 in this just glorious park, in this amazing borough of the Bronx to, yeah, to unveil the Hunts Point Forward Plan, which, when it comes to community planning, I'm not sure I've seen anything better than this, and I think this is really a national model that we're celebrating here today. And we're celebrating it because it's a plan by the community, for the community. We at EDC were privileged to be able to play a role in it and thrilled to be part of this announcement today, and I, of course, want to thank my colleagues at EDC who worked very hard but alongside and with a lot of guidance and direction from amazing community leadership. Most particularly the Hunts Point and Longwood Community Coalition, Councilmember Salamanca, Community Board 2, but a whole slew of key elected officials have been involved in this project, a number of whom you are going to hear from today. I want to make a special shout out also to Urban Health Plan, the Point CDC, Casita Maria, Greater Hunts Point EDC, and many others who provided input and feedback and worked with us through the height of the pandemic to come out with a product that I think we can all feel really proud about. This is a 15-year commitment to improve the quality of life and spur equitable economic activity right here in Hunts Point, home to 12,000 New Yorkers. And now it is my pleasure to introduce my amazing boss, the Deputy Mayor, Maria Torres-Springer. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you to all the incredible partners in government and, of course, community leaders who are not just with us here today, but have been so central to what the Hunts Point Forward Plan represents and reflects. Now we were in the Hunts Point Peninsula when the mayor unveiled our plan to accelerate our economic recovery. And it was important to us that that wasn't just one day in the Bronx in Hunts Point to talk about the work, but that this is the type of work that we have to do on a continual basis. And, of course, we're back in the Bronx. Of course, we're back at Hunts Point. And that is extremely important to us. The plan is a good one and a meaningful one for a number of reasons. One because it starts with the people. If we are truly going to reinvest, rebuild, reinvent our economy, we cannot do that just within government. We cannot come up with or develop a community plan without it, in fact, being driven and shaped and influenced, not just through the printing of the document, but in its implementation by the community organizations who know this community so well and, of course, have always been there not just to seize opportunities, but to also meet different gaps that might exist in the community. The second is that this is a plan. It's a 15-year plan, but we know that a plan is only as good as the execution of it. And we have to put our money where our mouth is. And so this administration and partnership with the City Council, of course, and so many partners in government, we're investing in Hunts Point. We're investing in this plan tens of millions of dollars in addition to a historic investment in the produce market in Hunts Point. And that's just the beginning, because we know this work is not over. There are some critical short-term investments that we have to make, and then we have to keep going. And that is the third point that I wanted to make sure we talked about during this event, that we know that the challenges of this community, some of them are historic and entrenched, and therefore the interventions, what we do, can't just be a flash in the pan, that we have to tackle long-term issues of environmental justice, long-term issues of sustainability, long-term employment issues, and do that in a way that honors the incredible work done and led by the community. And so thank you all for being here today, for all of your partnership. A special shout out to the team at EDC. I know they learned a lot through this community planning process. And that there's a way to do it where it's not just about outreach, where it's not just about projects happening to communities, but really where it's true engagement. And that these are projects that are developed with community and will continue to be implemented with community. So thanks to everyone for being here today, and congratulations. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. It's now my pleasure to introduce somebody who grew up just down the block, who knew this space before it was this spectacular park, and has really fought for so many improvements over the years. And that's Assemblymember Septima. Septimo, please come up. Thank you. Thank you so much. He forgot to mention that it's also the only elected official who is spotlighted in the plan, right? I probably just didn't want to make anyone else feel bad. No, I'm just kidding. Thank you all so much for being here. Any opportunity to celebrate what's happening in Hunts Point is an opportunity to celebrate community. And I think this plan, like the Hunts Point vision plan so many years ago, is really the greatest example of what it means to see the city lead in partnership with the community. I joined the kickoff for the kind of process to go into this plan and joined a couple of events throughout. But I think what's amazing about this plan is not only that it's so community focused in terms of laying out the goals and thinking about charting the future for the community, but the layers of engagement that went into this process are truly impressive. When we talk about a city that listens to its residents, when we talk about building community development with residents at the forefront, this is the example. This is what it means. So I want to give major credit where it's due to EDC and major thanks for committing to a process that was so thoughtful at every turn and really leading with resident engagement first. And the last thing I'll say about this plan is that Hunts Point is talked about as a community oftentimes, as a community that is a victim of circumstance. We know that we have the highest asthma rate in the nation. We know that our kids struggle because of the air quality issues that we deal with here. But we're standing in this beautiful park because of the last process like this. We're standing in this beautiful park because of organizations that were at the forefront then with their vision and because the city was willing to step up in partnership then. That's how we get to these results. That's how you create your own future. That's how you write a story for a community by allowing the community to write the story itself and putting your money where your mouth is and making sure that those visions are brought to life. So thank you to the EDC. Thank you to the city. I'm looking forward to the next 15 years where every single part of this plan gets implemented. At the state we will be supporting it. And I look forward to seeing you in 20 years when we come up with the next great plan as well. Thank you so much. Thank you, Assemblymember. It's now my pleasure to introduce one of your colleagues in legislature, another great champion for the Bronx and this neighborhood, Assemblymember Burgos. Hi, everyone. First off, I want to thank Mayor's team and everyone for having me here today. I think when we talk about the city of New York, you look at neighborhoods that have been systematically excluded and really put at the bottom of the barrel in this city. Unfortunately, you could never exclude Hunts Point in the peninsula. But what we're announcing here today is truly the complete antithesis of that, let me listen to the word out. Because like Amanda said, this is really an extremely community focused project. Again, I want to give that credit to EDC. They really have been on the ground through every single step, asking the residents what it is they want to see, what they don't want to see. And that's nothing more you can ask for, again, a community that was excluded for so many years. And now the city is putting its foot forward and saying this is the beauty that the Bronx deserves, the beauty Hunts Point deserves, the residents here, and we're going to see so much prosperity that comes out of this. So I'm excited to see it. I'm excited to see what comes of it in the next 15 years. And a lot of great things coming from the Bronx. So thanks for having me. Thank you Assemblymember. It's now my great pleasure to introduce one of our key partners in the City Council, the chair of the City's Economic Development Committee, Council Member Amanda Farias. Hi, everyone. They had to put someone in between the two amandas, so that was strategic. Good morning. I'm Council Member Amanda Farias. I represent District 18, and I am the chair of the Committee on Economic Development. Today marks the end of decades of neglect and disinvestment in the South Bronx, starting right here in Hunts Point. The Hunts Point Forward Plan is a comprehensive and community-forward 15-year vision by Mayor Eric Adams, the Economic Development Corporation, and my colleagues in government. My district is right across the river, and many of my constituents have family and friends that work here, live here, come to this park, and actually have favorite restaurants and shops within the Hunts Point community. This vision will not only impact the quality of life for the community of Hunts Point, but those of the surrounding area as well. I can assure you, as a Bronxite and as the chair of the Committee on Economic Development, this plan is by the Bronx and for the Bronx, as my previous colleagues stated. The vision includes much-needed green spaces, improved streets, infrastructure like lights and intersection safety, a permanent healthcare facility, increased access to fresh foods, and most importantly, the workforce development investment that will connect Hunts Point residents to good-paying union jobs. Thank you to my colleague, Council Member Rafael Salamanca, who is a tireless advocate for his communities, and the Hunts Point President Andrew Kimball and the entire staff of the EDC who have brought this vision to fruition today based off of what they received from the community and how inclusive they were in this process. And finally, to Mayor Eric Adams for prioritizing a long-overdue investment project of the people of the Bronx. Department of Transportation Commissioner Donna Rodriguez, I want to introduce and Parks Commissioner Sue Donahue. Thank you so much for your partnership. I'm now really pleased to bring up a key member of our working group in this plan, somebody who's really a visionary in her own right, a visionary for this community. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Executive Director of the Point Community Development Corporation, Maria Torres. I was really looking around to see who he's talking about, so he said, the point, not to be confused with Maria Torres, bring it up. You're the original Maria Torres. I'm Hunts Point's Maria Torres. Thank you so much. That's a really great intro. Did you get that on tape so I can play that when I get home? Again, not enough thanks could be given to New York City EDC, but also I need to thank all the partners that we had at Hunts Point, LLC, the Longwood Community Coalition, Urban Health Plan, Paloma Hernandez, who could not be here today, Casita Maria, Aidae Morales, The Point, we had Bronx Works, we have Burrero Bay Conservancy. We have so many groups that come together. These are all CBOs as well as the Community Board too, that come together on a monthly basis to talk about ways in which we can help our community. And this is kind of the culmination of that, right? This gives us the ability to look at Hunts Point as a whole and really have it grow and the projects that come to it make sense and all work together. And so this is one of the great things that we've been talking about and to see it come to its fruition and to see the city put so much money behind it to make sure that it happens is really very important and special to us. I wasn't born and raised in Hunts Point, but I have spent the last 30 years loving Hunts Point and seeing projects like this park, like Hunts Point Riverside Park or Hunts Point Landing, which is also another EDC. We have three of the most beautiful waterfront parks in the city. So while you're all here today, please just go around the peninsula, take a look at all the parks. And so that's another plug for Parks Department. And really, Hunts Point is an extremely unique place. Yes, it had a bundle of problems, but it is seeing its way through and really getting everything to work together. And so we're very honored, happy, and grateful and looking forward to see this through. Thank you. Thank you so much, Maria. Our next speaker is somebody who's got some very important responsibilities in this borough. Somebody who, very early on, I met with, in fact, I think the first week and made it clear that not only Hunts Point, but Kingsbridge and Bronx Parking and I can go on and on and on and on were her key priorities on economic development. And I really love that as somebody who has to deliver, is somebody who's demanding results along the same lines of what we hope to deliver at EDC. So it's really my pleasure to introduce Borough President Vanessa Gibson. Thank you so much, President Kimball. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Beretto Point Park with the floating lady behind us. I am truly so excited to be here for such an important time as this. Today marks an important chapter in the history of the Hunts Point community. Today represents a culmination of the long-time commitment, compassion, consistency, dedication, and the labor of love of residents and stakeholders and elected officials in the Hunts Point and Longwood community. Today, as we join together with our Mayor Eric Adams, our Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, our President of EDC, Andrew Kimball, the EDC team, our Parks Commissioner, DOT Commissioner, and all of the elected officials and community groups. Today we officially launch the Hunts Point Forward Plan. This plan, unlike any other plan, is a comprehensive plan that develops creative and innovative approaches to investing in the Hunts Point community. For many, many years, communities like Hunts Point have been shortchanged, denied access to opportunities for the residents and families that live, that work, and raise their families in this community. This plan is going to create the access and opportunities for our young people, for families, for seniors, from a holistic perspective, with wraparound services, dealing with food access, access to healthy food, building up our schools and educational institutions, our open spaces, our parks and recreation centers, looking at our streetscapes to make sure that our streets are safe for everyone. This plan is a model for the rest of the Bronx and the entire city of New York because it demonstrates what can happen when government works with the community, when the community is engaged from the beginning through the entire process until the very end, allowing community residents to be engaged, to be stimulated in knowing that their voices are truly important. This is such a momentous occasion for the history of Hunts Point. And I don't want to lose sight of this moment because three years is a long time and I'm certain that many of our organizations and residents wanted to give up. But guess what? They saw the light at the end of the tunnel. They had the blueprint and the vision and understood that they were being called to serve for the future generation of leaders. The conversations that we had are about our children so that they can breathe clean air and have access to clean water and reducing pollution and noise and dealing with health disparities that we face every single day. For once, the Bronx is going to be first in everything good and not everything bad. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what community collaboration is all about. And so as the borough president, only six months in this position, certainly as the mayor likes to say, I'm not new to this, but I'm true to this work because as the former council member, the neighbor to this district, I watched this plan develop and I saw a lot of the great things that were coming out of this plan that we really can use as a model for the rest of our borough. And so I am excited about this opportunity. This has truly been a labor of love. Thank you to the Hunts Point community for never giving up, for recognizing that through your pain, you can find purpose. And through the storm, we can truly find strength. This is what community looks like. And so I just want to take this moment to recognize the partners because they deserve to be acknowledged for their work, for never giving up and for remembering the role that they all play. Certainly, we recognize Maria, the Hunts Point Maria. We recognize the Hunts Point Maria and the Hunts Point and Longwood Community Coalition, Bronx Community Board 2, Rafael Acevedo, our district manager, Bobby Crespo, our board chairperson, the members of CB2. We want to thank the Pratt Center for Community Development. We want to thank the Point CDC. We want to recognize Banana Kelly, Casita Maria, FNF Supply, Greater Hunts Point EDC, Grow NYC, The Hope Program, Jennifer Mitchell is here. Hunts Point Alliance for our Babies, the Hunts Point Cooperative Market, shout out to all of you. We want to thank Criesdale, La Peninsula, Head Start, Neighborhood Shop. We want to thank Omni New York Real Life Church, Rocking the Boat, Adam Green, and his great work. Shout out to Teamsters Local 202, Danny Kane and John Reader, Urban Health Plan. We want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. And in order for this project to move forward, you need a great leader in your elected officials. And all of my colleagues here, Assemblymember Kenny Burtigos, Assemblymember Amanda Septimo, Councilmember Amanda Farias, we all work together. But there is nothing like having your local leader champion your issues with the administration. So I want to recognize our Councilmember of this district of Hunts Point and Longwood, Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr. Thank you community. You have truly shown us exactly what you are made of. And this plan represents a beacon of hope and a beacon of opportunity for the next generation of leaders. And I could not be more proud of this day. I look forward to working with all of you. Once again, I want to thank our Mayor, Eric Adams, because collectively, guess what? Hunts Point and Longwood, we are going to get stuff done. Congratulations. And we look forward to the work ahead. Thank you so much. All right, thank you for your president. And now I'm lucky enough to introduce a lawmaker who probably needs no introductions, although he just kind of got one. And it worked on this plan with us tirelessly throughout the pandemic. And since the time I started EDC has been a consistent partner in getting things done in this district, and particularly in the broader Hunts Point area. And that's Councilmember Salamanca. Thank you. All right, good afternoon, everyone. Buenos dias. I'm really excited to be here. I know I always say I'm excited to be here, but I am excited to be here in Barretto Point Park in the South Bronx. This year, believe it or not, 2022 has been good to the South Bronx. It has been good to the Bronx, but it's especially been good to Hunts Point and Longwood. Just last in February, this past February, we were with the mayor in the Hunts Point produce market, where he was announcing $100 million for the Hunts Point produce market so that we can finally move forward and get them the new facility that they deserve. He also announced a $40 million plan, which we will speak about, which is part of this Hunts Point vision plan. Just two days ago, we voted on the budget, $101 billion for the city of New York. I bring it up because I'm part of what's called the budget negotiating team, where we negotiate the budget with the mayor's office, and I am extremely proud of what we were able to deliver to the Hunts Point community. Just yesterday, I was at the Hunts Point meat market to let them know that I was able to bring them $5.7 million for their refrigeration for the meat market. And I know we're $6 million short, and we're gonna get that in the next budget. I was able to give Maria Torres a call yesterday and let her know that we were able to allocate $3.2 million to the Hunts Point, to the point for renovations for the interior and exterior. And there are other millions and millions on hundreds of thousands of dollars of programs and capital investments that we're doing that's part of this budget. But what's most exciting is that we are here today to announce the Hunts Point Forward Plan. And as some of my colleagues or other speakers spoke about, this plan was put together by the community for the community. See, prior to the Hunts Point Coalition, there was called the Hunts Point Vision Plan, where there was a vision plan for the last 10 years. But we got to the last 10 years and we needed to have a different approach. There were too many projects that were occurring in the Hunts Point community and we felt as if agencies and communities and not-for-profits were not talking to one another. And so that's where the Hunts Point Coalition came about and we sat down with the Hunts Point EDC president at the time, James Patchett, and we said, you need to allocate funding so that we can hire an outside consultant so that they can sit down and come together with us and the businesses and the community and put a plan together that we can move forward. And they put their money what their mouth is. They allocated almost $200,000 brought in this outside institution and this is what we have today. We have a plan. And what's most excited about this plan is that we have a mayor, a mayor who committed to ensuring that he is working with communities out in the outer boroughs. And he is here today fulfilling that commitment. So, una plaza por favor, I would like to bring up our mayor of the city of New York, Mr. Mayor Eric Adams. What's your belt, man? What did we get? You too? Oh, man. And I'm going to be brief. I wanted to sit in the stands and just allow the real heroes and sheroes that made this happen. This is their moments. And I am up here and spending time in the Bronx because the Bronx is back because they had my back. And I'll never forget the commitment and dedication. You have been ignored for far too long, a highest number of shootings, lowest number of graduations, access to school, health care issues. You look at all of the negatives and you keep seeing the Bronx. Well, we are going to turn that around with real partnerships and listening to what's on the ground. This coordination, this effort, this continuation of what was put in place and having a Bronx Bar President that has a real passion and vision for the Bronx on all ends, this is how we're going to get stuff done. I look forward to it, Bar President Gibson. Look at this park. This is a beautiful park. And just to come here and walk through and enjoy the waterway and enjoy what we're doing. The Hunts Point community fed the city during COVID. Fed the city during COVID, continued to operate, made sure that we had the resources we needed and we're pressing go on a complete reset for not only the Bronx before our entire city. And the indicators are there. People will start understanding we are winning. We're winning. 40% of business return in our city, outpacing the nation, 100,000 new jobs, 30% decrease in shootings, 30% decrease in homicides in April and May. We're seeing yesterday I was in Times Square, over 350,000 people came to visit on Monday, just 2,000 away from the top numbers, typically on Monday. We are seeing an unbelievable return to our city through tourism. But we're not going to make the mistakes we made in the past with certain parts of the city benefit from our prosperity and we're leaving out the outer boroughs in general, but specifically this great borough calls the Bronx. We are invested in Hunts Points and the entire neighborhood so that both can reach their full potential. We're already committed $100 million to Hunts Points to improve the markets infrastructure. A rate to you, Councilman Salamanca, was clear and focused and people will say, you know, you're always hanging around with Salamanca. That's my guy. That's my guy. You know, he is, these Bronx electorates are so solid about helping people on the ground and another 40 million into parks and improvements of the neighborhoods. Hunts Point forward is a 15-year plan, but it has a short-term and immediate benefits for us all. Although we talk 15 years, there are things we're going to do right away. Expanding access to healthcare, through pop-up health clinics and screenings with a permanent facility and a potential redevelopment. This is good stuff that we want to do to deal with the healthcare crisis right here and this amazing park. We restore a portion of the shoreline, making the park more resilient and providing more park space for visitors. That is on top of the list of my amazing, amazing park commissioner, Sue Donahue. Just, you know, we are blessed to have her on part of this amazing team. She has you on our radar. You should all be proud because the Bronx is on our radar. We're seeing too many crashes also. We're not just in one area because safety is safety. Vehicle crashes that leads to fatalities or serious injuries are just as important as a gunshot that leads to fatalities or serious injury. So what are we doing? We are going to improve pedestrian traffic, safety at many intersections by making crossing shorter, addressing signal timing and improving bike connections. The Bronx should not be let out of dealing with this traffic fatalities. When we do an analysis, the highest numbers are in the Bronx. Think about that. You're being hit on all ends. And people are not acknowledging because of our lack of investment infrastructure changes that this is taking place. We're making real improvements for street lighting as well. And you will feel the efforts in terms of safety, better access to healthcare and improved green space because every New Yorker deserves a safe, clean community is something that I believe in and that's something that we're going to produce. And so I want to acknowledge all of our partners, NYC, EDC, Councilman Salamanca, as I stated, for being a real pusher on this, the Point CDC, Urban Health Plan, Casita, Maria, Greater Hunts Point EDC, Rockin' the Boats, Hunts Point Alliance for Children, the Hope Program, Neighborhood Shop, Community Board 2, the Business and the Food Distribution Center, and all those who are coming together to make this happen. And the countless others who are saying that we can do this, we can rebuild, we can renew, we can reinvent and it starts right here in the Bronx. And so thank you for all being a partner in this. Amazing, amazing things are happening in this great borough. We've always had some of the greatest people living right here in the Bronx. Now we're going to give them the greatest level of support that they deserve. I'm happy to be in the Bronx. You're going to see a lot of me. You know? Okay. Open to On Topic. You can see President C.O. You have to put your eyes right here because the park is in the picture down here. So on top of the park there. Like, you have to vibrate. Oh, I didn't even see you up here. The reporter asked me today on New York One, you know, why aren't mine battles with reporters? I said, you don't know how Mike and I love each other. You know, never! How's that trying to tell him? This is about this, but it's about a few other things too. So in March, you may be announced at the terminal market, talking about revitalization of the community. And I remember asking at that press conference, you know, for some more details about what that would mean. And today, you know, I looked at the report and I'm hearing what you guys say. I'm seeing action items and a bunch more details. So what I wanna ask is, you know, at other press events yesterday, which I wasn't at, and there was one, I think, it was last week with Andre Mitchell. You know, when you're asked, like, for more details, like yesterday with the housing, sorry, it's taken so long. You know, you said, well, we're not gonna give it now. My understanding with the housing question is, it's gonna be on pace with what DeBlasio set out. Is that right? I mean, and there's, you know, the goal for affordable units at 25, 30,000. And also, I mean, do you plan to put out more details as things kind of develop as you did the year? This is what I learned. Those of you like you in the media, you criticize Bill DeBlasio for focusing on units. Do you remember that? I remember. Okay, I read it a lot. Because you guys were right. Everyone was talking about units. That is not what we should be talking about. Don't talk about when you sign the deal to build units. Talk about how many are allowing people to be in. That's our focus. How many people are going to be in those apartments? So no matter how many numbers I throw out there, you are going to judge me on my end results. And that's what I'm saying to you. Watch my end results. Like I'm going to one of you brought up yesterday. We're heading to Houston to see the plan that Mayor Turner's doing. We're not leaving anything sown unturned. We want to get this right. And so what you've done with previous mayors, I got it. But I'm not previous mayors. You got either on topic? Right here. Questions from the press first. Over here. You got on topic? Yeah, this is for Councilwoman Salamonka. As we know, the South Bronx is already so saturated with these projects and construction. The traffic and parking is already a nightmare here. How do you plan to carry out these projects without further disrupting the residents here? Well, when you look at the plan, in reality, the Hunts Point Vision Plan, when we asked EDC to work with the Hunts Point Coalition, the whole point was these projects are occurring. For example, the Sheridan Expressway. All the traffic that's on the Brooklyn has to do with what's happening in the Sheridan Expressway with the state. Well, the state is working. They're doing their construction. We have other projects, other construction that's happening in Hunts Point, and then are speaking to one another. So how do we sit down and ensure that they speak to one another so we know what days traffic is going to be extremely bad, what days traffic is going to be good, what days communities should travel through certain areas? That's just one component of many components of this plan. But that's the whole purpose of this coalition, which is talking to one another. We have other questions. Thank you. We have other questions. OK. OK. OK. We're going to. We're going to. Well, why don't we do it when you do off-topics? So we can free everyone from the heat. I don't want to put you all through this. So you could bounce. You could bounce while I deal with Michael and his off-topics. Thank you. Thank you. Good job. Good job. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes, I am. So this plan you're talking about today, I mean, as this started, I walked over here from the bus. And I mean, you know, the street, I noticed, I mean, there's trash all over. Like, if you guys started and kind of Wendy's started to expect to see some of the real traffic, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, you start to expect to see some of the real results on, you know, some of the short-term action items on the list you got. Can you, can you talk about where it started in place? But even if we weren't doing a project, you should not be seeing trash on the streets. And that's why we're putting money in the budget because our streets must be clean. And so there's no excuse to have dirty streets. Yeah, as the mayor has said, and the council member there, they're short-term initiatives and they're long-term initiatives. So just a couple on the short-term initiatives. We're going to be adding to this spectacular park a half-an-acre of additional waterfront access. A really important thing. That's going to happen in the relative short-term. We're going to be improving crosswalks for safety. Absolutely critical. The mayor talked about traffic fatalities. We've got to improve safety crossing the streets. We're going to be adding bike lanes in the short-term. And then there are longer-term projects, many of them connected with the Food Distribution Center for how we bring trucks in and out and rebuilding streets completely to create additional safety measures. There's also a slew of immediate short-term health initiatives in terms of supporting our not-for-profit partners in the community, both with their capacity building around health delivery, but also in terms of workforce development. Yes, two questions. First, on the issue of the lifeguard shortage right now and you've got the parks commissioner there, how is it that we could be entering the summer at a time when this administration has promised to do the most possible for the poorest children in the city that you won't be offering free swimming instruction? How can you not solve this problem? Then I have a second question for the mayor about his endorsement. Let me touch that. The shortage of lifeguards is a national problem. Previous administration did not do swimming training also because of the shortage. We want to think outside the box and see what we can do our high school students that are in swimming classes or on swim teams. We're going to push the envelope and see is there a way we can do it. I'm a big believer I was a strong supporter of Swim Strong when I was the bar president. We don't want the drowning numbers that we've witnessed. I think our young people were surrounded by water. I believe our young people should get swimming lessons. I'm going to sit down with the commissioner and say, what are some other ways we can do it? Let's go out to the chancellor and see if there's ways we can do it. Look at the laws. We want to give instructions for swimming, but if we don't have the lifeguards that's impacting nationally and impacted the previous last year, they didn't do training as well. We want to see if there's a creative way that we can get it done. Anything that's parts for Mr. Warner to add on this? No, obviously the mayor covered that. My other question, Mayor, you endorse Kathy Hockel today. Tom Swazi put out a statement where he said, Eric Adams is still a brother, but if he wanted a governor who was going to help on crime, he would pick me because I'm the one who's going to fix bail. So what is your answer to why you didn't choose Tom Swazi? We're still a brother, and brothers realize that, hey, sometimes your brother do something differently, but if you're part of the same family, you still love each other. I love Tom, you know? I just made a decision on who I was going to go for. A governor is a tough choice. Sometimes I have to pick my other brothers, even the one that looks like me, and act like he's the mayor all the time. But, you know, that's just the life we live, you know? Good luck to Tom. Mr. Mayor, I had a couple other questions. But on lifeguards, would the problem be it all helped if the pay was better for lifeguards and you had followed through on your promise to fund your city budget with 1% with money going to parks? No. The pay would not improve the situation at all? No. Because people who are lifeguards, they do it because they're the love of the swimming, they do it because of the love of protecting people, they do it because of several different incidents. It's not about dollars and cents. It's about having people that enjoy being lifeguards. Like, I'll do this job because I love it. Well, not everyone has that luxury, though. Well, it's a salary that comes with it. It's a union salary that comes with it. And so it's important to make sure that we always pay our union employees correctly and we believe we do a good job. But there's a national shortage. I think that's going to be missing from the stories. There's a national shortage of lifeguards. And so what we need to do is build out a better feeder system and really get people engaged in it. But there's a national shortage. So I hope that's in the sentence of the story. I want a separate topic if I could. But I love this guy. Can you give him one more? On the right guidelines board, I know you've addressed this before. But I don't know if you have a vote coming next week. Would you still characterize yourself as neutral on where the rent increases are going? Well, that's why we have a board. They have to make the right decisions based on reviewing all the evidence. And we have to respect the outcome. I think it's a cross-section of people on the board. And they must make the right decision for New Yorkers. And you know I'm a big believer in small property owners. You know, you have a 13 of family building. They're hurting, too. And I think we can find a balance on both ends. Well, thank you. James, we're from Pixlub. How are you? Hello. Good. Do we get credit when we have your bite saying it's a national shortage? Yes, you will. For you and for Ms. Donahue, one more on lifeguards. What do you say to senior swimmers? What do you say to lap swimmers, particularly lap swimmers who are experienced swimmers, who they're not going to get the programs they've had, and they're going to see pools opening at 11 o'clock when, in past summers, they've been opened much, much earlier. No one wants to be here. But when you're dealing with a national shortage, these are the cards we are dealt. And if anyone can find ways of trying to solve this problem, I just have a lot of faith and confidence to ensue. If it's possible to do, we're going to do it. We're going to look under every stone to try to find how do we create a safe environment. Now, one thing we're not going to do, we're not going to put New Yorkers in an unsafe environment. If we don't have the lifeguards in areas where there have to be, we are not going to allow people to endanger themselves. That is not going to happen. But we are not happy about not being able to get lifeguards like the rest of the country. We're not happy like last year they couldn't do training. So we're not happy for that. We're going to try to do something different to solve the problem. Yeah, Mr. Mayor. I want to ask you a question about traffic safety around schools. Yes. The plug analyzed more than five years of city data recently and found that streets near schools actually have far higher rates of car crashes and injuries than average city streets. Yes. And that streets are especially dangerous outside schools with majority students of color and majority poor students. Two questions. First, what's your reaction to those disparities? And second, do you think the Department of Transportation should come up with a new plan to prevent drivers from running into and injuring children outside their schools? First, I don't know what the period of that study is. That was from July 2015 through November of 2021. Okay. Okay. So that was during the previous administration. Okay. Number one, we're going to redesign a thousand intersections. Donis Rodriguez, who has been a strong supporter of safer streets and particularly in those poor communities that have historically been denied the same level of street redesign. You know, I advocated hard with Andrew Gennadas to have 24 hours of the speed cameras around schools. We need to do more. And I'm going to look at that report, see what streets we're talking about and zero in on those streets. But I think our plan that we're rolling out from the advertisement campaign to the streets redesigned to education in schools. A lot of people miss that part. We need to be educating children in school on field trips, how to properly cross the street, how to look both ways, how not to be distracted. We don't do those basic things anymore. There are things that government must do, but there are also things that we must empower children to do. And that's what we're going to do. These are all programs that are already in place. Don't you think the city should be doing more? More specifically to protect children outside school? I think we're doing a great deal and we would never stop at doing more. And if there are any ideas that you have that we should be doing on street blogs, that we should be doing, we listen to all great ideas. We don't turn away any great ideas. So if there's something specifically street blog put in place, we're welcome to sit down and listen and DOT Commissioner would do so as well. Crane's recently reported that you're asking the governor Tosito of Bill that was in a two-year ban on film mining. Have you been lobbied on this issue since becoming mayor and why are you taking this? Well, outside of taking my first three paychecks in crypto because I wanted to attract industries to this city to say we're open for business, I believe that when you speak well, Assemblyman Vanell and others, they realize that we could ensure that the industry protects our environment, but at the same time, we are the industry leaders. When you look at the billions of startup and money that's invested in crypto, it's in New York. And so we continue to put barriers in place, then we are going to hurt the bottom line. I want this industry to grow, crypto, blockchain, all of these new technology. We want them to grow here in the city. Now, we didn't ban automobiles because they were burning lead gas. We gave them clear criterias with a timeline. Let's do the same thing with crypto. Anything that is hurting our environment, this is an opportunity to say we want you to improve on your product to make sure you don't destroy our environment. And I am not going to support or advocate for something that's going to take away from the growth we're seeing in crypto in New York City. Are you still receiving your paychecks at this point? No, only took three. But we're going to keep rocking. Mr. Mayor, Kevin Sheehan, New York Post. What's up, Kevin? You ain't got to tell me who you are because you always have that foam in my face. The New York City public school data is out and we've lost 19,000 kids. How do you keep parents from turning away from the city schools and why did you choose to cut their funding in the city's budget? Okay, one, we're doing the things that parents were troubled about, gifted and talented programs in every district. We're going to ensure our schools are safe. And we're also going to create a better experience in our schools. And that's why, you know, once again, Great Pick, Chancellor David Banks is there. We're going to change that environment. Now, here's another thing. I need you to include in your story. We did not cut funding. You know, can someone put that in a sentence? We had, as you just indicated, we had a drop in students. 100% of the fair student funding is still in place. 100%. And so whoever has given this false narrative because it's a good soundbite that we cut, no, we didn't. We allocated the funding according to the fair student funding 100%. Now one child is going to lose money from the fair student funding. We are investing in our schools, dyslexia screening. 100,000 summer youth employing jobs. What we're doing with summarizing. We have so many children signing up for summarizing. This administration is focusing on giving children what they need. And so, adjusting based on the fair student funding is not a cut. We did not cut. I'm going to make a T-shirt saying we did not cut. We got to wrap it up. Okay, thank you. One more education question. Out of the students. We got to keep moving, so I got it. That guy's the boss, man. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it.