Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, last night, we saw a situation in Brooklyn that really spoke volumes. I want to say we saw bravery, and courage, and heroism from the NYPD. Last night, members of the NYPD were positioned near a park in Brooklyn, because there had been some previous violence. This is what precision policing is all about, ensuring that officers are where they need to be to stop violence. An assailant nearby committed an act of violence and then literally ran right into the NYPD patrol. And this individual attempted to fire on NYPD officers and, thank God, our officer who was hit by that fire is going to be okay. Officer Brian McGurran, a heroic officer out there protecting us, out there making sure that anyone who aims to do violence against a fellow New Yorker is stopped. And he and his colleagues did stop this individual. This individual is now off the streets, and I expect them to be off the streets for a long, long time. So, this is an example of the dangers our officer's face, but also a profound example of the heroism and the courage they exhibit, how much we depend on them, but also the smart strategies of the NYPD to have officers where they are needed. So, this is a story that ends, thank God, with our officer – although he is wounded and we all hope and pray for a very speedy recovery – our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. He is expected to make a full recovery and that's very good news.
Also, yesterday, very important – the individual who fired shots in Times Square has also been caught. He tried to run. He went out of state, but the NYPD always is able to find people. And this is something that everybody needs to understand and anyone who means to commit a crime better understand the NYPD, more than any time in its previous history, is doing an outstanding job tracking down anyone who commits an offense against New Yorkers. And the bottom line is if you create violence, if you harm a fellow New Yorker, you will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will suffer the consequences. This is crucial to how we continue our fight against crime and we build a strategy for a safe summer in New York City.
Now, there are so many pieces that go into the recovery we are building every single day in this city. Public safety is crucial. Obviously, the thing we talk about every single day – vaccination. This is the gateway. This is the thing we have to get right so we can keep moving forward. And the good news is, every day, tens of thousands of people coming in to get vaccinated. The latest number, as of today, from the beginning of our vaccination effort, 7,277,505 vaccinations have been given, climbing every day. And now, that number will definitely increase because hundreds of thousands of more New Yorkers are eligible. We've gotten the formal authorization now that all providers who have the Pfizer vaccine can provide it to 12- to 15-year-olds. I think a lot – a lot of families are going to want to take advantage of this opportunity to protect their kids and protect their whole families. So, yesterday, Dr. Chokshi talked about our plan to reach our Zoomers. And I'm going to keep sounding this message to parents – parents, let's get our Zoomers off of Zoom and back to life as normal, and you can help by getting them vaccinated. Sites all over the city – as always, easy, fast, free, safe. And if you want to make an appointment for your 12- to 15-year-old, go to nyc.gov/vaccinefinder, or call 877-VAX-4NYC.
Okay. Now, we need everyone to get vaccinated, so we know we have to make it convenient. We know we have to make it easy. We know we need the opportunities for people to speak to their trusted community voices, doctors, etcetera – we're doing all that. But we also know that incentives help, they really do. And so, we've been announcing free tickets, gift cards, all sorts of incentives to encourage people. A lot of people are ready to get vaccinated, they just haven't gotten around to it. They need a little extra incentive. We're doing that now. And we are going to have a live correspondent this morning talk about this and from a site that means a lot to all of us as New Yorkers, because one thing I think that does unite New Yorkers is a love of Shake Shack. So, live from the original Shake Shack location in Madison Square Park, the CEO of Shake Shack, and he is generously joining into this incentive effort, and I welcome him. My pleasure to introduce CEO Randy Garutti. Welcome, Randy. .
Mayor: Thank you so much, Randy. Thank you to the whole Shake Shack team, this is really going to help us out. And did you say free fries when you get vaccinated?
[Mayor de Blasio eats French fries]
I got vaccinated. You're saying I could get this? These delicious fries? Wait a minute – but there's also a burger element to this? Let me check with Bill Neidhardt, is too early in the day to eat a burger? No?
Bill Neidhardt: You’re good to go.
Mayor: This could be breakfast? Okay. I want you to look at this and think about – again, some people love hamburgers, some don't, really want to respect all ways of life. But if this is appealing to you, just think of this when you think of vaccination.
[Mayor de Blasio eats hamburger]
Mmm, vaccination. I'm getting a very good feeling about vaccination right this moment. Thank you to Randy Garutti and, of course, Danny Meyer, who is doing so much to help us with the recovery and the entire team.
I've got to finish chewing for a moment. I think that would be more dignified, don't you think? Yeah. So, everyone, we're going to keep rolling out incentives. We're going to keep making it easier. We're going to keep making it fun. We really, really need to get everyone vaccinated. So, keep watching, keep joining in. Choose the thing you love, choose the incentive that moves you and come on out and get vaccinated.
Okay. Now, this is pretty good that we will now go even higher up the vaccination scale here. I've said that one of the great reasons to go out and get vaccinated is to bring this city back, full reopening. And let's have something historic and amazing – the Summer of New York City, a summer of joy, a summer of culture, a summer of energy. We can do this. And one of the things you're going to see in New York City this summer is live music everywhere, it's going to be a big part of what gives us energy, what gives us hope. I am very proud to say the two of our biggest music festivals, outdoor festivals are making a major comeback this year in 2021, New York City. Global Citizen Live will be back and the Governors Ball at Citi Field will be back, and that is a very big deal. So, here's the latest incentive deal. If you get vaccinated, you will have an opportunity to win free tickets to these amazing music festivals. These are – literally, people wait all year for the opportunity to enjoy these festivals, and here's your chance. So, get vaccinated, get a ticket, get out there and enjoy something amazing.
Now, to hear about what this means, one of the artists who will be performing at the Governors Ball. I love all musicians, but I particularly love musicians who are true New Yorkers – in this case, a true Brooklynite. And she has done amazing work. I am particularly moved by one of her best-known songs, 1950, which is absolutely just enchanting and mesmerizing. And she is a great songwriter, singer, musician in every way. My great pleasure to introduce King Princess.
Mayor: Alright, thank you. There is the message, everyone – couldn't be clearer. I want to note that I have been refraining from eating the hamburger further during this press conference, but I will address the situation immediately following the press conference.
Okay. Now, what have we been talking about all week as part of our recovery, as part of opening up New York City, having everyone out, enjoying New York City? It's been Streets Week!!!! all week. Now, I want to note, Streets Week!!!! officially, because it's the fourth day of Streets Week!!!! There should be four exclamation points – that is correct on the screen, excellent work, everyone. Monday, we focused on safety enforcement and Vision Zero. Tuesday, we announced new busways, bike lanes, bike boulevards. Yesterday, we talked about Open Boulevards, amazing stretches, block after block, Open Streets, Open Restaurants, a festival atmosphere. And today –later on today, I will be signing the legislation to make Open Streets permanent. I'll be up in Inwood. It's going to be exciting. This is a historic change to the New York City streetscape, and it will be permanent, and it will make our lives better. So, this is a really good day. And, today, we're talking about how we move things around the city, reduce congestion, make our city more sustainable.
So, one of the things that we're working on that we started talking about last week is our cargo bike pilot. This is a really, really exciting new initiative to use a very different approach to get things around. And it's much, much better for the environment, much better for reducing congestion. Today, we're now talking about how to change our approach to trucks in New York City, how to make truck traffic safer, how to reduce it at the hours when we don't want it, how to make it more sustainable. We're going to take things to work. We're really excited about ways to get alternatives going, like the cargo bikes. We have the NYC Clean Truck program. We want to focus on sustainable approaches, different approaches. One of the things I've long believed we could do more of is encouraging overnight deliveries by trucks, deliveries to stores, off-hour deliveries. So, we're making changes to make that easier, expanding certain loading zones, taking actions to support and provide resources to small businesses so it will be more appealing for them to get those off-hour deliveries. We can get trucks out of the way in the times when most people are out and get those deliveries to be off-hours, that's going to be better for everyone. And every time we reduce traffic, obviously, there's a Vision Zero impact too – safety first. This plan helps us move forward with it. Details – if you want to see the details, go to nyc.gov/smarttruck and get a look at what the future will be as how we create a more sustainable approach to this city.
Now, I said, Vision Zero and I’m keep saying Vision Zero. This is one of the things I'm proudest of. We started it in 2014, there were plenty of naysayers. There were plenty of people who said it wouldn't work. There are plenty of people said New Yorkers wouldn't stand for it. New Yorkers came to believe in Vision Zero. It has worked. We’ve got a lot more to do, but it's the right approach and we're going to keep building on it. And I have announcement today about the place that was synonymous – not just for a year or two years, for decades – Queens Boulevard, tragically, was synonymous with the problem of horrible deaths on the road, pedestrians, motorists, cyclists. Queens Boulevard – I don't have to remind people who've been here a while – it used to be called the Boulevard of Death and people would say it almost without even thinking about it, it had become so common, which is tragic unto itself. When we put Vision Zero into effect, one of the things that I knew we had to do, and it would take time, but we would get it done, is address Queens Boulevard once and for all. And as we've done each stage, it has had a remarkable impact.
The last stage, the fourth stage of the Queens Boulevard redesign was getting ready to go, but then COVID hit. There was an issue with federal approval. We believe now there's a much better environment in Washington and much more support for Vision Zero and bike safety. So much so that Vision Zero's now the template – our New York City Vision Zero has become the national template of the Biden administration for how to create a safer traffic environment for everyone. And, of course, our own former Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg is now the number-two official at the U.S. Department of Transportation. We're very, very proud of her. So, I think we're going to do well. We do need some additional State and federal approval, but I'm very hopeful. And our goal, announcing today, starting construction than the last phase of Queens Boulevard in July with completion in November. We want to get this done. We want to ensure a safe Queens Boulevard throughout. This is crucial to a recovery for all of us, to have safety, to have streets that work and that bring New Yorkers back to all the things we love about this place.
All right, time for our indicators. And, again, we have a good day for indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 – today's report, 92 patients – 92. Confirmed positivity, 25.53 percent. Hospitalization rate keeps going down, 1.19 per 100,000. So, we're well below threshold. That's great to see. Now, number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average – today's report, 693 cases. This is just absolutely remarkable. Look at that change over these last few weeks. And it is because of vaccinations, period. And number three, percentage of people testing positive citywide for COVID-19 – today's report on a seven-day rolling average, 1.81 percent, continues to go down. Let's keep it going down.
Question: Well, you have us all craving burgers and fries this morning. So – and is that a large soda you have there?
Mayor: Look again, look again, Julia. I want this to be synonymous with vaccination. This is – this I, you know, I want to do full disclosure. This is a Shake Shack cup with water in it. I think soda would have been a little much for me this morning.
