Their ballots. In the 2013 Mayoral Election in the city, only 24 of registered voters went to the booth. Now a big effort to try to jumpstart a getoutthevote campaign and increase voter turnout. And that campaign, led by the five borough president s of new york city, the league of women voters of the city of new york, and we here at wabctv channel 7. As it happens, two of the borough president s are here with us this morning gale brewer of manhattan, ruben diaz jr. From the bronx. Wer campaign to get out the vote and, because im a reporter, i cant miss the opportunity to also talk about some of the important issues and concerns that are on the minds of new yorkers. Welcome, both of you. Thank you. Thank you. So, tell me exactly, either one wants to start well start with the woman, i guess. [ chuckles ] ms. Brewer. Or maybe i should reverse that, not be sexist. Lets start with the guy. Um, what is this campaign were in her borough, right . What is this campaign about . First of all, let me just thank the league of women voters, and i want to thank abc for being a part of this. This is a challenge, as it was said in the opening remarks. Were challenging new yorkers to allow for their voices to be heard and to have their votes counted. We know one thing, bill, that when you speak of governing and you speak of policy, you cant have strong policy without having strong politics. And quite often, decisions are made, unfortunately, based on voter turnout. So, if you look at our boroughs, if you look at certain parts of our boroughs, what weve been seeing over the last couple of elections is a precipitous drop in participation. Why is that . It one, we have to educate folks as to who the candidates are and what they stand for. But we also i think its incumbent upon us in government to be able to push for certain things like sameday registration, making sure that we have electronic Voter Registration, to make sure that we have early Voter Registration, to look at polling sites and see whether or not theyre too far away from where people live. If you ask me, why, in the age so that people can vote from their cellphones, from their computers . These are all things that we should be talking about. Its a little too late to do that for this Election Year, but nonetheless, what we want is for people to understand that this is an important election the president ial election and there are many important local elections, that they need to come out, and we want that Voter Participation to increase. But youve heard the gale, youve heard the criticism of doing Something Like that, like ruben says you know, voting theyre talking about security and making sure that people dont vote twice. There are enough ways to determine that, though, right . I mean, there are cellphone and electronic, but theres also why cant we vote right now, you cannot get an absentee vote unless youre sick or you have some legitimate reason. Other states, like colorado, have started, two weeks in advance, people have time to vote way up in terms of participation. Same thing with sameday voting. You know what happens . People move to new york, they forget to register, the election sameday registration. And also, what about the issue of being able to register automatically . Right . Now you have to figure out how to register, you have to vote by a certain register by a certain date. Thats another topic. You should see how far in advance you have to register in order to vote. So, all of these things are possible. In other states, theyre doing them. Vote by mail. So, thats one aspect of the campaign. Let me just say this that every day, people are purchasing and they have Sensitive Information that they put into types of they use their credit cards. Yeah, they have all of that stuff on the cellphones, and yet, by and large, obviously theres some voter theres Security Issues with that, but for the most part, i think that we can get it right. And when its all said and done, what do we want . We want people to take this right that they have and use it so they can allow for their voices to be heard. And it will ultimately better housing. All of the issues that people are concerned with, the best way to participate is to cast that vote. This has to be done on the state level. We cannot do this in new york city. As the borough president s, you cant do that. No, but not even the city council, not even the mayor. It has to go to albany. And so far, to be honest with you, the republicans dont want sameday registration, vote early, vote by mail. And why do you think that is . Because i think more democrats would, in fact, vote. Even though we are a democratic state, even more would register as democratic. Thats wt make it easier to register, easier to vote, and then the republicans feel that more democrats would, in fact, vote. But we need every other state that has instituted some of these has a higher percent we are 44th in the United States in terms of people participating in the voting process. But understand this so, we are outlining the things that we believe can help with participation in the future. This campaign, with the league of women voters and what election cycle. Right. And saying, many of you have already registered to vote. In fact, in the bronx, we are a borough of 1. 4 million. Over 500,000 close to 600,000 people in the bronx have already registered to vote. And yet, in the last election, we get less than 20 of those who are registered come out and vote. Very few. So, what were saying is, you know, people have died for this right. There are people in other parts of the country who are fighting and yet we have them here in the city of new york. We have them in our boroughs, and youre not taking advantage of this opportunity. And october 14th is the deadline. People should know. October 14th, and then you can vote on november 8th, which is the general election. Now, thats a pretty small gap. If all the elections were like that, wed be in pretty good shape, right . cause some of the people were complaining in the primaries you had to register in october to vote in april, and thats a very long time. Right. The october 15th is a good gap. October 14th. Yeah. October 14th. So, youd like that for all of sense, but you have to be its complicated. We have so many elections, also. Thats the other issue. In the state of new york, weve had four elections by the time the general is over, if you count the three primaries. So, i do think we need to get people out for the general election. They need to register by october 14th. But we do need to, for the future, deal with some of these other issues that ruben and i are talking about. And i think its you know, a part of the country a large part of the country is going the other way. The Supreme Court ruled and cut away the Voting Rights act, and that has you got to fight right now, besides coming on the show and talking about it, what are you guys gonna do about getting people out to vote . Well, were always at the street fairs. Were at the new York City Housing Authority family days. We talk about this everywhere we go. We hand out the Voter Registration forms. In fact, we just got boxes and boxes of them into our office. We have a storefront office on 125th street. Were making sure that all the nonprofits that do events between now and october 14th but we want to make sure more young people participate. Do you im sorry, bill, but for me, what we also try to do is we have to motivate the voters. We have to let them know that the fact that they participate, that there are great things happening in their communities, so for instance, every time we make a new announcement or we have a new announcement in the bronx just the other day, weve announced the opening of silvercup studios, which creates jobs. Weve done a food hub. Weve done all of this in the speaker of the new york state assembly. So, every time we make these announcements, every time we say that weve reduced the Unemployment Rate over the last seven years from 14 to 7 more than half where 100,000plus more bronxites are working today than the first day i took office, i say, i couldnt do this alone. I could only do this with partnerships up in albany and in the city of new york. And the only way theyre gonna respond to us is if you come out and vote. Do you think that having Hillary Clinton and one of thems yours, ones not the bronx, but regardless you dont think thats gonna increase the voter turnout in new york city . I think that hil i mean, from my perspective, having hillary as a woman and a new york state senator, in particular people loved her when she was senator is gonna help. Yes. I think it will help, particularly with some of the women, who see her as first time. Yes. I think it will help. I think it slices both ways. Theyll be motivated because we know Hillary Clinton, because as a u. S. Senator, she was there because they dont like what donald trump stands for the divisiveness, the fact that he attacks hes attacked every single community, whether theyre latinos, whether its muslims, whether hes attacking families who have lost their kids, you know, in war, their children in war. So, i think the voter turnout will be higher because theyre motivated theyre prohillary and because theyre antitrump. The trump campaign, of course, would say the exact opposite of that, but thats not in thats immaterial. The one republican borough president we have, from not make it today, so thats your perspective. But i appreciate and understand what youre saying. Will you stay with us for another segment . Got a lot to talk to you about. Okay. We continue our discussion with two of new yorks borough president s, gale brewer of manhattan, ruben diaz jr. From the bronx, when we continue right after this. . . I absolutely love my new york apartment, but the rent is outrageous. With great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. Delivery. Hey. Lo mein, szechwan chicken, chopsticks, soy sauce and you got some fortune cookies. Have a good one. Ah, these small new york apartments. Protect your belongings. Let geico help you with renters insurance. I know you [laughs] welcome hi were your neighbors. We live across the street. Thanks for this. I see youve got Time Warner Cable like the rest of the hood. Genius. 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Continuing our discussion with two of the borough president s who are leading the charge to try to get out the vote this Election Year ruben diaz jr. From the bronx, gale brewer from manhattan. Now that i have you here, let me talk a little bit about the city where weve gone in the last two and a half years under this administration, where were going. Lets start with you, gale, and manhattan. Are we better off than we were when this mayor came in to office . Well, i think there are a really feeling good about getting their kids into the school at an early age, and its free. Um, i think that the cost of living in manhattan is so astronomical in terms of the rents and the cost of living. We still do not have enough Affordable Housing. I know thats a goal and an agenda, but we do not have enough. Maybe the most important issue, do you think, if you had to put one important issue the most i would say the lack of Affordable Housing is an important issue, and the fact is how do we see that happening in i think the other issue is something that may not be in other boroughs. We are losing our momandpop stores. People care desperately about the local drug store, local hat store, shoe store. Thats a real concern, also. You see it in manhattan all over the place. Yes. For rent signs by landlords who seem just from my layperson perspective seem to not mind having an empty store rather than getting the rent that might not be as high as someone else is gonna pay. Theyre waiting for a chain store, im afraid. And what we want are the momandpops to be able to be borough of manhattan. I think people are also concerned about just jobs in general. People are working two or three jobs, in some cases, and so those are the issues. I dont think theyre different than other parts, but theyre intensified here in the borough of manhattan. Borough president diaz . So, weve been doing a lot of great work around Economic Development over the last seven years. Since ive been the borough president , weve seen 54 million square feet of Economic Development, over 10 billion of private money thats been invested in our borough. Like i said earlier, weve been able to shave unemployment by and we need to do more. We need to make sure that people get to work. We need to do more around our transportation infrastructure. And we would like to see the city do more around education in our borough. For too long, we feel, in the bronx, that we got the short end of the stick when it comes to education. And we would like to see more attention given by the department of education. But for so long we were talking earlier. For so long, the motto in the bronx was, you know, get educated and get out. Right. Especially when some areas are getting gentrified. This is the reason why gale and i we kind of disagreed on the mayors plan for zoning. Because i felt that if its not broke, you shouldnt try to fix it. And one size does not fit all. Whats good for manhattan may not be good for the bronx. And for us, while we will continue to do more lowincome housing to make sure that people are not displaced, and that is an issue and we need to address that and continue to address it, but for me, i also want to make sure that we do some mix the bronx so we can retain our professionals. In years past, like you said, bill, many people in the bronx were it was engraved in them. You get your education, you get your career, and you get out. But with all of the great things that are happening in our borough, the progression thats happening in the bronx, the fact that were not the bronx of the 70s and the 80s, more people want to stay. A lot of these Young Professionals make too much money for the lowincome, Affordable Housing and they cant buy a home. Them. And i just thought that the city could do more in that area. And the flip side for that in the bronx, in some areas, is that when you gentrify a community, the people who dont have any money are forced out. Youre saying that thats not happening enough. Thats not what i hear youre saying. Im totally against gentrification. Thats not what im saying. What im saying is that there are areas of the bronx where we need to develop the mixed income, a little higher Median Income the average Median Income, or every Median Income so that we can who dont want to leave so that, this way, youre not doing gentrification. Youre not forcing a community out to bring another one in. We do have the opposite problem. We do have gentrification. So, were working in east harlem. Were working in inwood, chinatown, noho, soho, every single place, to try to do what we call preplanning. So, before this rezoning or special permits, were sitting down with all the stakeholders, the business people, community boards, and so on, saying, okay, before theres any change in the zoning of this neighborhood, we have to have a plan. Rentstabilized apartments that are where the middle class could, in fact, get a hold and stay in their neighborhood. And if new housing comes in, it has to be enough for manhattan, anyway of affordable, and then you go through what level of affordability. Is it too later already . Have we already lost the middle class in new york city . Well, im not gonna give up. Thats not who i am. We need the middle class, and we need artists. Those are the two categories that we are losing if we dont put a stop to it. So, were working really hard to make sure that the rentregulated do stay and t we have new affordable that would, in fact we need a new Mitchell Lama program. That would be the best part of keeping the middle class in the city of new york. And thats the reason why people have to vote so that they know up in albany. Bringing it around to the message, are you . Right. So that they know in albany and in city hall that our boroughs are serious about good policy and things that were concerned with. But were only gonna get that attention if they see an increase in voter turnout. Let me switch gears completely and talk about the police. Because both of your boroughs understand, and certainly the people do in the boroughs and in new york city the tension that existed between many communities in new york and the police three years ago. It seems like it has eased up a lot, and a lot of people are giving credit to bill bratton, who is leaving on september 15th, retiring. And james oneill is taking over. Bratton a big loss to the city, maybe the mayors most valuable person in the administration. How about oneill . Whats in store for the new York Police Department . Well, i know jimmy oneill well, and i think hell do a great job. People in the public know bratton. Him extremely positive and great to work with. What weve been doing in manhattan, which i think helps, is working with nypd, having forums all through the borough, to talk about police with, at the table, young people, Community Residents at the table, to talk ab