 All right. I think it's time to get started. Good morning. I'm Dr. Ashwin Vasan. I'm the city health commissioner. It's such wonderful. It's really wonderful to be here with you today. Someone yesterday told me, Dr. Vasan, you're a thinker, not a feeler. We need a feeler. So I'm going to start with a little bit of feeling. You know, this is really a difficult moment in our city and in our nation. The effects of the last two and a half years are showing themselves. They're showing themselves in a host of intersecting crises. It's also showing it in our own thoughts, our own attitudes and behaviors. And I want to start by just encouraging everyone here to, anyone listening as well, just give yourself a little bit of time to breathe out, extend yourself and others a little bit of empathy and grace that we all deserve. The work we do is hard. The times we've been through and are going through are harder. But we'll get through it if we remember that we're all connected. We're connected as human beings and we're connected as people trying to make better lives for ourselves and our families. And of course, we're connected as New Yorkers. And so it's wonderful to be here today to emphasize the importance of connection and community in tackling our mental health and addiction crises. In May, I released a high level vision for the administration's mental health priorities. And in that vision, I spoke about the need to combat our second pandemic of mental illness by incorporating the tools of public health, prevention, a focus on the upstream social and economic determinants of mental health and well-being, as well as on high quality treatment and supports. And to maintain a focus on equity and to address the underlying policy and structural barriers that push people with serious mental illness and addiction issues into extreme social isolation. I focused on three pillars of recovery, healthcare, housing and community. The three legs of a stool that people need at a minimum to stand on their own and to navigate the ups and downs of living with a chronic mental illness or addiction issue. And while there's been a lot of talk about healthcare and the ways we can expand access to hospital beds and psychiatry, as well as community-based care, and while this administration continues to push the envelope in plans addressing supportive housing needs, we have not talked as much about that third leg of the stool, community and connection. This is a form of infrastructure. You're sitting in it now, right? In this case, social infrastructure, where connection happens and community is formed. The physical places or destinations, even transitional ones like this one, where people can go to connect, to break isolation and to begin the journey to long-term recovery and dealing with the ups and downs of navigating life with a serious mental illness or substance use disorder. Because as you all know, mental health is deeper than a pill or a person to talk to once in a while in a clinic or a white coat. It's about building community, connecting to people, especially to people who have been through what you're going through, and to resources. And it's about understanding the underlying social and economic and environmental factors that are impacting your health and mental health. It's about having the support so that you don't feel alone. And so that's why I'm so excited to be here today to open this support and connection center here in the Bronx. It's in the name. I'm proud because this is precisely the kind of place where New Yorkers can find connection, community support they need to begin the process of healing and recovery. Just like its counterpart site in East Harlem, the Bronx Support and Connection Center will serve to break the seemingly endless cycle of housing instability, contact with our law enforcement and legal systems and emergency room visits that is the reality for far too many New Yorkers with intersecting mental health crises and substance use issues. The Support and Connection Center will serve as an alternative and an opportunity to interrupt that cycle. First responders will be able to guide these New Yorkers to this center where they can receive immediate short term supports and have their basic needs met while working with staff to have a longer term plan in place. This includes simple things like a hot meal or a hot shower, a clean and safe place to sleep. But it also means immediate access to health care, mental health care and social work services. For far too long we've treated these New Yorkers as political or quality of life issues. Get them off the street or out of sight, out of mind or is the prevailing attitude towards so many of these neighbors of ours. But when community members visit or are brought to the Support and Connection Center here in the Bronx as in East Harlem they will find a healing, welcoming and dignified space in keeping with their humanity, a place that will lift them up and not tear them down. And we see the results of this at our sister site in East Harlem. Over half the community members who have visited that site and have been referred to that East Harlem site come back on their own to keep connecting into services showing that these supports are helpful and meaningful to the people who use them. The Support and Connection Centers are only one piece of a broader fabric of social infrastructure for mental health and addiction that our city is building. From programs to form longer term community like our mental health club houses and our recently launched Connect Program based in CBOs and FQHCs across the city to our harm reduction hubs, overdose prevention centers that give people who using drugs the opportunity to connect to services, to healthcare and addiction treatment to our immediate crisis supports like Be Heard and mobile crisis teams and of course to NYC Well. Our mental health helpline where any New Yorker can reach out for support. New York is working to address the complex mental health and substance use needs of all. And finally this is buttressed by our growing subway and street outreach team work which the mayor has bravely led on. That work is hard. It's complex work. It requires stubbornness and grit. Not expediency or looking for quick fixes. This is exactly the kind of place where we want New Yorkers brought out from underground or out of street encampments to be brought over time to begin their journey for recovery. So it's an honor to be here today to see another portion of that social infrastructure that fabric be woven in. It's a moment of hope for the present and for the future and another signal of more to come in this space. And so thank you so much and I'm going to turn it over to our mayor. We'll change the order. I'm going to turn it over to Mitchell Netburn, CEO of Samaritan Datop Village and our partner in this space. Thank you so much. Thank you commissioner. Good morning and thank you all for joining us this afternoon. I'm Mitchell Netburn the president and CEO of Samaritan Datop Village. Before I begin I'd like to thank our special guest the mayor of the city of New York, Eric Adams. I think you know his presence here shows his unwavering commitment to meet unmet needs of fellow New Yorkers. Commissioner Vasan and the staff of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene including acting commissioner executive deputy commissioner Michael McCray. We have other elected officials. State Senator Bailey is with us. Bronx Borough president Vanessa Gibson and city council member Philly's. We also have representatives. This is talking about connection and teamwork. This is a lot of people come together to make this a reality and a success. The New York City Police Department including Chief Tobin, New York City Fire Department, Mayor's Office of Community Health including Jason Hansman and Health and Hospitals. I'd especially like to thank the funders of the Bronx Support and Connection Center the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene who's been an incredible partner with us throughout this process and showing incredible vision to create these centers as well as the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports and the New York State Office of Mental Health. This center is really an incredible example of cooperation at the highest levels between the state and the city of New York and Samaritan Datavillage is proud to be their partner. Here today are also our chief program and legal officer Alicia McFarland our vice president of health services and community based programs Charles Madre who's been working on this literally since the beginning. We have Dr. Bunt our medical director Eric Moore our program director and Nikita Nano director of nursing. Thank you all and our incredible staff at Samaritan Datavillage to make this center a reality. One last thanks to the members of the board of directors of Samaritan Datavillage who are always so supportive whenever we embark on new and innovative projects to help those in needs. Sometimes new things comes with risk and our board is never adverse to do that after a careful consideration. Today's grand opening represents an important collaboration between our partners from the city and state to address an important and largely unmet health issue in New York City. This has also been an incredible opportunity for Samaritan Datavillage while we are one of the largest non-profit health and human service agencies in the state of New York with programs in ten counties including all five boroughs of New York City. We are thrilled to be opening this innovative 24-7 behavioral health services program as we are always striving to meet the unmet needs of our fellow vulnerable New Yorkers. This center is really part of a broader movement to stop penalizing or criminalizing behavioral health issues which very often negatively impact communities of color. Instead of spending time on the streets or in emergency rooms and jail cells individuals with substance use or mental health disorder issues will be able for the first time to receive on demand comprehensive, compassionate and specialized care to address their needs all under one roof. To say so myself it's a beautiful roof and a beautiful inviting space. At the Bronx Support and Connection Center we will work as a team to address each guest immediate needs and I didn't misspeak we are calling them guests it gives a sense of and I think as the commission said you know people coming back you know often that's how we're approaching it. Whether that be substance use, mental health or combination of both and help them take the next step to health and wellness. For many individuals this will be their first time receiving a full complement of services. They will learn about resources and programs they may never have known about but we will not stop there. We will come access those services so they can get back on their feet as quickly as possible that is the real goal of this center. Lastly I want to highlight another special aspect of this center and that is the integration of certified peer specialists into our staff. I believe several of them are in the room behind us. Peer specialists have lived with addiction and mental health issues and now after receiving treatment they are not only fully living their lives but giving back their lives. We have walked in our guest's shoes and will be an invaluable resource to our guests. For over 60 years Samaritan data village has been offering proven programs that empowers New Yorkers to live healthy and productive lives. The Bronx support and connection center is a natural extension of our mission and we are incredibly grateful to the mayor and the city and state of New York for partnering with us to offer this crucial resource Thank you and if I can I have amazing partners here in the Bronx. We spent so much time here in the Bronx as we committed to and promise during our campaign season and I just want to take a step back and turn it over to an amazing Board President, Vanessa Gibson and then our Senator Jamal Bailey Good morning everyone. It is an honor and a privilege to be here as we officially open the Bronx's support and connection center which is operated by our community partners at Samaritan data village I am very grateful to be here because today we take a step forward in addressing the city's approach to dealing with mental health and the crisis that we have experienced across the city of New York recognizing that the impacts of COVID-19 has had a real impact on us here in the Bronx but we know that mental health is a crisis that we must tackle head on from a holistic approach and what I appreciate about this support and connection center modeled off of the center in El Barrio is that it provides holistic treatment, wraparound services and really connects clients and guests to care. Many of the guests that we will serve here at this center have never had wraparound and comprehensive services, access to primary care, mental health, behavioral health and really making sure that we cater to the needs that they rightfully deserve. This place is going to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for so many guests that we will see. The Be Heard initiative that rolled out last year started in five precincts and because of Mayor Eric Adams is now in eleven precincts predominantly in northern Manhattan and in the Bronx. The 4-0 precinct, the 4-2 precinct, the 4-4 precinct and right here in the 4-7. So the Be Heard teams that we've talked extensively about are a combination of EMTs, paramedics and medical professionals that are responding to 9-1-1 medical calls. Oftentimes has been the case when 9-1-1 is called for medical emergency services. The police officers have always responded but we know that we have to have medical professionals intervene. So the Be Heard teams are a comprehensive team of medical professionals that are intervening in an appropriate and responsible way. And this collaboration with the NYPD, with the Department of Health, with Samaritan Day Talk, with the Mayor's office, with all of our critical partners as we serve. It is going to give them hope when they have felt hopeless. It is going to strengthen them when many of them have felt weak because many of these situations we understand in violently and we're also going to reduce unnecessary and expensive hospitalizations. I have to emphasize that this is something that is community centered, community driven in a health centered way right in our community where clients and guests can be served. So I want to say thank you to our Mayor, to our Health Commissioner. I want to say thank you to each and everyone of our partners for recognizing that it is our job to find a creative balance in this work to deal with mental health head on and deal with many individuals that live with substance abuse each and every day. We cannot and will not turn our backs on the most vulnerable guests and clients in this city that need help. And here in the Bronx not only do we welcome this support and connection center but we look forward to working with all of you as you seek to save lives every single day. So I want to say congratulations, thank you Mayor. The Mayor is always in the Bronx and we are grateful for that because we need his support. We are a borough that has not often been prioritized but when you look at efforts like this it matters. It matters to us that we all work, engage with us and also provide the resources that our borough needs. So I want to thank our partners at the NYPD certainly the 4-7 Precent which is going to play a critical role in this work and once again thank you to Samaritan Datop Village for your support and for your commitment. Thank you Mr. Mayor in sports the adage is often said that the best ability is availability and Mr. Mayor you have more than just availability to show yourself to truly be a friend to the Bronx and your consistent and persistent being here. So thank you. Getting stuff done is not just a campaign slogan in the Adams Administration it is something that speaks to the heart of every New Yorker and when I walk through this facility one word came to mind dignity. This is not a sterile location. This is not something that seems institutional. This is not a location that makes someone recalculate towards treatment. In fact it seems the opposite. It is welcoming. It makes someone want to interact with the peer counselor interact with the individuals from Samaritan Datop interact with their community so that they can become that next peer counselor to come out because as they always said each one teach one and we can always reach one. The only way that we're going to get out of this these multiple pandemics is together a house is only as good as a structural wall and if that structural wall isn't strong the house will fall when you have a mayor who cares and you have a health commissioner who cares we have a borough president who cares and we have providers who care not only will that house not fall it will be built stronger and better and that's what we need in this day and time as we redefine what health care looks like the social determinants of health and we look at mental health and substance use disorder and that bend diagram in between the word again is dignity making sure that people understand that we understand them that we appreciate them and that we love them let's not be afraid to utilize the word love love is a very strong word and we have to make sure that we do it more in terms of community and compassion and I'm grateful for this administration for doing this and sometimes people say facilities like this and they say not in my backyard but I say not in my backyard this is my district and I am happy to have something like this in my district because what's going to happen is the success stories that will come out of this not may not possibly the success stories that will come out of this I'm going to be able to point to this and say the NYPD the Department of Health Samaritan Data the commissioner the mayor the borough president myself and the council member and the assembly member the next CEO Samaritan Data came out of here the next CEO the next NYPD sergeant might have come out of here we need opportunity for our New Yorkers and I'm grateful for this administration for continuously providing opportunity I'm excited about this thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity it's clearly important to hear from all of our partners and you know I really want to thank Chief Tobin into agency operations for the NYPD for the job that you're doing I see you have some of your sergeants and officers that are here we unfairly treated the New York City Police Department in this city in so many ways we called on them to do everything we called on them when someone had a gun we called on them when someone had a cat up the tree we called on them when someone was going through a mental health crisis we called on them for everything and didn't realize that we had other agencies that we should have coordinated with that can properly do the function that we were calling on the police department to do that's what we analyze we analyze what can we take off the plates of the men and women who are on the front line of fight and violence and one area that we zeroed in on was mental health illnesses it was an indictment on our entire system and city that 48% of those inmates at Rikers Island had mental health illnesses. 48% our answer to those who were seeking help was to lock them up and place them on Rikers Island that is the system that we had and so when Dr. Fassan came in with his knowledge and understanding of if you create the right environment then you will borrow from Mel Gibson to build of dreams believe it was if you build it they would come and so we built it and they going to come they going to come and they going to walk through the meditation room they going to come and have a place where they can get their medication if needed they going to come and get three meals a shower a place to sleep just to deescalate your crisis instead of having to call the police to respond and that blue uniform sometimes aggravate the situation instead of deescalate the situation so this is an amazing partnership and I think Senator Bailey touched on something why is it a challenge to house something in the community a person that's dealing with a mental health crisis that's your brother your sister your aunt your mother that comes from your block and when you say don't build it here then you're saying don't give people the care we are not going to allow that to happen and this is an amazing opportunity and the increase and expansion that we put in place to make sure that we create more facilities and taking this forward thinking approach to mental health crisis reimagining and this is bold and let me tell you something the stuff we are doing you have to ask yourself why are you placing yourself in arms why are you like this we could do something politically correct we could ignore the encampments on the subway system we could say we're not going to engage people and just walk by and it doesn't exist because the first week we only had 22 people that took us up on our offer now we took 1700 people of the subway system because we engaged them let's continue to allow police to respond to calls of mental health illnesses and continue to fill rikers with those with mental health crises but we said no we're going to double the size of these important initiatives of support and connection these are bold steps we're taking with pre-existing problems and then you stop bottlenecking the emergency rooms it is more costly to wait for someone not getting their proper medication not getting the proper health care they need allowing their chronic disease to go into a crisis mode and then they go to the emergency room and use it as their primary care that is costing taxpayers dollars but when you go upstream you can prevent it from happening you're giving folks the counseling they need you're giving them the resources they need and a long term medical and mental care that they deserve and that's what we're getting right here in this location we're going to break the links that mental health and public safety are the same things they are not the answer to mental health crisis is not a public safety response it is a health response and changing that dynamic is crucial mental health crisis is not a crime it's a crime not to give people the services they need when they're going through a mental health crisis we are stopping the criminality of people who are dealing with mental health crisis in our city so we're not going to put those who are already suffering and additional suffering in a crisis mode that's the goal of this partnership that we have developed and the optimum term is dignity if you walk through this place those of you who are staffers here I want to thank you you can feel the dignity in this place you can feel that this is an inviting place to deal with someone when they're experiencing a crisis and so the officers in the 47th preset and the B herd teams we want to thank you for your support you can bring people here who are in crisis and give them the help that they deserve and we want to also let the behavior health emergency assistant response division the acronym B herd it's a pilot project that was launched in the spring of last year under our administration we have more than doubled B herd pilot area and we're not just talking about it we're putting the money there $55 million investment this is a real dollar amount we're attaching to this and each dollar will be spent on treating mental health crises compassionately it's going to save us thousands of dollars in the process and not to mention it's going to save the heartaches to the family members who are seeking help you hit over and over again crime takes place with someone in mental health illness you hit a family member stated we try to reach out and get them help and we couldn't find a place to get them help it's unimaginable when you see your person your family member when declining to the point that they need help and you can't find that help for them to stop them to harm in someone else that's what our goal is it's an upstream way of dealing with a downstream crisis and so I'm proud to be here I'm proud of our partners that have come together and stated that we can do something different and save the lives of people who are going through a difficult moment and Dr. Fassan was clear COVID has traumatized all of us all of us all of us know someone that is in our life that is experiencing something post COVID and we have to have a post COVID response and this health commissioner has really has he has taken a holistic approach not just checking the boxes not just going through the motion has been thoughtful on how do we handle COVID and sometimes it's a retrospective appreciation you look back and say that this was the right person at the right time to navigate our cities our city out of this difficult moment I'm proud that he's part of our team I'm proud of his team of you know we are going to step up to the challenge that's facing us and we're going to make sure that all of us as New Yorkers come out of it together thank you very much thank you any questions to Dr. Fassan any on topic questions can you talk a little bit about why here in this particular community in the Bronx are there particular considerations here is it just that the resources were here already what led you to this well Dr. Fassan you could deal into that but I would say this I told both the Vice President Gibson Senator Bailey throughout my time in the Bronx when I was campaigning and speaking of Ruben Diaz Jr. who started to move the Bronx in the right direction the Bronx has historically been denied over and over and over again and I made a commitment that we were going to spend time here in the Bronx we're going to look at some of the issues that are important and we had a list of things that were crucial and this was on the list having adequate mental health treatment facilities we were in the Bronx over the weekend for high speed broadband Wi-Fi we were in the Bronx for some of youth programs in our schools we have been in the Bronx over and over again because if you lift the Bronx you're going to lift the entire city the Bronx has been denied and this is not going to be administration as the nine and this is one of the things that they talked about Dr. Fassan yeah it's pretty simple why we came here because the South Bronx and the Bronx in general has one of the highest rates of psychiatric hospitalizations in the city it also has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the city it has one of the highest rates of 911 calls for mental health crises and emotionally disturbed people in the city and so along with our East Harlem Center we wanted to go where the need was the greatest as a start but as we build this out we want to see this all across the five boroughs of course highest number of traffic issues fatalities and others highest number of students one of the highest numbers of students that are not reaching proficiency all of those negatives all of those negatives are just theaters and you know these electives have been saying we need help but you know it's just been falling on deaf ears and we just not going to do that Bobby do you have an on-topic question? Can I ask one of you guys to talk more about how people end up here I mean obviously there's walk-ins but do the Be Herd teams just refer people or do they actually physically bring them here? Does EMS bring? and also services? How does that work? So it's a great question as we're starting out the gate it's first responders of different kinds EMS, Be Herd teams bringing people in people can also walk in off the street of their own volition we'd like to see that expand to the subway outreach teams and so forth as that program matures ultimately we want to take a bunch of we want to take people who are directly referred and brought here as an alternative to other carceral or other destinations but we also want people to feel like they can just walk through the front door and get help when they need it and so that's really the referral pathway that we're looking for, referral pathways A crisis doesn't impact you on an appointment you know crises don't wait and say listen I want to impact you on Monday at 3 o'clock no it hits you and you must be able to have a place to go to when a crisis hits you and so the referral is important as Dr. Fassad and I were walking through here we're constantly modifying Dr. Fassad said listen this may be something we could do with our subway safety plan we're in this constant state of how do we build a better mouse trap that is where we are and when you at that place you know sometimes people you know critique what you're doing but we're on the front line and you know we are this administration is immune to being critiqued we just said listen that's just a lot of noise we know we're going to do the best for the city and so we're going to continue to share it and I'm happy the boldness of you know the leadership I have a question about the initial police response that would lead someone here you know we had the man in Queens over the weekend who had a history of mental health issues who ended up getting shot by the police and you Mr. Mayor described him as a bad guy so where do we draw the line between someone who can come here versus someone who is deemed too dangerous to come here even if they do have a history of mental health problems Dr. Fassad I want to talk about that the police shooting in Queens when you hear the tape clearly you're dealing with someone that had a mental health issue in my belief and I'm not a medical professional and that mental health issue had him as being a bad guy he wanted to do something bad he wanted to do something harmful what we must do when people are in that state and go from a law-abiding person to a bad guy we must be there before they get there and we must respond when they are there you cannot tell they're responding to someone that had a gun discharged a gun and made it clear on what his action was going to do those officers I really take my hat off to them for walking into harm's way that they knew was they was about to walk into in a dangerous situation like that is it still possible to come at them with this kind of mental health first response I'm going to respond from a law enforcement that we let Dr. Fassad respond I am not going to have city workers going to an environment that we know is going to possess imminent danger if based on that information that came up through that 9-11 I got to take my hat off to the operators based on that information it would be irresponsible for us to send someone there that is not properly trained to deal with imminent violence imminent violence we're not going to send civilians into harm's way I think your question highlights the challenges we face in our emergency response system with 9-11 much in the way that the mayor talked about asking police to do a whole host of things we're asking 9-11 to be the single dispatch for a whole host of things and so not only does this city have NYC well but this city will be a leader on the implementation of 9-8-8 the federal crisis response hotline we want New Yorkers and Americans to know that starting soon they can call 9-8-8 get crisis response services get the kind of health first approaches that we're talking about here and also get access to all the suite of services offered through NYC well today they can call NYC well they can call 9-8-8 eventually over time we'd like that to be a single number now the other piece here is we're often talking about these places this social infrastructure as recipients of people but it's also a preventive and that's the part that we don't talk enough about it's the cyclical nature of these encounters between police law enforcement the justice system homelessness services emergency rooms that we're trying to interrupt and to break that cycle with this as not just a destination for people in a place you can send folks but it's a place that will prevent the next crisis and so the more of this that we have the fewer crises we'll have Dr. Bison you mentioned that there's a counterpart site in East Harlem just to clarify are these the only two functioning sites of this kind as of now and if so what are the plans to expand them in future these are the only two functioning sites as of right now the site in East Harlem opened at the beginning of COVID as you can imagine referrals were challenging but getting that site up and going was challenging it's now up and going and we're collecting data and learning about it between that data and these data here we'll have a better understanding of its effectiveness our ability to grow it and then of course get additional resources to expand it we've been talking actively with our partners at the state for those resources as well and I know the federal government is also talking about expanding mental health block grant funding for programs just like this so we're starting here we'll collect the data we'll evaluate it and then move on thank you, thank you, thank you there was an article reported today in Politico about an undisclosed location which I guess is not undisclosed anymore rising building downtown that you use as sort of a secondary workspace can you talk about why the need to have this other workspace what you you know what you do there that you can't do at City Hall? You know I'm sorry that you know we're getting the spike in COVID because I have to wear my mask and I can't give you my signature smile right now I mean how do you have a city location as an undisclosed location I mean this just doesn't make any sense some of this stuff we have to ask ourselves are we just being creative here this is city location I move around to different city office spaces sometimes I need to do a zoom and I can't get back to City Hall right away so I will stop someplace to go sometimes I want to do a meeting and in that area could be an elderly across the street in the nitra and she can't come all the way to City Hall this is a city building all city buildings are places OEM Office of Emergency Management they have an office there for me with a shower in case there's an emergency every space in the city is part of what I utilize to assist the city so if someone feels as though there's a location that staff but employees that couldn't fit in this little small space in City Hall which they would rather be in because everybody likes being in City Hall that we now have this secret undisclosed location that's just not making any sense I've been in that building three times in the last it couldn't have been more than four because if I say three y'all going to do the math and say oh you said another time so I've been there to look at this space make sure it was safe for my team that's there that's a sign there so they could be all in one place it was a smart way of using government resources my team there is doing real work I'm not there I'm not City Hall you know so I'm not sure with this undisclosed location you know what I figured out I figured out whenever you have Eric Adams name in the story you get a lot of clicks so people just find ways hey he ate fish clicks hey he did this I'm just a popular guy to write about you know what I'm saying so I got it so I got to go with it you know we got this secret location it's not secret location it is a space that we utilize to do work how's it different from the work that's done at City Hall it's so close when we go into City Hall I'm going to walk you through the space where I am located I don't know if you've been there before but we're going to break the rules and I'm going to bring you into the space it's a small space and my scheduling team my other team they can't fit into that small space so we have we have City Hall staff and all of these different locations many of them that is one of the locations and so I'm just really curious on why it's an undisclosed location because it's not you have to imagine frustration is boiling over for folks that are trying to get a vaccine the website crashed for I believe the third time yesterday we had more vaccine appointments coming out we had a previous infrastructure to give vaccines out to millions of people but this infrastructure seems to not be functioning as well as it should what can you tell these folks that are just at their wits end trying to get a vaccine we apologize for the problems yesterday we apologize for the problems last week shouldn't happen take responsibility for it we're building more stable vaccine appointment infrastructure and we'll be announcing developments in the coming days about how New Yorkers can make appointments over a longer period of time as you know that's all a function of the amount of vaccine that we have so I don't want to detract too much from the fact that New York has led on this issue it's because of New York City that we're even having this conversation about a national vaccination strategy there was nothing until we did our pilot with Chelsea in June there wasn't a plan in place and so we pushed that conversation forward but we own it you know those mistakes shouldn't happen and so we're working to correct those and do better for New Yorkers in the future when you had that previous infrastructure why wasn't that used versus this new unproven infrastructure that clearly is not working it's a different endeavor that's a mass vaccination program citywide which has a massive infrastructure associated with it and it's doing just about all it can to handle all the vaccination sites around the city the VAX for NYC app and site and we need we're building a similar thing but it required more space more infrastructure and a separate build at this time and so we're working closely with our partners at the Matt Fraser and the Chief Technology Officer's office and do it to build that out as we speak with regard to the offices at 375 Pearl Street did you ever have those offices renovated for your use we renovated what take down walls build our spaces we built more cubicles we built more cubicles what do we do you move into a space you modify to fit the way it was laid out that there were very few cubicle spaces for people to sit in it was a huge conference room we said we don't need this fancy conference room we need desks for people to do real work so we build out more cubicle spaces for employees to have more desks it was a brilliant smart idea and it just continues to show the brilliance of my administration okay thank you