Mamdani has a Point

Mom Donnie is back at it again. This

time with comments going viral around

Hamas. Let's listen to what he has to

say.

Former hostages celebrate being home.

There is new heartbreak for families of

those killed by Hamas. Hamas says that

it can't hand over any more bodies

without special equipment to recover

them. Israel says one of the four bodies

returned so far does not match any of

the hostages who died.

Zan Namdani is the is leading the race

for mayor in New York City, the biggest

city in the country and the capitalist

centery

is proposing free child care, free

buses, freezing rent and cityrun grocery

stores. He has claimed that we should

not really have billionaires in this

city and he has vowed to make New York

the strongest sanctuary city in the

country. His views on hot topics like

the NYPD and Israel have been a constant

source of controversy, but he is ahead

by 13 points right now in this race. I

sat down with him on the eve of tomorrow

night's big mayoral debate in New York

City. Here's part one of our exclusive

interview.

Thank you very much for being here.

Candidate for mayor of New York City.

You're up by 13 points. It looks like

you've got the wind at your back. You've

got a big debate coming up tomorrow

night with the other candidates, Andrew

Cuomo and Curtis Leewa. Um, obviously

New York City policy is front and

center, but I would imagine that some of

the big headlines recently are going to

come up tomorrow night as well. So, I

want to get to all the policy issues in

New York. But I wanted to ask you this

first. If you are asked tomorrow night

if you give credit to President Trump

for the ceasefire between Israel and

Hamas and the return of

>> Everybody should. Donald Trump's actions

humbling Iran are what led to the lack

of backing for Hamas to have the balls

to stand up to the Israeli deal that

they didn't have any say in negotiating.

They probably heard about the deal.

They're like, "We didn't negotiate that

deal." And they called Iran and they're

like, "Yo, you going to send us some

more money or weapons?" And Iran's

probably like, "Bro, we we kind of can't

right now. Sorry. Um, come back a

different time." They're like, "All

right, I guess we'll take the hostage

deal."

So, Trump deserves credit on this. Like

him or not, you got to give him credit

on this.

>> The 20 living hostages, would you raise

your hand?

>> You know, first I want to say it's a

real pleasure to be here and thank you

for having me and it's it's it's an

honor to have this opportunity to speak.

>> Don't don't forget to answer the

question. And you going to give Trump

credit or not?

>> To so many New Yorkers and Americans

across the country. And when it comes to

the ceasefire, I am thankful and I have

hope that it will actually endure and

that it will be lasting. And I continue

to have concerns because I've seen

reports still just in the last few days

that five Palestinians were killed by

the Israeli military. And that's what

gives me pause about issuing any

>> Yeah. We also heard that Hamas came out

and started executing people again

because they're freaking terrorist

scumbags. kind of praise or celebration

at a moment when it is still so in its

infancy. And what I will tell you is

that in that same moment, it is also one

that requires a focus on ensuring that

that hope, that belief in a better

future is one that is emblematic in our

policies right here in New York City.

>> These freaking big words, why don't you

just say Donald Trump deserves credit?

Have some balls. Even Bill Clinton had

the balls to say

>> as well. And that's what we're hoping to

lead with. Would you give President

Trump credit or not? To any extent,

credit or not?

>> I think it's too early to do so.

>> Too early to say.

>> But but if it proves to be something

that is lasting, something that is

durable, then I think that that's where

you give credit.

>> So, uh, you've denounced Israel and the

United States for the response to the

slaughter on October the 7th. In fact,

at times, uh, you've called it a lasting

stain, the response, and at times you

have left October 7th out of your

statements completely around this issue.

right now. You just talked about

Israelis killing some Palestinians, but

Hamas is killing Palestinians within

Gaza and they have not returned the

bodies that they promised to return,

including two Americans, um, Itai Chen

and Omar Neutra, whose families we have

interviewed over these months. So, what

is your response to what Hamas is doing

now?

>> I think those are bodies and remains

that should absolutely be returned. And

I think that I have no issue with

critiquing Hamas or the Israeli

government because my critiques all come

from a place of universal human rights.

And my focus, however, is right here in

New York City and transforming the most

expensive city in America into one

that's affordable for each and every New

Yorker.

>> But okay, I and I want to get to that.

Uh, absolutely. But do you believe that

Hamas should lay down their weapons and

leave the leadership in Gaza?

>> I believe that any future here in New

York City is one that we have to make

sure that's affordable for all. as it

pertains to

>> what does that have to do with Hamas

laying down their weapons talking about

afford I mean I get it he's the mayor of

New York but he's also

the host of the United Nations when they

come to the United States and he's

saying that he's going to arrest BB of

Israel

even after this deal is struck now fine

you could have a position on that but

answer the question

>> in Palestine that we have to ensure that

there is peace and that is the future

that we have to fight for But you won't

say that Hamas should lay down their

arms and give up leadership in Gaza.

>> You don't really have opinions about the

future of Hamas and Israel beyond the

question of justice and safety and the

>> Oh, okay. So, I have no opinions on

Hamas, but yes, we should arrest BB of

Israel. Come on, man. I'll have some

opinions. Were there a lot of innocent

people who died? Whether they were meat

shields, which is terrible to say, but

it's true in Palestine or they were

entirely innocent and Hamas was maybe

around them accidentally or on purpose.

Hell yeah. 50 mommies and daddies died

every single day in Palestine for the

last 2 years. 25 children died every

single day. And even if those numbers

are overstated by a factor of two or

even three, it's still horrible because

not all of them, I would actually argue

the vast majority of the Palestinians

who died are not terrorists like the

scumbags of Hamas,

but you should call out Hamas for what

they are. The fact that anything has to

abide by international law, and that

applies to Hamas, that applies to the

Israeli military, applies to anyone you

could ask me about.

>> Okay. Um, one last thought on that. You

have said that you would arrest

Netanyahu if he came to the United

States. You've been very outspoken in

your criticism of him. Do you stand by

that? You would arrest him if he came

here if you were mayor.

>> I've said that this is a city that

believes in international law and this

is a city that wants to uplift and

uphold those beliefs. The prime

minister,

>> the United States doesn't stand by the

international criminal court.

>> It hasn't signed the treaty for the

international criminal court. The

international criminal court, however,

has issued a warrant for the arrest of

Benjamin Netanyahu as it has

>> in the United States. Could you arrest

us

>> as it has for Vladimir Putin? I've said

that I believe that we should uphold

arrest warrants by the International

Criminal Court and that we would should

do so only in abiding with all of the

laws in front of us. I'm not going to

make a new law to ensure that we can

actually

>> Yeah. mind you, New York can't actually

arrest BB. So they don't even as mayor,

he wouldn't have the power to do it. He

would have to operate in coordination

with international law enforcement

agencies.

>> Commissioner

>> and you know obviously our federal

government

>> would allow you to arrest Netanyahu in

in New York City. I've appreciated

Commissioner Tisha's leadership of the

NYPD and I think that she's done a good

job at lowering crime across this city.

>> But if she do you think that she would

she would be go along with arresting

Netanyahu in New York?

>> I can tell you that I'm going to exhaust

every legal option in front of me not to

make new laws to do so.

>> You have no legal option. So I guess

that means you're not going to do

anything which will probably be similar

to your campaign. Although I do think

he's going to win. We'll see what

happens in the debate. And I was

impressed with some of his recent

interviews. This one leaves me

disappointed. So like I'm like I'm torn

on this guy. It's like I think the

policies about freezing rent, they apply

or appeal really well to existing

tenants, but they're going to be

horrible for the future New York. It's

just going to skyrocket prices in New

York.

But let's keep listening. Maybe

>> you want to be the mayor of New York

City, which you know, last night I chat

GPT. Where is the capitalist and global

finance center of the world? And it said

New York City, which made me feel good

as someone who loves New York City. Is

that a moniker that you're proud of and

one that you want to continue for this

city?

>> We should be proud of it. And I will

also say that that's one thing you have

in common with Andrew Cuomo because he

also uses chat GPT to answer many

questions including

that was a good singer. Oh yeah, I give

him credit on that. That was

I always say, don't tell people,

you should rarely tell people that

you're using GPT because it just it it

doesn't look good.

>> Resolve the housing crisis in this city.

And it's time that we are not only proud

of us, the financial capital, the

cultural capital, but also we should

make it a capital of where working

people can afford to live in this city.

Because right now, what we're seeing is

that one in four New Yorkers are being

priced out of the wealthiest city and

the wealthiest country in the history of

the world. That that's absolutely true.

>> Freezing rent is not the way to do it.

You have to build more. But whatever.

>> Um, one of the things that's

>> what does he know about real estate?

>> Also true is that JP Morgan and Goldman

Sachs have moved major operations to

Texas. They've not abandoned New York,

but they're hedging their bets on New

York.

>> Speaking of hedging, did you see Bill

Aman? I hate the guy's guts, but Bill

Aman donated like a crapload of money to

counter Mom Donnie. Mom Donnie. Bill

Aman. How much was it? Bill Aman gives

$1 million to anti- Mlani effort. Defend

New York City pack opposing Zor on

Mlani.

Wow.

>> Because of the increased taxes that they

see coming if you become mayor. So when

they do that, jobs move out of the city

as well. So how does that help

affordability if people in the city

don't have the jobs that they had that

they once had here? Well, I'm looking to

make this a city that every person

chooses, whether they're a business

leader or they're someone who works for

that business. And the key ways of doing

that are actually delivering quality of

life, public safety, and affordability

for each and every person. Because what

we're seeing right now is we have

>> government can't deliver affordability.

When government gets out of the way,

capitalism can deliver deflation.

Government delivers inflation.

>> A broken status quo. We have a corrupt

political system and we have the

politicians that sustain that. That's

really what's on the ballot is whether

New Yorkers want to continue that,

whether they actually want a city they

can afford. That's what I'm going to

deliver.

>> So, Governor Hokll, you would have to

get approval from the legislature to

raise individual taxes, income taxes,

and also corporate taxes in New York,

which you've said you you would like to

do in order to pay for the free buses

and the free child care and the

different programs, the government

grocery stores and the like. She says no

new taxes in her governor's race. So,

what are you going to do if she won't

allow taxes to be raised? How will you

pay for these programs?

>> You know, I've said time and again that

I believe these are the most

straightforward ways that we can

actually fund universal childare, making

buses fast and free. And I've said that

the two,

>> keep in mind, it's the failure of New

York New York's policies around building

that have led to such terrible

unaffordability. Like the fact that New

York, just as an example, incentivizes

you to build anything four units and

under and punishes you if you want to

build more units. Well, what a surprise

if you take a plot of land that could

support 16 or 32 units, but you only

build four because it's not profitable

to build any more than four because of

the stupid policies on commercial real

estate versus 1 to4 real estate. What a

surprise. There's an affordability

crisis. The existing system sucks, but

replacing it with more government and

housing is the opposite. It's actually a

great invitation to landlords to go

invest in New York City real estate

because prices are just going to go

higher.

Clear ways to do so. Raising personal

income taxes on the top 1% by 2% and

raising the corporate tax to match that

of New Jersey's corporate tax of 11.5%.

Now, if there are other ways to raise

this money to fund this agenda, the most

important thing is that we fund the

agenda. I still think that these are

most the most important and clear ways

we can do it and I'm thankful to have

Governor Hokll's support in this race

and the fact that she said we have a

shared commitment to delivering

universal child care for New Yorkers

across the city and this

>> I think that's great. I think everybody

would love to have free health care and

free buses and all these things, but the

question is how do you pay for it? The

city's already in debt. The governor

says no to new taxes. Like Margaret

Thatcher said, you know, socialism is

great until you run out of everyone

else's money, other people's money.

Well, what Andrew Cuomo said is that if

he had $959 million, he'd give it to

Elon Musk in tax credits because that's

exactly what he did. And I bring that up

to you to say that it's often a question

of whether you have the willingness to

spend that money to benefit workingass

people, not where that money is in the

first place.

>> What would you cut? What would you draw

from to do it?

>> I don't think we have to cut. I I've

spoken about raising taxes on the

wealthiest. And frankly, this is this is

an issue that we have here in New York

City and frankly even across this

country. When I've spoken to Trump

voters right here in New York City,

Hillside Avenue in Queens, form Road in

the Bronx, they've told me it was cost

of living that drove them to vote for

Donald Trump. They've told me it was a

promise of a lower actual whether it be

cheaper groceries, whether it be child

care, whether it be rent. And what we're

seeing time and time again is childcare

in fairness is a big issue. You know,

it's really hard for people to get ahead

when they have kids uh and and they

don't have the support system around

them. Like single parents, really hard

to get ahead. It's so hard. So, uh, I'm

I'm actually not so opposed to the

support for child care.

>> More focused on the question of

billionaires and the most profitable

corporations than we are on people who

can't even afford to make ends meet in

this city.

>> Well, we know affordability is an issue

and I think that all politicians are

getting to an understanding of that and

I think that you've done a lot actually

to bring people's attention to that

issue. Um, let's take a look at the free

buses issue just for a moment because I

know you said that um, the pilot project

that you did was one of the biggest

accomplishments of of being an

assemblyman. Uh, the Washington Post

said this in an editorial about this.

Quality inevitably declines when a

service is offered for free. Vagrants

and drug addicts would camp out all day

on New York's buses, especially in the

winter. Parents would go afraid to let

their children ride alone. wealthier

residents would find another way to get

around, but poor New Yorkers who depend

on the bus would suffer the most. What

do you say to that? Do you agree with

that?

>> Well, I would say that they should

actually look at the report of the five

free buses we delivered across New York

City. We didn't see an increase in

homelessness. We did see an increase in

New Yorkers riding the bus. We did see a

decrease in assaults on bus drivers by

38.9%. And we also saw a decrease in New

Yorkers who were having to take a cab or

take their own car. They were actually

getting on the bus. more than 10% of new

riders were doing. So that's why we care

so deeply about this because of the fact

that it can actually deliver economic

public safety and even congestion relief

to New Yorkers who are looking to take

these buses.

>> I know that you're turning 34 on

Saturday and I want to talk about your

qualifications. Um you know some say you

have never run a business in in your

life. So I'm curious and President Trump

said that you never worked a day in your

life. If I went you've worked as an

assemblyman uh and you've had other

positions in the government, but what

qualifies you from your life experience

to run the largest city in the country?

>> You know, I want to take this moment

because you spoke about President

>> Mind you, people put together these

little like case studies are like, "Wow,

we had five buses. Come on, man." Like

whatever. I are we really like going to

pick a governor or a mayor rather based

on like five buses or or or even frankly

childare like let him give childare

that's not a big deal but fix to fix the

affordability crisis you should have a

business environment that supports

growth and investment into the region

and a development environment that

supports building more homes. You got

plenty of vertical room in New York

build. but he doesn't talk about that.

So those those are the bigger issues.

But in fairness, Martha, whom I've

personally had an interview with as

well, Martha, that was over at the

Beverly Hilton. That was there was a

cool place, a cool set they had. But

anyway, Martha is asking softball

questions here. Trump, and you may be

watching right now, and I just want to

speak directly to the president, which

is that I will not be a mayor like Mayor

Adams who will call you to figure out

how to stay out of jail. I won't be a

disgraced. Oh, that's a mic drop. That

is a mic drop because um Donnie T

basically uh you know uh AFBI let's drop

the fraud charges on Adams. You know

he's going to he's going to turn on the

Democrats and support Donnie T. So let's

just drop the case against him. Yeah,

that's pretty corrupt.

>> Like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to

ask how to win this election. I can do

those things on my own. I will however

be a mayor who is ready to speak at any

time to lower the cost of living. That's

the way that I am going to lead this

city. That's the part

>> practically you're doing it wrong. It

sounds great, but you're doing it wrong.

Fine.

>> Partnership I want to build not only

with Washington DC, but anyone across

this country. I think it's important

because too often the focus on the needs

of working-class Americans,

working-class New Yorkers are put to the

side as we talk more and more about the

very kinds of corrupt politicians like

Andrew Cuomo that delivered us into this

kind of crisis. So, so the question I

asked you,

>> this is the other thing, too. People

look at Cuomo and they're like, man, I'd

rather take a chance with a young guy

than go back to a Cuomo.

>> What specifically in your background

gives you the confidence that you can

run a $115 billion budget and run this

city? Specifically, from your personal

experience, and your background,

>> I've been a state assembly member here

in New York City. I've represented

130,000 people in Queens. And in the

time that I've done so, I've not only

delivered more than hund00 million in

increased bus and subway service, I've

also secured half a billion dollars in

debt relief.

>> When I was a politician, I spent money

for workingclass taxi drivers.

>> That makes me uniquely qualified to be

your next politician. I'm great at

blowing money. President Trump knows

this. New Yorkers know this across the

five burrows. Taxes knows I blew money.

>> We're looking at them right here. are

suck.

>> We're looking at all the spending right

now.

>> A part of what we love about this city.

And yet those same drivers were sold a

lie about a ticket to the middle class

if they bought a medallion. I stood with

those drivers. I organized with those

drivers. I went on a 15-day hunger

strike with those drivers. And we

secured half a billion dollars in debt

relief that allows those drivers to do

more than just think about struggle.

>> How many employees would you be

overseeing in the New York City

government?

>> More than 300,000.

>> 300,000.

>> That's a lot of people. Um but but thank

you for answering the question. I know

that you want to stimulate small

business.

>> What are the weak answer or weak

questions who actually makes mom Donnie

look really solid cuz he's got the

answers. He's hitting back at her

shutting her down with the GPT con man.

This is actually a pretty good interview

for him. You got to give him, you know,

credits

>> in the city and we all walk around the

city that we love and we see a lot of

empty storefronts. So, give me your plan

on how you would do that. You know, I've

spoken to a lot of New Yorkers for whom

their aspiration, their dream is in that

small business, and I've told them that

we are going to make it easier to not

only open it, but keep it open. We're

going to cut fines and fees by 50%.

Because, as you said, we have a city

government that has 116 billion budget.

It's not funded by charging a restaurant

25 bucks a year for the right to sell a

frozen dessert. We're going to

streamline the regulations and rules

that these small businesses have to

adhere to. Because today, if you want to

open up a barber shop, you have to fill

out 24 forms, go to seven agencies, 12

inerson activities. And furthermore,

we're gonna have a mom and pop ZAR.

Someone that'll help businesses navigate

through this because while we are

holding these kinds of businesses to the

>> This actually sounds relatively

reasonable. Some decreased regulation

and red tape for businesses. I like it.

>> These kinds of rules, we're letting the

most profitable corporations walk all

over us here in New York City. And it's

part of the problem where so many New

Yorkers look around at the wealthiest

city and the wealthiest country in the

history of the world and asking

themselves, there's all this money. Why

can't I afford $2.90 to even ride in the

bus?

>> So, let me just quick question on that

and I want to get to um public safety

because it's another obviously another

big issue um for New Yorkers. So, a lot

of individuals in this city pay more

than 50% of their income in taxes. When

you talk about a fair share, how much

more than what is the fair share? What's

the number? I've said that we should

increase personal income tax by 2%

>> is is fair.

>> And my and my point is this.

>> Give up more than half of your income.

That's

>> if you're making a million dollars in

New York City or more than that. You can

afford to pay 2% more. And the reasons

you can afford to do so is because that

money will be used to better your

quality of life as well. Because when I

speak to the wealthiest New Yorkers, I

hear concerns about the cleanliness of

the city, the quality of life in this

city, questions of public safety. This

money is the money that will be used to

deliver on those things so that we can

ensure that we have a return on

investment,

>> the extra 2% taxes. We'll see about

that.

>> All of the money that we are raising and

spending right here across the five

burrows. I

>> I want to talk to you about public

safety and your relationship with

police. So, so just in terms of public

safety, I want to go to an example first

because I hear from people that they

don't feel safe walking home at night.

There's drug addicts on the street, you

know, right around the corner here. You

can walk around the corner and see

people shooting up. Um, a lot of garbage

on the streets right now. The subway um

is something that people are really

concerned about. Last week, 64y old Nola

Tanzy, who was a church leader, a pillar

in his community, was brutally beaten to

death. I I tried to watch this video uh

in preparation. It's very hard to watch.

In a subway station in Brooklyn,

25-year-old David Mazeros had a 20-inch

sword. He's the suspect in this case. He

was he was out. They lowered his bail so

that he could get out. he was already

waiting a trial for um attacking someone

in Chelsea. 33 past arrests. Um you were

in favor of bail reform. Does that make

you want to change your mind or think

twice about reversing that?

>> This is a horrific incident and and it's

the same video that I saw and it's one

that horrifies New Yorkers across the

five burrows and it's completely

unacceptable. And what it makes me think

about is the necessity of providing

public safety in our New York City

subway system and across the five

buraus. And also how do we end the

revolving door? Because when you look

further into the case of whether this

individual or so many individuals,

especially those suffering from mental

health issues, what we find

>> the recidivism is really bad.

Basically what you find is you get

people go to jail and as soon as they

get out whether it's on bail or or

otherwise they go right back in. It's

terrible.

>> Is so often the only mental health

system that we have that's functioning

in this city is Riker's Island. 40% of

the incarcerated population there are

suffering from serious mental health

>> is the question. Why was he on the

street?

>> Because we have a broken system. A

system

>> they lowered his bail. He had a bail he

couldn't pay. Then they lowered the bail

and then he could pay it. This is

imagine if you're this family and they

look at 33 prior arrests and they why

why was this man on the street? What

would stop him in your administration

from being on the street?

>> Because what we would do is actually

address the systemic problems that would

ensure that someone who goes through the

system this many times can actually

>> his issues are addressed, the services

are provided. Right now all we have is

going in and out, especially when it

comes to mental health. I'll give you an

example. Yeah. in your in your world

where

>> nobody funds me. I I when I ran for

governor, that was a big thing I talked

about was this idea that you have to

fund mental education. You know, we we

fund PE in schools, but we don't fund

mental education. Uh and and that's a

big failure of government. So, you need

somebody to actually do that. If he can

do it, good for him.

>> Where would he be in a mental

institution?

>> He would actually be getting services

from the first time that he was arrested

as opposed to having to go through them

33 times. If you look at the New York

Times, they did an investigation on a

thousand different incidents of violent

crime in the city tied to mental health

episodes. They found that so many of

those same New Yorkers were failed by

the interactions they had with the city

when they went for help for mental

health assistance. And that failure is a

blight. It is a stain on our city. And

it's a failure that I'm looking to fix

by actually transforming this with the

only comprehensive plan for public

safety of any of the candidates. Because

what we are going to do is put out a

plan and a proposal that we have shared

with New Yorkers to create the

department of community safety that

would bring together all of these

pre-existing silos that address mental

health crisis that address homelessness

into one department provide it with the

funding necessary and

>> yeah more departments is tough but I

mean yeah you you need some kind of

centralized mental education system not

only in in schools but also in in

rehabilitation manner you know

afterwards. Uh Martha looks keenly

interested which is amazing for Fox News

actually address.

>> Where do these people go though is my

question. Are you going to put them in a

a mental institution so they can be

taken care of or are you going to leave

them at home on medication? What's the

plan? There's there is a plan right now

that allows for involuntary confinement

which I think should be a last resort

because the fact that when you look at

the actual results this is something

that so often doesn't actually have

that's what that what has been spoken

about but what we have today that

actually works for New Yorkers with

serious mental illness. There are things

like Fountain House. This is a clubhouse

model peer-led rehabilitative treatment

for New Yorkers with serious mental

illness. It costs $4,000 to have someone

in Fountain House for a year. That's the

cost of being on Rikers for 3 days. And

what we see, however, is that those

services, they

>> you putting anybody in a club for $4,000

a year,

>> employment by 50%, they reduce

hospitalization by up to 45%. And they

actually reduce the cost of health care

as well for those same New Yorkers. This

is what we're looking at. This is why we

say that.

>> Of course, if you could solve the mental

health problems, people stop showing up

at the ER. By the way, thank you

AppState for a $20 donation to the

stream. Appreciate you.

>> You can just see people who are

suffering up and down 8th Avenue just as

one example and I hope we'll have a

chance to talk more about that next

time, but I I don't want you to leave

without me asking you about your

relationship with the police because

obviously this is a big issue. Um, you

said in the past, I almost don't need to

go through it. been said many times, but

that you called the police force racist,

said they were a major threat to public

safety, called them wicked.

>> Yeah. He's been a big proponent in the

past of defunding the police. Now, he's

softened that stance a lot because he

realizes this is a problem,

>> corrupt. And now the report that you

apologized to dozen members of the NYPD,

what did you say to them? I apologize

for the language that I used and I spoke

to them about the fact that I want to

work with them to deliver public safety

because what we're seeing in the city

right now.

>> How about you fund the police

appropriately so you have better

training

>> now is we're asking officers to do

nearly everything we can think of. We

used to ask officers to focus on serious

crimes. Now we're asking them to focus

also on the mental health crisis to

focus also Oh, okay. Right. Cuz cops all

of a sudden are trained in mental

health. You need to fund the police.

on homelessness. In one year alone, the

NYPD receives 200,000 mental health

calls in one year.

>> Yeah. And you know what they told me?

That one out of three of those, the

person has they're very, very dangerous

interactions. You're going to send a

social worker in there.

>> You can always have a police officer

actually come to address that. But look,

you're saying one out of three, two out

of three times. If you don't need the

police and you're sending them to do

that, then why aren't you sending them

to respond to shootings and murders?

Five, six years ago, the response time

for officers was closer to 10 minutes.

Now it's closer to 16 minutes. New

Yorkers deserve a police department.

>> Yeah, that this is why you need more

funding for law enforcement. Now, you

could make the argument that, oh, we're

just going to send community service

officers to a bunch of uh, you know,

whatever call outs, but what end up what

ends up happening is something that's a

public disturbance and you send a

community officer that has no ability to

has no arrest powers and no ability to

self-defense or to defend themselves.

You potentially end up just aggravating

the situation. So, there's a balance

there. It all comes down to more

funding. department that is asked to do

the things that it can possibly do, not

one that covers the failures of every

break in the social safety net.

>> So I police officers that I spoke to,

they they don't want a behind closed

doors apology. They want a broad public

apology for the things that you

suggested about them. Will you do that

right now?

>> Absolutely. I'll apologize to police

officers right here because this is the

apology that I've been sharing with many

rank and file officers and I apologize

because of the fact that I'm looking to

work with these officers and I know that

these officers, these men and women who

serve in the NYPD, they put their lives

on the line every single day and I will

be a mayor that both

>> your mind about it.

>> You know, I moved to the city when I was

7 years old. I grew up here and two of

the things that I thought often about

was safety and justice and growing up

here learning about the case of the

exonerated five, learning about Shawn

Bell, learning about Eric Garner,

learning about Michael Brown and then in

2020, the year where all of these tweets

are referring to. It was the year when

George Floyd was killed and it felt like

safety and justice had never been

further apart. And it was actually Eric

Adams in 2021 who said that New Yorkers

need not choose between these two

things. And so one of my focuses was how

do we deliver that justice? And now what

I know having represented 100,000 people

in western Queens is that to deliver

that justice, you have to also deliver

that safety. And that means representing

I don't think anybody disputes that you

need safety in a city. It's just

practically challenging. I think Martha

is bluntly asking for, hey, can you

U-turn on defund the police? Because

sure, you might be saying, "Hey, we're

going to fund community support

programs, but you also need to fund law

enforcement so they can actually have

the staff that they need." The vast

majority, over 60% of police departments

in the United States are underfunded and

under staffed.

And we got a lot of officers in New York

City. You walk around, but you also have

a lot of citizens. There's a lot of

problems to deal with. So, you kind of

have to fund both. men and women in the

NYPD. It means representing the black

and brown New Yorkers who've been

victims of police brutality. It means

representing the Muslim New Yorkers in

my district who were surveiled on the

basis of their faith.

>> 68% of uh independent voters want more

police officers on the street. And Cuomo

tomorrow night in that debate, he's

going to say, "I'm going to bring four

5,000 more police officers to the

street." Will you match that and agree

with him on that?

>> I don't look to Andrew Cuomo for

leadership and

>> will you put 5,000 in the street?

>> You've been very clear. I want to keep

the number of officers that we have and

I want to make it easier for those

officers to do their job. And what that

means is that we allow officers to focus

on serious crimes. And for all of the

focus on the headcount, we should focus

on the retention crisis. When I started

running for mayor, 200 officers were

leaving the department every month.

>> Now it's 350 and a lot of them are

leaving because there's simply no way

they can do their job in what's being

asked of them. And to your point,

however, Andrew Cuomo is going to say a

lot of things tomorrow night on the

debate stage. And frankly, I wish it was

more like NASCAR so New Yorkers could

see the billionaires that were

sponsoring him right on his suit jacket

because this is a man who had 10 years

and I know now that it's politically

>> part of the reason you're seeing this

law enforcement attrition is because it

is a hard job. There is such an

overwhelming amount of demand on these

officers and that's that that's the one

thing that I would love to ask bluntly

of him. Would you increase funding for

that department? So, you talk about

wanting to support crime and safety. How

about increasing training funding?

That's that's why I'm I'm just not

hearing that. I hear everything around

it, but I don't hear that. That makes me

a little nervous talking like a

politician. But, I mean, he sounds good.

Convenient. He watches Fox News as well,

so I'll just speak to him directly.

Andrew, you had your chance to lead the

state. You took that time to sell out

workingclass workers to your billionaire

donors. And instead of actually meeting

the needs of people who couldn't afford

to live in this city, you gave $959

million in tax breaks to Elon Musk. And

now you want us to believe that we can't

spend less money than that to make every

bus fast and free in the same city.

>> All right. I'm going to squeeze in two

two very quick ones here if you can

answer them quickly. Um, Commissioner

Tish, you have suggested that you want

her to stay. Have you asked her to stay?

And has she said yes? because I think

that is one issue that would go a long

way to pro towards police retention.

>> I've said that I appreciate Commissioner

Tish's record of uprooting corruption in

the upper echelons of the NYPD. I've

appreciated her presiding over drops in

crime across the city and I continue to

actively consider her to be my police

commissioner. I haven't made any

personnel commitments.

>> Okay. So, you don't want to ask her

right now?

>> No. No. That's the kind of conversation

I would actually have in person in

private, not a politics opinion.

>> Okay. It's an issue that a lot of people

uh brought up with me when I told them I

was going to be speaking with you. Last

question. Uh, you want to have a World

Cup Zar? I know you're a huge uh soccer

fan.

>> I'm done. So, look, I don't hate the

guy. I actually think he's he's a great

smooth talker. I think his housing

policies are just You need to

build more by getting by reducing

regulation. Freezing rent will have the

opposite effect. You'll increase the

cost of housing. I'm a little frustrated

that he talks about wanting to help with

safety but refuses to talk about

actually funding and supporting the

police department. That makes me

nervous. I don't care that he wants to

give uh you know free bus rides. I

that's fine, good, good, fine. Donald

Trump just cut a bunch of money from the

Harlem subway expansion, which I think

is wrong. I think the subway should have

been expanded and Trump ripped that

money off from from Harlem, which they

need it the most. Uh, you've got the

support for child care in a city that

actually has a lot of single parenting

and a lot of food insecurity. I'm okay

with that. I'm totally accepting of

that. This idea of paying more in taxes

if you make more than a million dollars

a year. You know what? People aren't

going to flee New York because of that.

I don't like higher taxes, but I don't

think that's going to leave people

fleeing New York.

So, I'm not really worried about that

either. Uh, now, yes, there have been

relocations to, you know, Texas or

Florida, you know, Citadel's moving, but

that trend has already been happening

anyway because you're trying to get, you

know, what you're trying to do is you're

trying to recruit more of those younger

kind of millennials. You're trying to

get the beach lifestyle, the crypto

lifestyle, and this aligns with sort of

the Havanaesque, Puerto Ricoesque, uh,

uh, Miami lifestyle, which is fine,

but office rents are actually starting

to skyrocket in New York because people

are coming back to the office. New York

will not be left for dead. New York is

actually probably just going to become

even more expensive.

I actually want to invest in New York if

this guy wins because his freeze rent

policies are going to leave people

leaving the investment community. You're

going to see less building and what is

that all going to do? Drive up housing

costs over the long term. So, it'll

actually like he will be great for

hedging your real estate exposure in in

uh New York. But those are the concerns

I have. But otherwise, you know, and and

I don't like, you know, I think he's

being a little bit of a weenie baby on

calling out Hamas. Uh but uh whatever.

So, uh we'll see. But he'll probably

win. Uh so, we'll keep an eye on it. And

if he wins, he'll probably be moving

into national politics in 2028. So, you

got to pay attention to this guy. Uh I

could see him trying to fight Nome for

the 2028 presidency. Uh and I have to

say, I like this guy way better than

AOC.

So, you got to give credit where

credit's due, but he's still a

politician. Uh, you know, he's still a

politician. So, I find that very

interesting. But, uh, but yeah, I'm

really excited. Uh, I mean, broadly, if

this guy wins, you know, other parts of

New York City that I think would be

really interesting. uh Bronx, Brooklyn,

you know, uh these these are areas that

could do really well uh with uh uh with

with uh housing prices actually going up

under him, you know, office rents

blowing up in Manhattan. Uh that'll

spread. Uh and so it's it's an

interesting trend that's going on. So,

we'll see.

>> Why not advertise these things that you

told us here? I feel like nobody else

knows about this.

>> We'll we'll try a little advertising and

see how it goes.

>> Congratulations, man. You have done so

much. People love you. People look up to

you.

>> Kevin Papra there, financial analyst and

YouTuber. Meet Kevin. Always great to

get your take.