Question: I want to move past this over-blown discussion of whether New York City is dead. Can you name two or three big forward-looking initiatives that your administration has committed to that will help it get back on its feet?
Mayor: The big idea is bringing New York City back safely. Right now, we're the envy of the nation that we have rebounded from being the epicenter to being the safest place around in terms of the coronavirus. The big idea is bringing back our school system, largest in the country, so we can take a major step towards functioning normally, and we can help our kids and families. We’re at our all-time high in terms of economic strength. This February 2020, 4.6 million jobs. I truly believe that what we need to do now is reestablish the strength we had. And then we're going to be talking a lot about doing it in a way that is more fair and addresses the disparities on many, many levels. Guaranteeing health care for everyone.
Journalists, from the national perspective, ask, with a certain amount of amazement, how New York City has come this far, how we went from worst to first. I always say it's because of all of you. It's because of the extraordinary discipline and strength and resiliency of New Yorkers. If you know New Yorkers, you understand this is part of who we are. There's just no crisis that truly overwhelms New Yorkers. We've come back from so much. I saw what we came back from in those tough times, the 80s and 90s, when we had the huge crime problems, the AIDS crisis. We came back after 9/11, we came back after Superstorm Sandy, we came back after the Great Recession. It's just in our DNA.
But the amazing thing here is, it's the combination of individual actions that has led to this result. And so, every one of you, every time you put on a mask, you're doing something for the city and for everyone else, every time you practice social distancing, every little act has added up. What I know about New Yorkers is they always step up, New Yorkers are always there for each other, and it's going to happen again. So, I'll conclude with this, if you read articles or you go online, you go on TV, and you hear people saying it's over for New York City or people are leaving in droves and all, I hope a little smile will come across your face because the naysayers have said this for decades and decades, they've been wrong every single time, doubting Thomases. I don't know why people like to do it. I'd much rather talk about what's right with New York City than put New York City down. But I'll tell you one thing, the people putting us down, the people predicting our doom will be wrong again, and it will be because of all of you. Thank you.
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