WEBVTT - Zohran Mamdani's First 100 Days 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:05.040 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.400 On Sunday, April twelfth, I went to the Basement nightclub 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.280 in Queens. Like usual, someone scanned my ticket at the 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:17.000 Big Gate off Flushing Avenue. I had to wait in 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.799 a winding line outside the door, went through security, and 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.840 finally reached the DJ and bar. But instead of the 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:29.000 regular collection of twinks, dolls and bisexuals, the room was 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:34.199 full of city workers, politicians, journalists, and DSA members, a 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:38.840 decent number of which probably were bisexual. I suppose technically 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:42.720 we were directly above the Basement nightclub in the Knockdown 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:47.680 Center event venue. Gathered this Sunday afternoon to attend Mayor 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:52.800 Zoron Mamdani's one hundred day address. I'm Garrison Davis. This 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.560 is it could happen here. I showed about things falling 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.440 apart and sometimes putting stuff back together. This one is 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.600 one of those rare episodes focused on the latter. Earlier 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:08.440 this April marked Mayor Mamdani's first one hundred days in office. 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.240 This episode, I'll discuss what Zoron has done these first 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.240 one hundred days, some of the challenges he's faced, if 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.920 he's been able to deliver on the promises of his campaign, 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.800 and how he's adapted to the power and constraints of 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.399 running the biggest city in the country, and finally, what 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.360 all this could mean for the future of working class 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:31.560 and left wing politics in the United States. Let's first 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.399 return to the one hundred day address above the Basement Nightclub. 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.720 Upon entering the venue, you found yourself in a museum 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.640 of the administration's first one hundred days. This little installation 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.680 displayed the mayor's snowshovel from the historic blizzard during Zoron's 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.280 first few weeks in office, a tenant organizing suggestion board 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.200 from the rental ripoff hearings, and a child sized mayoral 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.840 podium used to announce a new free childcare program for 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:02.480 two year olds. Museum plaques detailed victories for labor and 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.400 tenants rights, as well as infrastructure accomplishments like scaffolding reform 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.520 and a pothole blitz that filled over twenty thousand potholes 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:14.239 in just three days. Before the mayor's speech, a Bronx parent, 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.600 two tenant organizers, and a city worker from the Department 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.679 of Transportation spoke to the crowd about how life is 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:25.600 different under the new administration. Mamdani's speech was effectively a 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.280 state of the Union for New York City. The mayor 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.919 outlined the campaign promises the administration has fulfilled so far 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.440 in their short time in office, and connected his style 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.000 of governing to the Sewer socialists of Milwaukee from the 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.280 first half of the twentieth century, who focused on strengthening 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:43.960 public services. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.840 Because for too long, City Hall had not just failed 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.480 to meet expectations, it had lowered them. After years of 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.720 broken promises, no one in this city could be blamed 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.400 for doubting that government held either the ability or the 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.720 ambition to upend the status quo. 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:01.800 It. 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.960 As I said on that freezing January afternoon to more 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.600 than eight and a half million New Yorkers, we will 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:15.800 make no apology for what we believe. I was elected 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.440 as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:19.640 democratic socialist. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.320 This speech was really the first time since the inauguration 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.000 that the mayor has talked at length about what it 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.200 means to govern as a democratic socialist and the example 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:34.880 that New York City can set for the rest of 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:39.200 the country. The address was mostly attended by city workers, 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.120 who the mayor invited to enter into a ticket lottery 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:44.760 For most of the speech, I was pinned between a 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.960 group of uniformed Department of Sanitation employees and workers from 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.960 the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The event in 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:58.240 general was focused on uplifting civil servants and celebrating public service, 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:02.320 whether that be bus drive, school teachers, or the sanitation 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.080 workers that kept the city running during the worst snowstorm 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.360 in years. It feels like for the past few decades, 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.400 the only public sector job that gets regularly celebrated as 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.480 noble by those in government or in the media, and 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:20.880 promoted by pop culture is being a police officer. Being 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.320 a cop is the only public sector job that gets 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:27.760 uplifted with propaganda. Zoron's little videos promoting three point one 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.960 city call center workers is to quote front of the 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:36.360 pod Ben Lorber, rolling back decades of neoliberal propaganda reasserting 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.719 the dignity of public sector work and workers. A common 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.960 turn of phrase uttered by Mayor Mumdani is if you 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.280 can't solve the smallest task in someone's life, why would 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.120 they ever trust you to solve the biggest one. So 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:53.480 let's go over some things big and small that Mumdani 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.119 has been able to do in his first one hundred days. 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.599 One of Mamdani's core campaign promises was to to freeze 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:05.120 the rent. On February eighteenth, Mayor Mamdani appointed six new 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:09.039 members to the nine member Rent Guidelines Board, which each 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.039 year is tasked with determining the rent increase percentages for 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.160 the more than one million rent stabilized apartments in the city. 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.839 Under airic adams, the board approved a three percent rent 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.880 increase for one year leases and a four point five 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.320 percent increase for two year leases. In just a few weeks, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.760 the new board will hold a preliminary vote to freeze 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:34.159 or raise rents before their final vote in June. Public 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:39.159 testimony on rent adjustments is currently underway. Housing in general 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.480 is one of the top issues affecting affordability in the city, 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.400 and the Mayor's approach has not been limited to filling 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.640 vacancies on the Rent Guidelines Board. After Zora's inauguration speech 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.800 on January first, he went to a neglected apartment building 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.159 just east of Prospect Park to sign an executive order 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.880 revitalizing the Mayor's Office to protect tenants and appointed at 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:03.680 time tenant organizer to lead the office. This apartment building 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:08.880 was owned by a literally bankrupt landlord called the Pinnacle Group, 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.440 who was responsible for more than five thousand housing violations 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:17.680 and fourteen thousand complaints. The revamped Office to Protect Tenants 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:22.080 and the Mayor intervened in the bankruptcy proceedings and successfully 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.560 secured thirty million dollars in repairs and upgrades for tenants, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.280 as well as protection from future displacement. Through this office, 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.360 the administration has continued to crack down on bad landlords 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.880 who violate New York City law and mystrey tenants. Just 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.480 a few weeks after the inauguration, Momdannie announced a two 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.800 point one million dollar settlement from A and E Real 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:46.799 Estate Properties for tenant harassment and hazardous conditions across fourteen 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.280 buildings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. As a part of 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.640 the settlement, A and E was also required to correct 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:57.200 more than four thousand building condition violations. In February, the 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:01.279 Department of Housing, Preservation and Development released a public list 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.960 of the two hundred and fifty buildings with the most 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.200 severe housing code violations a city wide and put them 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:11.680 under heightened oversight via the Alternative Enforcement Program, with the 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.880 city stepping in to make repairs, then billing the landlords 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.240 if they failed to address violations. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.680 Since January first, we have won more than thirty four 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:29.280 million dollars in settlements, judgments and repairs for tenants, delivered 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.840 improvements to six thousand and seventy apartments so far, and 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.240 issued one hundred and ninety five thousand, eight hundred and 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:41.920 twenty nine violations. New York City will no longer tolerate 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.000 exploitation as a business model. 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:50.000 In March, Mayor Mumdani announced a quote unquote landmark victory 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:55.200 against famously bad landlord Seth Miller of IGIs Realty. You 0:07:55.240 --> 0:08:00.720 can say the landlord was egregious at Realty. The city 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.760 brought a case against Miller for dangerously direct conditions at 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.720 nine to one to nine Prospect Avenue in the South Bronx, 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.200 and for the first time ever, courts imposed the maximum 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.560 penalties under the city's nuisance Abatement law, a one thousand 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.840 dollars fine per day until housing violations are addressed and 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:25.000 two point one seven four million dollars in retroactive penalties. 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.160 During the first one hundred days, the city held five 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.319 rental ripoff hearings, one in each borough, providing New Yorker's 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.480 a platform to discuss various problems with their landlord from 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.679 poor conditions to repair delays or junk fees. This was 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.600 a dedicated public forum for tenants to speak directly to 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:47.680 city officials and collectively shape housing policy going forward. A 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:51.200 month into office, the mayor announced a thirty eight million 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.080 dollar investment to install modern heating and cooling in seven 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.360 hundred and twelve of New York City's public housing units 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.680 at the Beach forty first Street houses in Queens And 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.280 Technically this is after the first one hundred days, but 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.520 I think it's worth mentioning that just a few days ago, 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:11.640 zorunannounced a two point five billion dollar investment in public 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.760 housing to deliver new energy efficient lighting and faucets to 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.120 forty five thousand homes, heat pumps in twenty thousand, and 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:22.760 ten thousand new induction stoves, all affecting the niche public 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.600 housing in New York City. On Zoron's very first day 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.640 in office, he also signed two executive orders to accelerate 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.200 housing construction by building on city owned properties to increase 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.920 the supply of affordable housing and cutting red tape to 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.040 make it faster and more affordable to build. The development 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.320 approval process for building affordable housing has been reduced by 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.880 more than two years by the administration's implementation of the 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.720 new voter approved expediated Land use Review procedure, combined with 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.160 a new program called the Neighborhood Builder's Fast Track, which 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.280 will pre select qualified developers to shorten the pre development 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.280 timeline by eight months for certain projects city owned land. 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:07.080 Another of Zorn's core campaign promises was universal childcare. On 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.160 his eighth day in office, Mayramdani announced a partnership with 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.000 Governor Kathy Hochel to provide free childcare for thousands of 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.240 two year olds in New York City with a one 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:20.520 point two billion dollar increase in state funding. Since then, 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.800 the mayor has expanded the free three K program for 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.520 three year olds to more than half of all school 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.920 districts in the city, and announced two K fall enrollment 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.920 for school districts eighteen, twenty three, ten, six, and twenty seven, 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.560 which serve lower income neighborhoods. Two K applications open for 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.920 the first time on June second, with the program operating 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.240 on a full day schedule from eight am to six 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:47.760 pm all year round. As a part of the three 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.600 K expansion, seven new early childcare education centers are opening 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.800 in Western Queens, Staten Island, South Brooklyn and the South 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.400 Bronx And. On March thirtieth, the mayor announced the city's 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.880 first piecelet program for free on site childcare for city workers, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:07.800 based at the David Dinkins Municipal Building, with applications opening 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.479 on April thirtieth. The city also created a new accessible 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.160 childcare provider map with interactive features to filter by location, 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.319 age group, and cost. The mayor says that all these 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:21.640 steps will lead to free childcare for every three year 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.040 old and two year old in the city by the 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:28.320 end of his first term. Another key promise was fast 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.880 and free buses. The administration is making headway on the 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:35.640 fast park by building more bus lanes, redesigning streets, as 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.679 well as adding protected by lanes on McGinnis Boulevard, thirty 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:43.800 first Street in Astoria, Ashland Place, across Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.720 and Brooklyn and Kingston Avenues in central Brooklyn. Amdani restarted 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:53.040 the stalled Madison Ave bus lane redesign to make buses 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.079 faster and more reliable for ninety two thousand daily riders. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.000 The city announced a new bus lane for the Bronze 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.840 Crosstown bus service to Yankee Stadium and restarted the Fordham 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.160 Road Bus Lane project to improve the busiest bus corridor 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.839 in the Bronx, servicing an average of one hundred and 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:14.040 thirty thousand daily riders across four routes. Just this week, 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.840 construction began in Brooklyn for the redesign of Flatbush Avenue 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.199 with the goal of improving bus speeds by over forty 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.240 percent for one hundred and thirty two thousand daily riders, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.559 and before the World Cup this summer, Zoron has promised 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.600 to complete new bike lanes and pedestrian upgrades in Lower Manhattan. 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:36.000 As for the free part, that will be a bit harder. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.000 Amdani maintains that his administration is working with the state 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.440 government in Albany and the MTA to eventually make New 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.920 York City buses free, and proposed a five week free 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:50.240 bus pilot program during the World Cup, though it's unclear 0:12:50.360 --> 0:13:04.040 if that will happen. It's not all sunshine and rainbows 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:07.920 in New York City. Upon taking office, Mayor Mumdani discovered 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.840 the city was facing an unexpected financial crisis in the 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.400 form of a hidden twelve billion dollar deficit left by 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.520 former mayor Eric Adams. Stemming from years of fiscal mismanagement 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.320 and the under budgeting of essential services like rental and 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:26.120 cash assistance, shelters, health insurance, and special ad as Mayor 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.800 Eric Adams covered up this massive budget deficit by leaving 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.600 the gaps grossly understated, gaps that were made worse by 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.679 divestment in New York City by the state under former 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.560 Governor Andrew Cuomo. The mayor is actually required by law 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.920 to have a balanced budget, so rather than sweeping this 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.520 under the rug by continuing to cook the city's books 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:51.040 like his predecessor, Zoran chose transparency about the financial crisis 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.840 he's inherited and signed an executive order to designate chief 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:59.280 Savings Officers in every city agency to streamline processes and 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.720 eliminate waste. Some of these savings so far include canceling 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:08.440 twenty thousand dollars of Slack subscriptions to saving one hundreds 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.640 of thousands of dollars by foregoing vacant office space. Through 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.920 his relationship with Governor Kathy Hochel, the mayor secured one 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.920 point five billion dollars in state aid in February that, 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.280 combined with higher than expected Wall Street revenues and savings 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:28.200 measures shrunk the deficit to five point four billion. Zoron's 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:33.080 preliminary budget, released last February, sparked criticism for failing short 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:38.360 of promises to increase funding to parks and libraries. While campaigning, 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.920 Zoron advocated for city libraries to receive zero point five 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.640 percent of the city budget, but the preliminary budget only 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.400 allocated point three nine percent, which is actually a twenty 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.960 nine million dollar cut from the last Adams budget down 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:57.240 to four hundred and fifty six million dollars. Meanwhile, the 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.680 park budget remained effectively flat at about points five percent, 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.240 rather than boosting it to one percent of the total 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:08.400 budget as Mamdani previously hoped. Though in March, Mayor Mamdani 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.480 announced new capital investment of fifty million dollars to reconstruct 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.560 ten parks in underserved neighborhoods. This February budget is preliminary 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.960 and subject to change as Zoron's negotiations with the city 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:25.800 council and the state continue. In February, Mamdani reversed a 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:30.680 previous policy against the force removal of homeless encampments after 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.040 twenty people died in the street during a horrific blizzard 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.760 and sudden cold snap in late January, despite the efforts 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:41.560 of outreach workers visiting known homeless people every two hours 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.120 to offer warm shelter and check if they needed help. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.520 Fourteen hundred people were placed into shelters and warming centers 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:53.360 during that first freeze, with eighty five people involuntarily moved 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.320 or hospitalized. The new encampment SPEEP policy will be led 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.680 by the Department of Homeless Services rather than the NYPD 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.160 as they were under Eric Adams, which mcdonnie said put 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:06.920 homeless New Yorkers in danger and was ineffective in moving 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.760 people into shelter or housing. Under the new plan, after 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.200 posting a removal notice, outreach workers will visit encampments every 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.080 day for a week with the goal of connecting people 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.680 to shelter and establishing a pipeline to stable housing, while 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.320 opening new shelters across the city, including New York City's 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:29.480 first ever pet inclusive transitional housing facility for families. Much 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.920 of the criticism levied at Zoran revolves around his choice 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:37.480 to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish, something he announced before 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.000 of the election. Zoron did cancel and Eric Adams plan 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.400 to add five thousand more NYPD officers, but as promised, 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.320 their budget remained effectively the same despite the financial deficit. 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:54.160 But Tish specifically has been seen as a rare moderating 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.680 force in the administration, an outlier that may be preventing 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.880 police reforms that Zoron campaigned on, like disbanding the SRG, 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.919 the Strategic Response Group tasked with responding to both protests 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.439 and terrorism, as well as getting rid of the NYPD 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.520 gang database. Critics have noted that Zoron seems to be 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.520 moving towards quote unquote reforms of the gang database rather 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.560 than his previous call to get rid of it, saying 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.439 in early April, quote I've made my critiques of the 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:27.240 database clear, and the NYPD has also implemented a number 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.439 of reforms as per the recommendation that came through, and 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.480 the implementation of those reforms and the results of that 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.320 are part of the active discussion that we are having. Unquote. 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.720 The gang database in New York has shrunk by forty 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.639 percent in the last two years. As for the SRG, 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.840 Mayor Mamdani still maintains that he remains quote steadfast in 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.760 my commitment to disband the SRG, to do so in 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.199 a manner that upholds both First Amendment rights of New 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.280 Yorkers and keeps New Yorkers safe, and that is the 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:02.640 subject of an active conversation that we are Commissioner Tisch 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:06.439 has been particularly resistant to the idea of disbanding the SRG, 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:11.480 though earlier this month, Mayor Mumdanie's chief of staff, elbsgard 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:15.200 Church said on the news that the administration remains committed 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.480 to fulfilling the campaign promise of disbanding the SRG, and 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.680 that a delegation of city Hall and NYPD officials traveled 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:25.320 to Columbus, Ohio to learn about their protest policing model, 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.320 focused on quote communication and quote de escalation over mass 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.040 arrests and aggressive force. 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.640 The commitment is to disband the SRG, and I think 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.840 that the Columbus visit showcases that we are committed to 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.280 a really disciplined approach here. We want it to work, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.080 and we want to do it in collaboration with the NYPD. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.520 So the Mayor is in regular conversation with his police commissioner, 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:53.399 and our teams also meet regularly so that we can 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:57.080 design something that is best suited to that commitment being 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.359 fulfilled and not compromising any of the same safety and 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:01.680 the protection that New Yorkers deserve. 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.879 In an April interview, Mayor Mamdani did express to The 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.679 New York Times that when unable to reach an agreement 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.440 with Tish, he does have the power to overrule her 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:14.639 on police policy if needed. Quote. Ultimately, I hold the 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.359 final decision, no matter which department or agency we're speaking 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:22.240 about on quote. Mamdani has not exercised this power with 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:26.840 the NYPD as of yet. In March, Zoron took the 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.960 first step in establishing the Department of Community Safety by 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.600 opening the Office of Community Safety, led by Deputy Mayor 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.959 Ronita Francois, who directed Deblasio's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:43.840 and advised Campaign Zero, which opposes the Gang Database. The 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.400 new Office of Community Safety will develop strategies and coordinate 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:52.000 efforts to combat gun violence, mental health, crisis response, hate crimes, 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:56.440 and substance abuse issues. At the announcement, Francois said, quote, 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:59.440 the evidence is clear. Addressing what ails our communities, whether 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:03.400 that be mbling, physical infrastructure, social disconnection, or a lack 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.280 of access to economic opportunity, is how we best ensure 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:11.240 that our communities are safe unquote It's too early to 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.760 judge the impact of the office, but such an office 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:18.200 or city department has the potential to challenge the police's 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:23.240 monopoly on public safety. The other common critique of Mumdani 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.480 is based on his endorsement of liberal Governor Kathy Hochel 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.640 and his decision to focus on governing rather than dedicating 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:36.119 resources and political capital towards further uphill primary challenges. Zoran 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.639 has said, quote, the success of our movement will be 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:42.880 defined by the success of our government. Through his working 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:46.199 partnership with Governor Hokeel, the mayor has been able to 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:49.760 extract wins from the state, particularly for universal childcare and 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.399 the one point five billion dollars in state aid. In 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:58.040 the realm of discourse, some leftists, anarchists or ultras have 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.879 jumped on any fault or policy shift as a sign 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.679 that Zoron has wholly moved to the right or betrayed 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:10.200 the movement. Such opinions are rewarded by the social media economy, 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.800 which tends to encourage whatever is seen as the most radical, extreme, 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:17.840 or divisive opinion. This tendency has been present even among 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:22.320 some of Zoran's earliest online supporters. Behind this tendency is 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:26.159 a willingness and frankly hunger to turn on Zoron, not 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.840 necessarily for anything he has or has not done, but 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.679 because of the position he now occupies. Zoron used to 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:40.200 be an outsider challenging the Democratic establishment embodied by Andrew Cuomo, 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.399 but now he's one of the most popular Democrats in 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:46.879 the country. DNC social media accounts are hosting Zoron memes 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:51.120 and hype videos. This could be viewed as a massive accomplishment, 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.520 evidence that the Democratic Party can be forced to bend 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.439 toward left wing populism because of the working class voters 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.640 and mass organizing that put Zoron in the position he's 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:06.800 currently in. But others view Zoron's acceptance and select promotion 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:12.240 within the party as a sign he's been corrupted, co opted, recuperated, 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:17.840 or made palatable. Both of these things can be partially true. 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:21.960 The Democratic elite certainly have their own motives for dipping 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.439 their toes into the Mamdani Hotub, just as Zoron and 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:28.639 the New York City DSA have their own aspirations for 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.520 influencing the direction of the party towards social democracy and 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:35.719 democratic socialism. In general, there's a lot of confusion or 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:39.520 disagreement on what it means to be a democratic socialist 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:43.359 in a position of power. As an executive, Zoron is 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:46.479 in a unique position that not many other DSA members 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:50.320 have ever had. Being in such a position of power 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.639 informs and shapes the way someone interacts with the systems 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.000 of party and state in a way that those outside 0:22:58.080 --> 0:23:03.320 of power cannot fully understand. Stand. It filters ideology into 0:23:03.440 --> 0:23:08.400 material actions. This idea frightens many, but differences in political 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:12.520 horizons also affect the way people interact and move with 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:16.560 these systems. The question is not what should Zoron do 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:19.600 if there were no constraints on his power, because then 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:24.000 obviously he should just implement utopian communism. But his power 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:27.560 obviously does have constraints if the goal for the left 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:30.480 is to build a working class movement to that end, 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:34.119 as a function of Zoron's constraints, it may actually be 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.560 more effective for him to operate down certain state pathways 0:23:37.600 --> 0:23:40.800 that allow him to facilitate the building of a working 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:45.720 class movement and avoid other more extreme pathways that, because 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:48.879 of the current constraints on executive power, would either be 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:54.080 ineffective at best, or self destructive at worst. As the mayor, 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:57.720 Zoron's job is to run the biggest city in the country, 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:01.760 and as a democratic socialist, that means using government to 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:05.600 make life better for the working class. His task is 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:08.879 to govern in a way that alleviates economic conditions, to 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:12.000 make it easier to organize and build a working class movement. 0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:17.359 But building that movement is not his job. It's yours. 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:20.199 It's the job of the people, and such a movement 0:24:20.280 --> 0:24:24.359 is the only way of holding elected leaders like Zoron accountable. 0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:28.240 Zoron is not a revolutionary nor is he an organizer. 0:24:28.720 --> 0:24:31.320 He's the mayor of New York City, and as mayor, 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:34.120 he has to serve more than eight million New Yorkers, 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:38.160 not just the fourteen thousand members of New York City DSA. 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:41.600 The mayor may join the picket line with striking nurses 0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:44.320 and fight for working class New Yorkers in city Hall, 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:48.000 or even open an office of mass engagement, like Zoron 0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:51.600 has done, but it is up to those outside city 0:24:51.640 --> 0:24:55.280 Hall to move in tandem by working to rebuild a 0:24:55.359 --> 0:24:59.640 labor movement. Assuming that Zoron or some random public official 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:04.480 can do whatever is the most extreme radical thing mistakingly 0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:07.760 sees the state as having more power than it actually does. 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:12.440 People often see the state as an ahistorical, abstracted seat 0:25:12.480 --> 0:25:15.840 of power, but no, the state is just the mediator 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:19.080 between capital and labor. The power of the state to 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.119 support labor is exercised by doing things that are in 0:25:22.240 --> 0:25:25.639