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Rep. Lawler announces he will not run for governor, will seek reelection to House

Live Blog: Ask the Mayor - July 2025

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Jeffries and Mamdani plan to reconvene following 'constructive' meeting 

bronx

News 12 Staff

BXPP622B_2025-06-22-12-23-20

Welcome back to Power and Politics, everyone. As we continue our vote 2025 coverage now and our conversations with mayoral candidates, we're turning to a former Bronx Assembly member who worked for the Obama administration before moving on to the DNC. News Twelve's Heather Fordham met with Michael Blake to discuss the key issues of his campaign. So Mr. Blake, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us. I want to ask, how are you feeling? Feeling that there's been incredible momentum in the last 2 weeks. We, we've gained more endorsements than any campaign in that timetable. We had an incredible debate performance being conveyed as the breakout star from that, uh, and saying very clearly to everyone in the Bronx that as a son of the Bronx and everyone in Brooklyn as a Caribbean myself that uh you have an option here and that we are showing people that you can go in a different route and I want people to know that in the next 7 days if you're looking for the new generation of leadership, then my name is Michael Blake and I wanna be your mayor. What is inspiring this run for mayor, uh, this year? It's about the the critical element of affordability. It, it is simply too expensive in New York City and when we think about the challenges that are happening, uh, whether it be at Concourse Village or Cadman Towers, uh, whether it be in Central Brooklyn or Co op City, it's the understanding that we have to change some specific things first. I do believe that we should end using credit scores when it comes to housing applications as well as increased income limits for housing applications so that people can have a better chance of having truly affordable housing. We also need to have a Mitchell Lama 2.0. We need to build out about 600,000 truly affordable units, have a local median income because area median income is not working. And so I made the decision to run because we need to have a new generation of leadership focused on affordability. While also checking Donald Trump and as the only person in this race who has White House experience when I worked for President Obama and was trained by President Obama to the time when I was an assembly member to my local efforts as a alpha, as a reverend, as a Prince Hall Mason, etc. I wanted to show that you can have something different and we can't just be silent in the midst of what's happening. And so when I've been watching what's been going on, uh, I served locally, I've served nationally and I wanted to help my city. And affordability huge topic you touched on a lot. uh, what is your plan to tackle the affordability crisis when it comes to housing and finding enough uh places that are truly affordable for people to live? Well, that's the key right there. The first thing everyone is wondering how is it affordable and what does affordable mean? And so, you know, my, my mom overcame homelessness in Jamaica. We sold dinners to pay rent in the Bronx, uh, and we're seeing this all across the board, that people are wondering how do I keep my home. When you think about how 1 out of 8 New York City public school students are homeless right now, it's another reminder that we have a crisis at hand. And so I think there's specific things we can do. First, how do we make sure that someone can actually keep the home that they're in? And fundamentally, whether that be from freezing of the rent for at least 1 year to protecting our homeowners who have been struggling with deed theft, which has been a major issue in Brooklyn, uh, it's a challenge that we have to address at the same time. Second, if you think about what happens, credit scores are a major barrier, and too often, if you have paid your rent on time, you paid your mortgage on time, why should one bill 20 years ago be the reason why you can't get access to a home? And so we're saying very clearly, let's end using credit scores when it comes to rent homeownership applications while also increasing income limits so that if you're a senior citizen that's using this free program or if you're disabled New Yorker andre, whether at a Mitchell Lama or at NASA, you take those steps to make sure someone has a chance to actually keep their home. But then we actually have to have a local median income. Are median income, including Westchester and Suffolk and Rockland County does not make any sense. And I think about when I was the chair of the Mitchell Lama subcommittee in the assembly, when I think about my work in the White House with President Obama, when I think about being as a local reverend, from being a husband and a bonus father I see every single day housing and childcare are simply too expensive and I am laying out a vision called Welcome home to help people know that you can actually afford a home if you elect Michael Blake as your mayor. We're in the South Bronx, unfortunately one of the areas that has seen a very high Crime rate, um, especially when it comes to youth involved gun violence, uh, what is your plan to tackle public safety and try to, you know, make people feel safer as they walk around and just get to their day to day? Every person deserves to get home alive. Every person deserves to be safe. Whether it be if I'm walking to my home or if I'm shopping at a small business. And so, my main priority for public safety, 1000 mental health professionals instead of the NYPD addressing the mental health crisis on subways and streets. Those individuals need help, they don't need to be incarcerated. Now, that would allow for the police to be able to focus on precision policing, whether it be in Brooklyn or in the Bronx or elsewhere across the city, with body cameras on to be able to help people in real time. Take those steps and then you're able to actually provide support in a very practical manner. We also though have to close Rikers Island because Rikers is effectively a mental health facility where people have not actually been convicted of a crime. They're just waiting. Take those steps and address the economic conditions in the first place. When people are asking me about shoplifting and what's going on with small businesses, if you address the mental health crisis where you don't have someone destroying and impacting local property while also making sure more New Yorkers have more money in their pocket, then you don't have people shoplifting. Someone's not looking to rob or steal if they have money in their pocket and they're doing well economically. And so when we think about public safety, that is the vision where we have to have happen here. And my whole approach is understanding that. Look, I'm, I'm that person who endured police brutality twice in my life. Once as an assembly member, once while I was in high school, I deal with Clinton High School. I went to PS 79, 118 deal with Clinton High School. I've seen this throughout, and what people want to know and understand is that I can get home alive, I can get home safely, and there will be accountability for anyone that's part of this process. That is the vision where we're communicating. And if people give us a chance, they could see this. What I'm saying, everyone. As a dark skinned black man who walks the streets, takes the subway, gets around throughout the city. I should not have a level of justice that someone else does not have. Michael Blake is not gonna be someone who only walks the streets because I feel safe, everyone needs to feel safe. And the ways we do that is focusing on the critical issue at hand, mental health. More with mayoral candidate Michael Blake right after this.

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BXPP622C_2025-06-22-12-24-09

Welcome back as we get right back to our interview with mayoral candidate Michael Blake speaking with News Twelve's Heather Fordham. When it comes to the Trump administration, how do you plan to work with the current administration when it comes to these ICE crackdowns and enforcement going on in the city? Think about what's happening here. Uh, I'm a son of immigrants, right? Family from Jamaica. My full name is Mike Alexander Blake. So, so, uh, the, the entire West Indian Caribbean massive in Brooklyn in the Bronx and across New York City. I want them to know that I'm a son of immigrants. And we have allowed a conversation to be existing right now. That is wrong. We have the funding to help our immigrant families, as well as non-immigrant families succeed and thrive in New York. So let's be very clear. We will remain a sanctuary city when Michael Blake is your mayor, full stop. We will ban ICE from going to our churches and our community centers, our places of worship. The only reason why ICE should ever be permitted is if there's a signed judicial warrant. That's it, full stop. We then also have to make sure that we have safe havens designated for these places as well to reduce the likelihood of someone coming into our properties. That gives us the protection that we don't have. We all have to care about what's going on with immigration. Trump's policies are unconstitutional. One of the reasons why we are in this race is that Mayor Adams was focusing too much on trying to actually help himself stay out of jail as opposed to protecting New Yorkers. The day that there was a raid that happened on one of his fundraisers was the day that a White House meeting was happening to address immigration. He chose to protect his campaign over New Yorkers. And so let's be clear, we have to find ways and we'll find ways to protect our immigrants, in particular at our nonprofits who right now if we don't reimburse and pay our nonprofits on time, then our immigrants will be hurt. We saw this recently for the nonprofit childcare centers who were gonna be closed because of inaccurate and incorrect payment rates and attendance rates from the city. So for our immigrants as a son of immigrants, as someone who understands this journey like you do, who was a co-sponsor of the DEAM Act in the assembly, who understood this in working with President Obama and understand this and what I'm doing on the ground, we will protect and fight for our immigrants in every single thing that we do every single way and counter the unconstitutional Trump agenda. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. A reminder that you can find all of the interviews News 12 has done with local candidates across the Bronx and Brooklyn on News Twelve.com, and then tune in Tuesday night for hyperlocal coverage of the primary results as they roll in. That all kicks off right when polls close at 9 p.m. That's all for this week here on Power and Politics on News 12. Happy voting and thanks for watching.

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Primary elections in New York City are Tuesday, June 24.

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Primary elections in New York City are Tuesday, June 24.

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