 Good morning everyone the school bells are ringing thank you good morning and it's a proud day and a long day coming for the last six decades this highway the cross Bronx expressway has been both a symbol and an everyday source of life threatening discriminatory infrastructure when built it displaced over 40,000 residents ripping apart communities neighborhoods and families. This initial travesty has reverberated through generations ever since the Bronx lost its unity spiraling into economic decline property owner flight social isolation and instability but no more. And this morning I'd like to introduce our mayor Mayor Adams who outlined the promise that the recent federal grant that we have received brings to the Bronx community. Thank you thank you so much deputy mayor and you know the entire Bronx delegation that is behind me we we need to applaud them for just their focus on this issue that has impacted the Bronx for so many years. And we want to thank them in general but the cross Bronx travels throughout the entire borough of the Bronx and so having the Bronx borough president Vanessa Gibson here understanding how important this study is as we move in a direction of addressing historical problem for many years and I just want to thank her for understanding the full scope of this. But I cannot thank Congressman Richie Torres enough of because oftentimes we want innovation outside of the communities that are impacted Congressman Torres immediately did an examination as we talked about how we were going to improve the environment and other parts of the city. He says hold on here. What about the Bronx. What are we going to do to deal with the long standing problem and when you elect someone to go to Washington DC to fight on your behalf. They should never forget the local issues that are impacting their communities and so kudos to you Congressman for doing your job of highlighted the importance of the cross Bronx expressway and what it has done to this community for so many so many years. And Deputy Mayor is right. Deputy Mayor Josie is pointing out of the imperativeness that we are facing with the cross Bronx express expressway really the best time to deal with the problem is before it happens. That is what Bronx residents tried to do. They fought against the cross Bronx when it was being planned when it was being built and even to the point when it was completed. They knew it was wrong then and we know it is wrong now. They tried hard. No one would listen and their fight was in vain that some people would fail. But right now those calls for assistance are being heard here today. We are going to push back on what Rob is. We are going to push back on what Rob is. Moses did. He got his way then but he is not getting his way now as we fixed a scar that became a permanent fixture on the face of the cross Bronx expressway. It was a combination of residents and tearing apart a vibrant community. It was one of the many expressways constructed through a combination of racism and a brutal lack of concern. They divided the Bronx black and brown and immigrant communities across the city these various expressways that ripped apart our communities. The construction of the cross Bronx turned bustling streets into ghost towns. It was not like there was not a vibrant community prior to the building of the cross Bronx. What it did it gutted and devastated those communities. One writer said it looked like London after it was bombed by the first war. Fifty years after the cross Bronx was finished we see the resiliency of this great borough. Never count the Bronx out and we are here to ensure the fight continues. We see these neighborhoods are vibrant again. The energy again. The electors that are here are bringing commerce here. Bringing opportunities here. And we have to understand the tenacity of the advocates of yesterday have met the tenacity of the advocates of today and in the future. They're fighting to end the pollution that clouds the air. If you just look at these windows and you see the smog on these windows it's the reflections of what these scholars that sit in the back where they breathe all the time. And every time I go to these communities where they're negatively impacted by policies you ask the question how many are dealing with asthma. We should not have a school system where every child has with their pen, paper and books they have an asthma pump. That is unacceptable but that's the reality in many of these communities of color. We have waste treatment plants, garbage plants and express waste close to their schools. These are all children and their lungs should not be filled with toxic fumes every day. It's why the South Bronx residents have the highest risk of asthma in the entire country. The highest risk in the entire country. Right here in the Bronx. You listen to the noise out there. It's nonstop. It's repeated. The horns, the trucks, the sirens. Noise pollution makes it hard to sleep and increase the risk of chronic disease. It all is tied together when you look at the high numbers in the Bronx. The contributor is so many things but it's clearly the thing that's right here across from this school and that's the cross Bronx express rate. The cross Bronx doesn't work for the Bronx residents but I want to be clear. It does not only impact the Bronx residents, it impacts our entire city. It doesn't work for drivers for far too long. It has been nicknamed America's parking lot because it sits for a long period of time allowing the pollutants to go into the air in this community. This community-faced congestion commutes on one of the most dangerous roads in the nation. One of the most dangerous roads in the nation. And the cross Bronx clearly does not work for the environment. Contributions to climate change and citywide pollution for all New Yorkers. And so I wish we could go back in time to stop the cross Bronx when it was built but the second best time to fight a wrong is today. And that today is right in front of us. So I am honored to join our partners here in the Bronx as well as Congressman Torres to launch this historic study to improve the cross Bronx express rate. Thanks to his fight we have a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and today we're beginning a process of reimagining the entire cross Bronx corridor. From the Holland River to the Hutchison River Parkway this process is about more than just physical infrastructure. It's about envisioning equitable, prosperous, healthy and safe Bronx for generations to come. We look at all possible ways including capping to replace pollution and noise to improve safety and environmental sustainability and add more green space something that Bronx residents have been calling for within the infrastructure of the borough. All which will improve the quality of life across the borough. And so I want to thank our state and federal partners. Can I thank Governor Huckle enough in his continuation of understanding how important it is to ensure that New York City received the resources they need. And I want to thank our state and federal partners, New York City Department of City Planning, Department of Transportation. Donis Rodriguez is here with us here to Commissioner as well as community members like Nilka Martel. Every day energetic people, whoever says that you can't fight government, she showed us that you can kick government's ass and you can get stuff done in the process. And I think that energy, I think that fighter that we have and she is representative of so many other communities that are standing up and fighting on behalf of their community. The participation in the process is essential. And I invite all of you, your neighbors, your residents, your business leaders, your community organizations, all to be engaged in this process. Don't be a detact spectator in this full contact sport called life, but let's sit down at the table and come up with real solutions. Let's disagree without being disagreeable. Let's have a focus on how do we come to a completion, not how do we remain in a paralysis of analysis and confusion. While Robin Moses may have succeeded in building this role, the highway will never defeat the spirit of the Bronx. Together, we will make the Bronx a place that we can be proud of. And this important study is a starting process of undoing the wrong that has permeated this community for far too long. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. Thank you. And as our Mayor mentioned, this was a group effort. I want to call out and give recognition to a few of our electeds that have joined us this morning or are integral to this coming, getting to this day. Representative Adriano Espayot, Council Member Amanda Farias, Representative Richie Torres, Assembly Member Kenny Burgos, Assembly Member Udelca Tapia, Council Member Oswald Files, Council Member Marjorie Velazquez, Borough President Vanessa Gibson, our State Commissioner for Transportation Marie-Therese Dominguez, Nilka Martel. Thank you very much, Council Member Rafael Salamanca, State Senator Jose Serena, and Council Member Perina Sanchez. Thank you all very much because when communities are divided, degraded, and intentionally polluted, we as a society lose. We as a city lose. We lose generations who are simply unable to contribute to our collective growth, our amazing city. Simply because they are suffering every day under the outsized burdens of discriminatory infrastructure. But today marks the first step towards righting that wrong. The Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and our tireless federal electeds, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Congressman Espayot and Torres, and all of our state and city electeds have created a pathway for funding, specifically for the important work of reconnecting communities. And ironically yesterday, December 18th, was Robert Moses' birthday, and I could think of no better way to spite celebrate than today's announcement, the plan to reconnect communities torn apart by his very own cross-bronx expressway. In addition to the federal dollars equally, if not more important, to get us to today is the sheer strength and power and determination of the Bronx community who never ever gave up. Decades ago, your voices were literally bulldozed over and your opposition silenced. And today, thanks to your undying and loud voices, you are the builders. Thank you for your fortitude and advocacy. You carry our city forward. And I'd like to now turn it over to another very strong and powerful voice in this conversation. Councilmember, sorry, Congressmember and former Councilmember Richie Torres. Before I offer my own comments, I want to read the following statement on behalf of the Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer. Dear friends, I'm sorry I cannot attend this announcement in person due to my obligations in Washington, but I'm with you in spirit. For too long, the people of the Bronx have borne the brunt of the consequences of the cross-bronx expressway, which literally splits neighborhoods in half and left the legacy of pollution and high asthma rates. That's why I'm proud to announce this $2 million federal raise grant to fund the community-based study to determine the best solutions and redesign the cross-bronx sustainably and equitably. I personally advocated with my partner, Representative Richie Torres, to Secretary Buttigieg, to deliver this federal grant. And in the bipartisan infrastructure and jobs law, we secured $1 billion in a reconnecting communities fund, as well as $3.2 billion for the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program in the Inflation Reduction Act, which can be used in the future construction phases of the project. This is a proud day for all the advocates who helped make this happen. Sincerely, Senator Chuck Schumer. First, I just want to thank my friend, our mayor, Eric Adams. My friend, Nelka Pratel, is the head of an organization known as Loving the Bronx, and never have we had a mayor who has shown as much love to the Bronx, who has had as much of a passion for public health as Eric Adams. In fact, he is in the Bronx so often I'm beginning to question whether he's a Bronxite. So, Mr. Mayor, we need you to come out of the closet and come out as a block. But we know that the mayor has been on a personal mission to empower every single New Yorker to live better and longer, healthier and happier lives. And he knows that health is not only about the individual choices we make, but also the institutional structures in which we live, which includes the Cross-Bronx Expressway. I want to thank my greatest partner in the Bronx. We have no greater champion of the Bronx than our Bronx Borough President, Vanessa Gibson. And I often say that Amazon has Alexa, but the Bronx has Vanessa. And finally, you know, we in the federal government are only as effective, but I'm a comedian on the side, by the way, but we're only as effective as our partners at the state and local level. You know, we appropriate the fines at the federal level, but we rely on our state senators, our state assembly people, and of course our New York City Council members the greatest to ensure that those dollars are efficiently spent. In April of 2021, I stood with Nelka Martel, the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and environmental advocates from the Bronx to present a vision for capping the Cross-Bronx Expressway. And installing electrostatic filters that would prevent air pollutants from recirculating in the air. I then partnered with Senator Chuck Schumer to secure millions of dollars for a feasibility study, and I want to thank Congressman Esbioff for his support. And now the Adams Administration and New York City DOT have taken the lead in administering the grant. When we first presented the proposal, it was widely received with skepticism. But when you have the support of the majority leader, when you have the support of the governor and New York State DOT, and when you have the buy-in and the resources of the mayor and New York City, it expands the realm of what is politically possible. We are the greatest city in the world because we not only know how to dream, but we can deliver. Now, William Faulkner once said that the past is not dead, it's not even past. And nowhere do those words hold more true than here in the South Bronx, which continues to be haunted by the ghost of Robert Moses, whose physical legacy includes the Cross-Bronx Expressway. The Cross-Bronx is both literally and metaphorically a structure of racism. It has left behind decades of disinvestment and displacement and environmental degradation. Every day, to and from the Hunts Point Market, there are about 15,000 diesel truck trips. Those diesel trucks, as well as tens of thousands of more, create massive congestion on the Cross-Bronx that unleash massive quantities of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, especially 2.5 particulate matter air pollution. And particulate matter air pollution is so small that it can easily invade the lungs of those who live nearby. So if you're a child who lives near the Cross-Bronx, or if you attend school near the Cross-Bronx, you are breathing in through no faults of your own, air pollutants that cause you to have respiratory diseases like asthma. It is no accident that the South Bronx has the highest rate of asthma hospitalization in the country. According to the World Health Organization, more than 7 million people a year die from air pollution. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the communities with the highest rates of air pollution like the Bronx had the highest risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. And notice during the peak of the pandemic, when we were all sheltering in place and staying at home, we actually saw a decline in asthma hospitalization, which indicates that the greatest factor in causing asthma is not only the indoor environment, it's the outdoor environment. And when it comes to the outdoor environment, the 800-pound gorilla in the room is the Cross-Bronx Expressway. And so I would submit to you there is no initiative that we could pursue that would do more to improve the public health of the Bronx, that would do more to improve the air quality and life expectancy of the Bronx than the transformation of the Cross-Bronx Expressway. The difference in life expectancy between the South Bronx and the Upper East Side could be as much as 10 years, and we have a historic opportunity to close that life expectancy gap. But again, this would not have been possible without our Mayor, our honorary Bronxite, Eric Adams. So thank you. Thank you, Congressman Torres. Next we'll hear from Congressman Espaillat. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for being here. We claim him in the Bronx and in Manhattan. Yeah, well, I want to congratulate Richie Torres. He really has taken a strong lead on this initiative. Him and I share the Cross-Bronx Expressway, although I'll be honest, he has the vast majority of it, and I always tell everyone in Washington that I represent the largest parking lot in the country. It's called the Cross-Bronx Expressway. And if you want to take a look at what it's doing to children's lungs, just take a look at the bridge apartment in the Manhattan side and take a look at the facade that they hover over the Cross-Bronx. Actually, that's called the Trans-Manhattan Expressway. That's a piece of the Cross-Bronx that's called the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, and they have the four towers there, the hybrid apartments. And if you take a look at the facade of those buildings, you'll see what's happening to our lungs. It's not a pretty sight. And so this is not just an environmental project. This is not just a beautification and a green project. This is also a racial equity project, because the Cross-Bronx was severed in half into the South Bronx and the North Bronx, and with all the connotations that historically marked those neighborhoods. And sort of like to bridge it now to connect it really is also a racial equity initiative that I think will send messages not just in New York City but across the country. It's important that we look at infrastructure. We pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. That's a lot of money, a trillion dollars with a capital T. That may be a bigger investment than Eisenhower made in the network of highways across the country. And so let's do it right. Let's do it right. Let's remediate some of the issues and adapt and some of the issues that are prevalent and visible to all of us. I was at the COP 27 in Egypt this past month and adaptation, right? Adaptation, it's one of the biggest challenges for countries around the world. How do you remediate and adapt new structures that will then deal with environmental injustice, right? And there's in the Inflation Reduction Act, there's $62 billion for environmental justice initiatives. And so we have the money there to do things like this. And this is a study that will show us the way on how to go about and remediate and adapt new practices that will connect the Bronx and make it accessible to people all over the country. Thank you so much, Richie. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Congressman, and thank you for your advocacy for dollars, for projects all across New York City to reconnect communities. It's my pleasure to introduce a friend, a colleague, and someone who's deeply entrenched and works very closely with New York City across our boroughs on highway projects, not just rebuilding them, but thinking about how we can make them pathways for communities instead of scars on communities. So let me bring you the Commissioner of New York State, DOT, Marie-Therese Dominguez. Thank you. All right. Good morning, everybody. Morning. All right. So it's great to be in the Bronx. On behalf of Governor Huckle, I really want to thank you, Mayor, and all of our federal and elected officials, but also the great community advocates. Thank you all for having me here today. The State Department of Transportation is fully supportive of this project, and we're kicking off today with a grant, a raise grant, that was made possible by the Biden Administration and all of our incredible New York delegates in Congress who really made the IIJA possible. This level of funding is truly remarkable, and I just want to thank them for all of their support to get it all done. It truly is being leveraged across the state, but certainly here in the city of New York. The story of the cross Bronx Expressway, as the Mayor so eloquently put it in Congressman Torres and Congressman Espelot, it's the same story that we're seeing all across the state of New York. The bottom line is that the poorly planned highway, extremely poorly planned highway, built decades ago, has negatively impacted a community here in the Bronx, not just a community, the entire community, for generations. It's thwarted forward progress. It's divided the community, and it literally has stifled economic growth. We're seeing this across the state. We're seeing it in Syracuse with the I-81 project, which literally divided a city and displaced an entire community. The 15th Ward was literally severed, and what's traditionally an African-American and Latino community has literally been bisected for generations. We're seeing it in Buffalo with the Kensington Expressway and in Rochester with the interloop. The same story, different places, but the bottom line is that we need to fix it. We saw it here in the South Bronx, but rather than just seeing it, we're actively working to fix it, actively working to fix these mistakes, to rectify the mistakes. Starting with the Sheridan Expressway, which the State Department of Transportation converted into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard, we connected the community, an east-west connection, not just the north-south connection for cars and trucks. We're creating access to the Bronx River. That's where we started a few years ago, and now we're working to do even more to reconnect the Bronx. With the $1.7 billion Hunts Point Access Improvement Project, which we just completed phase one of, and I have to say it's working. It's actually working to help take trucks out of the neighborhoods in the Bronx and deliver them directly to Hunts Point. It's providing the citizens here and the residents in the Bronx with a new and more accessible neighborhood and giving you access directly to green space, direct access to the Bronx River. And while we're opening up opportunities for new walkways, for fishing, for recreation, for anything you want to do, just hanging out in Starlight Park in the afternoon and enjoying the outdoors, those are literally walkable, bikeable and available. And that goes all the way from the Bronx River and Hunts Point Island all the way up to the Breckner and beyond. Every project that I've mentioned today is in various phases of planning or construction to really fix these generational planning and design mistakes that separated communities and hindered progress, but especially here in the Bronx. Governor Hockel has a vision, a vision to reconnect communities across New York to fix these mistakes of the past. And when she took office, she put that vision into motion. In total, Governor Hockel included $3 billion in the state DOT capital plan to help reconnect communities across the state. Today, as part of these efforts, we launch a new study with Mayor Adams and the City of New York to reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway, which has divided communities from the Harlem River to the Hutchinson River Parkway. Mayor, you have my assurance that Governor Hockel and the State Department of Transportation will be a partner with the city every step of the way with regard to this study, which has great potential to literally raise the quality of life for the entire borough for all future generations of New Yorkers. The team at New York State DOT under Governor Hockel's leadership has helped the city secure the funding for this study, and we want to partner with you and the residents of the community on new, bold ideas for the Cross Bronx. And I want to, again, thank our partners, the city DOT under your leadership, Mayor, Commissioner Rodriguez, Deputy Mayor, Joshi. But I also want to thank our outstanding congressional delegation from New York, Senator Schumer, who's been a tireless advocate and literally helped get the IIJA passed. Senator Gillibrand, and certainly our two federal representatives, Richie Torres, such an eloquent advocate for his community. Thank you so much. You not only are a great orator, but you're truly a guy that gets things done. And Congressman Espelette, thank you so much. Your leadership has proven to be invaluable across all of this. And the team at US DOT, they are our partners, and they will help us get this done. And I want to thank the Biden administration for that. We know that every problem has a solution. It just takes teamwork and a will, a will to get things done. And that's what we have with Governor Hockel and Mayor Adams at our side. In Cathy Hockel's New York, we're working hand in hand with the city to solve problems large and small. And in the process, we're working to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers all across the city. And I look forward to working with you, Mayor, and the rest of your team to bring this study forward and really capture the bold vision of reimagining the Bronx Expressway, the Cross Bronx Expressway, and truly, truly improving the quality of life for everyone, once and for all. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Next we'll hear from Nilka Martel. Thank you, Nilka. Thank you. Thank you. It feels unreal to be here right now at this particular moment. So many years of work, and here we are. So for those of you that don't know me, my name is Nilka Martel. I was born and raised here in the Bronx, and for close to five decades, I've lived near the Cross Bronx Expressway. My youngest son suffered from asthma the first couple months of his life, and as a parent, holding your baby, seeing your child, feeling your child, shuggling to breathe is extremely frightening. And earlier this year, my granddaughter had to have a couple of treatments, so it kicks it all in again how generation after generation they're dealing with these respiratory issues. I didn't realize how many kids actually suffered from asthma until I had to register his pump in the nurse's office, and when I got there, she took out a bin filled with marked ziplock bags of inhalers. So this is an issue, this is an issue that again continues generation after generation. In 2016, Loving the Bronx kicked off a campaign called Cap the Cross Bronx, and it was seeking ways to reduce the air and the noise pollution created by the trucks that travel the Cross Bronx. We were thinking about reconnecting communities and creating new open spaces. That battle was received with a lot of negativity, but last year we were able to work with Alexander Levine of the Bronx One Policy Group, a group of medical students from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and with Dr. Peter Munich and his team at Columbia University who penned a case study on the cost-effectiveness of capping the Cross Bronx. With the assistance of Assemblywoman Ganynaz Reyes, the leadership of Congressman Richie Torres, and the support of Senator Schumer, we are here today. Our collective effort is the reason why we're here today. Today is a result of grassroots activism. Today is a result of organizing, and so many partners that we've had throughout the years, the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, the Point CDC, David Schaeffler at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Dr. Camelia Tepolis at Morris Park Bid, Michael Brady at the 3rd Avenue Bride, Lisa Sworn at the Chambers. This is what the Bronx looks like. This is what community looks like. And we look forward to working with New York City Planning and the amazing team, Alfa Romeo Hansen, who couldn't be here today, and the wonderful Elizabeth Hanby. I could not have picked a better team to be working with. And this is a 24-month study, so we'll be back in two years to see what goes on and how to really push the government to make this a reality. I thank you all. Good to see you. We've talked a lot about capping the cross-Bronze that's been obviously discussed, as Nova mentioned, for years. What will be sort of the guideposts of this study? What is the vision and does it involve capping the cross-Bronze? Everything's on the table, and that's why it's so important to allocate the dollars to do a good, thorough, community-wide study with input for all the stakeholders involved. And we want to be open. We want to think non-traditional ways of solving a real problem. And I believe that this is going to become a blueprint that's going to be used in other municipalities across the city and country. We have a BQE problem. Diana Rainer, my former deputy board president, she was talking about capping the BQE. I think if we get it right here, we could utilize the same methodology throughout the entire country. So everything is on the table, but it's imperative for me that we have community input so they can decide self-determination. Coogee Chocolia, that's one of the Kwanzaa days. Self-determination. As you mentioned BQE real quick, you might have seen the letter that came out on Friday from congressional, state, city leaders that said the vision that was put forth by the DOT on the BQE was just not forward-thinking enough. What's your response to that? Well, I think they zeroed in on the fact that we are doing three lanes. We are required to do three lanes. So we look within the requirements and before we're thinking in the requirements. So we're saying let's utilize one of those lanes to be public transportation, electric vehicles, and other types of vehicles that won't contribute to a negative environment. We are far more forward-thinking than before. They were isolating just to the Brooklyn Heights part to fix. Those are the most affluent communities in Brooklyn, and they wanted to just fix that part. And we said no. The BQE goes into Bay Ridge. It goes into Wimsburg. It goes into parts of Queens. So we are not just focusing on those with the most cash. We're focusing on those with the most problems. And that's forward-thinking. And we hope they become partners with us and sit down at the table and come up with some good ideas on what they think because we're open to that. We want to give it to you, Deputy Mayor. So we have been aggressively pursuing every possibility to date. We've applied for over a billion point three dollars in federal money and received around 300 million or almost 300 million. One of the biggest projects that got funded is the Hunts Point project. So looking at redoing the traffic patterns, understanding how we can take the pollution out of the refrigerator units there is an incredibly important environmental justice project that we're really proud to have gotten funding for. We also got some considerable funding for our greenways projects. And there's plenty more coming through. So as we get them, we'll be happy to report out. And as I keep saying, you know, 2022 was my rookie year. 2023 is my Aaron Judge year. We have some good stuff in the pipeline. You know, this is, we're really excited about what we're going to do in 2023. You want to do that? Sure. I'll just want to, even though the notion of capping and expressway sounds farfetched, it's actually been done on several occasions throughout the country, most notably in Seattle. So this is not theoretical or hypothetical. This is an actionable proposal. The second point I would make is capping a highway is far more cost effective than digging. You might recall the big dig in project in Boston, which costs upward of $20 billion. This is going to be far less expensive. I suspect less than a billion. But I think the purpose of the feasibility study is to determine what can be done, how much would it cost. And that will be the basis for an actual proposal that we hope for which we would secure federal funding. Okay. All right. We're going to do some off topic. I don't want to go through this. 42 is looking to expire the 21st. And we're not waiting for the expiration before we do our planning. We need to be clear on that. We've had a number of communications with the state. We've had a number of communications and visits to Washington. I communicated both to the majority leader in the Senate, the minority leader in Congress. I had lunch with Congressman Jeffries, leader Jeffries last week. The team has been meeting just about every day looking at what is our capacity, how we're going to shift and put in place new initiatives, some things we're going to have to cut back on. But we are fortifying ourselves for what we believe is going to be predictable to receive a massive increase per week of new asylum seekers and migrants. But let's be clear. When El Paso made the official announcement that they were no longer shipping buses, we were still getting about 150 a day. And our numbers increased from 20-something thousand to almost 30-something thousand. So we were still getting an influx. This has never really was eradicated. It may have dissipated a little, but it wasn't eradicated. But the end of the conversation, I've been frustrated throughout my life in public service. I've never been more frustrated now. This is a national problem. El Paso shouldn't be going through this. Chicago shouldn't be going through this. Washington, Houston, cities should not be carrying the weight of a national problem. This is unfair to all of our cities to have to go through this without any help from the national government and the state government. And so we are building out that which is within our span of control, but we need help from the federal and state government to assist us. The table and dealing with a crisis. Nothing is off the table. We don't want to go back to what we had to use when there was a large influx, but leadership is doing difficult things. And whatever I need to do to ensure that we are dealing with a crisis, I'm going to do it in a humane way. And so if one were to focus on Randall's Island, that's their right to do so. I need to focus on the totality of a crisis that's about to hit our city. And I need to be prepared for that crisis, and I'm willing to do that. I am surprised that people will ask about free training to improve our skills. This is what people should do. People should constantly improve the skills to deal with challenging time. Leadership of today, all corporations would tell you, all major industries would tell you that we need to invest in our people. And emotional intelligence is the key signal of successful corporations. My team is not only getting training from Deloitte, we're getting training from all over the place. We send out monthly books to read to improve our skills. How do we invest in our manpower and women power? This is what we do to produce a better product. And so when you say my personality traits, I'm dyslexic, I'm imperfect, I've been arrested, I've been rejected, now I'm elected. I'm the mayor of the city of New York. That's my personality. This is alarming. New York kids need to be aware of what we are up against. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to give the impression that this new influx is not going to impact our basic services. And so when you say which service, look at every service we provide. Every service we provide is going to be impacted by the influx of migrants in our city. It's going to impact education. It's going to impact the dollars we're using to clean our streets. It's going to impact our public safety. It's going to impact our helping those long-term New Yorkers who are in need. Every service, if you look down the list of services, I have to now go back to the drawing board already multi-billion dollars in deficit because of the pandemic. I have to return to the drawing board and now reconfigurate every service we're providing in the city based on what is about to happen to the city.