 Hi everybody, good afternoon. In fact, your advanced team members were telling me when they were checking on the weather, they kept saying it's going to rain. I kept telling them, don't worry, it's not going to rain. And so what a beautiful afternoon to have everybody here. I want to say good afternoon. My name is Thomas Sekinig. We have the honor and the privilege of serving as the president of Bronx Community College. I just want to say on behalf of all of our students, faculty, and staff, I want to welcome everybody to our campus this afternoon. But I would like to extend a special warm welcome to our mayor. I know this is your first visit as the mayor to our campus, but I hope this is not your last because we're going to bring you back here. So I want to say thank you so much this afternoon. I know we have a lot of distinguished guests here, but I'm not going to name everybody, but I have my boss here, so I've got to say that. Chancellor, I just want to say one word. So it's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. Again, I just want to say welcome to everybody. I know the mayor is here this afternoon to make a very big announcement. I just want to say to him, we're excited about that, and we want to be a part of that announcement. From what you can see, that was just an appetizer from what you saw from the Automotive Science Program. We want to work with you, and I know our chancellor has given us that directive, too. We want CUNY and Bronx Community College, we're all ready to work with you to make sure that your vision becomes a reality. Please join me in welcoming to the podium our Deputy Mayor, Mayor Actora Spring. Good afternoon, everyone. We are so thrilled to be here with all of you. This campus is an extraordinary institution. Bronx Community College, truly one of the treasures, not just of this borough, but of the city. I really would like to thank Dr. Thomas Sekanegbe and the entire community of faculty, staff, and students for hosting us on this beautiful afternoon. This is a very important day for our city, as we will be making a number of major announcements that really put New York City at the leading edge of the nation's workforce development conversation. Today, as the mayor will outline, we are going to fully and finally empower the Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development to operate as it was originally envisioned, as an office that will aggressively steward the Mayor's talent and workforce strategy. It will strengthen a system whose fragmentation for too long has underperformed for our young people and adults entering the workforce. We're also very excited to launch the Talent and Workforce Development Interagency Cabinet, which will convene each agency's chief workforce officer monthly to support citywide objectives for talent and workforce development. And this will of course lead to more transparency and opportunities for collaboration across the administration's priorities. We're also very excited because we know that this work isn't just about city agencies, that it has to be connected to the work of institutions outside of government. We're going to be convening a future of workers task force, a group of amazing cross sector leaders who will bring many years of experience and dedication to training people and supporting businesses to really help shape our strategy. I'd like to thank our amazing DOE Chancellor David Banks, our amazing CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos, Ernst and Young Global Chairman and CEO, Carmine DeCibio, President and CEO of Goodwill, Strategies of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Haiti Gull Stiggy and President for the Fund of the City of New York, Lisette Nieves, who will be our co-chairs for this task force. We really could not be more excited and grateful for your commitment and dedication to this important effort, which we know will lead to more New Yorkers securing good jobs and meeting the talent needs of local industry. And it will of course improve our ability as a city to get stuff done. Now of course today we also celebrate and the mayor will talk more about this in just a second. New York City selection as one of the 32 states and territories to be receiving funding from the US EDA via the American Rescue Plan. Now there was really stiff competition here. Over 600 applications nationwide, 32 were awarded and New York City and this particular initiative is one of them and so we are incredibly grateful. This is led by, you can clap for that. This is led by the Human Resources Administration, Commissioner Gary Jenkins together with the New York City Office of the Mayor and we will use the close to 20 million awarded to really build the types of on ramps into jobs that New Yorkers really deserve. We could not be more excited for this initiative and I'd like to thank colleagues across government and outside of government, including Commissioner Jenkins, the Mayor's Office of Youth Employment Executive Director, David Fisher and countless professionals across the different agencies. We also want to thank our partners who provided support on this proposal and who will help implement it, including Kathy Wild at the Partnership for New York City, Gary Labarbara at the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and Joe McDermott at the Consortium for Work Education. Now what's important about this model and it doesn't happen all the time with every single workforce program is that it represents the type of partnership that is needed. There are more than two dozen employers, six unions, four intermediaries and more than a couple dozen talent developers and service providers, all of whom will be working together to make sure that we provide the right types of opportunities through this program for New Yorkers. Finally, I just want to say that talent is and always has been this city's most important asset and we need not look further than across the hall to our neighbors or down any city block and of course on this beautiful campus, that talent is everywhere. And so with that I'd like to turn it over to the individual who has really charged us with the mission of unlocking that talent everywhere possible across the five boroughs, our Mayor Eric Adams. Good job, good job, Deputy Mayor. I was sharing with the president of the school who is from Lagos, I recall going to Lagos a couple of years ago, I landed on a Monday and didn't sleep again until Sunday. That is one heck of a place to be, Lagos, Nigeria. This is a significant moment. We talked about Ernest Young, we talked about the Chancellor, we talked about CUNY, that has been the failure of the past. It was the disconnect. We were not preparing our children for college and preparing college for employment or preparing the DOE to go straight into employment. And what you're seeing and witnessing in this city is this unprecedented relationship with our business community and our institutions of education and higher learning. That is the bridge we had to build. We had to build that bridge and the relationships we have developed through Cathy Weil and the partnership and others has just really created this environment. And what you said was so powerful. You said we just want to help. That's all our business leaders have been saying for a long time that they just want to help because the young people we are producing in the Department of Education and in CUNY, they must fill these jobs. And if they're not prepared to fill the jobs with those real skills, then we are really betraying them and we have, we have betrayed young people in this city for generations. And we have to be honest about that if we're going to fix that. And just standing in the shop of auto mechanics, you know, I was, you know, we were laughing about it. I was a former mechanic for Bristol Motors in Manhattan of Volkswagen dealership that I was, you know, assisting and paying my way through CUNY, two-timer in CUNY, New York City College of Technology and John Jay College. I am who I am because CUNY, because of CUNY. You have, do we ever have another mayor that was CUNY, Brad? Now that I think about it. Not for decades, and not for years. Right, right. So, you know, CUNY, you need to take claim that the mayor of the city of New York came through CUNY in a real way. This is the marriage that we're looking at. And it's great seeing you, Chancellor, our former chancellors here as well to continue to do good work. So as mayor of New York City, the CUNY mayor, you know, your press people better be here to take that sound bite. And as we battle COVID, monkeypox, crime, polio, housing, as we battle all of these crises, we still have work to do. Producing quality employees of the future can't stop because of COVID. You can't put this city on pause because there's a crisis. Let me deal with the crisis. You keep doing the work that you have to do. And that optimism you see across the city that some people are, you know, just don't get it because I know who we are. We're resilient, we're invincible. We're gonna get through all of this. And if we stop what we're doing while we're waiting to get through COVID, then shame on us. We have to continue to build the infrastructure in spite of the challenges that we see every day in the emergency. And let me tell you something, you know, all these stories you hear that's being covered in the press. When I walked down the block, people are not talking about that. They're talking about jobs. They're talking about housing. They're talking about public safety. They're not asking me, well, why don't you appoint 10 person as your person? Man, people don't hear that. That's noise. This is real. This right here, what we're doing today is real. And you need a mayor that's willing not to be distracted and stay focused. I am so focused on turning our city around. And this economic engine that we have, we're gonna bring more jobs here. And I'm talking about good jobs, jobs you can build your life around and you can build our city and our economy around. And so today we are taking a major step forward making sure more New Yorkers get training and access to these good jobs. And that New York City employees have the talent they need so we can make them employable for what our partners are looking for. So I'm proud to announce the launch of a new program, New York City Pink, PINCC, Pathways to Industrial and Construction Careers, a real win. The program will train and place over 2,000 New Yorkers into high wage career track jobs in the construction, transportation and utility sectors over the next three years. That's an amazing feat. It will be funded by an $18.6 million grant from the US Economic Development Administration. And I wanna give thanks to New York City winning proposal for the Good Jobs Challenge created by the American Rescue Plan. We're applying for every dollar out there to make sure that we can get our city up and operating in the right place because we send too much money to Washington that we don't get back. So every time we get back another million, that's another million that we deserve in this city. We're the economic engine of the country and we're clear on that and we're the economic engine of the state. That's what New York City represents. We are America's city. This is a dynamic new approach to workforce and talent development and a major shift from the previous way we have served jobless job seekers and employers. Rather than just placing people in any job, New York City pink will be working to identify, train and match New Yorkers with a job that will give them an on ramp to a strong foundation to raise their children and families. And this just isn't about a single program. We are applying this same philosophy to revolutionize our approach to talent development in New York City. Something that Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer has really taken the lead over with her entire amazing team as they continue to rethink how we handle jobs and employment. That's why today I am signing executive order that will put talent and workforce development at the center of our economic development strategy, talent and workforce development. And this is the largest executive order I've seen. We want all New Yorkers to be able to learn and to be able to earn a living wage and share in our city's future. And we want our employers to tap the incredible talent we have in every borough, every block, every neighborhood and the opportunities are there. The executive order will streamline the efforts of nearly two dozen city agencies and offices that administer workforce training and job placement program. We were so siloed, so disjointed. Everyone was duplicating what they were doing and we were turning out an inferior product. We're now bringing all the entities together under Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer to focus, laser focus on what we are doing. And this is going to ensure that they are working hand-in-hand with the Department of Education and the City University of New York. We could not have asked for a better partner than our chancellor and his crew shoe to the success of this program. The executive order will also create a future of workers task force. Develop a citywide plan on talent and workforce development. Establish a dashboard for talent and workforce development to show progress citywide. It will consolidate the mayor's office of youth employment and the implementation of the PLAs, community hiring into New York City talent and workforce development. And also, which I think is crucial, it will work with employers to address current and projected future talent needs in the healthcare, technology, construction, manufacturing and culinary hospitality sectors. All of those jobs are going nowhere. Those are jobs of the future. And if we are building employees of the future, we have to match the jobs of the future with the employees of the future. We should not be teaching people how to do jobs that won't be here in the future. This is a transformational effort as a result of this work. We will see that we have changed lives, helped New Yorkers get on the right path for the right job and provided employees, employers with the strong talent that they deserve and what they look for. There are many paths to a good job and a good life here in New York City. And far too often there have been real barriers and impediments to the good jobs and the pathway for a good life. And this administration is going to make sure that every New Yorker has that opportunities because a job is not just a paycheck. It is a foundation for a good life and participated in a thriving city. This is the kind of things that the Deputy Mayor Torres Springer says all the time that we resonate in our administration. This is how you get stuff done and we will get stuff done for the city of New York. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. We'll now have a number of really important speakers. And I just wanted to make a point about our speakers. As the Mayor mentioned, there were so many good programs happening across different institutions, but for far too long, everyone worked in their own lane. And at some point, if that continues to be the system that we have, then the people who get shortchanged are New Yorkers. And so what you were seeing here in the lineup today and our next several speakers are leaders who have committed to the Mayor's singular mission of making sure that the workforce system, that the talent system works harder and better for New Yorkers. And so let's start with the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development, really the architect behind this entire plan and someone who has really spent a career really understanding and making change so that once any New Yorkers' opportunities in life really isn't dictated by his or her zip code or the circumstances of their birth, let me welcome Abby Josiego. Yes, thank you, Abby. Thank you, wow. Thank you, Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Torres Springer. I am thrilled to be here, especially in the Bronx, but more on that. Thank you, President... Ah, Thomas! Yeah, that's a good try. I have very bad auditory memory. That's my learning challenge. And thank you, the Bronx Community College team who really set this up and made it an amazing event and for all the work you do all the time to really serve New Yorkers in this city. And thank you to the CUNY community for hosting us. I'm one of CUNY's 25 unbelievable campuses. They are a true New York treasure and I challenge everyone to go see everyone. I want your cards, they're gonna be your CUNY cards. I am thrilled and humbled to be here today, especially in the Bronx, a borough which means so much to me personally, where I've worked, learned, and grown for many years and a borough that is a barometer for our city. New York City thrives because of the diversity, talents, and ambitions of New Yorkers. That's what makes the city not only great, but unique and why people from all over the world come here to live, to visit, work, and prosper. Today marks the kickoff of what's going to be a historic transformation of how we move this city forward. Today we are announcing the talent and career success of New Yorkers will be at the center of how we invest in our city's future. By doing so, we will meet New Yorkers and employers where they are, develop the infrastructure needed to better match talent to the amazing career opportunities that we as a city generate, and work relentlessly, relentlessly to tackle the historic employment disparities we too often see in the city. And to ensure New York employers of all types and sizes and industries can tap the talent they need to grow and thrive. We are here today with amazing leaders, both up here at the podium and out in the crowd. Many of you I've worked with for many years and a few taking a well-deserved August vacation who couldn't be here. Thank you to Bronx Community College and the team here because you're really showing in action demonstrating how to braid learning from work into traditional training and degree pathways for your students. And that makes all the difference in the world. Thank you to my fellow leaders in the administration. I stand here representing all of you. Your teams are doing amazing work and that's evidenced by the award for the Good Jobs Challenge. Real testament to the leadership of Gary Jenkins and Jill Berry at HRA and of David Fisher and Leah Herbert at Mayor's Office for Youth Employment who really pulled together partners from everywhere, every corner of the city to win that award. And as Maria said, as the deputy mayor said, it's very, very competitive. And we have an amazing proposal that we're gonna put into action as we speak. Partners came from across labor, CUNY and the city's essential network of nonprofit workforce providers and community-based organizations. All of whom have agreed to step up to provide a shared vision, training and other supports such as childcare that are essential to the successful implementation of all talent and workforce programs and definitely of pink. Thank you to the co-chairs of the Future of Workers Task Force. All of whom have longstanding and deep commitment to positioning New York City students, workers and employers for success and have agreed to roll up their sleeves so we as a city can take action to create a 21st century talent development system, a system that truly works for New Yorkers, works for our employers and works for our city. Thank you to Chancellor Banks and Chancellor Matos of New York City Public Schools in CUNY. We would not be here but for their vision, leadership and commitment to the economic security and mobility of their students. And working, they work closely, they have incredible teams, incredible teams who translate that vision, that leadership into specific actions and they're doing so with urgency. Together, we will construct a system that builds on what works. We're not reinventing the wheel, we're not starting from scratch. And the lessons and evidence of our city's many great programs as well as those from outside New York. I know we're all fairly provincial here but there are good things happening outside New York. We will align public and private resources so I'm thrilled to have Ernst and Young rolling up their sleeves with us as well as others. It's gonna leverage the strengths of all city agencies as you heard from the mayor and deputy mayor and from non-profits and community-based organizations and all types of employers and labor unions. Those are our stakeholders, those are our partners. We will together serve New York City. We will meet the dynamic needs of the labor market. As the mayor said, the labor market's changing every day and it's changing quickly. We saw that with the pandemic, we're gonna see it some more and we as a city are gonna be ready. And we're gonna do it by lifting up the interests, ambitions and hopes of New York City students, residents and families. They are a treasure, they are our future. We are developing a system that truly creates multiple pathways to success. That has no dead ends and is permeable. There's always a place to go and a place to learn and a place to do. It begins in K-12 and supports New Yorkers throughout their lives. It adapts to the changing employer needs and most of all, it fulfills the promise of our city as innovative and as a place of opportunity. Today kick starts our joint work and I thank you not only for being here today but also for all of the work and investment and labor that you have made to date. And for the future commitments, I know that all of you will make as I'm looking around the room. And for the actions that we will take together on behalf of New Yorkers. New Yorkers are our city's talent and that's our future. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you, Abby. I love that the interests, ambitions and talents of our, of New Yorkers and young people. So we have, I'm really excited, two of my favorite chancellors are here. My first favorite chancellor, of course, the chancellor of the Department of Education, David Banks. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And good afternoon, everybody. You know, I've been, I spent a great part of my career here in the Bronx together with my predecessor, Misha Ross Porter, who's here, we dedicated so much of our lives to trying to help uplift the lives of young people right here in this borough. We've been on this campus many, many times and it feels so great to be back. So I think that all of the appropriate acknowledgements have already been made and I certainly won't do that again. But I will say this, this mayor has been dedicated to this issue from day one. In recognizing that New York City cannot be turned around unless you are putting New Yorkers back to work. Now, that's easy to say, but this task force will be charged with building the real plan to actually make that happen. And so the work that we're gonna be doing in the part that we will be playing at the Department of Education is a critical role. Because for far too many of our young people, we have not put them in a position to have a clear pathway to the middle class and beyond. They've gone to school every day, they've done what we've asked them to do, but we've not prepared them with the very specific skills that are necessary for them to take their rightful place in this 21st century economy. We've got smart teachers who are committed, who are dedicated to our kids. What we have to do is to give them the appropriate tools so that they can in fact put our young people on that path. Jay Grieve is with me here, Jay, just wave. She is our chief of career pathway. She's gonna be leading the work and is leading the work for us already at New York City Public Schools. And I'm thrilled that she is doing that. There are so many wonderful opportunities for our kids. To be engaged in a more relevant school experience. When you send kids to go to school, and they just go to school day after day, but don't know what it's supposed to lead toward, it can make for a very boring experience, disconnected. And then when they graduate, they say, okay, I did everything you said, now what? And if there's no now what, if we don't haven't given them those tools, those credentials that they will need so that they can go to college and not only go to college but graduate, or if they decide that they don't wanna go to college, but they wanna go right into the workforce, they ought to be able to be prepared. And if we've had them from kindergarten, all the way through 12th grade, we spent as a city over $300,000 per student. And as taxpayers, we ought to be asking ourselves, what is our return on investment? We should produce young people who can do some stuff, who can get off a mommy and daddy's payroll, and who can step out into the real world. And that is what this task force is going to be. My good friend, Falo, who is like my brother, I wish he had told me to wear my Guadalajara because he's the coolest one out here today. But we're gonna be working very closely together with all the others who are heading up this task force to provide great opportunities. There should be a direct connection between all the young people from the New York City Public Schools and all the students at CUNY. They shouldn't, we should not be operating in silo. We are all on the same team. And that's what this task force is going to be about. And so for Deputy Mayor Torres Springer, Abby Jo, for the leadership you're providing, this, I can't even begin to tell you, this is going to be the North Star for this administration. We are going to provide a relevant school experience that is going to lead to real employment in a fast growing economy. And young people who are ready to take their rightful place. And so I just want to thank the Mayor for his vision because it's been because of him that he has said, this is where we're going. This is how we're going to change New York City. This is how we're going to get through the crisis and ensure that all New Yorkers, particularly the young people from the Bronx, are going to have an opportunity to take part in this emerging economy. And I'm going to do my part as Chancellor. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chancellor. And I just have to say, you know, the Chancellor is a pretty busy guy, has a lot on his plate, but his willingness and commitment, not just to the task force, but to this work and this North Star that he described is truly extraordinary. And also Chancellor Porter, I also, you're, yes, you're also, you're also on the favorite list, my bad. My, and my third favorite Chancellor is also here. Chancellor Felix Matos and his amazing team, I know is also with us today, but please, Chancellor. Well, she wanted to say that I'm her favorite Chancellor in Spanish, but Mr. Mayor, it is a pleasure to be with you and your incredible team, the Deputy Mayor Torres Springer, my brother, Chancellor Banks, A.B. Josigo. Anytime is great to be with all of you, but what a special treat to begin the week, this week with this announcement to show the news about your support to CUNY, but also asking us to continue to do more for all New Yorkers to get really good paying jobs and in demand jobs as we move ahead into a more inclusive economic recovery. So thank you so much. And it's an honor to be here in this beautiful Bronx campus. Thank you for the trust in participating in the future of workers task force. I'm delighted. I'm in great company with the co-chairs and with the rest of the team. And I will look forward to delivering that blueprint that would be a guide for all of us to work together. K-12, CUNY, government, employers, all sectors working together so that New Yorkers have a path forward to a better life and a better livelihood. I'm thrilled that CUNY's part of that very competitive grant that we kick some in our competition, right? And we won. It's so good to be part of a winning team. I love that feeling, right? And we have four of our campuses are gonna be participating. Of course, Bronx community is taking the lead and a big shout out to Thomas and the rest of the team here for what they do. But also in the Bronx, Austin is gonna be part of the grant over in Harlem City College and Kingsborough over in Brooklyn are part of a large ecosystem in that grant. The mayor came in, it's your challenge to work together to improve the life of all New Yorkers. One of the things that I did when I became chancellor was to create a new office for career and industry partnerships to be connected to that ecosystem that Chancellor Banks mentioned that the mayor mentioned the entire team so we could deliver on that in a much more effective way. I wanna give a shout out to Lauren Anderson who's taping all the remarks who leads that effort and leads our work in that area. Just to give you an example of some of the things we've done we've grown the number of paid internship opportunities for students, right? Including 2000 with support from the mayor that are working this summer, right? That is prioritizing students who have never had a paid internship before. And if you don't think the students are hungry for that we have 2000 slots, we have over 11,000 applicants for that opportunity, right? So the students want to be able to participate and we know that the students who participate in a paid internship, they graduate faster, they stay on track and when they go to the job market that first time check is higher than before. So we know all that and we wanna double down in those investments and I wanna thank the mayor for the support in that work. We also receive additional dollars from Governor Hockel in the State Board that we're gonna be putting into more paid internships and apprenticeships. We've also invested in degree and non-degree programs that help New Yorkers to connect with in-demand careers. There's all those jobs out there that require talent. We have it, we wanna connect the students to that kind of work and we continue to build our partnerships with industry and employers including a fabulous partnership with Ernest Young, the New York Job CEO Council and Bronx Community College that has built an apprenticeship program that we're using as a model in all our schools to link work that is based in experience and practice. We are, yeah, I would applaud to that too. We have great friends, we cannot do this alone. Assemblywoman Septimo, big, big friend. The Board of Presidents represented here with the Deputy Board of President and big, big supporters here in the Bronx. Little shout out, little love for elected officials, right? I am blessed and fortunate every day when I wake up to have a great supporter in CUNY Mayor Adams, right? Who provides vision, support, and a source of agency. When you see some of those asides as people are chatting, right? The mayor is doing three things. Asking questions to be better prepared, telling you what do you need so I can support you, but also giving you homework, right? Telling you there's more that needs to be done. And I'm proud to be part of that ecosystem mayor and thank you for that support. CUNY, we know there's more to be done and we're ready for the challenge. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chancellor. Now we're going to hear from a very important stakeholder in all of this. Now for too long our training programs, our services in workforce development were untethered from the needs of employers. And we know that that has to stop, that we have to make sure that employers and industry are a very active and engaged part, not just of a program like the one that we're mentioning, but really the entire system. And so we're really thrilled that one of the co-chairs for the Future of Workers Task Force is here with us today. And I now like to welcome Carmine DeCibio, who is the global chairman of Ernst & Young. Well, thank you, everyone. And first of all, I do wanna thank all the people who spoke and in particular Mayor Adams. Sometimes I think I have a very difficult job. EY is 350,000 people in 150 countries. And Mayor Adams, your job's a lot more difficult. And you're doing a great job. From the business community, you're doing a great job. I do wanna just mention a few things. One of the things is, we at EY, as I mentioned with 350,000 people, we employ over 10,000 people in New York. Our office, we just moved out of Five Times Square. And we need more people in New York. And the problem we have is a skill gap. And this is exactly what this program and some of the other programs that we're involved in, that's what that's trying to solve, is really getting people with the right skills so we can hire them. And this is something that we all have to work together on. And private public partnerships, things like this, are incredibly important because we have to make sure we describe what's needed in these workers and what skill sets are needed. And working with Keowney, we are doing more of that, where I'm part of the New York City CEO Jobs Council that was mentioned before. And with that, we actually have a commitment to hire 100,000 New Yorkers who come from a low income background by 2030. And 25,000 of them will come from Keowney, back to Keowney Mayor Adams. At least, at least. But we are all very excited. And I'm really speaking not just from an EY perspective, Ernst and Young, but from all the business leaders. We have a lot of business leaders that are very, very focused on this, that are gonna be part of this task force in terms of really driving this forward. And it's not hard to recruit business leaders to do this. Every time we make a call to one of my fellow CEOs, they wanna be part of it. They wanna help New York, and they wanna help this cause. So again, I thank you for that. And the way this task force has to work is we have to be innovative. And so, as someone mentioned before, there are some good things going on outside New York. We will take those good things and deploy them in New York. But we also have to make sure that we're working together and that we're filling these gaps. And we have to make sure that the students get the right training, in particular, as we're doing with CUNY, technology today is incredibly important. And it's incredibly important in terms of a skill, no matter what field you're going into. Whether you're gonna be in a mechanic or whether it's all about technology. And so we have to have technology skill sets that CUNY offers and other schools offer as well. That's gonna be critical in terms of what we're hiring in the future. So we're incredibly excited. I am a New Yorker. When I was asked to do this, I do things all around the world and I'm like, I'm so excited to do this because we're helping New York and we're helping the city of New York. And so I'm not a Yankee fan, I'm a Met fan just to be clear. Just to be clear, I knew that was dangerous. I knew that was dangerous. But all I will say, all I will say is right now we have a better record. Thank you, thank you. A pretty provocative ending there by our CUNY Chancellor, nevertheless. We have one final speaker. We have one final speaker, friends. And this speaker is a really important one because our last speaker really personifies who we are here to help. Like all of this effort is not just the work of government on policy and programs, it's to help human beings. It's to help New Yorkers. And so I'm so glad that he is joining us here this afternoon, a BCC grad and now an Ernst and Young employee. And also I got the chance to meet his parents earlier. I know they're in the crowd. You must be very, very proud of your son. And now we will hear from him. Please join me in welcoming Mohamed Fouad. Every time I come to BCC is always welcoming. I have recently graduated. One of the things that sort of worried me, it's the job. So the experience I'll give you how I started and how I came to an end. Hello, everyone. My name is Mohamed Fouad. I'm a BCC graduate. I'm a BCC graduate with an associate degree in computer information system. I'm originally from Bangladesh. Me and my parents immigrated to this country in a search of better life. Especially for the education system, such as tuition free colleges, improved education, scholarship programs and employment opportunities with benefits. When I took the admission to BCC, I felt welcomed as immigrant student and the experience and the assistant were extraordinary. The atmosphere again, always welcoming, always peaceful. The counselor and professors routinely required about my well-being, inquired about it. During my final semester, BCC introduced me to the EY internship program, apprenticeship program. This program has allowed me to earn additional college credit while I get paid and gain experience on technology. This is, I would say one of the, another matter that the city has solved because choosing between full-time job to a full-time internship or apprenticeship programs that cut off the earnings. But this has changed everything. I was getting paid while I was getting extra credit in my academic record and I was getting experience and the major that I loved. This program has taught me how to communicate to build connection with the coworkers. I gain knowledge of technology, risk management, strategy planning and decision-making. Learning is essential, but putting it into a place that's also important because that's how we learn more and we see the report, how it comes and how we can solve it. I was underestimating my abilities of learning but my working in an environment changes everything. I kept on moving, I never gave up. The environment has helped me think different aspect to solve any problem at EY. It has also helped me to be more consistent, proactive and motivated at my work. I'm proud to say that after finishing my apprenticeship program, I got a full-time offer at EY. Thank you. As an application system engineering. More CUNY students should have access to that as the mayor is already working on it. So which will enhance their skills while they're in school once they graduate, they will take advantage of these skills and experience into their new jobs. I'm grateful to BCC and EY for providing me the platform which lead to my success today. I want to thank a certain individual in BCC, EY because of their encouragement and for believing in me. Well, this is something I've never done. So thank you, thank you. That's great, take your time. Well, I seek that and I have built my confident level a little upper than before. So this is why I'm standing here and talking right next to the mayor of the city. They are the important backbones of the city, I would say, not just as a student us, but they're the one who's working for our opportunities. The two most important people in my life that I want to name is my parents. They are standing over there, maybe recording. I have friends who have always supported me. But lastly, I just want to thank the mayor, the city hall, BCC, EY and everybody involved for making this possible. And right after my graduation, I'm working as a full-time in my technology field that I have been studying for and now I'm in that field. And I'm working on it, the job that I love. Thank you everyone, thank you. Thank you, man, good job. Also want to acknowledge our deputy mayor, president and our amazing assembly woman, assembly woman, Tapia. I want to do a few on it, then a few off. Mayor, how's it going? I think that's a sense of logistically how this is going to work. If I'm a participant who's looking to get involved, how does that happen? What does the pathway look like? Do you just outline how the process is actually going to happen on the ground? Which one do you want to handle it? Thanks, so the pink is particularly targeted to HRA recipients as well as NYCHA residents. And they will be working with their partners at those agencies as well as with the on the ground providers who provide the pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training. So we're really leveraging the vast network of nonprofits and city agencies that are already doing this work and pulling it together and making sure that all of the participants not only have the opportunity for training but also have the wraparound supports that are so important for success in training and in the job market. Thank you. Sure, thank you, Mr. Mayor. On kind of to piggyback a little bit on that question. On pink, can you just go into a little bit about what type of jobs this program has got to produce, what income levels they will be at and so forth? What are you really into today? I'm happy to start, and Abby, please. So what's important about this initiative is that it really capitalizes on industries and in particular here it's construction and industrial. And with an industrial that's transportation, that's logistics, where there are many in-demand jobs. Those jobs run the gamut from diesel mechanics to building operators to trades people. And those are the types of jobs that are relevant to these industries, but as our colleagues at CUNY mentioned when we were looking at one of the classrooms, they're also translatable to other industries and other employers. So these are really the type of foundational skills that are needed. The second piece, critically important is these are jobs with good wages and our partnerships in particular with labor for a number of these programs will also ensure that these are pathways really to sustainability. So many of the jobs that I mentioned have starting hourly salaries of over $20 and those double after certain apprenticeships. So there's some real meaningful wages and pathways for participants. And as Abby mentioned, the last thing it'll say is what is really important about this particular partnership is that it is targeted in particular to public housing residents and cash assistance recipients with a particular focus on women, actually. And so those are the types of strategies and emphases that are needed and we hope will be a model for all of the ways that the system works for New Yorkers. Got it, that's been a great job. Mr. Marishi. How are you? My question relates to community and ethnic media and this is through CUNY. Okay, you wanna talk about that Chancellor? It was ethnic media, there were scholarships and internships, right? So was that a program with the School of Journalism, the internships? Yeah, so I mean, there's some programs that are, I mean, I don't know the details of that grant fund that I can get you the information on that, but that model of trying to get as many dollars recurrent or from grants that we can get. So we can get students the work experience, introduce them to some of the sectors. So they get that first opportunity is something that we're investing a lot more in. Eventually too, right? The employers need to have the capacity to be able to work with some of the students. We have a model, for example, with some small business that we've done in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that provides some incentives, right? Taking into account, I think the point that you're making that some of the industries might not have the capacity to do that. So we're trying to work in all the sectors to do that. But the first thing is making that introduction, making sure the students get that experience, get a build a network, right? Feel comfortable. Actually, they might make a decision whether this is what they wanna do or they don't wanna do, which is equally important, right? But we're trying to build more on those models and if you follow up, I'll find out about the specific stream of funding for that program. Thank you. All right, we're gonna spare you guys and ladies and gentlemen, this off topic stuff. Thank you. Good stuff. Yeah, I'm gonna take, I'll be right over there. Tell them I'm gonna come over and take a picture. Let them stay in the shade so they don't have to be in the heat. Your mayor. How are you? Good. I'm very hot today, but then. What a response from you. Tim Piercy was let go of Resort's world, was let go of from Resort's world casino. Once it was reported that he was also getting a paycheck from you as a senior advisor, do you have a response to that that he was let go of? You seem to have some glowing words for him last Friday. What are you thinking about today? Well, I think it's important to accurately report the story. He was not let go. Tim Pearson made the decision that he wanted to focus on public safety and COVID recovery. He was not let go. Resort's world stated that. I'm stating that. Tim stated that. So either we're going to report it accurately or we're going to create a narrative. He was not let go. Let go is a nice word of Sanfayette. He was not let go. And I'm happy to have him. He's a 9-11 hero. When the buildings collapse, he was inside one of the buildings and led people to safety. We need to lift up our 9-11 heroes and he has been a member of the New York City police department. I am just jumping for joy that we have him as part of our team. Since you mentioned Pearson, I have a separate question as well. But so if he was not let go, he only left this position with resort world once the New York Times story happened. So what, why did it take a new story for him to decide that he wants to only focus on COVID recovery and public safety? I think I answered your question and I was as clear as possible. I'm happy to have Tim Pearson as part of my team. On a separate issue, as you likely saw on Friday, the DOI not announced, but it became clear that they're investigating Commissioner Dary Jenkins over the allegations that he has been withholding information. I'm wondering, do you still have confidence in the commissioner despite the DOI investigating him? Are there any conversations about potentially replacing him? I don't recall DOI making that announcement. You may have insight that I don't have, but let's be clear. He has over 5,000 of those who were seeking asylums. He has been navigating the complexities that is associated with housing in the city. He has been part of the transit initiative that almost 1,700, 1,800 people are no longer living on our subway system, placing safe havens. I have the utmost confidence in him. I'm thanking for the job that he's doing and that entire team over there. I'm happy he's part of my team. Has your office had all been asked to... Are we what? Has your office had all been asked by DOI to sit down for interviews or provide documents? Office has it sit you on? Right. No. Commissioner Manuel Castro said this... Commissioner Castro would share that with you on what they're going through, but I think that any of us, after 45 hours traveling, being the Texas governor, being disingenuous about what was the destination, what was happening, any adult or child, those are horrific conditions that place human beings under. And so it wouldn't surprise me, based on what the commissioner stated, that they felt some form of stress. I'm sorry? Yeah, we had a great conversation on Friday. The chancellor reached out to me and the deputy mayor and William Zandt, and... What am I having here? William and I reached out and they are coordinating together to make sure that these children could have a smooth transition because we want to make sure there's not a disruption in their education and they are zeroing in on that and they're going to roll out a formal plan to let everyone know what exactly we're going to be doing. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. How are you? Good, thank you for taking my question. I actually do have to. Your office told us that city officials were aware right away that families had stayed overnight at PATH, though they may not have understood the full extent of the legal violation that happened there. But now we're in possession of newly released data from the city that shows that on that day, the Department of Homeland Services said that zero families had stayed overnight at PATH when they released that information to the public. So I guess my first question is, why shouldn't New Yorker see that as another example of a transparency issue on that time? We were very clear. I stood at a microphone inside City Hall and clearly stated without any form of sleight of hand that four families should have been released in the time that was required. We were clear on that. And there's been no attempt to cover that up. And so I find it hard to believe that based on our candidacy, people are still talking about a story that we were clear on. We were clear. Four families should not have stayed there. We continue to stand by that. And that oversight with those four families should not have happened. And we are doing everything possible for it not to continue to happen. Just to follow up, I'm sorry. So several families have told us without any understanding of the system or the fact that it was illegal, very clearly using a Spanish interpreter very carefully translated that they spent multiple nights at the PATH. Many complained they didn't have food. Some said they only got maybe one placement for an hour or two. They could go shower and come back that they spent days at a time. Are you still confident that families were only in PATH in violation of that mandate one night with four families? That's the only report that we receive. We have not received any other report on that. And we immediately responded appropriately. And we're gonna continue to do that. We are going to provide these families with the dignity that the Texas governor failed to do. That is who we are as New Yorkers. That is who we are as an administration. And I always like to remind people of the head of this operation, Gary Jenkins, Commissioner Jenkins, lived in a homeless shelter. And to give any insinuation that he's not compassionate about this issue, I just think is wrong. And I think that this is an insult to the hundreds of employees, city employees who have committed their lives to dealing with this homeless crisis that we're facing. Federal government must do its job. We need help on the state level. But we're going to do our job and that's what we have done. And I'm proud of that. I'll finish up this, because I don't, this is, I was just wondering about this. Yeah, hold on, hold on. We're not gonna call out a term. She's gonna acknowledge you. Okay? Yes, ma'am. I wonder about, just a follow-up on Tim Pearson. You said earlier that New Yorkers don't really care about that sort of issue. I'm wondering, is that a dismissal of the sort of conflict of interest issues that government watchdogs and other groups have raised about them happening? We're conflict of issues that you're talking about. There's no conflict of issues. Casino company that potentially wants to build a casino in New York City. And then secondly, why didn't the city release his salary and details of his position as well? One, Tim, Tim has nothing to do as a city, has nothing to do with the placement of casinos. We're clear on that. And government watchdogs and the people that you acknowledge and announce, we have something in the city called Conflict of Interest Board. That's who we go to. That's who we receive our information from. Everyone out there that is given their opinions, that's fine. This is a city of many opinions. But in order for opinions not to get in the way of how to run a city, we created something called COIB. You are aware of that. They make that determination. Not the people who are given their opinions. We go by the rules. There is no conflict with Tim Pearson. He has nothing to do with siting casinos. He has nothing to do with any business dealings. And if there was, he would recuse himself. This is not complicated. The city releases salary. And did you get a ruling from COIB about- We followed all the rules. And the EDC followed all the rules. And you can reach out to EDC around the salary. And you can reach out to EDC around- Okay. EDC, they followed all the rules. They didn't decline telling you that, right? Did they decline telling you they followed all the rules? Okay, so that's good. They followed all the rules. Okay, no, we're not gonna do. We're not gonna spar. I answered your question. I answered your question. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Take my question. A four-year-old boy was killed in Bronx at the weekend in a scooter collision. Obviously, the recent rule came into play with regards to 24 cameras. Do you have any comments on how safety with regard to such collisions can be? I'm gonna give you the floor. He was on an illegal, no, Perm, he was on a legal bike. Right, he was on a legal bike that of course, according to my understanding of what happened, his dad was driving that vehicle, that bike. And as you know, we have been doing a series of initiatives to remove illegal bikes off our roads, taking hundreds off. This is why we are doing it. To lose that four-year-old baby that way is horrific. I saw the video, it really tore my heart to see that baby die in that fashion. That is why the commissioner and Chief Madri, they have been so aggressive to remove these illegal bikes off our roads. And it's just really unfortunate of there's something like this happening can happen to a child. Okay, thank you.