Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears Live on MSNBC

December 22, 2021

Hallie Jackson: I'm joined now by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mr. Mayor, thank you for making time for us this afternoon. Good afternoon to you. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good afternoon, Hallie. And, boy, the President spoke with passion. I agree with him. 

Jackson: Okay, what about the idea of him distributing these half-a-billion at-home test kits? Your city is in need. We've had reporters covering this live for days now. How much of a difference is that going to make?  

Mayor: It's going to help a lot and we certainly welcome it. Test kits are a key part of the strategy, Hallie, but the real key to this is - the foundation is vaccination and that's why we're doubling down on vaccination. Just announced today, $100 incentive for everyone who gets the booster for the rest of December, and of course on Monday vaccine mandate for our whole private sector, because the only way we're going to get through Omicron is to get a lot more people vaccinated, a lot more people boosted. 

Jackson: You talk about the new announcement that just happened just today that you put out this $100 incentive, right? People get a hundred bucks if they go and get a booster, sometime in the next, I think week and a half, between now and New Year's Eve. What is your expectation for how many people you think should or could take advantage of that? 

Mayor: Well, I guarantee tens of thousands and I'd be happier if it was hundreds of thousands.  You know, it's really timing – I mean we had doctors on this morning in my press conference talking about the huge impact the booster makes in terms of repelling, Omicron, and minimizing the impact to Omicron. So, we've got a tool right now. Got right now in the city 1.7 million New Yorkers have already gotten the booster, but there's a lot more people who could. So, we wanted to say, not only are we going to reward you, but let's do it right now, because it could make a difference. 

Jackson: Well you - and then we talked about the deadline being New Year's Eve, something else is happening on New Year's Eve, as you know, which is this Time Square celebration that's still set to happen. I don't have to tell you, when you look around the world, when you look in the US, LA, Seattle, Paris, London, they're all canceling their New Year’s Eve celebration. Do you believe that you should follow suit when it comes to what's happening in Times Square in a week and a half?  

Mayor: Hallie, first of all, I do not believe in shutdowns as a broad rule. I think at this point we need to get that out of our system, focus on intensive vaccination because the next few weeks, and we think the worst Omicron is going to be a matter of weeks, we're going to have to hold on and fight our way through as New Yorkers, as Americans, and the real key is vaccination. So, we're looking at Times Square, we're talking to the folks who sponsor to the event. We're talking to our doctors, we're certainly talking about some of additional potential measures to make it safe, but there's no final decision on that, but I can tell you in general, I'm just opposed to the notion that when we meet a new challenge, the answer is to shut things down. I think we got to keep our lives going, our economy going, and we can do it with things like vaccine incentives and vaccine mandates. 

Jackson: I hear you on not wanting to do shutdowns in a broad sense, but I think you'd agree that what happens on Times Square on New Year's Eve is extraordinary. That is a special and extraordinary event, that's not an everyday thing. To that end, when you are looking at your options, you alluded to additional measures. Will you require vaccinations, for example, for people who are going to celebrate, is that something you'd like to see?  

Mayor: Oh, 100 percent. We actually announced that when we first said that Times Square would go forward, this is pre-Omicron, we already knew then that vaccinations would be necessary. So right now, of course it's outdoors and the doctors will tell you that's a big deal, and it is vaccination only right now, but there are additional measures we're looking at – 

Jackson: Like what? Like boosters? Would you require those?  

Mayor: I don't want to go into until worked things through with the doctors, but I can tell you this much, there's more we can do to add to the health and safety approach. And I think Hallie, it is – look, the eyes of the world are on New York that day. It's true, and if we are able to get it right, of course we want to keep going forward with this because it is important when you're doing things the right way, with all those health and safety measures in place, and focus on vaccination, I think it's important to send a message we can continue as a city, as a society. My concern is when we don't require vaccination or we do things indoors, especially without vaccination, that's where the real danger or occurs. 

Jackson: So let's talk about if we want to continue with their lives, as you talk about, kids, right? Kids in school, everybody wants to keep kids in school. Do you see a situation in your city where all the public school kids are going to have to go have to maybe back to virtual learning, even if temporarily after the New Year, is that a scenario that you foresee? 

Mayor: Not from my point of view. Now I want to be respectful, we have a new Mayor coming in – 

Jackson: I was going to say – 

Mayor: Eric Adams – 

Jackson: Right – 

Mayor: January 1st, and he and I are very close, we're talking literally every day, multiple times a day, but my attitude is school is crucial. Kids need to be in school. They were deprived of it for a year and a half, for too many kids, and in fact, right now in New York City, our schools are much, much safer than the general population, general city reality because there's so many health and safety measures in place, and all adults in our schools are required to be vaccinated. So,  in fact, if kids stay home they'll actually be in a situation where they are more exposure potentially than they would in school, and they're going to lose all the other things that they get so much support in school, they get nutrition, they get to stay on track with their education. We should not that take that away from our kids. 

Jackson: You alluded to your conversations with the Mayor-elect who of course takes office in a matter of days here. Can you share more about those discussions? Have you talked about, for example, that test to stay approach for schools that the CDC recently came out and endorse, which says, you know, if a student is – has a close contact, they can stay in schools as long as have a negative test. Is that something that you have had a discussion about with the Mayor-elect because presumably that would be his purview after the first of the year.  

Mayor: It is his purview, but that's on the table. Certainly our health care leaders, our education leaders are very interested in that approach. That's something we're talking through with the Mayor-elect for sure. And look, I think one thing I can say we're very unified on because we have a very seamless transition going here, I'm happy to say, we want the city to keep moving forward. If you shut down the schools, you're not only depriving kids, you are fundamentally altering life in this city and you're really hindering the lives of parents who need their kids in school. I think we got to be honest about this. We can keep schools safe. We know it. We've seen it. They're safer than the city as a whole and we can keep kids safe while also helping them move forward. You know, I was a public school parent. I just think sometimes you get that rush, everyone says shut down, shut down, without thinking about out the unintended consequences, Hallie. I think we're going to see Omicron peak in January and then start to decline, and my argument is, hold on, don't shut down, hold on, double down on vaccination, including for our youngest kids, and come out the other side and then continue our recovery. 

Jackson: President Biden suggesting something fairly similar today that perhaps while it peaked quickly, it'll drop off fast. Mr. Mayor, before I let you go very quickly, when do you think you'll have a decision about these additional measures for Times Square, for New Year's Eve? Like the next couple days?  

Mayor: We're going to have a a decision by Friday on how we're proceeding. And listen, every decision's being made with our health care leaders. I believe that's fundamental. But again, we also know we got to keep healthy, but we also got to keep this city moving forward. And what is so important to show the world is the strength of New York City. We've led the country on vaccination. We have the strongest private sector vaccine mandate anywhere in the country, starting Monday, we got to show the world this city is going to keep fighting through. 

Jackson: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, joining us here on MSNBC this afternoon. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much for being on with us. Appreciate you making the time.  

Mayor: Thank you, Hallie. 

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