NYC Gazette

Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Economic and Workforce Development: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Maria Torres-Springer. I'm one of Mayor Adams' deputy mayors. Thanks to all of you for joining us here today in Gowanus. So why are we here?

In 2021, after a decade of community discussion, the New York City Council approved the rezoning of this area, paving the way for more than 8,000 new apartments, including nearly 3,000 affordable homes. And projects like the one that would be built on this site, which is hundreds of units of affordable housing, however, are in jeopardy. They're in jeopardy because we need action in Albany. And that is what we are here to discuss.

We need bold action because New York City, as everyone here knows, is in the midst of a dire housing crisis. Over half of all New York renters are rent burdened, and there is less than a 1 percent vacancy rate for the most affordable apartments, while tens of thousands of individuals and families slept in our shelters last night.

So this shortage of affordable housing has very real human consequences. But let me be clear, we don't need to accept these conditions. And from day one, the mayor has been crystal clear that we need to tackle the crisis with the full force of city government. But we can't do it alone. And so to talk more about the partnership, and the help, and the action that we need, please join me in welcoming the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor, and for all of our union members who are here. When we talk about housing, oftentimes people forget about the fact that the people who built, people who maintain it, people who are very much part of the advocacy to move these important pieces of legislation forward is missing. I don't know if people realize, I love all the sounds of New York. You know? It's the combination of voices that makes this job so exciting. But we have to keep it moving, in spite of any distractions. Because when you look at Local 79, 32BJ, HTC, DC 37, these are longstanding New Yorkers that don't only yell about it, they build about it, they are about it. And they are the voices that I hear every day.

So I want to thank you, Deputy Mayor. I'm excited about the mission that you're going to be taken upon and look at the real vision of housing, and how do we really expand on that? And today, here in Brooklyn, we're standing with these labor leaders because these are real projects that we can move forward. Housing experts are here, colleagues, elected officials, that just understand that in order to build housing, there are various things that must take place in Albany. It's unfortunate that New York City must respond to what happens as state lawmakers. And if that step fails to take place, then we are never going to reach the point where New Yorkers are able to put a key in a lock, and go inside, and experience the American dream. We need action now to get the affordable housing that we are looking for. We're days away from the completion of the legislative session, and we think that it's imperative that we move forward and get this done.

So the time is waiting is over. We need lawmakers now to respond now, and we need to pass the housing package. This is a crucial housing package that needs to be responded to do. So it's important to not kick the can down the road. We can't wait and say let's wait for another session. The urgency is now to build the pipeline. Between the rise in rents that we have, the shrinking inventory, and a total slowdown in construction, it's unbelievable when you think about how much the construction projects have stopped for the most part. And we need to build to get these projects done.

Even as a number of people needing houses continue to grow, particularly menial income New Yorkers, we are seeing a dramatically increase in the desire, but a decrease in the number of units. So we are seeing more and more working middle class families, especially in communities of color, get priced out of their neighborhoods because we're failing to get these projects off the ground. So the site behind me, we picked this site intentionally. It has already been approved for housing, that includes deeply affordable apartments. But this project is only feasible with 421-a, the affordable housing incentive program. And if we don't get the deadline extended, these units, and thousands of affordable homes around the city, are at risk of not getting built.

We are all affected by this. There's not enough affordable housing for our families, our employees, our teachers. And the men and women who we are standing with here today are New Yorkers who want a place to live and be part of the American Dream. We need the legislators to take action, and we need it now. Only a few days that are left. And Albany must pass complete housing package that we put before them. They must offer tax incentives that will facilitate construction of new affordable housing. It is so important, and make regulatory changes that will make it easier to convert unused office space to housing. We have millions of square feet of unused office spaces that is right now ready to be converted into housing. This just makes sense.

This straightforward measure will jumpstart the process of creating more affordable housing. And we must go all out to ensure this opportunity is not wasted. And so I want to thank those lawmakers who are working with us. Some of them are standing here now, some of them have gone to Albany to try to push this through. Our goal is to get this done during this session. And I am no longer as a state senator, so I can't vote on this. But there are partners out there that are clearly willing to stand up for what is right. And you should know that this administration, and all of the leaders here today, stand behind you as we articulate and get these bills to the floor so the Governor can sign them. So I urge all New Yorkers…

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Thank you. Thank you. There's nothing better than a good chant coming from union members. There is a website called Who Represents Me: NYC. You can put in your address and get contact information for all of your elected representatives. We need them to call. We need to write. We need to email your assembly members and your state senators and tell them you want action on affordable housing now. Not next year, but as it was just stated, now. Our city must have places for our children to live, to grow. As we deal with the increased housing issues, asylum seeker issues, it all comes down to the ability to have the right housing that we need. And we can do this. We can stand up to the needs of our constituency. This is Albany's moment. We need a good housing plan coming out of Albany.

If we don't, we are going to devastate the pipeline that is needed to build housing for the future, for future generations. So again, I want to thank all of our partners who are here, who really understand how imperative it is for Albany to move these next few days. The deputy mayor had a team with intergovernmental affairs personnel. They went to Albany. We've been in deep conversations. We have been leaning and pushing in this direction. This is so important to the finalization of housing for people. Without Albany's help, this is going to devastate our pipeline for housing in the future. Again, thank you so much for being a part of this.

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: Thank you, Mayor. As the mayor mentioned, a team of us, including our chief housing officer, Jessica Katz, were in Albany just earlier in the week, following a number of visits throughout the session, pushing for progress on building more housing, on paving the way for more affordable housing, which certainly our chief housing officer has done from day one. And so to share a few words, our CHO, Jessica Katz.

Jessica Katz, Chief Housing Officer: Good afternoon. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer, and thank you to Mayor Adams. I want to be very clear, we are not giving up on getting the housing package that New Yorkers deserve. We came into the session hearing ot was going to be a housing session. We heard that from every corner. Last fall and winter, every elected official in Albany I spoke to told me, "This is our year." Well, the session isn't over, so I'm holding them to their promise. We have just over a week left. Let's get it done. I want to thank our friends in labor from 32BJ. We have Justice from Local 79. To our housing advocates, such as New York Housing Conference, Open New York, and NYSAFAH. Thank you to Monadnock Construction for hosting us today. We have local community leaders. Community Board 6 passed a ULURP to build housing at this specific site. District manager from CB6, Mike Racioppo is here, and now we're not going to be able to do that because Albany is standing in the way.

So, we need our legislators to hear us all the way up in Albany that New York City will not settle for broken promises. We're the get stuff done administration, and we know the ball is in your court, but you need to deliver for your constituents. They're our neighbors. We owe them the opportunity to have safe, stable, and affordable homes in the communities they love. Everyone keeps saying there is no silver bullet for solving our housing crisis. There is, though. It's housing. So, let me be clear, extending the construction completion of 421-a, allowing office buildings to convert to housing, and lifting the FAR cap for residential buildings is a silver bullet for the family that gets a new home. It is a silver bullet for the community that is revitalized when a vacant building or a vacant site is brought back to life.

The economic activity of housing conversion is a silver bullet for our city that's coming back from Covid. And for the almost 15,000 New Yorkers who are experiencing homelessness, who have that golden ticket voucher in their hand right now and are looking for a place to live and finding none, building more housing is a silver bullet. This isn't an abstract idea, it's not a slogan. These policies mean new homes, new jobs, new revenue for the city, and more. They're critical tools for the thousands of New Yorkers who are in the shelter system, and we need everyone who's here today to stay vigilant between now and the end of the Albany session. If you're a city official, call your state colleagues. If you're an advocate, call your elected officials. We cannot go home without giving New Yorkers a pathway to finally find their own home. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: Thank you, Jessica. As the mayor said earlier, this is certainly about creating new homes, creating more affordable homes. But let's also be clear, this is about providing good-paying job opportunities for New Yorkers. So, our next two speakers will hopefully speak to that, and have been extraordinary partners in really making sure that the session does not end without action on these proposals. So, please first join me in welcoming Manny Pastreich from 32BJ.

Manny Pastreich, President, SEIU Local 32BJ: All right. Good afternoon, everyone. I am so thrilled to be out here in Brooklyn, your home borough, and joining forces on the extension of 421-a. As president of 32BJ, I fully appreciate what a critical tool this program has been to addressing the city's housing needs, as well as, as the deputy mayor said, creating good jobs.

But you don't need to be the leader of a union to understand 421-a's importance. You need to only look at the drop-off in housing after this program has ended. The numbers are stark. In the last fiscal year, we have 13,000 less affordable housing units created than the year before, and we're off to a slow start this year as well. We obviously need to be building more affordable housing at this moment, not less. The city's housing crisis is getting worse, so this is the moment we need to embrace the programs that have been shown to work. We need to embrace the programs that get housing built, we need to embrace programs that get affordable housing built, and we need to embrace programs that create family-sustaining jobs. And I don't want this last point to get lost. Jobs are not always on the top of the mind when we talk about the housing affordability crisis. But make no mistake, this is a vital part of the conversation.

We are standing in front of a future site that will employ 32BJ members, and that means creating family-sustaining jobs with good wages and strong benefits. That's something we cannot afford to lose sight of. We have the opportunity to connect good jobs and good housing policy. The 421-a program has created thousands of prevailing jobs with meaningful benefits, jobs that build up our communities. And when we contrast that with no jobs or minimum wage jobs with few if any benefits, the choice is very, very clear. 32BJ members are a testament to what works in this program. We have thousands of our members who live in 421-a buildings, and without the affordability requirements, they couldn't afford to live in the city and they couldn't afford to live near where they work. This is a win-win that we need to build on. This is a program that meets the definition of success. Success in creating affordable housing, success in encouraging more housing getting built, and success at creating good jobs. That's the definition of success, so we need to do more of it. With Albany's legislative session ending in a week, now is the time to do it. Now is the time to build more housing. Are we ready? Build more housing now. Build more housing now. Build more housing now. Build more housing now. Build more housing now.

All right. I just want to finish by thanking you for your leadership. To our mayor and to this entire group, together we can make this happen. Ready? 32…

Audience: BJ!

Pastreich: All right, thank you.

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: Thank you, Manny. And to add his voice on behalf of his members, please join me in welcoming Mike McGuire from the Laborers.

Mike McGuire, Laborers’ Local 79: Good afternoon. So, supply and demand. It's a phrase that everybody knows, it's the basic tenet of microeconomics, and it's a pretty simple concept to grasp. Demand drives prices. Lack of supply drives up demand. Therefore, lack of supply leads to increased housing costs on us as New Yorkers. We love to complain about the high cost of housing. But you know what else New Yorkers like to complain about? The construction of affordable housing.

This hypocrisy is one of the driving forces behind the high cost of housing in New York. This year, Governor Hochul proposed an extension of the 421-a from 2026 to 2030 for ongoing developments to encourage builders to create a hundred thousand affordable homes. The mayor supports this concept, and so do many common sense legislators, advocates, and everyone in attendance here today. The extension does not grant the abatement to any more developers. It simply extends the required completion dates for projects already in the program. In the wake of the pandemic that upended our economic system, and with interest rates at their highest point in 22 years, such an extension isn't outrageous, it isn't even extraordinary. What it is is a necessity. Yet we have rampant nimbyism from some hypocrites who say, "Housing is too expensive," out of one side of their mouths and, "Not in my backyard," out of the other side.

We have pie-in-the-sky legislators who support work from home, apparently thinking that the city's tax revenue grows on trees. We have other New York legislators acting like they're Republicans in Washington fighting the debt limit increase by holding this necessary legislation hostage to push their own personal pet agendas. We have an ominous… I'm sorry, an onerous and antiquated land use process, we have overly restrictive zoning maps, and we have an extreme overuse of designating historical districts. Come on. There are literally seven historical districts on the Upper East Side alone. This is just absurd. All of this is to say that if we're going to get out of this housing crisis, the only way to do it is build our way out of it. Instead of throwing up roadblocks at every turn, these New Yorkers should be embracing the construction of new units. Yet a proposal like this that merely extends the existing program's completion dates is met with opposition and derision instead of being supported and promoted for what it will do. Create more units of affordable housing in New York City without doing any harm. Supply and demand. Supply increases, demand decreases. Housing becomes more affordable. Basic freshman economics.

We salute Governor Hochul, the members of the legislature who support this extension, the members of the City Council who understand that new development is the only way we'll be able to work our way out of the housing crisis, and Mayor Adams for his courage in pushing this unnecessarily divisive issue to the front of the debate. We call on the state legislature to approve extending the completion deadline for 421-a projects, as well as the conversion of commercial office buildings to residential housing, and raising floor area ratios where appropriate in order to take positive steps towards ending the housing crisis before this legislative session ends this week. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: Thank you, Mike. So, the inaction in Albany, it doesn't just freeze projects like what could be built on this site. I think it also dishonors what has been for many different neighborhoods years and years of community discussion and community engagement. So, for the Gowanus rezoning, the result and fruit of that type of discussion, all those efforts, too, are at stake and are in jeopardy. So, to talk more about this, I'm sure, Mike Racioppo, the District Manager for CB6.

Michael Racioppo, District Manager, Brooklyn Community Board 6: How are you doing? Thank you. My name is Mike Racioppo, district manager, CB6. Two years ago, we stood with, at the time, borough president and then I think he was nominee at that… Yeah, nominee at that point and comptroller-elect Lander. And we were at the Gowanus Community Center and we stood there to support this rezoning because all aspects of government have to do their part. The community board, we did our part. In a wealthy area, we supported this rezoning. Mainly the biggest reason was affordable housing. Now the other parts of government have to do their part. The other levels of government have to do their part. And I'm proud to stand here with Mayor Adams and we've had 32BJ at the present at CB6 during the rezoning process. The labor component was a big part of why we supported the rezoning and to create and build the affordable housing in areas such as this with great public transportation. At the community level we supported and Albany should do their part. 

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: That is perfect. Thank you Mike. And finally, I'd like to invite Council Member Julie Menin to share a few words. Of course, the City Council has been and always will be a critical partner. In the first year of the administration, together we approved through the land use process, more units than in a very long time. And so that partnership should continue and we want to invite the amazing councilmember, Julie Menin, to share a few words.

City Councilmember Julie Menin: Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here today with the mayor and all of our friends in labor, 32BJ, Local 79, HTC. And I'm here today because one of the number one issues that I hear from constituents is a lack of affordable housing. Recent polling has shown that 27 percent of New Yorkers say they plan to leave the city in the next five years and one of the top issues that they cite is lack of affordability and that's lack of affordable housing. Right now, the average rent in Manhattan is over $4,000 a month. $4,000 a month. It's unsustainable. The average child care expense is $21,000. We can't continue down this path. In my district, we've actually had no MIH affordable housing built and so we need to change that and that is why I'm here today in solidarity with this coalition. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I just think the imperativeness is clear. The continuation of this plan is something that the chief housing officer, Jessica Katz, has rolled out and really spent so much time up in Albany. I'm sure if you'd Google her address, it probably will show you an Albany address. She's been up there so much trying to fight on this issue, knowing how imperative it is to do housing. It's a part of our overall plan, including NYCHA in our housing, including how do we renovate some of the units. It's just an overall plan. The missing piece is playing out right now. The table is set, it's now time for Albany to serve the right meal, and that right meal is a combined housing plan that we can do the building that's needed. Why don't we open up to a few questions? We do some on topics. But keep in mind it's hot out here, so I'm not going to be here a long time.

Question: If the legislature doesn't approve the 421-a extension, is there anything the city can do on a project by project on its own or are these projects just stalled for at least another year?

Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer: We have been and will continue to use every tool that we have at the city level, but we need either the extension or a replacement for 421-a. It's really that simple. Any other tool is imperfect. It doesn't get us there. It will waste too much time. And the crisis that we're facing is a real one and it has gone unabated. While we'll use every tool, we need a version of 421-a or the extension in order to keep projects like the one that we built on this site moving.

Question: Mr. Mayor, if you take a look at all the different parts of the housing bills that you're asking for, it's approximately 100,000 units of housing that would be able to be built. I'm wondering, if you got these 100,000 units of housing, what that would do in terms of helping the homeless get out of shelters and use their vouchers and also helping with the migrant problem that you seem to be drowning and the city is really drowning in?

Mayor Adams: Right, and I think as it was mentioned as Local 79 indicated that there is almost… It's a hypocrisy that in one end we are stating let’s place people into housing and then in another place, number one, don't build in my district or community. And number two, we are going to hold up the housing process and the legislation that's needed.

The first order of business that we must all define that we have a crisis. We have a housing crisis, and if we are not on that same page, there is not a luxury of let's wait and this is going to help us. In other plans we are doing some of the things that the chief housing officer rolled out of getting people into those available units. Some of the creative ways we are going to do it, but everyone must face the crises that we are facing. Every poll is showing that it's a top number one or number two issue, housing. Public safety and housing, public safety and housing and not getting those hundred thousand units is really going to impede our 500,000 moonshot that we're reaching for. We have to build housing. The supply is not meeting the demand.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: How are you?

Question: Good, how are you? Speaker Heastie said yesterday that basically there's not enough time, session’s supposed to end on June 8th. I'm wondering, do you blame Governor Hochul for not getting a lot of this done in the budget for taking it out, knowing that at the end of session, lawmakers kind of don't want to tackle something as complex as what you guys are asking for?

Mayor Adams: We're all in this together. We are responsible for producing a plan and that's what the team did. Lawmakers are now responsible for looking at it. The governor's responsible for signing. All of us are in this together. If it fails, we fail. And so pointing the fingers at that is not the way to point people in the right direction to get housing. And so we are in this together. This is New York. It’s a team sport. We've done our job, we presented the right legislation, and now we're hoping that the lawmakers use the next couple of days to really solidify what we presented.

Question: Do you plan on going to Albany?

Mayor Adams: Whatever needs to be done to get this done, I'm willing to do it.

Question: Could somebody just explain, briefly, the status of this particular site and did it qualify for 421-a and because of the expiration it stalled? But what exactly is just that happened?

[Crosstalk.]

Mayor Adams: I'm easy. I'm so low maintenance.

Question: Sir, you didn't answer the second part of my question, which is if you were to get this 100,000 units, what effect will it have on the twin crisis you have of the homeless in New York City and the migrants of New York City?

Mayor Adams: Well, at the end of the rainbow is a place to live. Whatever barrier is in that way is going to impact those who are looking for a place to live. Not only the migrants, not only the 40 something thousand people who are living in our shelters, but those who are coming home from college that are looking for places to stay, those who are moving through the city. Everyone on this side of the wall is going to be impacted by what is going to happen on the other side of the wall. Everyone will be impacted.

Question: [Inaudible] to tell the legislature that what they're doing is causing a logjam that's making it difficult for you to deal with these twin crises?

Mayor Adams: Well, number one, I think one of the most important things we can do is hire you as one of our lobbyists because we've been saying that over and over again. Sometimes people will listen to you, so we would love for you to come up and help elevate with Jessica and the team and Tiffany and the team of what we have been doing. But you're right, it is a logjam that we must make sure that it does not stop us from building units, putting shovels in the ground.

Thank you. Thank you all. We're going to do a few off topics.

Question: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: What's going on Dana?

Question: I'm curious, do you support Commissioner Molina's decision to stop sharing news of Rikers deaths with the press?

Mayor Adams: Listen, Commissioner Molina has been an amazing commissioner. When you look at the numbers, when you look at the number of violent actions on Rikers… I remember when I inherited this, when I pulled in Commissioner Molina, we were having a substantial number of people who were out sick, not coming to work. All of you were talking about it. You all writing these stories about the violence, writing these stories about all of these issues. Molina has turned it around and I support him to do the job I hired him to do. And whatever methods he needs to do it within the boundaries of not violating any laws or rights of people, I support.

Question: But I mean, I guess I'm wondering if you were bothered by the report that came out from the monitor that basically found the Department of Correction was just not sharing details about some of these really serious incidents.

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, I will be responding to that report. There are clear items that the commissioner is supposed to report on. They're very clear. And when I sat down and did my review, there was not one item on that list he was required to report on, not one. That was not put in the report. It was put just the opposite. And so I'm going to respond to what I believe is happening with how this oversight is taking place. He did not violate any of the rules on what he was supposed to report on. Not one item, not one. But if you would have read the report, you would have thought just the opposite. So I think there's something else going on with this relationship that we're having. And I have been extremely restraint, but that level of patience is running out.

Question: Mr. Mayor, I have a two part question. Yesterday, your budget director said that of the tranche federal money of $800 million, the city's only expecting to get between $30 to 40 million, which is really a drop in the budget. And last week he said that he thought that there was going to be at least another $1 billion in expenses because of the increase in migrants coming in. I wonder how you're going to address that in the budget negotiations with the City Council and whether this ongoing discussion about migrants could delay the budget because you need more money to be directed towards this problem.

Mayor Adams: That is the job of Jacques Jiha, who has done an amazing job navigating us out of this budget crisis. And I'm still hearing City Council members every day calling for more spending, more spending, spend more millions here, more millions here. I'm just not quite understanding. Do folks understand the basic level of accounting? You spend what you take in, and we have to balance a budget that dropped us with a $4.3 billion price tag out of nowhere. We only look to see $30 to 40 million from the $800 million that Senator Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and the other delegation leaders were able to get. And we have to also make sure we provide the services to the city. And so we have to balance the budget. That's what the law calls for. We're going to do that. It's going to be painful. I've said this over and over again. This is not new. We could just go back to the tapes. Every service in the city is going to be impacted by this asylum and migrant crisis that we are facing.

Question: Is this going to delay the budget though?

Mayor Adams: I hope not. I'm hoping that the City Council, that they realize the urgency that we can't make the mistake that we witnessed in Washington with the debt ceiling. It is imperative that we get a budget done. I know primary elections are coming up, but we cannot put politics in the way. We are ready. The negotiations should start now immediately because it takes time to do this. We are ready. We want to sit down with our council colleagues and hammer out a budget for the people of this city.

Question: Are you going to be asking for more money for the migrant for the…

Mayor Adams: From the feds and the state?

Question: Both. Are you going to be asking the feds for more money?

Mayor Adams: Yes.

Question: Or are you going to be asking the City Council to allocate more money to the problems you're facing with housing the migrants?

Mayor Adams: Well, the allocations of dollars, I think that hopefully they will look at some of their discretionary dollars to assist us. But the budget is determined by the executive branch and they vote on that budget. We're going to show them the money that we believe we need to allocate to deal with this problem.

Question: Off of Marcia’s question, did FEMA notify your administration that localities are only able to receive 10 percent of this next group of money? Because again, just as your budget director said and as you had said, in the previous months, the administration did anticipate a lion’s share of this federal pot of money. So what happened there and when did FEMA disclose this information to you guys?

Mayor Adams: Well, we didn't think the lion’s share was going to turn into a cub. The amount of money that we receive I think is embarrassing to what the city has been handling. And then to add to it, Bernadette, just think about this for a moment. The bordering states, some receive more than us. They're using the money to bus people to New York. I mean, that can't even be logical. And so I don't know where the rule has come about for this 10 percent. I'm not aware of that. And if they notified our budget director, that was not shared with me. So I don't know where the 10 percent rule comes from, but we need to reexamine how the money is used, which is very important, and we should have it proportionate to the number of migrants that are in the city that is being impacted. The blueprint for just about all of the bordering states is when migrants, asylum seekers come into their municipality, send them to New York, Chicago, Washington, and looks like Los Angeles is now on the list.

Question: Good to see you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Question: On the DC 37 flexible work agreement, I know you've had some strong words in the past about working from home, you said you can't stay home in your pajamas. Now you have this agreement with DC 37. What would you say is behind the evolution here?

Mayor Adams: Well, first of all, you can't stay home in your pajamas is not a strong statement. The health officials have shown loneliness is like smoking several packs of cigarettes a day. And I don't think many of us realize that some of the practices that we participated in after Covid, how it was impacted on our health issues, how it was impacted in so many ways. Look, I'm a seven day a week guy and I believe it's not for everyone. And I'm not so rigid that I'm not willing to sit down and figure out how do we reach the goals that we want.

And there's some clear criteria that we put in place that we announced our flexibility and work schedule for DC 37 members. It has to be a job that could be done remotely because as you know, not every job could be done remotely. And there's some other items that we pointed out that the team will really go over to safeguard this. But it has to be about how do we get our city up and operating? And I'm willing to sit down. Henry Garrido has been an amazing partner on so many levels and if he wants to sit down and figure out how do we deal with the employment part by bringing flexibility, I'm willing to do so. I'm just low maintenance, man. I'm the easiest person to deal with.

Original source can be found here.