 Good morning to everyone. I am Pastor Gilman Rose. I am the fit advisor in the office of the mayor and the executive director of the office of faith based community partnership of New York City. And one of the delegates who were in Puerto Rico and also the Dominican Republic over the weekend. I have been through not one, not two, not three, not four, but five hurricanes being raised up in the US Virgin Islands. And so these areas of concern for us, of course, is one area of compassion that we feel as faith leaders and for New York City to bring to bear not only local government and government officials, but also the faith community. I want to, before we begin, to just make reference and acknowledge our faith community partners who are here with us today. Peter Gdaidis from NIDIS New York Disaster Interfaith Services, the Islamic Relief USA, Laka with Bishop Rodriguez, who is actually in Puerto Rico today. And the United Methodist Committee on Relief who will be traveling next week to Puerto Rico and to the Dominican Republic. This morning I'd like to start by having emergency management commissioners that is all come forward and make some remarks. Thank you. Good morning, sir. How are you? Good to see you too, sir. Good morning. The New York City management is proud to join our mayor along with elected officials and members of the administration in support of Puerto Rico. Five years ago, during Hurricane Maria, 64 people died during the storm. In the aftermath, an estimated 3,000 people lost their lives. So I just want to sort of be clear that this phase of operations from response to recovery can be far more dangerous, especially for the elderly and for the most vulnerable. I'd also like to applaud the government of Puerto Rico, the local municipalities, and our federal partners for their work. The territory along with the National Guard, local municipalities, conducted over 400 rescues. 67% of power has been restored and 80% have access to potable water. But we're not out of the woods yet. Our city has strong ties to the people of Puerto Rico and we're proud to assist them in their time of need. We're also very aware of the devastation Hurricane Fiona has brought to other parts of the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. And more must be done to assist in their recovering. If you'd like to donate, please go to nyc.gov backslash Fiona Aide for a list of trusted organizations that are assisting throughout Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the larger Caribbean. As we speak today, staff from various city agencies, including New York City Mercy Management, the Department of Buildings, New York City Parks, and Department of Design and Construction are on the ground assessing damage to infrastructure and essential services caused by heavy rains, flood, and wind. Since arriving, the team has visited over 10 cities, including the city of Humacau yesterday, where I was able to join them on their tour. This city has experienced devastating landsides caused by Hurricane Fiona. Many of the roads were severely damaged, impassable, making it difficult to restore power, and especially to rural communities in the mountains that are now without power or electricity. Those communities are really suffering and are in need. And so while progress is being made, there's still a lot more work to be done. Rebuilding is daunting. We can never do enough to invest in the mitigation to help prevent these catastrophes from occurring in the future. And so we are very proud to be standing aside so many other agencies, governments, and our private sector partners. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next, we'll have Council Member Madri Velazquez to come forward. There's a little height difference there. Good morning, everyone. I stand before you after what we just experienced. And we saw mother nature really attack us and our families. But we also saw the strength and resiliency of the people in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and making sure that they were there for them. And certainly as we're looking at New York City, home to the largest populations of Dominican Republic residents, right? When we're looking at Puerto Ricans that are here too, we're seeing that we've got your backs. We're coming back and we're gonna deliver. What we're asking is our federal government to hear us, to listen to us. We visited Cabo Rojo, which at first was not included in the disaster area. We weren't sure of that. That's my hometown, that's my mom's town. So getting to see my aunts and my cousins firsthand was an experience because five years ago, Maria took my cousin away from me. And so going back to what Commissioner Eskel said, this time is critical for our families. And certainly, I wanna applaud and thank you, Mayor, deeply. And my family does as well, because at the end of the day, we see you, right? And we appreciate being seen. We hate the fact that the West Coast is often ignored. We hate the fact that our folks are often ignored. But you put light, you put our voices up. And thank you for the amplification. Very quickly, in Español, muchísimas gracias. Me llamo Marjorie Velázquez, soy la consejada en el distrito 13. Tuve la oportunidad de visitar a Puerto Rico y la República Dominicana este fin de semana y lo que vimos fueron dos cosas. Vimos que las personas, las gente de nuestra isla, las fuerzas que tienen, lo que pasaron y todavía están unidos. También lo que vimos es el poder que nosotros tenemos aquí para amplificar las voces de ellos, para traer los recursos que necesitan y para trabajar uno como familia que somos. Quería darle la gracia al alcalde por darme la oportunidad no solamente de visitar, pero ver mi familia que está en Cabo Rojo. Hace cinco años perdí un primo por Eruna Khan María y como el Comisionador Isco le estaba diciendo, nosotros estamos un tiempo critical en ayudar a las familias y entonces estamos pidiéndole al Gobierno Federal que dar los recursos, que trabajen con nosotros y estamos aquí para amplificar nuestras comunidades que están muchas veces ignoradas. Yo sé que en el O.S. de Puerto Rico estaba ignorado, no estaba incluido en principio y nosotros estamos ahí, era para traer esa luz a Puerto Rico. La luz que todavía no están recibiendo y estamos aquí, no solamente para el inmediato, pero también estamos aquí para presentar y estar con ellos para que todos estemos unidos y que la isla tenga respaldo a nosotros y nosotros a ellos y como ellos están en este momento creciendo y organizando de nuevo, estamos aquí para ayudarlos. All right, muchísimas gracias a todos. Thank you again. Next we will have Alex Demeron, he's the Executive Vice President for Somos and we had a great experience with Somos in the Dominican Republic, they're doing very good work and we thank God for the leadership on the island. Alex. Thank you, Pastor. First of all, Mayor, thank you for gathering all your troops here and elected officials to make sure that we're doing the work for our community standing here today at Quisqueya Plaza, which is the heart of the Dominican Republic here in New York. We're blessed to have the support and keep doing the work that we're doing there in the ground. Glad that you visited our operations, there were roof and walls are being put up and hygiene products are being provided to the people in La Romana, Brisas del Mar, where they here can hit all of our folks down there. Also today we are in Puerto Rico and Tobaja and Loisa making sure we're doing the same, but this is just the beginning. Somos Community Care is a network of providers, physicians that most of them are immigrants coming from these countries, countries that we love so much. So we will continue to help in every direction and make sure that we can provide the service and the help that our community needs. And Spanish quickly, gracias, Mayor, por todo el trabajo que están haciendo para poder ayudar nuestra ciudad en nuestro país. Como hicimos en el huracán, María, tuvimos clínicas por más de seis meses en Puerto Rico, esta vez haremos lo mismo porque hay que ayudar a nuestros hermanos y a nuestra isla. Gracias. Thank you so much. And we'll have councilman representative from the US Congress, Adriano Espead. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you, Mayor, for going to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. New York City is a global city. And the mayor is not just the mayor of the city of New York, he is an ambassador, an ambassador to many of these countries. I've been around the city long enough to remember Mayor Koch going to Managua, Nicaragua. And of course, Mayor Dinkins receiving Nelson Mandela and going to South Africa and Giuliani going to Israel and Bloomberg. I went with Bloomberg to the Dominican Republic after fly 587. So the mayor of the city of New York is an ambassador to all of our communities. And he is connected to those neighborhoods, like this neighborhood. Anytime there's a crisis or a call of need. And so I thank you, Mayor, for going with us, leading us to go to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the Latino community, as you know, is a large community here in New York City. And those are the two largest groups in the city of New York. And of course what we saw is devastation. And unfortunately, the Caribbean is in the pathway of hurricanes. And so this is not just about now and what we must do right now. This is about how we prepare for the future. As we speak right now, there's a hurricane heading into Florida. And so certainly Puerto Rico needs help with energy. And as a result of not having energy, they have no water in many cases. The Dominican Republic got slammed with heavy winds. It became a category two storm when they hit the island. So we need roofs and wood for rebuilding homes and medicine. Tomorrow we will be sending a plain load of medicine because after the hurricane, you get the outbreak of dengue and other mosquito-driven diseases. So the government there is preparing for next week. And of course tomorrow I go back to Washington. We're gonna fight this week to get a continuing resolution to keep government open, but in it, we're also fighting to have a supplemental bill that calls for a billion dollars for nutritional aid for Puerto Rico and $2.7 billion for emergency relief. For the Dominican Republic, we're fighting to see how USAID provides the help that they need. They're an ally of all the United States, a strong ally. And we should respond to our allies. Sometimes we pay more attention to our foes and not enough attention to our allies. And so this is a moment for all New Yorkers to come together. This neighborhood came together last night and raised a quarter of a million dollars, a quarter of a million dollars and counting for the Dominican Republic. So I came from Newark Airport. Unfortunately got stuck in a New York traffic jam. And got here just before the teletone shut down at 10 o'clock and they raised a quarter of a million dollars. The community came together to do that. And so New Yorkers are strong, the New Yorkers are strong, at night they raised more than 250,000 dollars, they gave them the thanks to the mayor, because the mayor, not only the mayor of the city of Nueva York is an ambassador of all the communities of the city of New York that are also the Puerto Rican community, the Dominican community. And he has gone with us to meet with the leaders of the Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic to look for solutions. So we give him a thousand thanks to the mayor. Thank you. Thank you for being next to us when we need you. It's easy to be a friend when it's sunny and rosy, but when things are down, the friends around you are few and far in between. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Adams. Thank you. And now we have council member Rafael Salamanica. Thank you. Good morning. Buenos dias. This trip to Puerto Rico and to the Dominican Republic was personal to me. I represent the South Bronx and I have the biggest Puerto Rican population in the city of New York. But I don't just have Puerto Ricans in the last couple of years, we've seen an influx of Dominicans moving in to the South Bronx. And so, you know, New Yorkers stepping up is not new. We're not new to this. In 2017, when Maria hit, we stepped up, we sent our resources. In 2022, when there was a earthquake in Guanica, we stepped up, we OEM sent our resources. And now here again in 2022 for Fiona, we're stepping up. And believe it or not, our presence, this assessment team, our presence, provided hope to the Puerto Rican community. You should have seen the smile and the hope, the smiles on their faces when they saw the mayor of the city of New York, congressman, city council members and a borough president. So Mr. Mayor, I wanna thank you for your commitment to the Puerto Rican community, to the Dominican community, really to everyone. And I wanna thank you for really sending out your OEM team and really to provide the resources that we need. Now, we made some commitments. And best believe that I will be there ensuring that we fulfill our commitments. In terms of sending generators to Puerto Rico, ensuring that we're sending cleaning supplies and medicine to the Dominican community. And Espanyol, le quiero dar la gracias al Calde por la oportunidad de estar ahí con el equipo de él para hacer un assessment de lo que realmente necesitan los dos islas Puerto Rico y Santo Domingo. Para que sepan, esto es algo personal para mí. No solamente mi padre de Puerto Rico, pero yo represento la población más grande de Puerto Ricanio en el sur del Bronx. Y en estos últimos años también he tenido una población grande de Dominicanos que se han mudado para el sur del Bronx. Nuestra presencia ahí, nosotros lo que he demostrado es que le dimos esperanza a la comunidad puertoricania, la comunidad dominicana que Nueva York está con ello. Y para que sepan lo que Puerto Rico realmente necesitan son los generators para atraer la estricidad y para que ellas puedan tener agua. Y para la comunidad dominicana para Santo Domingo, tenemos que asegurar que le mandan la medicina y los cleaning supplies que ellos necesitan para que ellos pueden combatir estos huracanes. Con eso que yo lo bendiga y gracias. Yeah, thank you so much. Next we'll have the Queen's Board President, Dalmar Richards, who is going to speak both in English and in Spanish as well. You are blessed when you own poquito. But good morning, everyone. And let me start by thanking Mayor Adams. Thank you for pulling together this trip in such a short period of time. And what I love about what you did is you can't lead from the rare when incidents like this happen. You have to be on the front lines and our mayor is a frontline leader. I want to thank everybody who was on a trip. I want to thank both the Dominican and Puerto Rican communities that we saw. And I have so many memories, even though we were there for probably a little bit over 48 hours, just remembering those seniors we visited, the senior who was on a generator, children in some of these villages, the things we take for granted here in New York City, but to see those kids holding bleach because that's all they had. So we have a moral obligation as a city to step up and to respond and to help our brothers and sisters in need. And one of the things we need to do is to make sure that Puerto Rico is getting the assistance. It certainly needs Puerto Rico as a part of the United States of America. And it's about time Puerto Ricans get treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. And there are some things that the federal government could do. Our congressman spoke on the one billion nutritional assistance, the 2.9 billion and emergency supplemental funding, equipment, just the basics, the grant a Jones act waiver, those are things we can do immediately. A congress member also spoke of the need to make sure that the Dominican Republic, which is a true ally to the United States, is also getting the assistance that it needs as well. We met with the president while we were there as well and he spoke of the need for equipment as well, although their electricity certainly is being revamped up. So we have a long way to go, but I know from my experience in representing the Rockaways that it was every day New Yorkers who stepped up to help us rebuild through Fiona. What's interesting also is I was there during Maria. I visited Puerto Rico as well and we were right back in the same place I was during Maria. So it shows the impacts of climate change and how we are in a state of emergency and how we all have to do our parts to make sure we're addressing this crisis as well. I also just wanna thank Somos and the Hispanic Federation for all the day of work. The Somos was on the ground in the neighborhood serving our community. So I'm urging New Yorkers to really commit and to assist these organizations who are doing great work on the ground. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much, Queensborough president. And that compassion of course goes a long way as well. And I think that with us from the office of the mayor, we have Reverend Cabrera who is still in Puerto Rico working on our relief efforts that we have as well. And so the faith community is standing tall again in the face of this disasters. Next we'll have council member Amanda Ferraris who's gonna come next. Hi everyone. I'm council member Amanda Farias. Just go saying it correctly. There's an accent there. I really wanna say that I first and foremost echo all of the sentiments and the calls to action on our federal government that all of my colleagues in government have already stated. It is our moral responsibility of the United States government to take the necessary lifesaving steps to help Puerto Rico in its recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricane Fiona. Myself and my council colleagues and the folks standing with me here are demanding the waiver of the Jones Act in Puerto Rico which will be critical in allowing the island to rebuild. We need to see the investments made by our US government on an island that is a part of the United States. Something that they lack, they are lacking in doing quite often in our history. I'm glad that we in New York City government have responded this way for having folks go down and show up for the people of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Thank you to the mayor and everyone who went on the trip. As we all know, New York City has a special relationship with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with the largest population of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans and people of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent here in New York City and in any city on US mainland. Many of us have direct relationships to the islands with family and close friends living there. We need to ensure to get the resources they need right now. I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues in government in the coming weeks and months for the people of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. We have the right people ready to work, as you see here in last night's telethon for the Dominican Republic and all the fundraising efforts have already proven that. But let us not forget that there are groups on the ground that have been supporting their people on the islands through all these tragedies and they need our direct support, our direct monetary support, our direct medical support and need to be uplifted as well. As a Puerto Rican Dominican woman, I know that my people are resilient and they continue to prove it to all of us, but we really need to step up in our coming weeks and months. So thank you. Thank you for that. We'll have our council member Felix come. Next, we'll have state senator Robert Jackson will follow by assembly member Heinemann. Thank you so much. Saludos, good morning everyone. I am New York City council member Oswald Feliz. I proudly represent District 15 in the Bronx. It's a district with a large Dominican population and a large Puerto Rican population, a vibrant community in the central Bronx. What's happening in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic is extremely sad. It's a horrible tragedy. These are communities that have worked for everything that they have, those small businesses, those homes, they have worked for it. And to watch a horrible hurricane destroy everything that they have worked for from one day to the next, it's sad. But to the people of Puerto Rico and to the people of the Dominican Republic, we want you to know one thing. The city of New York will be with you every single step of the way. We're gonna be with you every single step of the way to make sure that you recover and that you recover the right way, including having roads, electrical systems, and so much more, so many other items and infrastructure that's sustainable. And I wanna thank our New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, and everyone who went to Puerto Rico recently, including Congress member Espaillat, borough president from Queens, council members, and all the different city agencies who were in Puerto Rico, and even before that have been on the ground every single day to make sure that the people of Puerto Rico and the people of the Dominican Republic receive everything that they need. So thank you so much. And briefly in Spanish. Saludos, soy el consejo a los alfeles, orgullosamente representando el Distrito 15 en el Bronx, un distrito con una populación dominicana y un distrito con una populación puertorriqueña. Y lo que está pasando en la República Dominicana y Puerto Rico es extremadamente triste. Un huracán que básicamente destruyó todo lo que estas comunidades habían trabajado para tanto años, comunidades que no tienen todos los recursos y trabajaron para todo lo que tenían y un huracán que lo destruyó de un segundo al otro básicamente. Pero la ciudad de Nueva York, nuestros colegas en la ciudad y en el Estado y también gobierno federal estarán cuenta comunidades cada paso para asegurar que estas comunidades se puedan recuperar de estas tragedias. Lo quiero dar muchas gracias a nuestro alcalde, Eric Adams. I want to thank Eric Adams. These communities need help. They need a lot of help. And Mayor Adams is ensuring that they get all the help they need so they can recover. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I'm State Senator Robert Jackson. Welcome to my district. I represent the 31st Senatorial District which is all of Northern Manhattan. First let me thank the mayor and your entire team for going down, assessing the situation in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. You did that on behalf of the people of New York City, 8.8 million of us. And we appreciate that understanding that the needs are great and on a continuous basis. I'd say to all of you that there are many groups and organizations that are raising funds and raising goods, water, medicine, and other supplies that they need down in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. So we asked for your help. Last night it was said that the Hispanic Federation raised about a quarter of a million dollars I was there making and receiving phone calls. The most important thing, we need to be united in our efforts. This is the time for unity on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. And I thank all of my colleagues and other community-based organizations for coming together to help our brothers and sisters. Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am. Buenos dias. Yo soy Alicia Hyman, una Assembleista de Nueva New York. I represent the world's borough like our borough president and thank you very much for representing Queens and going down there. So to say this briefly, New York has the breadth and the width to handle many things at one time. And our mayor, who is the ambassador, thank you for saying that Congressman, the ambassador for us and went to these countries when he didn't have to and took a delegation when he didn't have to. That shows us that we have the breadth to handle many things at once. So this doesn't end today. Climate change is real. And as a state, as a city, we need to continue to fund, making sure that we leave up a footprint that is safe for our generations to come. So I thank you for representing New York as well as you do and making sure that everyone knows we have the capacity to do more and give more to make sure that the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico don't have to go through this every time there's a hurricane that comes. So we have to build resilient communities to make sure that when another hurricane comes, our family members are safe. So thank you very much to the delegation that took the time to go because you didn't have to. To represent to New Yorkers that we care and we're gonna get this done together. Thank you. Thank you so much and now we have the public advocate, Jermany Williams. Buenos dias como está. Congressman Feliz Copilianos. That's all I got in Spanish, I apologize. But New York City is a cross section of the world and that comes with a lot of responsibility and that means when things happen in other places, it affects us deeply. Having been a council member in our public advocate for 12 years from what's happening in Haiti to Pakistan to Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, there's no one that can deny the impact of what's happening in those areas to what's happening to the people who live in New York City. So going to somewhere like Dominican Republic and I think there may as well for making sure we're lifting up what's going there is essential because of how it impacts not just the moral right to make sure that folks are okay but how it impacts the people who are living here every single day in New York City. I remember when a hurricane hit my family's island of Grenada and my sister called on the phone to tell us what was happening, how scared she was. We had the ability to bring my grandmother up after. Everybody doesn't have that capability, nor should they, they should be able to be in the place that they live and get what they need. And when it comes to Puerto Rico, somehow as mentioned, people forget that these are Americans, these are Americans. What other state would this happen in that the entire country would not galvanize everything they can to make sure that it's happening okay? So I'm grateful that someone is there lifting up what's happening in the Dominican Republic, lifting up what's happening in Puerto Rico and let's make sure that it doesn't end when the cameras leave because we are dealing with people who don't understand the difference between temperature, weather, and climate. And because of that, we're gonna be seeing this happening more and more and more. So it's about time that we actually concretize how best we're gonna help folks when in this situation because it affects New York City ever so deeply. Thank you so much, peace and blessings. You know, when I got the call from some of my electives talking about what was happening in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and these are some of the same electives that are on the front line of some of the other crises and tragedies that are playing out on the stage of New York City and New York State. We are wounded healers. We are wounded healers. It's easy to look at your wounds and state why am I going to help my brother? The wounds we have here from COVID to the asylum seekers, to violence, to housing, to educational crises, to our own climate change, to challenging even the day we were away, we were hit with heavy rainfalls. But there's something unique about New York City. When others go through their moments of uncertainties, we have the ability to know that as wounded healers, we must deal with our wounds, but also help those across the globe. We have so much abundance here. And if you don't believe we do, then you really need to go on the front line and see the makeshift housing that people are living through without electricity that gives way to lack of running water, just being able to put a few drops of Clorox in water to keep the mosquitoes away. And I think it was just profound as I was stayed into the assembly woman, one house we went into that was flooded with 14 feet of water. There was a husband that was taking care of his wife who was connected to a generator that if that generator would have gone off, she would have lost all of her medical equipment and she would have lost her life in the process. These are real issues and real challenges and taking the trip there on the behest of our elected officials who stated that their constituencies were concerned about what was happening here. Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, like other countries have a significant population that's here and that are concerned. When something plays out on the streets of a country outside of here, it plays out on the streets of New York. We have the largest Dominican population in any other city in this country. We have the largest Puerto Rican, our neighbors, our fellow Americans. Sometimes people just forget that. It's right here and to be able to be joined with Councilwoman Velazquez watching her auntie there at the site, you know, embrace her and see her niece that's now an elected official come into the country back to be there with a, it was just profound. It was profound experience. It was profound to sit down with the president in the Dominican Republic with, you know, the first Dominican congressman, Congressman Aspeyat to be there and sit down late at night and talk with him about the needs, the basic needs of just getting electricity back on, looking at, we discard fire trucks. They're saying, you finish with them, can we utilize them? Ambulance, you know, so they're things that we are going to continue to do. And I wanna thank Zach and his team that went there at the conclusion. I believe they were on the ground while there were still raindrops and moving forward to give them the expertise to know how the energy that his team brought to the Puerto Rico to give the assistance that was needed. And so yes, you know, we hit the ground here when we came, when we returned, we had a full day and my team realized what it is working with the mayor that I think the Daily News reported. I have not had one day off. I just realized that. So they know what it is to hit the ground and go from sun up to sun down and then get on the flight and go to the next day. And we hit the ground. We hit the ground yesterday and Congressman Espeyot went to assistant raising money. I went to a few of my cultural events and I was in the hospital yesterday with an officer who was in a car crash that we thought we were gonna lose him. Thank God, let's pray for him today as he's recovering and going to Booth Memorial Hospital yesterday to respond today. So we're going to do what we have to do. What we did with the domestic crisis that we're having, we're going to show the humanitarian action of what it is to be a New Yorker. This is the international city. This is America city. People like it or not. This is America city. What we do is going to impact what happens across the globe and how people are going to perceive us across the globe. The Borough President was right. When I walked with that polo shirt, male on the back of it and went in those different locations, you should have looked at the faces of people that this city was saying to people that they matter. That means so much to people outside of this country and those who are part of our locations throughout the globe. We sometimes take that for granted. We have a brand. New York has a brand. And when people see it, it means something. You know, when we go there, it's not it. Kansas doesn't have a brand. You know, when you go there, you're from Kansas. No, well, you know what? But New York has a brand. It has a brand. And that brand means diversity. That brand means we care. That brand means that we are compassionate. And that's what we did. So we have work to do here. We have work to do to assure as the councilman stated that we fulfill some of the commitments and obligations that we get in Puerto Rico helping FEMA expedite the money went to one woman's home that was destroyed three times. She had wet papers of applications of how she tried to communicate with FEMA. In the backyard, you saw the destruction of one of her homes. And so we're gonna help folks navigate FEMA and get the resources that they deserve. Sit down with the mayors, sit down with the senators. We met with all the senators that were in the areas that were impacted. We met with a group of the mayors there. And as I stated, we met with the president as well. And so this was a great use of our time on how do we show the humanitarian aspect of being a New Yorker. And I cannot say it enough of Somos. Somos. Somos during COVID. During COVID when people were not dealing with issues on the ground. Somos, I joined Somos at Sunset Park where they were on the ground with full hazmat suits on and applying and giving people the medicine that they needed, those early processes that were taking place. And so we met Somos at Sunset Park and we met them in sunny Dominican Republic all over the Caribbean and Latino speaking countries. They were there as they have done so here in our city as well. And so I wanna thank the entire delegation and team, our religious leaders, our elected officials, our partners, our CBOs of coming together saying that we were going to help the people of Dominican Republic and then the people of Puerto Rico. And so if there's any questions on that specific issue, we will answer them. If anything that our NYSOM Commissioner can answer, he will do so as well. And then we'll do a few off topics because I haven't been around a while and I've really, really, really at the bottom of my heart. I'll just miss you guys, you know? But before we do that, Felicia Dades to our congressman, happy birthday to you. You know? So let's do a few questions, Kate. It was interesting in congressman, you could respond also. Electricity, this electricity issue has been real lingering out there. And what I learned, which was extremely important, was that after the electricity, you can't get water because the water's pumped up into the high areas and generators don't last forever. They have a shelf, they have a running life. And so it's important that we get there and help with the grid and get the electricity that's needed. That is probably the number one thing I heard in congressman if you want to. Electricity is a problem in the entire region, right? The electrical grid in Puerto Rico is very fragile. It's spotty in the Dominican Republic in some other places like Haiti and Cuba, you know, this just really bad. So the Caribbean needs a stronger grid to provide, hopefully renewable, they have sun every day. And you know, it should be built in that direction. Now the DR got hit mainly by heavy winds. Puerto Rico is mainly flooding, a big flooding. And as the mayor says, as the result of the electricity being gone, there's a lack of water. You could live without light, but you can't live without water, okay? So that's critical. Yes, if we talk about, you know, what's gonna be done next, we can't forget about, you know, we can't just have this be, we're down there and the cameras are there and once we leave, you know, what's gonna happen. We heard that there are still crew members from the office of emergency management there. So what are the next steps? Well, I think that number one, we have to put our heads together to deal with the grid issue, going back to the electricity. Not having electricity, hospitals can't operate, people are not getting clean water. Just, you know, tied to that grid is so much and we must focus on that issue in a real way. But what the commissioners team is doing is number one, having access to FEMA, helping fill out the documentation. FEMA, there was a different FEMA under this administration than the previous administration. Everyone told us that on the ground. The FEMA has been extremely responsive, a real partner, they were not getting that under the previous administration, has to Biden and his team because FEMA was very much there. And then there's some items that they listed such as it was mentioned generators, getting something similar to Clorox we're finding. So a bleach in other items, our team that's on the ground with Passama Rose, they have been handing out food and immediate supply items that's there. While they're there, they're still there. We still have Pastor Cabrera that's there doing that. But I think the most important thing is to get access to the resources that are available and some of the other items that they listed, such as those things that have run through their shelf, their working life here that we normally discard, they can use them there. Delegation has gone down. Do you have a degree? Have you engaged the state or has the state engaged you in a similar fashion to offer the same kind of visibility and belief to residents? New York state, you're talking about, yes. I know the governor is sending down a delegation of Spanish speaking law enforcement officers. She reached out to us. And the governor, we have been in constant contact. She was going to attempt to join us on this trip. Her schedule didn't allow, but she's very much engaged with our FEMA, I mean with our NISM. So she has been very much engaged and actually later today I'm gonna reach out and brief her on the trip. But she has been very much engaged. Those specific items, I think the governor's office could communicate and let you know. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As a Dominican, as Payat mentioned, something about the USA aid. But in your office, besides, in addition to ambulances and other things that you can do to help, what plans were you able to make or to start conversation about helping the Dominican Republic as an ally? We know it's not another territory of the United States. Yeah, I don't know if you wanna touch on that, Congressman, number one, around me I have my leadership. You see many Dominicans who keep the concerns of what's happening in the Dominican Republic. Important, Commissioner Edanus Rodriguez and I, I mean after the election we flew to the Dominican Republic as I stated when I was campaigning and I stated that we're going to continue to come whenever there's a time of need. I think it's imperative to speak with people on the ground specifically ask, how do we help within our scope of abilities to help? It's not up to me to dictate to countries on what I'm going to do. It's up to me to ask them, what do you need? How do I help as a city? And that's what we met with the president, that's why we met with the senators, that's why we met with the mayors. They gave us our specific marching orders on what they need from us and that's what we're going to carry out and fulfill. So it's not up to me to go to, these are countries. The Dominican Republic is a country and it's not up to me to say to the president of that country who I think is brilliant on what he's doing and there's going to be a different Dominican Republic after his terms in office on what's needed. He says, Eric, we would like to have a better relationship with your law enforcement community. He's revamping his police department and dealing with some of the corruption issues that he faced and we're going to make sure Commissioner Sewell is connected to his leadership so that he can get the input that he needs. He started his own version of Comstat. I was blown away when he gave me his Comstat version, something that was born here. Our experts are going to go in the system and building out his Comstat. And so he has given us some specific items that he would like help with and we're going to be guided by his administration on how we could be helpful in the process. Specific commitments regarding the storm response that the city has made to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and other islands that have been affected. What specifically are you, services, material, providing? So they gave us a list of, they gave us a list of items and Zach, you could respond to this also. Give us a list of items that I heard. One, they need medicine as the congressman stated because after the storm, because of the lack, the hygiene issues of water and other things, the disease is coming to effect. And so the president reached out and the president stated that, hey, we need medicine. And congressman Esriat was immediately able to navigate and get that done and he could touch on that. But that is why I keep saying we must ask specifically from the people on the ground. Far too often, we just start collecting things and they're not what people in want or need. So we spoke directly to the leadership and said, what do you need? Second, generators. We're gonna try to coordinate to see how we can get, chains like Home Depot's and others, Lowe's and see if we can get a good price for the generators. They're now paying approximately $1,400 per generator. That is just out of the course of some of the people who were there, experts on the ground. So I will, the laundry list that they gave us, we're going through those items. All equipment from our city. After a certain number of years, you can no longer, or you should no longer use so many equipment that we have. And they're saying we still can use that equipment. It may be old to us, but it's new to them and we're looking at the list that they give us and we take it from there. You wanna talk about that? Thank you, sir. So a lot of the work that our team is doing, we have a remarkable relationship as the mayor said with FEMA nowadays. My predecessor, Andy DeMora, is now the number two for the region. My other predecessor, Dan Criswell, is the administer for FEMA. And so a lot of the work that we're doing with municipalities is doing assessments, understanding needs, whether it's for individual assistance or whether it's for generators for heavy construction equipment, whether it's for fast tracking certain mitigation efforts that have taken place or projects that have taken place to protect certain communities and neighborhoods. And then working with FEMA to make sure that those METs are being identified and then met. The president of the DR gave us the list of medicine. And that medicine will be distributed to the local public pharmacy in the provinces hit by the storm. Hopefully that will go out tomorrow. Also the civil defense, which is a group of volunteers, they have a list of needs small boats to rescue people during flooding with motors, gargles, other types of equipment. And of course in Puerto Rico, the generators are very much also wood and sink roofs, right? To as simple as that, that's what Somos was doing. Just I saw a photo from Damirong that last night, almost in the middle of the darkness, there was still building roofs in the DR Somos. And so this had the fundamental needs that they have. I've done this before and people send snow boots and coats, that's not what they need over there. In many ways that creates a roadblock to getting. We have Cirilo here, after this press conference, if you walk down the street to 809 restaurant, by the way, 809 is the area code for the Dominican Republic, he's got, he's been there, he's gonna be there for two weeks collecting canned foods and he's got a whole operation going on just three blocks from here. And so that's what, this is what it's all about. Okay, thank you. Thanks everyone. You want to spare y'all the, what's happening? Accessification to delivery of those supplies to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for the people going here easy. The right location to deliver them? Okay, when we finish a congressman, SPR or Z, or whomever, we have a specific location we want to deliver to, let's connect to get the specific location because they have different efforts that are taking place. And so let's make sure that it's funneled to one location, okay? Love your radio show, man. For short speech, I know Brooksboro president is concerned about how this could affect space in that area, is this a long-term midterm solution? How do you see it with this operation going on on the beach? Yeah, and I take my hat off to ball president Gibson. She raised her concern about the flood prone area, but at the same time, she's just acknowledged, hey, Erica's dealing with a crisis. Our city's dealing with a humanitarian crisis. And I think that we really don't sometime understand this is a humanitarian refugee crisis. And so we looked at 50 locations and found the best location. We're gonna open more sites, and this is not long-term. Let's be clear, this is not something that's going to be done long-term. This is not a shelter issue. This is a humanitarian refugee migrant crisis, humanitarian crisis. And so we're gonna pivot and shift as the need is. I believe we got six buses yesterday that we had to address. And so we want to make sure that we bring people into a safe, clean environment as we process them for a few days to figure out their needs and move them to the right location. And to those who are saying, is it humane to use tents? I mean, like, what are people talking about? There was a tent in Central Park during COVID. I mean, did people forget? I was on the ground in COVID. I know that we had a boat, but a hospital boat that was utilized. Other locations was utilized. This is a humane way. We are doing what no other locale is doing, giving people the services they need. So this is not inhumane. This is New Yorkers stepping up, meeting the crisis, responding appropriately. And so this is not a long-term fix. We're going to do it as we handle the influx. We're hoping that the national government deals with a decompression strategy that's needed. We're hoping that others would step up like New Yorkers is doing. And so this is to deal with the humanitarian crisis that we're facing. I think Vanessa Gibson, the bar president, for understanding that these are real challenging times. Yeah, Mr. Mayer, just to follow up on that. I've seen the flooding there and there are big swaths that are flooding. So are you building into these tent structures something to mitigate that flooding or drainage or something like that? We have an excellent NISM that we gauge when storms are coming and if the need is to, as in any area, we believe that there's a threat of storms. We're going to move people to a safer location, but the commissioner and his crew are factoring all of this. All of this is part of our conversation. Commissioner, you want to touch on that? Thank you for your question. The mayor has made clear that we're going to appeal to our better angels here and that the safety and security of this population is paramount. There are two types of flooding events that we are concerned about in any flood zone. Number one is from a coastal storm. Should a coastal storm come, we would evacuate people as we would any other zone. In a zone one, we have to evacuate about 500,000 people. So they would go into the shelter system, the storm shelter system, just like anybody else who is evacuating a neighborhood. There are other types of flooding events that we are also concerned about, whether it's rainfall or for tides. We are setting up protection measures for those type of flooding events as well. Thank you. And that's so important when Zach stated. People live in flood zones. People live in flood zone and when there's a flood that threatens that zone, we evacuate. And so there's nothing new here. We're not gonna treat migrants if there's a flood and say, well, we're gonna evacuate them and not evacuate other New Yorkers that live in the flood zone. No, people who live in zone one, if you live in a flood zone, if you have beachfront property, if you live in these areas, we evacuate them. This is a professional operation that we have here and nice to understand what they're doing. Mayor Adams, I suppose. I don't know if you saw today's cover, but we reported that one in five migrants are coming from Texas. Given that one fit the migrants in New York are arriving, you have Governor Abbott, more coming into the coordination with the El Paso mayor. Why haven't you called on President Biden to stem the time of the quarter? Listen, I am frustrated with the fact that this is a national issue that must be resolved. What was also in the papers today from the New York, from the Washington Post, is that Governor Abbott received about 75,000 migrants. New York state has received 110,000 migrants. So anyone who believes we're not doing our share, it's just wrong. That has been incorrectly reported. And so the difference between what El Paso did, which we never invited migrants here, I don't know why we keep reporting that, because that's not what happened. But the difference is that we did something that's really revolutionary seemed like right now. We communicated. We attempted to communicate with Governor Abbott's people and stated, how do we coordinate during a crisis? And so yes, this is a national problem. We must have a national solution to this problem. And we can't just say, let's just turn our backs on New York City. And that comes with coordinating with all of our country on how do we deal with this issue. I'm sorry. If you call it a national problem, why don't you just call the president to, you know, do something about it? Or is it because, you know, you didn't request $500 million in funding? Well, you know, you guys know more than I do. We requested money to deal with the crisis. That's what we did. And that's what we're going to continue to do. This is expensive. And we should not have to trade off dealing with the needs of New Yorkers and dealing with the needs of migrants and asylum seekers. That is not fair to New Yorkers. I have an obligation and responsibility to provide the resources that New Yorkers need. And I'm going to do that. And right now, we have been forced to say, do we take care of New Yorkers or do we take care of migrants? And we're not doing that. We have to use the dollars that we have to take care of the population of people in this city. But what is happening is wrong. And I said it over and over again, we need help. And the national government has a responsibility and assisted in its national problems, but also those local governments, like Governor Abbott has a responsibility to coordinate what we're doing. We should not attack another state because we are angry about what's happening in the country. No, we should coordinate. That's what we're saying to Governor Abbott and everyone else. This should be a coordination in our country right now. Mr. Mayor, on this Orchard Beach facility, will it comply with all right to shelter regulations? Again, we have to separate the two. We have a shelter obligation that we're fulfilling every day. You know, everyone knows that. And we have a migrant asylum seeker crisis. It is our belief that we need to treat this like the crisis that it is. This is a no one thought that we would be receiving over 13,000 people for housing. And so we are going to treat everyone in the main fashion, but these are two different entities. This is a crisis of migrant and asylum seekers, and that is how we respond into it. It will not comply with regulations in terms of space between beds, in terms of supplies they're given, services they receive, like mail and laundry, those will not be provided. We are, the migrant crisis is outside of the housing initiative that we're doing in city for right to shelter. These are two different entities. We're dealing with an humanitarian crisis that was created by human hands, I say over and over again. Hi, Mayor. How are you? My colleague had a story this morning about the death of someone who was leaving Rikers Island. Are you concerned that Commissioner Molina under pressure is trying to lower the Rikers death count? No, and that's not what happened. And I was a bit surprised at the tone of that story. That's not what he did. What happens, and I hope the paper does a followup. Because the way we are given the impression of what Commissioner Molina did, it's just sending the wrong message. This Commissioner Molina is probably the most compassionate commissioner we've ever had in the Department of Correction. So he used a technical term to say, to get the person off the corrections count, meaning when you get that person off the corrections umbrella of compassionate care, you are now allowing family members to go visit him, be around him or her in a dignified manner without correction officers all around. The person is at the end of his life. And Molina has no control on the release of a person that's during that compassionate release. He does not have control of that. He put in for it, and then there are other entities, health and health makes that decision. So it's not like he can just move someone off. And so I commend him, how he has gone to the hospital, how he has spoken to family members who their loved ones is at the end of their lives. This Commissioner has been as compassionate as anyone could be. He doesn't have to do that, but he knows that we're talking about human beings. And so the spirit of that article is meaning, and he was trying to get it off his count so that it wouldn't be counted under the Department of Corrections. That was just not true. But is it fair to assume that his health was impacted by his stay at the jail? That that should be factored into the conditions there? No, I don't. Only a medical doctor can state that. And I have not read that his health was impacted by his stay there. And if it was there that it was impacted by his stay there, that's all part of the report. But what Melina was trying to do, we need to be very clear on what he was trying to do, he was saying, if we get it off, use the technical term he used, those Department of Correction understand, if we get it from under the Department of Correction, then we can treat that family in a humane way. That's what he was saying. They are able to come visit their loved one without him being shackled to the bed, without correction officers standing around them. That shouldn't be the last image that a family member sees if you know someone's about to transition. And it was very thoughtful for him to do it. And I just think the energy of that story sent just the wrong message of the commissioner that shows the level of compassion that this commissioner is showing. He talks to the parents. He talks to the family members. He picks them up. He goes to the hospital. That's not it within his portfolio. Hi, Mr. Mayor. How are you? Good, how are you? Question on city council redistricting, there was reporting last week that your deputy Chief of Staff contacted. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. I feel safer when you're here. I don't, sir. I'm just proud right now. There was reporting that your deputy Chief of Staff contacted your appointees to the redistricting commission and told them you were against the maps and that they should vote against it. Is that the case? And why were you against the maps if so? Well, I'm not aware that if the deputy did, I'm not aware of that. We're going to continue to advocate to have fair maps and I'm not aware of anything other than us complying fully with the rules of mapping. You know, redistricting is important and so we want to make sure that we have fair maps and I trust my appointees. Question about the tents and the asylum seekers. So you guys, were there any minors in the tent facility up at Orchard Beach? We are in very close contact, both the state with Legal Aid and with other organizations, to make sure we're doing right by this population. Ellen? Hi, Mr. Mayor. Going back to Rikers. Heck yeah. I'm confident. You know, when you don't remove, you know, you have a commissioner that is just, even a federal monitor that's there, is talking about what Commissioner Molina is doing. You know, we are, listen, we're a better correctional facility because of him. We had, we've had consulmen and women who are saying that, you know what, we see is the improvements that we're looking for. Are we all the way there? No. No. Are we getting there? Yes. Do we have the best person to do the job? Yes. I am fully confident in Commissioner Molina's ability to bring his expertise, his compassion, just the benevolence. This guy is just a good guy. And, you know, when I could call Commissioner 1, 2 a.m. in the morning and he's just ready, rearing to go, he has a commitment that's needed. Yes, I am fully, fully confident in his ability to finally turn the corner, broken with the special monitor and everyone that's involved to get it done. And he's doing it every day under some challenge and circumstances. Your office released some public schedules for the first six months of mayoralty, but with way, way less transparency than we saw from the Blasio that we see from Hocal. Do you think that the public should be able to know who you're meeting with in your public capacity as mayor? Or are you OK with just there being, you know, blurriness and a lack of clarity? I'm not sure if I understand it. Whippard was not transparent. There were events on the schedule where there was no mention of who it was like meeting, and that was it. It didn't say who you were meeting with. The Blasio would say which staffers were in meetings joining him. You did not release that stuff like that. OK, well, first, you said that in your capacity as mayor. And so not every meeting I have is in my capacity as mayor. You know, some meetings it's not. And so it's very difficult on how I flow. I'm out, I have dinner, I leave the dinner. I'm going to hit the train stations. You can't plan for that. I'm going to a nature development and walk through. I want to see what is like 1 AM in the morning. Are we doing patrol? I mean, you just can't plan for that. I'm going to visit a homeless shelter when I finish in City Hall at 2 AM. OK, I want to go to a homeless shelter. I want to go to see what's the coverage around the place at 3 AM. And so you're trying to put me in the box of these mayors that may have been 9 to 5 guys. I'm a 9 to 9 guy. And so if you want me to fit under this description, if you give me your number while you're home in your 90s, I'll text you and say come and hang out with me on the train. I mean, you've got a mayor. OK, give me that. And what I'm going to do, I'm going to be transparent about every reporter I text and say come meet me here. And I'm going to say, this is how many actually showed up. So I'm on 125th Street with Shams of the Baron going over the bridge to Randall's Island. That was spontaneous. And so I think that you've had a lot of mayors that did the waltz, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three. I do the boogaloo. I salsa. So if you want to get through these next three years and three months, don't try to script me. Because I told you this when I was elected. If you try to script me, you're not going to get it right. You retroactively report on that? I don't know what I'm doing every night. I don't know what I'm doing after dinner. I don't know what I'm doing after having a cigar. I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like, you know what, Eric? I still feel like going to see in the city. I feel like going and driving into Washington Heights and seeing, do we have a motorcycle problem? This is how I flow. This is how I flow. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll go off script as well. I want to anticipate we're in the middle of what we might be getting hit by a eon, not as a hurricane, going back to weather-related topics, but we may. I will. Because I'm fed up as well. So what I'm trying to do here is... I'm trying to jump, I don't know. So... Loving New York. We're getting hit by eon as a problem of depression. Do you have any plans in case we have a lot of flottings again in the train at going back to the box? Immigrants. We have a crisis. We have a crisis of immigrants. We have a security crisis as well. With violent incidents against this very well, immigrants are coming looking for safety. What are you planning to do with it? This is all... As the Commissioner is going to say, it's all about safety of people here. And we do not have a violent... There was an incident that happened in Brooklyn in the shelter. We cannot make it seem like those outliers are the norms. That's not true. You know, when I go visit the shelters and I see the large population, people are trying to get back on their feet and we have an obligation to assist them. If there's an incident, that cannot be this is what's happening all over the system. That's just not accurate. The goal is to make... Huh? Okay. Trying not to... Asking us not to report another incident. So, is that that it's a constant thing but it's becoming a thing in the past few days? No one should stop you from reporting an incident if it happened. You said we had two or three. We had over 13,000. 13,000. So, are we going to live life through the two or three? Are we going to live life through the 12,900 and 7... 9,700. You know, whatever the number is. So, yes, you have two or three. When you put people in settings, conflicts come up. We must be there to prevent those conflicts and give the safety. And there's nothing more paramount than that for us. And we are pleased with the safety that we are provided. Is that from the children? Surgeon? COVID case. Yes. We have Dr. Fassan. I spoke with him this morning. He's going to be doing a briefing on where we are with COVID, where we are with monkeypox, where we are with polio. He's going to do a full briefing on that. But we are factoring in now that people are indoors, the weather is going to get colder. Dr. Fassan is going to be factoring in all of this, not only in the location, the humanitarian locations we're setting up, but in our schools, in our hospitals. So, the team is on, we're still on COVID. I know that people don't realize that we navigated our way to where we are now because we've been doing a great job. But trust me, every other day we have our briefings. Dr. Fassan keeps us updated, he shows us the trends and he's factoring that into the humanitarian location that we are opening so that we can respond accordingly. But this is factored into our overall plan. Okay. Thank you all. Yeah, real quick on childcare. How important is 3K for you? How important is keeping that universal?