Zohran Mamdani on Freezing Rent, Making NYC Affordable Again & Who’s Really Stopping Him

It's actually come through with Maharaja Sweets in Jackson Heights, giving them a tie. I would love to. All right, next time I'll let you know. I'm going to get your number, because Tomstein ducks me. So hold on tight. I'm going to get your number. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to get it after the last episode. Thank you for your number, because they'll probably yank me. Yeah, you're going to start this immediately. You're going to start with a tight ship. Yeah, dude. She don't run around. She does not. Feel free you can share with everybody here. OK, beautiful. So, so I'm so so. Tom, we were all in. I'm so angry about it. You guys did the New York City Olympics. Because I hit that guy up. I was watching the subway kids. And I'm forgetting the guy's name right now. My dad, but he goes, we should have like a New York City Olympics where the burrows get heat. And I DMed, I didn't DM Kareem. I DM the guy. I go, let's make this happen. Like, I am down. And he goes, how will we do that? And I go, we'll find a way. And then I see you a few weeks later. Like, we're doing it. We're doing it. Everybody come out. Where are you from, Rockaway? No, it's Codiala. It was Codiala, Codiala. Anyway, guys, we're here with the next Mayor of New York City. Now, let's go. Let's go. 93%. On Kalsy right now. Yes, this is a big three. 93%. So, boring, this doesn't go horribly at peak. This is how we bring the numbers down. We've got to get some parody. We've got to get one. A lot of people understand this election's not over. So I'm going to 10. It's not 85, by the end of this interview. We're going to work on this. You've done, like, I want to give you, like, a few compliments here. But they're also, like, very validating because I think, you know, every week, I'm talking to Charlotte and we're talking with the boys here on the pods. And it's like, we keep on saying, hey, Democrats, can you please just run for something and not against somebody? Yeah. And it is a very simple solution. But I think people at their core want to feel like their issues are addressed, you know, and their concerns are met. Not simply that guy bad. Yeah. And then you guys have done it massively. Obviously, you're a great talent. And your team is phenomenal. So I know you're listening. You're great. You're great. Give us a little more time. You're great. But it was, like, it was really validating to see that. Yeah. You know, it was like, wow. If you talk about the issues people care about and say that you're going to do something about it, they will support you. What a fucking crazy idea. You know, it's also crazy. The things that I would say you inspire change and hope. The last great Democrat, those were kind of his mantras or however you'd say change and hope. And that's what you inspire. Is that really a Clinton? Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's been lost a little bit. I appreciate you guys. I think it's just, there's been a lot of lecturing and not much listening. And, you know, we saw a swing towards Trump here in New York City in the last general election. Who's responsibility was that? Who is that? How many of that? The fuck are we even talking about? Those guys. They always do, they always do. There are a lot of caricatures of who Trump voters are. And in New York City, we saw the swing was actually in the heart of immigrant New York. And I went to Hillside Avenue in Queens. I went to Fordham Road in the Bronx. And I asked New Yorkers, who did you vote for and why? And I met the vast majority of them. We're Trump voters. And I asked them why. And it just came back to cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. And if I had spent that time lecturing them as to why they were wrong, as opposed to listening to them, as to how we could get right, then we would run a very different campaign. And this is the one thing I said I wanted to talk about. I feel like the establishment of Democrats don't understand a pretty simple thing. We want to vote for someone who might make things better. Even if the risk is it will make things worse. There are a lot of people vote for Trump because he might make things better. And the other person is saying, I wouldn't change anything. Things are not good. In New York, things are not good right now. So what's the difference between me and you saying it's the same, and you're saying it's a privilege to maintain the status quo. You know what I mean? Like we're a privilege. Like it's very nice to know that we're going to be a cop here. Listen to this. Listen to this. I'm going to hit the door. Do you know what I'm saying? No, it's the only way we can't afford it. We're the same. So here's the thing. Like it's so funny because I saw that I saw it was like Tucker Carlson and Justinian. Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk and they were talking about you. I don't know if you remember this. I didn't see this. But they were speaking. And it was almost like this shoehorn theory. Have you ever seen that? Like politically? No, I haven't. Sorry, sorry, horseshoe. Yeah. So it's like, and I think that they were basically saying that you were meeting the moment in terms of what people are concerned with. Right. And it's obviously a cost of living. And it's like, I think it's so specific. I think it's like, it's rent and I think everything is derivative of a front. Yeah. And it's a number one issue in the city. I started looking up numbers because I think a two bedroom six years ago was the average two bedroom compared to right now. I think it's gone up 90% I mean, it's it's untenable, right? Like I think this is the thing that 90% almost doubled in six years. That's great. How are people supposed to keep up with this? And I think what's so come to what you guys were saying, if the politics on offer is right now as good as it's ever going to get, that's not good enough for the vast majority of people. And I think it speaks to how out of touch a lot of them are. Yeah. And I think it's just, you have, you know, I spoke to a nurse who after she finishes her shift, she drives for an hour and a half, leaving the state of New York to get to where she can afford a place. Wow. That's what you're putting working people through. People are living in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Jersey City commuting it. Dude, why do people have to live in the outer burrows? This is what happens when you call him a socialist, he got over it. He's just like, I'm going after a story, I'm going after a sad thing. The Greeks are not white, you know, but continue, please. Yeah. It is absurd. They didn't order to afford her life, you know. And they're obviously certain like circumstances that have created the situation. But I want to talk about more is, because I looked at your plan to go fix it. And I would really like this to be able to happen. A lot of people are making this like impending war about you and Trump. I think it's going to be you and Albany, bro. Can you speak a little bit more on that, like what you need Albany to essentially allow you to do? Yeah. There are restrictions in government. There are systems in place that don't allow you to do what you want, even if you think it's in the best interests of people, and even if that's what the people want. So how are you going to convince Ho-Glo? How are you going to convince these people to allow you and act these policies? So New York City continues to be a creature of the state. New York City, if you have an ambition for the city that matches the scale of the crisis, you have to have an Albany agenda. So when De Blasio wanted to deliver universal pre-K, he knew he would have to go to Albany to get that money. He never came the objections of then Governor Andrew Cuomo to get that money to make this a reality. Now it is one of the best examples of government actually meeting the needs of working people. And so when we talk about raising revenue, you know, raising taxes on the top 1%, by 2%, the top corporate tax to match that up in New Jersey, that's something we will do in Albany. And that's partially why the endorsements of governor of Ho-Glo. Ho-Glo. Ho-Glo. You almost said it. You almost said it. I'm not going to be taking that one. Yeah. Governor Ho-Glo. He's posting on Instagram. You see the trauma is coming back, I think I'm going to deal with that man so much. Governor Ho-Glo assembly speaker, Carl Hastrie, you know, a majority leader of the state, Senator Andres Stewart-Cousins, these are endorsements, not just of me, but of the agenda. Because in Albany, it's often spoken about as three men in a room. Now it's two women and a man who are in that room and to have the endorsements of all of them. Huge. It's huge. And it paves the way for this agenda. I also think it's for this agenda. You're a political momentum. No, no, no. I mean that. I don't even mean it as a compliment. I mean, like, no. No, I'm talking about that. I'm talking about that. I mean, I'm talking about that. It's like, a guy once told me, America doesn't have allies it as interests. And I think that politicians are often that way. I can't speak about you, but like, Ho-Glo needs re-election. And she's going to, in next year, right? I imagine she's thinking, okay. If I raised taxes like you would want, I might lose some of my constituents. But she's also probably thinking, if this guy is such a tsunami and I rebuke him, I could also lose people. So is your strategy to have so much support in a Trump-esque version? Like he's the only other example I can see that has like found a way to completely transform his party? Is your strategy get so much support that Ho-Glo's political future is dependent on her connectivity to you? My strategy is to build the political will such that Governor Ho-Glo has a partner in delivering universal childcare. It's a good man. He's a politician. Let's go. Governor Ho-Glo has spoken. And the need. Governor Ho-Glo has said she wants to deliver universal childcare. But what she's had in the mayor we have right now is someone more focused on getting out of jail. Right. Then actually funding these kinds of programs. We're partying. We're going to bring 11 to New York. That is a fire idea. You shouldn't even know what that is. I know what it was. I can tell you posted the clip. And I was like, I know what it was. I'm going to tell you. I know what it is. I'm telling you. You can still bring it. Okay. You were saying. You were saying. So I think it's what are you using your political capital for? Because the same people who will say, oh, we can't afford free buses. We can't afford $700 million a year in making the slowest buses in America fast and >> I don't agree with that. I think you can't like that, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no I also think this idea that New Yorkers are going to flee because of a 2% increase. It's like, I've been everywhere else. You're not going anywhere. >> The black man's not going nowhere. >> He's going to be in the Hamptons all fucking one place to write those tweets. >> That's it. >> New York City. >> Every character you want. >> Right. >> He goes out in Miami. >> He's sweating right in tweets. >> He's spending more money against me than I would even tax him. >> [LAUGH] >> I mean, I was like a million, I was like a million, I'm like, I didn't even want that. >> [LAUGH] >> I mean, you're going above and beyond. >> Okay, so I don't think anybody's moving and I honestly feel that way. And like, I'm in the tax bracket, we're going to tax more. Like, dude, if you're going to deliver all this shit for 2%, give it. I'm 100% supportive of makes life easier for New Yorkers. This my one identity in my entire life is a New Yorker, it's the thing I care the most about. But what I will say is that I think that there are going to be people in government that are going to try to restrict you from doing that. And I know that you're aware of that. So I'm like, how, and there are people that might disagree on economic policy. We can have a philosophical discussion about what economic policy works. I don't even know, I think that's a waste of time. What the fuck do you do when special interest groups are going to be lobbying crazy? They're going to say, I want to be able 200,000 units. And then the second you try to be like, well, not in my neighborhood, I don't. >> Yeah, I mean, you have to, how do you do that? >> You have to be ready to take on these fights. You cannot be 90% of them right now, especially since groups are. >> But I mean, I appreciate the point because there is a reason why we haven't had progress, right? If you look, for example, at the Department of Education, this is the agency we spend the most amount of money on in any agency in New York City. Of the $40 billion we spend, we spend about 10 billion on contracts and consultants. >> Yeah. >> Those are a lot of people who are looking forward to the renewal of their contract. >> No, it's to educate you nerds at Bronx Science. Some of us dog kids that went to regular public school. >> Yeah, we don't need all that money, can you know? >> Where's your good eyes, girls? >> Baruch College campus. >> [LAUGH] >> What was your mascot? >> The Blue Devils. >> All right. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, we just show white devils. >> [LAUGH] >> Hey, funny, who are you? >> I need you, let's talk about that. >> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> Get us back to the whole goal. >> Get us back to the whole goal. >> But here's my point. There are people making money off the status quo, and so there will be a lot of interest in retaining that status quo. Right now, the city of New York will pay McKinsey a few million dollars to design a trash can. McKinsey's not going to be happy when I say we don't need you to design that anymore. >> Right, right. >> We can actually design that ourselves. The second avenue subway, which is the most recent expansion, extension of New York City subway. >> Shut that shit down, bro. >> Okay, that's not where I'm going. >> Shut that. >> No, bro, you need a subway on second avenue. >> Exactly, why are you so good? Why are you so good? >> You're so good. >> You're so good. >> You're so good. >> Because we're from Manhattan. You don't want to get to 125th Street. >> Never go to Upper East Side. >> I grew up with someone. >> I went to middle school there, went to elementary school there. >> You're going there now. >> I know, but so I don't need it. >> [LAUGH] >> No, the last place subway has on the upper east side, they're going to be okay, then I'll leave it. >> Where is subway now that's right back us? >> [LAUGH] >> So far so good. >> So good. >> So good. >> So whatever you are, wherever you are. >> Connect the queue train to something. >> You don't take the subway. >> So what? >> It's not about that, you know what I mean? I'm here giving my two percent, not to the second avenue subway. >> [LAUGH] >> I'm not going to say another two percent of the subway. >> Some that walk two more blocks and then take the six. >> I think we got to go from 96th to one point. >> Can you just hear what he says? >> [LAUGH] >> No, it's all that's what it is. >> It's all that's what it is. >> No, it's probably that's eight blocks, man. >> What I'm saying is why you try to build more white people subways, man. >> Look at this, look at this. >> So you are fine with the second avenue subway, 70 seconds. >> 80 seconds, 96, but you don't want to go to 125th. >> I never wanted it, any of those. >> No, there's not that. >> There's always a difference. >> The second avenue subway, they want to live over there and make them walk. >> I dated a girl over there, that shit was horrible. >> I had to walk the thing out of the walk, I was walking at your cabin. >> You're in shorts. >> I feel like I'm talking to her. >> [LAUGH] >> Everything goes in, put it in the lamp and the second avenue subway. >> You use the pull for something. >> [LAUGH] >> He's the point, he's the, he's the, is the people in Harlem. >> The promised a subway to 125th street on the second avenue. >> Decades ago. >> Yeah, it's taking us so long to even get to this. >> Why didn't we start with them? >> We had to connect it. >> You could connect it the other way too. We could have started it up there. >> But when they get taken from that one, what do you get to do? >> To one, get it. >> Yeah, start one, that's the one. >> That's the two I have in the one. >> 16, I'm actually going to announce the head of design at the MTA. >> Thank you. >> Is that what I'm talking about? >> It's saying, right. >> Thank you, I would have done that too. Now you're making some good decisions. >> Yeah, all right. >> I'm taking it back my 2% if I'm a work partner. >> No, I never do say, you got to connect it at the 51st. >> But I think the larger point here is though that like when you, when they did the first phase of construction for the second avenue subway. >> Yeah. >> The MTA spent more money on consultants than construction. >> Yeah. >> So this is part of the issue is that you're right that we're going to have to transform the inner workings of government. >> Yeah. >> And that means ending a patronage politics. >> Yeah. >> A lot of people who have jobs more to do with who they know than what they do. >> Yeah. >> No, and that's not specific, I got them. >> It sounds like we want a part of the Department of Government efficiencies. >> It sounds like, it sounds like, it doesn't, I said I was in favor of it. There's a liberal cook when she went and was like, the Republican ID, ain't it? >> And now he's in favor, and now look at him, I'm not in favor. >> We are not going to judge people who like to watch others have sex with their wives. That is there. >> [LAUGH] >> That's it. >> [LAUGH] >> He's bringing it back to efficiency, I'm sorry, I'm trying to get back to weight. >> Something to say that's efficient here, wait a minute. >> [LAUGH] >> You go, you go away from Andrew Cuomo and I have these other things. >> I know, that's right, that's right, that's right. >> You know, he's going to move back, look at that, go go. >> Here's my point is that it is sad that we've let someone like Elon Musk take the words efficiency fraud. >> I agree. >> As if they are right wing concerns. >> I agree. >> These are actually the concerns that should be at the heart of a progressive office. >> Yes. >> Because I want to increase taxes on the top 1% by 2%. And I also want those same New Yorkers to be able to look at that increased revenue and say every single one of these dollars is going to spend efficient. >> Yeah. >> It can't be in and of itself the reason why you do it. It has to be what you deliver with that way. >> I think, and I think like does was universally supported before it became what it was. But the idea was never actually intended to fulfill the intentions. >> The intentions. >> The intentions are right. >> I think most of them are right. >> Let's look at it. >> Let's look at it. >> And I love that. >> See you there. >> So if rent is the most important issue, which I think we all agree, it's like fucking absurd, the rent freeze was like incredibly effective communication, right? This idea, because everybody else is talking about we're going to build all these units. When you're drowning, you're not worried about like someone building you a boat. You need a life vest. I get that 100%. I think that makes sense. You correct me if I'm wrong. But I think that you can do that to about 50% of the units in New York, because those apartments pretty much. >> They're like the rent stabilized or rent controlled. >> About 2.5 million New Yorkers live in these kinds of apartments. >> Got it. >> How do you offer relief to the other 50%, and let me just clarify that people listen. Those other 50% aren't necessarily people who are wealthy. They're just living in market rate units. And I think they work here and they just didn't have the ability to get one of these control units. So I'd first say there's rent control, which is a very small minority. The vast majority of what we're talking about is rent stabilization. Rent stabilization means there's a limit on how much your rent increase every year. It's not what your rent is, what the increase will be. And it's all determined by a board called the rent guidelines, board composed of nine people at the mayor appoints. >> You can appoint them. >> Yes. >> But I think the appointing process might even take a little bit, right? It's not like day one or two years ago. >> It is. It's each of these terms are on kind of a rotating basis, and there are a number of these terms that are open right now. >> Got it. >> So you can point some, and there might be some people that are empathetic to your philosophies already. >> Because they actually did a study, that same board, under Eric Adams, did a study. It found that landlord profits had increased 12% of those units in the same year that the median household income of tenants of those units was $60,000. And with that information they decided, let's hike the rent again. So it actually doesn't have to do with the data. But the point that you're making is right, which is that we have to have a housing policy for all eight and a half million people. And that's why you couple a rent freeze with construction of 200,000 truly affordable homes. The reason I say truly is because I represent Steinway in Astoria, right? I'll call a constituent and I'll say there's a new affordable housing development coming up. Do you want to apply? They'll say how much do I have to make? I say $140,000 to hang up the phone. >> Yeah. >> The affordable housing. >> Because how are they going to afford that, right? And so my point is thinking about affordability more with the median household income in New York City, which is $7,000 for a family for it. >> Yeah, I love it. >> So you have to increase that and you have to make it easier for the private sector to also build? >> I agree with you 100%. I think, as our client put out a great book that I think that he's been unfairly maligned by a lot of people on the left, but where he's just going, "Hey, I appreciate democratic policies. I want to implement them. I think they're better for people, but there are certain things that we need to remove so that we can be competitive in an open market." And I think that there's a truth to that where, look, I'm somebody who believes in the public sector. >> Yeah. >> I believe in regulation. >> Yeah. >> I also believe that if I can't give you the reason for the regulation, then it has no reason to exist. >> Yeah. >> I cannot justify a restaurant giving the city every year $25 for the right to sell a frozen dessert. That doesn't make sense. Right? That is something that should be eliminated. I cannot justify someone wants to open a barbershop, filling out 24 forms going to seven agencies and then attending 12 in-person events, that does not make sense to me. So I think that there is a truth to some of the regulations we've created have made it far more difficult to build housing. And even the justifications we used back then are not the ones that have been borne out today. So we need to change those. So how do we, first of all, I completely agree. And as someone who has someone renovating above me, please believe I like the fact that there is regulation. Do you know what I mean? Like, I have a kid, he's 21 months old, it's like, they want to sleep and if somebody is going to be down in 21-21, he's got a 12-month-old. So never listen to a 20-month-old. So I guess my question is, how do we get those 200,000 units out? Because the real only thing that's going to solve this crisis, and it's a legitimate crisis, is more units. You can do all these things, you have to do it with more. And some people, and I'm sure you would probably acknowledge it, said like even freezing rent within the controllable units that you have, could cause like a surplus pressure in the non-controlled units and those might go up. So while we protect those 50%, the other people who are making the same amount of money is then because of those market pressures could have increased rent. Corporations are going to make their money. And that's, but that's why you have to take this as an opportunity to also tackle the costs that landlords are facing. Because when I speak to landlords, I hear that the insurance of affordable housing units has doubled in the last few years, right? And that cost is one that is driving so much of the pressure. That's interesting. And there's a number of those landlords that came together to create a different risk pool through something called Milford Street Captif, and they've managed to depress that cost. What if the city invested in that kind of a mechanism to help those landlords address that? The other thing here is that-- Are they gouging the affordable housing units because they know that their government backed? No. They're gouging them because there's money to be made. In the same way that universities can charge whatever they want for an education because they know the government will back the loans. To me, what this gouging more looks like is there are many providers who are now paying the cost of a number of bad landlords who have made insurance such a high part of doing business, right? And so you have better providers who are pulling their risk together. Got it. Got it. If you invested a significant amount of capital, you could assist that kind of an intervention. The second thing is you have a property tax system that's broken in New York City, one that effectively penalizes rental apartments and the owners of those rental apartments. And if you had a system that incentivize the construction of rental apartments, you could have a very different landscape of housing. So to me, it's freeze the rent and take on the cost of insurance and fix a broken property tax system and streamline development and have the city produce 200,000 homes. And often when I've talked about 200,000 homes, that's just what I think the city should do. I think the private sector should be doing an immense amount of additional construction. But they're going to need incentive structures as well, right? Like there was that program for getting what it was, was it 421A and 485A? I think that you're talking about the HTPSA that just sunset recently. You're speaking about the extension of 421A. No, these are separate things. Oh, okay. 20, 19 rent laws. Yes. But that's not what I was referencing. Then there's the tax incentive for 421A, now 485X or 45W. Yeah. I'm talking about the one that basically allowed developers over 35 year period. So essentially the idea is there was like a tax abatement for 35 years for the first 25 years. They didn't pay the last 10. They started increasing 10% every year. And at the end of the 35, all the units were now free market. But I think it was certain point times 30% of them were like rent control. There's stabilization and there's a set aside for affordability. And again, I don't know like what metrics work and I'm not like an economist and I'm not a developer. But to me, just from talking to some people in development, they said that like since this, I think what was at the HTPSA, since that, or if it was this program, was this affordable in New York? HSTP is the Housing Stabilization, Tenant Protection Act. That was the Blasio thing. That's not this thing that I'm talking about. Yeah. You were thought, you're basically, well, I'll kind of step back for it. Please. You'll hear from developers that the HTPPA, past in 2019, made it more difficult for them to maintain a lot of housing units because it put limitations on what they could do with regards to profit and how they could push many tenants out of those same tenant buildings. At the same time, there's the incentive through 421a that has since been renewed to become something called 485, which is a tax incentive for the construction of new housing. Is that the New York, yes, or whatever? Then there's the New York City of Yes. City of Yes. These are three different things. Oh my God. Okay. Okay. Here's the thing is that most New Yorkers don't have time to know every single set of numbers and letters. You know what I'm saying? Right? But that's representative of more New Yorkers than those who know. And that's our job to break this down, right? What City of Yes does is it makes it easier to construct more housing across New York City. It changes zoning regulations. It's estimated to allow for the additional construction of a little less than 90,000 new units. We have to build on top of that. It has to be even more than that. My point here is that when I speak to developers, we'll have disagreements about labor. We'll have disagreements about maybe materials and the cost of it. One place we have a real agreement about is the cost of waiting. Many of these developers will tell me one of the most expensive things they have to deal with is the wait. They'll put it in an application, they'll put forward a bid, and then they'll have to wait and wait and wait. And we know time is money because you're not just waiting. You're also paying other people who are waiting with you. And there's an environmental law at the state level called CECRA. CECRA requires you when you're putting forward an application to estimate the traffic flows of 10 to 15 years from now. So when they did the Williamsburg Resonate, they were asked people to estimate the traffic flows before lift and Uber existed in New York City. So now obviously, their presence in New York City makes a mockery of any estimate that was made prior to that. And yet that estimate is still one you could be held liable for in court, saying you said it would be this and now it's this. And so to me, these are examples of what you were bringing up earlier of how do we bring these regulations more in line with reality and how do we ensure that we are able to build the immense amount of housing we need so that we can actually have New Yorker stay here? Yeah. Because we're building four homes per 1,000 people in Jersey City is at seven. Yeah. Tokyo is at nearly 10. What is Houston at? Yeah. Tell me. They're doing unbelievable amount. Yeah. Because there's just no regulation. Now there are different circumstances. There's a lot more land. I understand that. I don't like those comparisons generally because New York is such a specific city. We're living on top of each other next to each other and there's different considerations that we have to make. Okay. The HTPSA, HSTPA. HS? Yes. My boy must say HSBC. Bro, I don't know what that is. I feel like I'm on the airport just walking through the, you know what I'm saying. Yeah. So like some people would say, and I think you just mentioned it, that like this was a progressive policy that had really good ideas. Like how do we protect these people that are in these run-sables units from being pushed out? And then obviously what landlords would say is you've created a situation because you can, once something is rent stabilized, it can no longer be brought to a free market rent that it doesn't incentivize them to renovate the spaces. And now they have these like zombie apartments or ghost apartments. And I saw that one of your policies was to like impose punitive damages on like these, these, you know, big conglomerates like BlackRock that own all these, you know, they could be anything from brown zones or buildings that have these vacant units, right? And I have different theories on that, but do you think that that policy did lend itself to making these zombie apartments from a perspective of, it's not worth it as a landlord to reinvest in this unit because I can't extract the rent that would justify that. So I think the HSCPA was a good thing. I think it was a good thing because what you had prior to it was many landlords taking units out of rent stabilization and using a vacancy bonus that they could receive when you pushed out a tenant as the reason they would continue to harass. Yeah. I think it was like 20% bonus that you could get a, yeah. And obviously, you know, you can imagine how many tenants were having to face that kind of harassment. So put it in perspective, like my friend Carlos growing up, like his, he was in a red control building and they literally just stopped accepting his family's rent and he had to put the rent in escrow during like a multiple year process where they were just trying to get him out of the building because they were obviously trying to flip the building. And I say that like I 100% and that is a real issue. Yes. But sometimes protecting real issues can cause other ones that are unintended. And that's where I think that, you know, the policies I put forward that you're referring to, there's two separate things. One is ensuring that we're actually holding bad landlords accountable. This is about violations of housing code because right now the city of New York is owed $800 million by landlords who have violated housing codes that the city has not collected a dollar on. It's just sitting there. Why is that? Yeah. Why the lack of political will? Is it all, is it lobbying? Is it like, I mean, the same landlords who are saying we can't afford a rent freeze drop two million dollars against me in the primary. So my point being, is that there is money and I think you're right that we have to take all of these concerns seriously. And what I've actually proposed with vacant units is having an actual study being done on the number of them and the real ones. for why they are currently being held off the market and finding what is the cost of bringing them back online. Because there's a lot of discourse, a lot of anecdote and want to get to the facts of it. Because there's like a circumstance where you look at, and I'm sure it happens in New York City as well, but like Vancouver, for example, where there's a lot of foreign investment and apartment buildings out there, and then the people of Vancouver just couldn't afford to buy in to their own city that they live their whole life. And I was a foreclosure prevention housing counselor before I was an assembly member. And when I was running for assembly, at that point, one-third of all homes purchased in Queens were being purchased by unnamed LLCs. One-third! And what would that mean? Is that something trying to be sneaking on taxes, or is that somebody that is outside? There's a lot of hollowing out of neighborhoods where you're purchasing it oftentimes for the intent of flipping it, where you're purchasing it. And this is part of the issue where so much of what has been the foundation of stability for so many New Yorkers has become seen as an opportunity for something like private equity. All right, guys, let's take a break from this communist trash. Yeah. From one second. We were talking about unbridled capitalism. Yeah. Well, we still have some money. Well, we still have a couple bucks. Well, you guys still have a couple bucks before this guy continues to give away. I'm not Zora. I don't know if you can do it. I'm not being a fuck. I'm not running for anything. You're not even able to say it because I thought it was here. Now this is better than what Mark just said. What? No, what you said. No, what you said was like eight Zora. I was fucked up. Did I really? Yeah. I can remember saying it from the top. Come on, you can do this from the top. Did I really say that? You said that. You said that. You said that. Oh gosh, you're racist, bro. You're right. I apologize. I meant to say Alex. Alex, you're racist. All right, but we're all today's episode of Flanagan is brought. Let's get back to the show. This is where we get into like the philosophy of like what is housing? Like is housing? No, and this is where it's like I have empathy for both sides. I have empathy for the Puerto Rican family that worked their entire life and they were able to like buy this brownstone and they were told that like real estate is the only thing like my parents are financially illiterate. They got lucky. They bought an artisan residence loft in a neighborhood that was too fucking dangerous for us to live in that end up getting flipped around by NYU. It's like pure luck, you know? So it's like, so I have empathy for these people that put everything in it, right? And then at the same time, I also see there are people that are kind of holding hostage in asset class that we maybe should look more at as like I don't want to say a utility, but like there can be a little bit more restriction when it comes to like a roof over your head. So I have empathy for your communist position. I was getting nervous about this. I was like, I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I hear you. I hear you. This is what I'm saying. You have something which is a necessity for these lives. Yeah, it's tricky. So it's like what if something is treated water? It's been treated and it's been treated as a means by which to make profit. Yeah. And so I know that there are many who bought into this system with the promise of unrestricted profit. That's what it was before the HSTPA. Yeah. And one of the issues you're hearing from a lot of landlords is they entered into loans with banks that could only be paid back if they evicted a majority of the tenants who were paying the rent at the time they purchased the building. Yeah. And that's also why I have empathy when we're hearing about insurance costs and water bills and connet and property taxes because those are also costs that are skyrocketing. And so for me, it's how do we create a city where we understand housing as a human right and also ensure that our affordability agenda is universal. It's tenants, homeowners, landlords. I think in order to do it, I think in order to do it, like it's in order to do it with rent stabilization or rent control, it's going to be need to be government funded because I don't think any private developers are going to see the incentive structure they need to put that kind of capital in. And if you're going to do it, you're going to have to raise money. And I saw on one of your things was you were considering selling mutie bonds, right? And I think you want to raise like $100 billion of 10 years, right? So we're looking at like, I think 70% of that was coming from the mutie bonds. So it's like, we're looking at, let's say on average, we're saying we're at 30 million, we've got to get 30. But like, yeah. And like, it's an ambitious endeavor, you know, there are some limitations as I'm sure you looked at. And this is where we go back to Albany. It's like, I looked into this is like, you got to raise the debt ceiling in order to be able to do that. Like, you got to ask Kathy to do that. Or if Kathy loses, you got to ask, was it staphonic? We're not even talking about staphonic. And that's not going to happen. They're going to fight you too. We're not going to have to worry about that hypothetical with staphonic. But look, so what are you doing that scenario? Because I think this is, you know, we're talking about the current law is 10% of the five year valuation of real estate in New York City, right? And having to change that. And I think this is where politicians don't get to decide the scale of the crisis they're facing. They get to decide how they want to respond to it. Thanks. And so this is an ambitious agenda. No question about it. But this is a time where if we don't match that crisis with that ambition, we're going to lose. But you are health hostage by their will to match. That's what you're saying. And what I would argue is that I've been in Albany. I've seen legislators and legislator leaders who've had a vision of a city where you tax the wealthiest a little bit more to provide for everyone. And they haven't had a partner in a mayor. It's not to say it's going to be easy. But my point is that we haven't even tried. Ooh, this is interesting. So Andrew Cuomo is an example of not trying. He had 10 years of running this state to cover up. I mean, well, guy, you know what I'm saying? It's horrible. It's people's hard to kill the grannies and grabbing fannies. So you have had some bars. He did. You love his hat. You want that shit. I can't believe I believe that I'm being called the communist and the Republican nominee. I keep, I keep calling him Emily in Paris. But shout out courage. But yes. So what you're saying is you're like shouting out a sponsor of the show. But shout out Calci. You're 80%. So what you're saying is that there might be people in Albany that are more sympathetic but because they've been up against a mayor in New York that has maybe no sympathy because they've been put in power by people who do not want this change that they're not willing to. That's an interesting perspective that they do not have the political capital. The coalition. And I think this is the other thing is that we, from the beginning of this race, wanted to break out of the bubble of New York City politics again to the world of New York City. I thought you just didn't want to go to Israel. I thought that's what that's what it's about. It was that moment. And then the one in the debate recently where fucking Cuomo couldn't say whether he was going to go to the meds game or the next game. You said you wanted to go to both. And like you'll have moments where it's exactly. Just pick it. Exactly. You'll have moments where you're like you cut through like political fraudulence. And he's just like I would do half and half and you go this guy. When they asked a question, my mind was like there's no wrong answer here. And then he created the wrong answer. It is a five-year-old answer. You're so poised. You're so articulate. And he said it. And you're just like this. But look, I grew up in the city and I've often seen the city that our politics cares about and then the rest of the city. And there's that divide. And when I actually spoke to Trump voters in Queens and in the Bronx, it felt like here was a campaign that was bridging that divide that was getting beyond that bubble. And we have to, if we want to actually have people believe in democracy, we have to show that democracy can deliver on their needs. Like I can't go and knock on somebody's door and say help me fight for the ideal or the value of democracy. I have to go to that door and say this is how this democracy is going to make it easier for you to afford your apartment. This is how this democracy is going to make it easier for you to forge your groceries. I mean, Federal LaGuardia said you can't preach liberty to a starving land. And that's what we've been doing for so many years. So what do you do? And this is like my concern. What do you do if you get strung up by the bureaucracy in the system? Because after talking to you, and even before talking to you, I genuinely think you believe this stuff. I don't think you're somebody who's like selling a dream that you don't believe in. And I don't think it's possible to communicate in the way that you've communicated and like touch people without authenticity. Without the authenticity. But like I'm worried about entrenched politics. And I'm worried about the people that fund them because they're the same people that have been fundraising against you. And I'm worried about them bending to their whim. And what scares me a little bit is they're going to be people that are incentivized for you to fail. And then if that pendulum swings all the way the other way, how many more people get hurt? And I guess my question is like, do you ever worry about that? Or do you have to be so blinders on the job you're going to wait? Like, I love this city more than anything. And it is something I consider. Like, what if we get the complete opposite of you that has like no care about the tenants, no care about what people are paying rent? Some guy who comes in and just goes, "Hey, this is a free market, welcome to New York. It's capitalism." You're talking about Andrew Cuomo. But like, I think that's the kind of thing that can be crazier than that. No, no, no, no. And I think my point here is that there is going to be a men's opposition. There are incredible incentives to fight our agenda. What gives me hope is that the billionaire spending millions against me right now, they're not doing so because they're afraid my plans won't work. They're doing so because they're afraid that they will. And how would that not incentivize them in some way? If people in the city have more money, they have more money to spend on whatever business they have. If you look at the actual studies of free buses, it costs 700 million, it generates more than double that in economic benefit. But a bus is still going to have any. You're pushing for the bus, you're pushing for the bus. I was, I was like, who is courtously what talking to you? I'm not extending the second half of the subway. It's this guy, Curtis, I love you very much. I love you, Comrade. It's Mr. Housings, you can write what I don't want, Trace. - No, I'm not. - Do it on 25th Street. - I do feel like I see him in the right house. - I do. - No, I do. - Do it on 20th Street. - No, no, no, no. - I literally, I literally, I literally, no. - No, no, no, no, no. - No, no, no, no. - Not a human right in turn. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - No, no, no, no. - I still think anybody should do that. - Yes. - I do feel that way, yes. - You got the mission accomplished, man. - Yes. - You're freaking out. - No, I don't think, I think anybody knows him, but no, this is, he's been fairly liberal in most of his life. These are things he would believe. I think what we worry about is that it won't work. And then my larger worry, if you, you are a kind of like a, you are a test for all of America, you are a case study. Whether you realize this or not. - Yep. - And if you promise all these things and you deliver 40% of it, 40% is a, New York will be better off. But people will look at you nationwide. Maybe worldwide and say, you know what, that shit didn't work. Look at all the things he accomplished and look at what he couldn't get done. And yeah, they're spending millions. Billioners are spending millions to stop you now. My fear, they're spending millions, so just so they don't have to spend tens of millions later. - Oh, that's a great one. - I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna block everything he wants to get done. - I just want to save a little money. It's just him lose, so I don't spend more later. That's my fear. And I root for you because it feels authentic. I actually trust you more because you're not born in America. - Can I meet you? - No, no, no, no. Let me say it, 'cause he cannot be present. - I would look at that guy and go, he could be president one day. With you, that's not even an option. So I trust your incentives more. I just care about the city. What do I want to be governor of the state who gives a fuck year? - Your story of mayor is above governor, right? - Yeah, it is, though, right? - I was born to work with the governor. I just found out we had a female governor, I had no clue, I was a white guy, I thought it was the boy guy. - He was a great governor, he was a great governor. - He was a great governor. - He was like a philanthropist. - They put him on the first base, they put him on the first base of the A.K. and the poor guy. - He put the photo up in terms of star power, he's right, we've had Bloomberg with a celebrity that became mayor of New York, he tried to be a fucking governor in New York, but he cares. Star power rise, this is the peak. - This is the second most powerful position of the war. - Okay, you can't be president. So that makes me trust you more. - I just worried that every uncle that you can find that I can't be president. - Every time an uncle takes a photo with me, they whisper in my ear, "President next." I'm like, "It's illegal." - It's illegal. - No. - Tell them to go for a fake. (laughing) - I'm not, I'm officially a professional superman. - I'm gonna come back to Brown. - Yeah, I'm more in common than you realize. That's my guy, I like, I like the more that you're a guy, the more I got tonight, the more that you're being. - I know where you are, you're, I know where you are. - He was a new partition, he was a Muslim beef. - He was a Muslim beef, he was a Muslim beef. - He was a Muslim beef, he was a Muslim beef, he was a Muslim. - He was a Muslim beef, a Muslim beef. - A fight song. - A Chandler game. - A Chandler game. - Oh my God, there's one word in it. - No. - Oh, let me get my fucking Indian home, bro. (laughing) - Throwing the camera at it. - You're from Uganda. - Yes. - You're from Uganda, you're the big one. - You're the big one in India. - Oh wow, you're the big one in India. - The Indians in America assimilated a lot more. He's more Indian than most Indians born here. - But listen, but I was looking up a little bit. - And his arms. Didn't they actually remove? - We were expelled in '90s, so my family was one of the-- - Idiomine, right? - My family was one of the very few families that went back after the expulsion. - We're back to Uganda. That's why I was born there, in '91. So my family in 1972 were expelled. They became refugees in London and lived in a refugee camp. And then, after the fall of a mean, they returned to Kampala. And so that's where I was born, '91. - She'd on that. - Yeah. - I'll just say, how shitty is London? - That's not true. - That's not true. - I'm so bad. - I don't know what you're saying. - How shitty is London when you're in London. - You stayed in public housing for two weeks. - I feel like we're going back to Africa. I can't feel that. Whoever built that camp, don't hire them. - I'm sad. - To build the 200,000 units in New York. - That's all I'm saying. - I'm wondering where you were going to go. - I wonder where you were going to go. You were like, this is pretty sad. - I got shit on my butt. - No, but I actually like London. - London's my favorite team. - Dishoom? - But yeah, no. - I'd bet. - No, no. - Bringadier is better. Dishoom, fine. Jim Kana, it's great for white people. That's-- - Dishoom, fine. - My man likes Vivek and you're over with Dishoom. - Dude, dude. - Hold on, we're really going to love Jim Kana. You're going to love him. - I tried Jim Kana. - In London? Oh, it's a food plate. - What's going on? - What's going on? What's going on? - I don't like this yoga. - It's all my closest friends. - I'm a baronist. - I don't like it. - I go out with Jim Kana. - Come on. - I'm a baronist. - Show him, baronist. - Now thank you. - Come on, stop. - I'm a baronist. - I'm a baronist. - Have you been a baronist yet? - I have been a baronist. - You haven't. - Oh, wow. - Let's go. - Let's go to Kabaapa. - The baronist can have done many times. - I think it fell off of it, but overall, Daisy Galaxy, 'cause all the good Indian food is in your jersey. - Honestly, Edison. - Yeah, Daisy Galaxy. That's my spot. - I got to show. - If you cannot accomplish all these things you set out to, are you where the pressure that's on you or are you where the domino effect that potentially comes with that, look, I think some fear there. - I know there's definitely a lot of pressure. There's a lot of responsibility. I think oftentimes though, the position of mayor, it's spoken about like it's a burden. There's also an immense opportunity. In fulfilling this agenda, you make it clear that politics can be more than choose between now and worse than now as opposed to something that's better. And so to me, when I talk about freezing the rent, when I talk about making buses fast and free, delivering universal childcare, these are not slow, 'cause these are, these are not just slow, 'cause they're commitments. And I know there's gonna be immense pressure, but I also believe that once you start to succeed in your delivery of these things, the way you will see people's political imagination expand, we made five bus routes free in New York City. I went on them on the first day that that program started. And the one in the Bronx was the BX-18A. And I got on the bus, I was talking to the driver, he was like, today's been better because all I have to do is get from point A to point B. Don't have to talk about the fare, I'm just driving. And then a nurse got on, and she reached for a metro card in her purse. The driver was like, "I got to boom." He said, "I got to boom." He said, "I got to boom." And he's like, "It's free." And she's like, "What do you mean it's free?" And he's like, "No, no, no. They've made this one bus route free." And then she starts dancing down the aisle to her seat. And to me, this is an image of someone going to work at a hospital who has, for the first time in a long time, had government actually look out for her. And people said that we wouldn't be able to deliver that. They said that we wouldn't be able to have more riders. We wouldn't have a decline in assaults on bus drivers, that there would be more homeless people on the buses. None of those things were true. But that's what I see is that every time we succeed, it builds the coalition even more for the next six years. - Yeah, I just worry some of the larger things won't happen. And that's where you'll get judged. - Which ones are you worried about? - I think the rent freeze is gonna be tough. I think raising minimum wage to $30 an hour is a great in theory, I would love it. But I think we often forget the corporations just, like you try to tax a billion or they find a loophole. You make minimum wage $30 an hour, watch how much we automate these jobs. And I'm not saying that's good, but that's my fear. And then if suddenly these two like major things don't happen, do we look at even getting free bus rises? Yeah, but that wasn't. That's who gives a fuck, it's free bus rides. They already add five free routes. It's still sucked. - I don't think you have much to worry about because the Trump ran on building a wall and cleaning the swamp in. Look, he's back being president. So it's like, if you don't get everything done, I don't think it's the end for his, you know. - I don't want to get caught. - But I think, you know, both of you are debating a premise that we can't accomplish these things. And my point to you is that it's an ambitious agenda, but it's one that I'm really confident delivering. The history of America's relationship with government is a very antagonistic one, right? Like the inception of America is fuck government, fuck people telling us what to do. The reason why I hope you can succeed is because I would love us to have more faith in government. If you've spent time abroad, like you live in Europe and it's like, yeah, they're annoyed at their government. But at the same time, they're kinda like, that's cool, I get healthcare. There's a little bit more faith in trust. And then you go to like Scandinavian, they're like, the government can do no more. You know, they could literally just, they could kill like 400 people and the government would be like, the people would be like, I'd probably do something bad. Like there's just so trusting of the government. I think Americans need to see government working for them. Yeah. And if that actually works, I think it would be a really beautiful thing where we can start believing instead of being skeptical of every single thing. Yeah. And I think the point here is that there will be many New Yorkers for whom I will have to deliver first to earn their trust. And I understand that white people. No. I don't want to get your gray sweater. No, no. A.L.G. Warris. No, no. No, no. Don't do it. Let's shout. Don't do it for Warris. So host God. There's a little bit of a wight. Can I get my Frodo cabbage? Okay. Zara, we're having fun, Zara. Zara is gonna make so much money. It's unbelievable. I know she's got to work with you and build a kit. But when it's done, it's like, I told you, there's going to be warlords in the third world that are going to give her a cast of gold to just come run their campaigns. This is one of the nights. Yeah. It's a brilliant campaign. You're doing great, Zara. We're going to keep going. Is there a little longer? Is anything standing in your way? You make it seem like Albany's excited to work with us. And there's so much momentum and people are excited. So if things don't get done. I mean, the status quo is standing in our way. And the reason that I'm excited is I think we have all the ingredients to change that status quo. But the same people who've spent millions of dollars will still have an immense amount of money that they could use to try and spend an opposition once we're in government as well. And that's why to me, the speed at which we deliver on a wide variety of things is critically important. And that's why it's not just a plan to deliver universal childcare. It's also how do we take down scaffolding across New York City, right? I love this point. But my point is you have some specific shit. You're like, hallalteeper and get the rid of this scaffolding stuff. But he's scrambled. He's scrambled. It's like, how could I begrudge someone refusing to believe in the ability for us to deliver universal childcare? If their interaction with government is government's inability to deliver on removing one sidewalk. This is what we're talking about. That's like, yeah. You have to build, find every single interaction where government has failed New Yorkers and say, this is an opportunity for me to do better. And the city has an opportunity to say, not just to building owners what you should do, we have hundreds of sidewalk sheds at city-owned properties that have been up for more than three years. We could take those down ourselves. We don't have to wait on anybody. And my point is, let's be the example. Let's show that efficiency and waste and actually fall into our commitments. There's not an Elon Musk idea. It's actually for us to do. To do it. And it is a bit of that kind of idea. You wanted to do it the real way, but anyway, go on, go on. You have the support of Hoekong in Albany. How come the other establishment Democrats like Kikim, Jeffries, and Chuck Schumer haven't endorsed you? Talk that shit out. Talk that real shit. Talk that real shit. I have appreciated the conversations I've had with them. And the reason I've appreciated it is a lot of the talk in our politics is just about what's in two weeks, the election. But to me, one of the most important dates is not just in November 4th. So you should sign up, register to vote by October 25th. You got a little bit of time left. It's January 1st. And I'm going to be working with Congressman Jeffries, with Senator Schumer, on delivering the supportability agenda. And that's something that I'm looking forward to. But there's a political answer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a real shit, then. Like, the party ends right now. You're the Democratic nominee for New York. Like, why wouldn't they get part of it? Why is the party running against you? That shit is hard to reach to come together. And I think that's another reason why many lifelong Democrats from, like, myself have been disillusioned by the party. Because it's like, why aren't you accepting the will of the people? They did it to Bernie. They did to Bernie twice, right? They tried to do it again during this election. It's like, when do we get to take part in the democratic process? And when we do get to take part in the democratic process, when do you respect that? You might, they might disagree with you. But it's not up to them. This is the will of the people. So if the people want to see this through, why are they spending millions of dollars to stop it? It's very frustrating. I think it undermines democracy. I think, I think in, if you look at Andrew Cuomo and I, in the primary and now in the general, it is in many ways a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. It's two very different visions. And the things that we like to say are exclusively Republican problems. We saw a lot of them in the Democratic primary. It wasn't a Republican that sent a male that artificially lengthened my beard. It wasn't a Republican that called me. I appreciate them. If you meant that to me, you just, you know, it was my Photoshop. I'd find it interesting. It's not. Wait, wait, wait, wait. But my point is that that's from a man that at one point was being spoken about is being the next president of this country. Like it's easy to forget now that we watch Andrew Cuomo on stage. But not that long ago, people were saying he should be the next president of this country. Fucking idiot. Who? When I said it early, early in college. Yeah. For sure. Everybody. Everybody. Everybody. You make sure you get the cousin. Private conversation. American public. We love the people. Fucking people. Talk every night with him and his brother. It was fun. We're waiting for the last dance. I'm going to ask you a question. You might not want to answer this. This is something I see. Brown guy to brown guy. BGVG. A lot of people like, there's a lot. There's an anti-Semitic label. Anti-Semitic label. That happens. Do you think that happens if you're not Muslim? Because I've looked into what you said. It seems like you deny anti-Semitism. I do. You criticize Israel a lot of times it gets conflated, but the label won't stick unless there's another outside thing. I do think that Andrew Cuomo, there are a number of things that he has said and done. He would not have done if I weren't a Muslim candidate. And it is all too familiar for a lot of Muslim New Yorkers grew up in the city to see the speaking up for Palestinian human rights to then be labeled as if it is bigotry against the Jewish faith. What I've appreciated is that for all of the fear-mongering that he's done, there are so many Jewish New Yorkers who are able to see through that and that I can look through his fear-mongering and still reckon with anti-Semitism in the city and talk about the real ways that will actually root it out. It's not how Andrew Cuomo wants to weaponize it. Are you going to increase funding for hate crime prevention programs? Are you going to ensure that the NYPD are outside of synagogues and temples on the Jewish high holy days? Are you going to actually have a curriculum like hidden voices taught in schools that celebrates the breath and the beauty of Jewish life? And you will do all of these things. All of these things. And that's what's been so frustrating is that this is a real concern that many Jewish New Yorkers have. And here's a guy who's just using it for political use. And I think we all laughed at the Israel moment and it was ridiculous to watch. But I knew the reason everyone was hammering you on it on that stage. I was like, it was pretty obvious. There was another thing that I thought was hilarious. Like the picture with you with the Imam and the New York Post put in the front page and I'm like, holy shit, this looks bad. And then I look them up and like Bloomberg campaigned with them and Mary Adams campaigned. I'm like, wait, okay. So what exactly is going on here? And then I think when we said something where he goes, look at him standing with this guy who's homophobic. Like he even detached himself from the World Trade Center bombing thing because he knew it was a political attack. Well, all-indicted co-conspirator is translation for men who has not found guilty of anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like I obviously object to a number of things that the Imam has said about queer New Yorkers and I am able to still stand there and speak to him while having a platform to defend those same queer New Yorkers celebrating Cherish them in the city. Yeah. And Andrew Cuomo is always looking to distract from the fact that he has no plan. I'm not asking you for just by yourself. I'm just showing you that there are these campaigns that are put out there and people will twist the truth. And like this, it doesn't really happen with politicians. It happens like anybody famous, you know what I meant? So it's like, and you're getting the brunt of it. And I think you've handled it with a lot of class to be honest with you. Like I know what it's like for the internet to say something about me that is completely false and then people just believe it. And you are existing in this. And you're lucky enough to have a message that resonates with people where they can refute those lies that people say about you. I don't know if that's luck. I think that might be like talent like you earned it. But it is fortunate that there are people that will be vocal despite the criticism that they might endure. Like, yeah, that's pretty awesome that you're touching people like that. I genuinely hope that what you're presenting can be executed. I mean, that's sincerely. I appreciate it. And I know that there's going to be a lot of opposition. You know that more than anything you've been in government. And yeah, I just hope you have the political capital to push it through. And I hope that these decisions actually make life better for New Yorkers. And I hope if you find that they don't, that you won't be caught up in your ego and you will be able to. It always has to be for the city, because that always has to be for the city. Sometimes we make decisions, and we have the best intentions behind those decisions, and they don't work out, and the politicians are the leaders in general that are willing to go, "Ah, that wasn't the right thing. We can make that better." You can actually grow. Dude, we'll like you even more for acknowledging it, and we'll feel even safer here. I think this is, it's a human, it's a part of being human, to be able to reflect, and to be committed more to a mission than it is to yourself. Yeah. And, look, like I came on the show for me, it was bad for New York. I'm learning that I'm not going to come back. This is a selfish decision. I can learn this one. I got the boys in the lesson. What's the odds at right now, if I were like 51%, 51%, 51%. You'll have to win, because I bet him $1,000 that you would win. Okay, I had to give it to you, that's crazy. I had a guy who didn't have faith in the people. I hadn't spoken to him in high school. Text me like five days before the election goes, "Yo, bro, I just put $1,000 on you. Like, please, don't let me down." Okay, Zara is trying to get you out of here. We have to go next. You're a curman. Press conference. What does that mean? What does that mean? What are you procuring? Yeah. We're talking about how to cut down on waste. I love this. You want to call it language. -We're gonna go to Bunkalown and then we're gonna talk and then we'll go to Bunkalown and then we'll just go back there. -Just go back there. -Okay. -Before you go, Joey, bring in the bench press because he has to. [ Laughter ] -Every year I'm gonna do one pound more. [ Laughter ] -Next year, 136. -Let's go more to that one. -I saw you got it in. -Bent job. -You fucked up, man. -Let me tell you. -I knew. -I fucked up. -When I saw it, you think I saw what I was gonna kill it? -I knew it was a problem. And this guy was like, "You gotta do this." -I don't know what you got to do. -I really don't -- -You should have put the big 10-pound weights on. -You know the big 10-pound. -That's what I got. -Yeah, you got it. -I was telling you. -But next year, 136. -Okay, let's go. [ Laughter ] -Don't say it. Watch it. -The camera says I can keep. [ Laughter ] -136. -136. -You didn't keep 135. [ Laughter ] -I don't get it. -He's right there from the end. [ Laughter ] -It's very much protected. -I appreciate it. -Thank you so much.