The Manhattan Borough President! -With Mark Levine

0:00This episode of the New Yorkers podcast is brought to you by NewYork100.org recognizing excellence across New York City's five boroughs. Hello, everyone, and welcome to The New Yorkers, a podcast by New York City Cop. I'm your host, Kelly Copp, published photographer, New York City tour business owner, real estate content creator, podcaster, and above all else, a New Yorker. Ladies and gentlemen, the next book looks about, Tracy Bell, stand clear of the closing doors, please.

0:46This is a time square.

1:05With me today, I have community leader Mark Levine. He was a public school teacher, member of the New York City Council, and is now the Manhattan Borough President. But above all else, Mark is a New Yorker. Hey, Mark, welcome to the show. How are you doing today, my friend? Kelly, I am so happy to be here. Thank you. I want to start by telling you how much I admire what you've done, what you've built, the way you tell the story of New York City with so much love and share it with the world. I love your videos. And that's how we connected. Yes, that's true. You wouldn't think that would be controversial.

1:42It turns out that the haters will hate on anything. Yes. A beautiful view of New York City. But thank you. I didn't even expect you to say that. Well, it's from the heart, my friend. Very kind of you, my friend. Very, very kind of you. So, Mark, tell us about you. Where were you born? Were you born in New York City? Tell us about your life that led up to New York City. Well, like so many others, I'm a person who came to New York City from elsewhere. Right. I grew up in Maryland. Oh, nice. And went to college in Philly. did my junior year in spain oh wow and uh only america only american you can do this interview in spanish if you want yeah that's well maybe next next we'll have you back for a spanish that sounds good uh only american in an 800 person physics department oh wow i studied physics undergrad and by the time i graduated i knew i didn't want to live in a lab i wanted to be out in the world having an impact.

2:40And I became a teacher in the South Bronx in the early 90s. I taught bilingual math and science. That's incredible. Yeah, I read that. That's incredible. How was that experience in the 90s teaching in the Bronx? It was in many ways the toughest thing I've ever done, but also the most wonderful. I love my kids and their families. I'm still in touch with some of them. I'm so proud of them. Wow. It was a hard time for the South Bronx. this was the early 90s hard time for the school and i was also really frustrated with the way the school system was being run it was one of the things that ultimately got me into uh public service as an elected official well how old are you how old were you when you were a teacher oh gosh i was 22 wow i looked 15 you look like a student i mean they came more than once i was I was confused for a student.

3:33It was a junior high school, um, grade seven, eight, nine. And, uh, I taught math and science in Spanish and in English. And it, in a lot of ways it changed my life. And it's given me a really deep respect for how hard it is to be a teacher. And also I spent a lot of times with the kids in the families and getting to know them and trying to support them in every way. And, um, almost none of them, Kelly had any connection to the financial system. I was just going to say that. So you were working in the Bronx and that is a little bit of, I mean, that's a lower income area. So how was it for the kids?

4:13I mean, tell us about an affordable housing, actually, you know, it had to be tough and everything for them. Yeah. Most of my students lived in public housing and NYCHA development. and in fact I'm not sure when this will air but today as we're recording there was a collapse in part of Mitchell houses in the South Bronx but that chimney right I just saw that today yeah a lot of my kids lived in Mitchell and Mott Haven and Patterson houses and even back then those those developments were were pretty run down and uh yeah it was it was crack the crack epidemic was still underway at that time and definitely impacted the school in a lot of ways.

4:53There were a couple shootings in and around the school. But also the kids were amazing and so just inspiring in the way that they were able to overcome those challenges. And let me tell you, I had kids who, this was a junior high school that I was able to teach high school level physics to, who just had this incredible hunger for knowledge and hunger for understanding the way the world works. Some of them have gone on to incredible careers. A couple are in nursing. I'm really proud of them. So my kids really inspired me, but ultimately it led me to want to focus on economic development because of this lack of access to financial services, no bank accounts, no credit cards, no bank loans.

5:41It's all about check-ashing stores. You firsthand saw everything, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. And eventually I went on to start a community financial institution, a cooperatively owned bank, essentially, something called Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union in Washington Heights, actually, just across the Harlem River that we launched in 1997 in an abandoned bank branch. If you know Washington Heights, uh, behind the bus terminal on Fort Washington Avenue and one 79th street. Well, actually I know it really well. You happen to live not that far away, Kelly. I, I live not that far away from Washington.

6:21yep. So yeah, I know it well, but go ahead. I'm sorry. Well, this, this, this credit union really, it launched, uh, like a rocket and quickly grew to, over 5 ,000 members. Most of the people who didn't have a bank account. Uh, we eventually added also West Harlem to the, uh, to the catchment area. And it's still going strong today. It moved a few blocks. Now it's on 166th and St. Nick, which I'm sure you know that area well. Very well. Made$100 million with small loans. Wow. Helping families buy a home computer, pay for education, start a small business. Repayment rate, 98%. Wow. Which is just a beautiful testament to the power of giving people an opportunity.

7:05I'm really proud of that. and it's really what launched me into politics. It gave me a base uptown and eventually I ran for city council in those neighborhoods. So, you know, real quick. So this is before you got into politics, you did this. Yes, it was. So you just had this idea and did this on your own? How did this work? Yes, you know, there was a community development credit union started in the early 90s in central Brooklyn. And one of the founders of someone who you will know well, because he's become a star of New York political journalism, Errol Lewis on New York One. We met back at that point, the late 90s, when he was the head of, I guess he was like the CEO of the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union on Bedford Avenue in Bed-Stuy.

7:55And I was so inspired by them, by that model, by Errol Lewis. And I'd been a teacher in the Bronx, but a lot of my friends were teachers in Washington Heights. And my best friend who still a dear friend today, Luis Santos was a teacher in district six uptown. And we said, man, there's nothing like this uptown. And Washington Heights really needs this. And so we basically replicated what Arrow Lewis and his co-founder got a Mark Winston Griffith did in Bed-Stuy. Right. We did it uptown. And, uh, you know, the project's still going strong. Good for you. I'm really, really proud of it. At this point, I'm just a cheerleader.

8:36Or a proud parent. Great team in place there now. Yep. But it gave me a base when, look, I became, I think I told you about how frustrated I was by the school system and the board of ed in the 90s. Right. There were a number of big corruption scandals back then. And then I got into community economic development and I felt like, man, city government, they don't care. They're not helping. And my friend said, stop complaining, Mark. Get into the arena and do something about it. This is fascinating. And a council seat opened up and I ran for city council. I lost Kelly in 2001. Yes, I did. I later ran.

9:16It was a 10-way race that came in a close second. Right. But, you know, you're still, I still didn't become the council member. And then in 2010, I ran for state Senate. I lost again. And at that point I said, you know, maybe the big guy upstairs is giving me a message that this isn't for me. but again, my friends and family are like, this is your passion, man. Right. And there was a council seat, the same seat, opening up in 2013. And at that point I really developed the base and kind of had a name for myself because I came very close these two times. And, you know, I tell young people getting started in politics, you can run and lose.

9:55Right. And still move your career forward if you run honorably and make a good showing. And I broke through in 2013. Good for you. And thank goodness I stuck with it because I loved being in the city council. I can feel your passion for what you do. And that's what I love about having New Yorkers such as yourself on the podcast, because it just goes to show that even if you get kicked, you know, if you, you get knocked down trying to succeed, it will happen eventually, as long as you follow your passion. So that's amazing. That's incredible. Thank you. Yeah, go ahead. Wow. So look, Look, I served in the city council for two terms, representing West Harlem and Washington Heights, down to a little bit of the west side on 96th Street.

10:37I know your listeners know the geography of New York so well. Right. And I chaired the Parks Committee my first term. I am passionate about green space. You do a lot of good videos in parks. So you must understand that. Oh, yeah. This is about the health of New York City. I believe parks are, they are about our physical health, our mental health. 100 % agree. Community health, economic development. Also, by the way, you know, drainage during storms and cooling the city on hot days because of climate change, though. And I really fought to bring money to parks. I love Central Park, but I fought to bring money to parks in low-income neighborhoods like Harlem and the South Bronx and parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

11:20Some parks that a lot of people don't really know about because most people know about Central Park. Totally world famous. but you know, there are little parks and neighborhoods, Crotona park in the Bronx that are serving thousands of families. They're not on the tourist trail and they should be well-maintained and beautiful to really fought for that. Parks equity is, was, was really my mantra. My second term, I became chair of the city council health committee. Nice. Took that over in 2018. And when you take over a new city council committee, the staff sit you down, they kind of give you an orientation.

11:54They said, Mr. Chair, don't worry. you got a very easy committee in fact it might even be boring the worst crisis you'll have to deal with is an outbreak of legionnaire's disease well a year later we had a global pandemic oh my gosh yeah and and i was chair of the health committee during covid when it hit in 2020 and i put my heart and soul into standing up for science and good public health nice and fighting for equity in our response to the pandemic. And just like you, I came in for a lot of hate. In fact, it's probably the same people who are replying to you with me messages. Literally probably the same people were replying to me and still are.

12:37I'm still a warrior for public health. Good for you. And ultimately became Manhattan borough president. And here we are today. So what are the responsibilities of the Manhattan borough president? It's a great gig. Yeah. It is first and foremost power over what you can build and where, what we call land use. Can you build a tall building or only a short building? Can you build housing or manufacturing or retail? Do you preserve historic structures? Can you build things new? All of that are based on rules that the city defines that the world president has a major voice in. And we are in the middle of a housing crisis.

13:20that I'm sure every one of your listeners, if they're in New York City, knows all too well. Right. I get a report every month on average rents in the borough of Manhattan. Right. Average rents right now are 5 ,500 per month for market rate apartment. That does not surprise me even. So this is a crisis. Yeah. And not just for low-income people, though it is driving homelessness in New York, big time. Yeah. But a bus driver can't afford those rents, a social worker, a nurse, and young people. really young people are truly struggling with the housing crisis right now so i made this my top priority as borough president and really fought to use the power of the office to build more housing especially more affordable housing we've got thousands of units moving but also there's influence over the budget i can fund renovations of parks and libraries and schools and museums and community centers and public housing developments.

14:16Also, over 1 ,000 appointments on community boards and many other important bodies. Yeah. And also the ability to introduce bills in the city council. It's a great gig. I've loved it. As you might know, I'm moving on to a new gig. You are. Well, how long have you been Manhattan Borough President? So it's a four-year term. And I came into office New Year's Day on 2022. Nice. And I'll go through New Year's Eve on 2025. Nice. And if God willing, I'll start a whole new job in 2026. As what? The New York City Comptroller. That's interesting, too. So what does that entail? What is that job about? Now, this is a job which some of your listeners might not be familiar with.

14:57Comptroller. What is it? People don't know how to pronounce it. They don't know how to spell it. It is the chief financial officer for New York City. Wow. This is a huge job. It is the second most powerful job in city government After the mayor Big responsibility Oversees the pension funds Would you like to guess Or you Jay like to guess On how big the New York City pension funds are I can't even take a guess How about you Jay I'm sure a few million dollars No you gotta give me billions It's gotta be an exorbitant amount of money 315 billion Wow This is retirees Firefighters teachers social workers uh bus drivers police officers yeah uh their pensions are managed by the comptroller uh but also the power of audit and oversight over the mayor and every arm of city government so really keep keeping the mayor in check accountability influence over the budget yep and more where does that money come from this is yes well look the the city workers make contributions during their career.

16:08And, uh, ultimately this is their money, but you know, you start when you're twenties, you might not retire until your sixties. What happens to that money? Well, in the meantime, it has to be invested so that by the time you reach retirement aid, there's a nice pot of money to pay out your monthly checks. And so we invest that money, we, the city and everything, stocks, bonds, real estate, private equity, all over the world, thousands of different companies. Right. And the goal is to, over time, have a 7 % return. Now I'm getting into the weeds. But if you do that... Interesting though. Very interesting.

16:44And look, it's complicated. And there's a big team at the comptroller's office. But also, the comptroller manages the debt. Like if we borrow to build a new school, well, those are bonds at the comptroller issues and more. So with all that in your background and the elections coming up, Now what? Like you, Kelly, I believe in New York City. And we are counted out after every crisis. We were counted out after 9-11. Yeah. I wouldn't want to live here anymore. Correct. We were counted out after Sandy. We were definitely counted out after COVID. I mean, you remember all the people who said New York City was dead forever.

17:25Oh, yeah. Right. There were literally headlines. All over my social media. Totally. And we proved them wrong. We have come roaring back after every one of those crises, come roaring back in the five years since COVID. And I really believe New York City is a juggernaut. Having said that, I think we're entering into an uncertain time with - I was going to ask you that, actually. Yeah. Look, economic clouds on the horizon with the tariffs that have really hurt New York. Tourism is down in New York. I truly am feeling that. I sit on the tourism board in my role as world president. So they've had to revise our projection for tourism down in 2025.

18:10We were poised to beat the all time record pre-pandemic of 2019. We're not going to do that anymore. We're going to have 2 million fewer international visitors. Those people spend a lot of money. If you're coming from Australia, you're probably going to stay for two weeks, hotels, restaurants. Broadway shows Exactly And I want to be honest I know this is not a political show But President Trump is targeting New York City Targeting our budget Taking money from us Today as he recorded he announced he's going to kill money For extending the 2nd Avenue subway Up to Harlem He announced he's going to kill money For the new Rail tunnel under the Hudson For Amtrak and New Jersey Transit Which is critical We desperately need that capacity.

19:00He's cut over a hundred million from law enforcement in New York already, particularly in counter terror, literally defunding the police. And so as a person who is expecting to be the next comptroller, I'm going to stand up to that. I'm going to fight for our budget. Good. I'm going to call out the president and his allies for targeting us. And I want to remind the country that New York City is an economic engine for America. We are a$1 trillion annual economy, just New York City. And we send billions more money to Washington in taxes than we get back. So the notion that the federal funding we get for schools, housing, and healthcare is charity is backward.

19:50We're subsidizing the red state who don't have strong economies relative to ours. and who get far more from the federal government than we do. So I'm going to stand up for New York, stand up for our economy, stand up for our budget as we enter into turbulent times. It's why I ran to be the next comptroller. And it's an office that can really protect the city, even when times are tough. Thank you, Mark. Thanks for that. You know, that was, that was inspiring. Yes, that's the word, perfect word. That was very inspiring, you know. As a New Yorker sitting here listening to you, it made me feel good that you were standing up for New Yorkers.

20:30So thank you for that. That's why I'm in this work. I'm going to keep doing it. Stand up for people under attack right now. The LGBTQ community, our immigrant neighbors, they're under attack. We need leaders who are going to speak out. I'm gonna. And I'm going to continue to talk about what I love in New York City, about how resilient we are, about how beautifully diverse we are. he was diverse of New York totally look anyone who's seen one video on New York City cop knows this is true we're so dynamic we're so vibrant we're so diverse you see it in your videos and it's what I love about the city it's what your listeners love we're gonna fight for it you know and for the most part we're considerate of each other too we look out for each other as New Yorkers and look how you're looking out for us Yes, indeed.

21:24Thank you, Mark. That's really amazing. Thank you, Kelly. You know, I was also thinking, you know, about your story back in the Bronx and how you were a teacher and everything. And, you know, I mentioned a little bit about affordable housing, because that's one of the first things I thought, how you saw it firsthand. Can you tell us how you're going to help with that? Sure. You know, we have probably a half million dollar, half million unit shortfall in housing in New York City. Maybe a million. There's so much unmet demand. It's why people are homeless, why people are struggling. I'm going to use the office of the New York City Comptroller to help address this crisis.

22:00We're going to use some of our pension money in a very prudent way that gets good returns for retirees, but that finances affordable housing that might not otherwise be built. So we put out a plan to invest 1 % of the pension money in financing affordable housing. Now that's a lot because the pension fund, as I said before, it's so big. Yeah, that's$3 billion. And we believe that by investing$3 billion in housing projects around the city to get more affordable housing built, that we can further creation of 75 ,000 units of affordable housing in all five boroughs. This is going to be my top priorities, Comptroller.

22:39We can really do this and it's going to move the needle. It'll be a game change for families in New York City, for young people in New York City who are going to be able to move into an apartment financed in part by our pension money. Wow. Good for you. Thank you. I don't even know what to say after that. I don't know. It's a cool idea with like the money that people have been putting into the system, giving back to help new people put more money into the system. Yes, exactly. Which is like, I feel like what everything should be doing, like it kind of just makes sense that if you put work into the system, then you should get something out of it.

23:19But like, I don't know. People need a place to start. Like there needs to be a way to jump into it. And so like, I think that a lot of people want to put like effort in and then keep that effort. But it has to give back at some point. I couldn't agree more. And, you know, the workers who are building our housing, the workers who have given their careers to the city themselves need housing. Sure. And so something I'm excited to do is finance what we call workforce housing, where some of the very people who are building this housing, some of the very people who work for the city and whose retirement savings have funded our pensions will also benefit from this housing.

24:05I mean, that would just be the best of kind of this circular economic that would make New York City stronger. We can do this. It's going to be something I'm going to work very, very hard on. and maybe I'll come back on the show and I'll report back on how it's going. I would love that actually. Absolutely. You know, part two with Mark. I would love to do that. I'm here for it. So Mark, with the election coming up in November, with you poised to be the next comptroller, how do you see yourself working with Zoran Mamdani? Barring a surprise, I expect Assemblymember Mamdani to be the next mayor of New York City.

24:40And in that capacity, I'll have to work very closely with him as comptroller. there are issues we agree on and issues we disagree on i completely share his focus on affordability it was the issue that i ran on and that certainly was his top priority and in fact we won a lot of the same neighborhood we both won jackson heights and we both won harlem and we both won richmond hill and i think it's because we shared that priority and i would do everything I can to help him succeed, to help him build more affordable housing. Right. But also this job of comptroller by definition is to bring accountability to the mayor and every agency of city government.

25:25And so that sometimes means you have to push back, right? That's going to be the kind of comptroller I'll be. Totally independent, supporting the mayor. Right. When appropriate, helping the mayor succeed because I want New York City to succeed, but also being independent and pushing back when appropriate. Right. Interesting. Well, we'll see what happens in November when you win. And we'll see if Mom Dommy wins and where we go from there. So, and then we can have you both on the couch and talk about how things are going. That would be a lot of fun. That would be amazing, you know. Favorite NYC park, Mark?

26:01Fort Tryon Park is an absolute jewel. And I know that some New Yorkers, if they don't live in uptown Manhattan and haven't been there, go. The views are spectacular. the heather garden is one of the most beautiful in the world and you've got the cloisters right in the middle of it yeah have i made a good sale yeah it's beautiful good yeah i was gonna say cloisters are there too and it's it's so beautiful uh best slice in manhattan best what slice of pizza in whoa is that a hard one yeah i love flaco's pizza oh i've never been there yeah yeah right on in washington heights on uh 162nd street and broadway it's really good check it out How do I not know that one?

26:44162nd and Broadway. I'm definitely going to check it out. What's more stressful, Mark? Times Square on a Friday night or a city council budget hearing? Whoa.

26:55Yeah, city council hearings. I don't think anyone would call them fun. Right. They are important. They matter for the city. They can be very long and sometimes painful. so uh i'm i'm gonna say that a stroll a stroll through times square is probably more uh more light more light and enjoyable perfect and last question what's your perfect sunday in the city uh it would be walking through a park yeah and uh to me honestly kelly it's almost like meditation to soak in the beauty and also to see the people you know right new yorkers don't go to parks to watch squirrels right at a park to watch other new yorkers true and so i actually i like to be in a park which is busy with life and often it's for trying i adore riverside park which is also near to me and i gotta say during the pandemic i walked there every single day and it saved me i wouldn't have got through the pandemic without it so man if i got time they can i stroll in a beautiful new york city park i'm a happy man i love your passion for the parks too because i'll never forget when I was new to New York City, I was walking through Central Park.

28:04It was just freshly fallen snow all over the park, but I've never felt what joy was until that moment. I'm like, this is what joy is. Walking through a park in New York City, at this point, it was Central Park, fresh covered snow, dogs running around playing, kids on sleds, everybody's so happy. Yeah. New York City, love that you love parks. Amen to that. Perfect. So Mark, before we let you go, we here at the New Yorkers podcast want to know what it means to you, Mark Levine, to be a New Yorker. I think it's defined by resilience. What we've talked about throughout this conversation, the innate quality of New Yorkers to never stay down, to always get back up, to support each other in the process.