want you to know the history books were right. In the very, very, very brief mayoralty of Pastor Marks –

[Laughter]

There was a time of peace and understanding – he ruled with great wisdom. Pastor Marks, I can safely say, if this city were run with the same wisdom and grace and embrace that you achieved here in this wonderful congregation, we’d all be doing well – let’s thank Pastor Marx for all that he does.

[Applause]

I have to say we have a group of superstars on this stage and it’s an honor to be among them. I was very moved by the prayer offered by Dr. Knight – I think it touched us all. Let’s thank Dr. Knight for his extraordinary leadership.

[Applause]

Dr. King – I have heard his words on many occasions and they move me each time because you know what a visionary leader looks like – you can hear it, you can see it. What he has done has put him in the pantheon of the great spiritual leaders of this city, and this part of the country, over the last decade – present at the Seventh Day Adventist Atlantic Union Conference, and as the founder of Atlantic Union Adventist Media Ministry – cutting edge guy.

[Applause]

So Dr. King, I just want to tell you I have been so honored — and I know Chirlane feels the same way and she feels this about you and about – the equally important Dr. King. This extraordinary couple has done so much for all of you, but also for all of us in the city – let’s thank them both.

[Applause]

And Dr. King mentioned, a man who is filled with energy and focus, Elder James Richman, who once, years ago – he said to me, it’s important that you get to know the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and that the church gets to know you and it would be a beautiful friendship. And since then, he has called me almost every day to reiterate the point. But with great warmth and humor and passion and heart – and he is a blessing onto this church – let’s thank Elder James Richman.

[Applause]

So, many of you were so kind and welcoming last year to Chirlane and Chiara and Dante and I. And we have a deep gratitude for that and a deep sense of connection to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  And, it’s so clear to me what you do for this city and how you uplift this city. As Dr. King mentioned, long before it was fashionable, you were teaching people what health meant – what healthy eating meant, what it meant to take care, not just soul, but body properly.  And that has helped all of us, so I want to thank you for that teaching. I want to thank you for how you promoted proper health throughout the communities in this city. I know it has made a difference, I know your schools have made a difference – bringing up so many young people to have faith in themselves. I know what you did after Sandy. I’d like to remind all of us in government, Seventh Day Adventist Church and a lot of other faith organizations and community organizations, got there to help people long before the government did. And we honor you for that and we thank you for that.

[Applause]

And the Kings Borough Temple is an extraordinary place – it’s in my beloved neighborhood and it’s so good to be home. You get people who feel the presence of this place, the meaning of this place and come all over the Tri-State area to worship here – because it means so much to them. And that is an extraordinary blessing. And this building – if I could just spend a moment on history – a lot of times history teaches us – a lot of times history reminds us – sometimes our problem is we don’t pay attention to the history. Look at this building, and it might remind you of what Dr. Knight’s prayer was pointing us towards – that the division in strive aren’t what was meant for all of us. Unity and peace and understanding was what we were supposed to achieve. This building, going back to 1870, was a place where worshipful Catholics gathered and pursued their faith with a whole heart. And then, in the early 20th Century, it became a Lutheran Church. People of faith gathered here and supported each other. And then, after some time of not being used to the fullest, Seventh Day Adventist Church brought this building to life with energy and passion again.

Now, it is a place that uplifts people – but it’s been that way for over 100 years and it didn’t matter what the spiritual tendency was or the label was. People of faith gathered – they gathered to help each other, they gathered to praise god, they gathered to work towards a better society. Now isn’t that an interesting example of us? Under one roof, many different people pursued the same goal in peace – in peace. And that is a metaphor for where this city needs to go, because under this roof, there’s almost eight and a half million people in this city – literally from every nation of the globe, every language spoken, every belief structure, every faith. 

And our job is to make it – in one house, under one roof – a place that everyone can reach towards their aspirations together in unity – in peace. It’s not an impossibility – it happened in this building for over 100 years. It can happen in our time, in our city, in every neighborhood, on every block – and that is what we are called to do.

[Applause]

We are all feeling – still, weeks later – the pain of the tragic loss of Eric Garner. We all feel it humanly, and everyone wants to see fairness. And we believe in due process. That’s a fundamental American value, that’s across all the backgrounds of all the people – we all believe in due process, fairness, a full investigation, full legal process. We believe everyone should be treated equally in that process. That’s what we keep looking for. That’s what we need. And it’s our job, in this time, to constantly prove over and over – there will be one standard, it will be applied fairly. That is what we believe at City Hall. That is our mission. And we believe – in the context of such a profoundly important discussion – of course people will raise their voices, their concerns, their needs.  In a democratic society, that’s normal, that’s necessary, and they’ll do it peacefully. And that is how progress is made, because another Dr. King – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – proved that change is made from the grassroots up and change is made by nonviolent action. Violence takes us backwards. Non-violence takes us forwards.

[Applause]

We have to create deep and lasting bond between our communities and our police. We have to. It’s a matter of life and death. It’s fundamental to all of us that we find that partnership and that bond. It’s there for us, because it happens every day. At any given moment in this city, there’s a police officer walking the beat – neighborhood residents know and trust, know by name – and that officer, on any given day, might save a life, might help someone in need, might rush into an emergency and get the help that the victim so desperately needs while every second counts. That’s happening every day in this city. And every day in this city there are hardworking families – so many here today – hardworking families teaching their children exactly the right thing, to abide by the law, to treat others properly, but also to deserve respect and dignity.

And we talked in Seventh-Day Adventists churches last year about what was missing – what was missing was acknowledgement. Policies of the city failed to acknowledge the hard work and the love that so many families have put into their children, because then those children will go out into the streets abiding by the law, and be treated like suspects. Now, that didn’t take us forward. In fact, it was a fundamental disconnect because the hard-working parents, and grandparents, and aunts, and uncles, and ministers, and all the other people in the life of that young person had – over years and years, thousands and thousands of hours of hard work – created a young person who was on the right path.  It takes all of that. It takes a village to put that young person on the right path, and if you happen to be a young man of color in America, we know the burden’s higher. And so all that effort – achieving its goal, setting that young man forward – confronted the contradiction of the government policy that sent exactly the wrong message.

Now, we always said that there was a right way for a police officer to stop someone and ask questions and frisk, and that’s when there was a crime that happened, or a specific reason. And that – more and more, every day – is what is happening here in New York City. Stops are down a huge percentage, because we’re not stopping innocent people anymore.

[Applause]

We’re not stopping law-abiding people. We’re not disproportionately stopping young men who didn’t do anything wrong. We’re stopping people when there’s a reason, and actually, clearly – I wouldn’t even need a poll of this room to know that we all want people stopped when there’s a reason, when they might be doing something wrong that would harm others. So, that balance is what we seek to achieve. It’s not mysterious or complicated – respect the law-abiding, treat everyone equally regardless of race, or religion, or neighborhood, or economic status. Treat everyone equally regardless which country they come from – if they have been here hundreds of years or if they got here last week. Treat them equally. That’s what we aspire to.

[Applause]

And then, as that progress grows – because it is happening right now – the numbers prove how few people are being stopped, and that when they’re stopped, it is for a reason. As that gives us a platform for building faith, for building a partnership, for building a bond, so much more can happen, because there are still too many people in our city who face the violence propagated by criminals, who have to worry for their safety. For them, the notion of full participation in society – and full democratic rights, and civil rights, and human rights – is undermined by the specter of violence. So, our twin mission is to address and combat violence, and end violence of all forms, while building respect, and a bond between our communities and our police. And we can do that.

[Applause]

What you’ll hear more and more, from the NYPD as it goes through a series of important reforms, is the notion that the mission of the NYPD – the mission of each and every police officer – is to protect and respect. Protect and respect – that is how we make a better society. And what you’ll also hear is that each and every one of us as citizens are called to respect our officers in turn –  to care for their safety as well, because they protect us. That’s the city we have to create.

What you'll hear more and more for the NYPD, as it goes through a series of important reforms, is the notion that the mission of the NYPD, the mission of each and every police officer is to protect and respect. Protect and respect – that is how we make a better society. And what you will also hear is that each and every one of us, as citizens, are called to respect our officers in turn, to care for their safety as well, because they protect us. That's the city we have be. We are taking steps rapidly – because we changed stop and frisk policy; because we have an independent oversight by the Inspector General now; because we have a Civilian Complaint Review Board that is finally coming to life as an honest broker, respecting any community member who has a grievance, respecting the officer's due process rights as well, and moving to speedily resolve each and every situation. When there's due process, when there's actually a way to have your grievance heard, and acted on, people feel they can believe again in the society they're a part of. That's what democracy is supposed to ensure us. And that's what we are building. And Commissioner Bratton, who has done extraordinary things – there's an article in the New York Times today about some of the changes that happened in Los Angeles on his watch, a city that was plagued by a deeply painful divide between police and community – and now, a city where, to a great extent, there is unity and communication and partnership between police and community. Commissioner Bratton is so committed to making these changes, that, literally – in the wake of this tragedy – he has ordered the retraining of every single police officer in New York City.

[Applause]

And we all need that, in whatever profession we pursue – we need that opportunity, to be shown the right path, to be shown the right way to do things, to be shown how crucial it is to build that connection between police and community. It's not a secondary concept. It is foundational. The safety – that police and community walk hand in hand, and that is what the commissioner will achieve, by giving that message, and those lessons, and the real life examples to our police, of how to do this in a way that will make us all better – all better at working together. So, you'll see a lot in the coming days and weeks. You'll see a lot of changes start to happen. And you'll see that people of faith will be in the forefront of these efforts. Because we believe you can't change a society for the better without engaging and involving communities of faith.

[Applause]

I mentioned all that this extraordinary church has done for this city. You know, on Wednesday, we called together a senior group of leaders. We were honored to be hosted by Cardinal Dolan. It was protestants, and catholics, jews and muslims – together – to start a dialogue that now will reach out throughout the whole city. Recognizing that everyone, every faith, calls for justice. Every faith calls for peace. We say it in so different ways, but the aspiration is the same. We all somehow do it simultaneously in this small space we call New York City. And the cardinal mentioned, that here in New York City, when times are tough and crisis hits, it's not just what each faith community does to help its own. It's that each faith community regards its responsibility to help everyone, regardless of who they are, and that faith leaders reach out to each other to calm the waters, and that bridge between then is an extraordinary feature of New York City. Because we look around the world, and we see a lot of tragedies, and conflicts between things. But in New York City, the peacemakers exist in every faith, and reach out across faiths to each other. And that makes us stronger.

Now, I'll finish by noting the path ahead. We are going to engaged the people of this city for the work of safety, the work of justice. We've got to create that oneness between police and community. Yes, it will not happen overnight. It will take work. But it will be noble work, necessary work – the kind of work that rewards us. 

To do this, we will need leaders in all faith communities. To do this, we will need leaders of conscience in public life. We're blessed to have some here today, and I want to say one thing at the end, but I've got to acknowledge them first. So, forgive me for taking one moment. Because when you see good leaders, you've got to stop and say, that's something important. 

A leader who's taught so many other leaders, and shown the way to so many, Dr. Una Clarke – let's thank her for all she has done. 

[Applause]

I'm trying to think – the next leader I want to acknowledge with a biblical reference, it would be right – but I can certainly say, if you picture the belly of the beast – let's take a popular allusion – that this fighter, this fighter for justice, Yvette Clarke, goes to the belly of the beast in Washington, DC, every week, to a place that resists progress, and she speaks up for it. And you know, she speaks most passionately for an idea that is very American, and this is a nation of immigrants – an idea that has somehow been forgotten in certain quarters in Washington, DC – but no one fights for the American dream of respecting and including all immigrants more than Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. I want to thank her.

[Applause] 

And I've got to just editorialize, as the next generation of leaders is coming up, and I think they're going to be very special. I'm just going to offer my personal evaluation. I think one of the next members of the state senate – someone who I think belongs in the state senate – is a great, intelligent, thoughtful young leader, Rubain Dorancy. Rubain, thank you. 

[Applause]

And a dynamic young woman, a thoughtful and intelligent young woman as well – a doer – belongs in the state assembly, and her name is Rodneyse Bichotte. Rodneyse, thank you. 

[Applause]

And with leaders like this, we're going to make a difference for people. Not just on police community relations, not just on safety – these are the kind of leaders that helped us achieve a vision that you're going to see, beginning this September 4th – Thursday, September 4th – when we will go from having 20,000 full-day pre-k seats in New York City to over 50,000 full-day pre-k seats – 

[Applause]

On September 4th, you're going to see phase one of a two-year plan, and when we get to the end of two years, every middle school child in this city will have free afterschool available to them, so they'll be safe and sound and learning more every day. 

Because of leaders like these, because of the faith you showed in me, because of our city council – now there's a half million more people in this city who have paid sick leave, so if they get sick, they still have an opportunity to keep getting their wages, take care of themselves, take care of their families. Because of your faith, we have begun on a road over ten years that will bring 200,000 units of affordable housing – enough for half a million New Yorkers who need a place they can afford.

Because of you, this year – at the end of this year– anyone who lives in this city, regardless of documentation status, will be offered an ID card by this city, to say that they belong, and they matter, and they have to be able to go about their lives with dignity.

These are the things we have to do to create the city where, as Dr. King said, everyone has a shot – every borough, every neighborhood. That's what we're here to do with you. And I'll conclude with a reminder – again, to another Dr. King – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so powerfully pointed out toward the end of his life – when we think about rights, it's not just legal rights. It's also the economic needs of people. And if you want a society that's just – it's not just the laws that's on the books, it's how people are treated, it's what their possibilities are, it's if they can take care of their family. He said something powerful that should guide us as we embark on this journey together. Dr. King said, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice." And that is the path we will follow together. Thank you, and God bless you all. 

[End of Remarks]

--

[Press Availability Begins]

Mayor: Alright, good morning. It’s good to see you. Anyone got any thoughts on your mind?

Question: Could you tell us a little about if you’re going to be heading out to Staten Island today, not – why, or why not?

Mayor: No, I'm not going out to the march, but I'm obviously in regular touch with Chief Banks and other police officials out there, regularly – in regular touch with some of our mayor's office team out there, and so far everything's going very well, very peaceful. 

Question: What do you think of the march and the demonstration?

Mayor: I think that after any incident like this, it's very important that people express their concerns, and that there be a real dialogue about where we're going. And it is clear, I know so many people who are involved from the labor movement, so many people who are involved in the civil rights work, [inaudible] – their message was clearly about bringing police and community together. Any attempt to paint it otherwise is inaccurate. They're trying to raise concerns about how we move forward. And that's certainly what the conversation we had with faith leaders at the cardinal's residence was about – we have some work to do, to create a more unified city and to bring police and community together. And that's what we're going to do. This march is simply an expression of people's concerns, and it's part of the democratic process.

Question: Have you expressed any hopes for how the march will go to Reverend Sharpton?

Mayor: Oh, absolutely, and the – and to many people involved. A number of the labor unions involved are unions I work very closely with. The message, before I even had to say anything, was clearly they believed in having a peaceful march. They believe in the tradition of social change through non-violence. Everyone I've talked to is looking for some of the reforms that we're already starting, to continue and to deepen. So, it's not like I had to give anybody any kind of guidelines. I think we're all on the same page. I also want to say, NYPD – NYPD has done an extraordinary job in the planning for this march. There has been constant communication between NYPD and the march organizers, and that is why we do things effectively here in New York City, because there is that kind of dialogue.

Question: Sharpton's been critical of broken windows theory. What's your take on it – which is something Bratton [inaudible]? 

Mayor: And I support it too. And I support Commissioner Bratton, because what we've seen him do here in New York City – and obviously in Los Angeles as well – is bring down crime while deepening the relationship between police and community. The story of Los Angeles is extraordinary, in just seven years, the way he turned around a very, very troubled dynamic. He needed to bring crime down, but create a bond between police and community that literally never existed. And we're well on our way here. The retraining of the police force is going to have a profound effect. The changes we've made in stop and frisk, the changes we've made in terms of creating oversight, are all going to have a real effect. So, the broken windows theory is simply a recognition that small problems can turn into big problems, that quality-of-life have to be addressed. And one of the best examples of broken windows today, of its application in this time, is Vision Zero – is not letting small traffic problems lead to things that can cause a death. I could say to you, you know, failing to yield to a pedestrian, like ahh, people do that every day in New York City. No, we don't look at it that way. We think, unfortunately, that habit has led to a huge number of tragic deaths. So now we're enforcing it. You see a lot more NYPD presence out addressing when a driver takes an illegal turn or doesn't yield to a pedestrian. That's a version of broken windows today. Some of the things that were broken windows in the past, you don't see anymore. So, it is a living, breathing, evolving idea, but it's really about addressing problems at the grassroots persistently and energetically. And we'll continue to do that. 

Phil: Let's do a couple more, guys. 

Question: You previously attended a number of protests, you know, participating in [inaudible] previously – do you think if this were last year, if you were public advocate, or years ago, as a councilman, you would be [inaudible] Staten Island today?

Mayor: You know, I don't like to think hypothetically. I think the bottom line is, I've made very clear that there are changes we have to achieve, and we're going to continue to pursue those. And I understand that protest is part of the civic discourse.

Question: Why was it important for you today to speak at this particular church while the march is going on?

Mayor: It really was more about my relationship with some of the leaders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and the fact that for a long time I've been wanting to come back and connect with them, because I was very, very actively engaged with them last year. So, in that sense, it was coincidental. But in the sense that it was an opportunity to talk about where we're going, it was – to me – an important opportunity to begin to paint the picture more deeply, of the changes we're going to make. I don't think it is a surprise that wholesale change is not always easy to understand in the first instance. I don't think it's a surprise that something like broken windows may be misunderstood. It's our job to better explain it. And I tried to use the example just now, with Vision Zero. Vision Zero is incredibly popular in this city, for good reason, because it's already saving lives. It's something that cuts across every demographic. People believe in it. I think the more and more people see that the approach we take with broken windows is that kind of thing – is addressing issues that people truly care about, in an energetic way – the more comfort people will have about the direction we're going in. Remember, for a lot of us who have been in the city a long time, there was always the concern if something happened at the community level, that it might go unaddressed, because for a long time, decades passed, there was so much that the police had to deal with, that many smaller issues went unaddressed. The reality we're creating now is, if something bad happens, it's going to be addressed, and it's going to be addressed promptly. And that's what broken windows means to me, and that's what communities have been clamoring for for years. So, I think as we deepen that discussion, more and more people are going to feel good about it. 

Phil: Last one, guys. 

Question: Did you make any suggestions to Commissioner Bratton about how to avoid the kind of violence we've seen in Ferguson?

Mayor: Commissioner Bratton knows so much about the right way to police, and the right way to respect the democratic process. If you listen carefully – and it's been a tremendous honor to work with him over this last eight months – he constantly references the dynamic of living in a democracy, you know, the obligations that the police have in a democracy, to respect the right to protest. He has had the approach work through – well from the very beginning, as have Chief Banks, and other key officials at the NYPD. So, no, there's nothing I had to say to him. He is the ultimate professional. But he also believes it's his obligation, regardless of the viewpoints being expressed – and he said it very powerfully after the meeting with the cardinal – the police are here to protect the democratic right to protest, regardless of the viewpoint expressed. That's their professional obligation. And he said then, and I agree with him – the NYPD is an extraordinarily professional organization, and that's how our cops will comport themselves, because that's what they're trained to do, and that's what they believe in. So, I think we're going to see a very peaceful demonstration.

Phil: Thanks, guys.

Mayor: Thanks very much.