The Manhattan Borough President! -With Mark Levine

[00:00:00] Speaker A: This 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 Kopp, published photographer, New York City tour business owner, real estate content creator, podcaster, and above all else, a New Yorker. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Ladies and gentlemen, the next Brooklyn bound train in Mount Rider. Stand clear of the closing. Do please shuttle to Grand Central. [00:01:00] Speaker A: Foreign with 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 you doing today? [00:01:20] Speaker C: 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. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Yes, that's true. [00:01:39] Speaker C: You wouldn't think that would be controversial. It turns out that the haters will hate on anything. [00:01:45] Speaker A: Yes, a beautiful view of New York City, but thank you. I didn't even, didn't even expect you to say that. [00:01:49] Speaker C: Well, it's from the heart, my friend. [00:01:51] Speaker A: 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. [00:02:03] Speaker C: Well, like so many others, I'm a person who came to New York City from elsewhere. [00:02:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:02:07] Speaker C: I grew up in Maryland. [00:02:09] Speaker A: Oh, nice. [00:02:10] Speaker C: And went to college in Philly. Did my junior year in Spain. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:02:15] Speaker C: And only, only American. We can do this interview in Spanish if you want. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Kelly, that's. Well, maybe next we'll have you back for a Spanish. [00:02:26] Speaker C: That sounds good. Only American in an 800 person physics department. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:02:32] Speaker C: 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. And I became a teacher in the South Bronx in the early 90s. I taught bilingual math and science. [00:02:47] Speaker A: That's incredible. Yeah, I read that. That's incredible. How was that experience in the 90s teaching in the Bronx? [00:02:53] Speaker C: It was. 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. [00:03:04] Speaker A: Wow. [00:03:04] Speaker C: 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 public service as an elected official. [00:03:21] Speaker A: Well, how old are you? How old were you when you were a teacher? [00:03:23] Speaker C: Oh, Gosh, I was 22. [00:03:25] Speaker A: Wow. [00:03:25] Speaker C: I looked 15. [00:03:28] Speaker A: You look like a student. [00:03:29] Speaker C: I mean, more than once I was. I was confused for a student. It was a junior high school grade seven, eight, nine. And I taught math and science in Spanish and in English. And it. A lot of ways to change my life has 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 almost none of them, Kelly, had any connection to the financial system. [00:04:03] Speaker A: I was just gonna 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? I mean, tell us about an affordable housing. Actually, you know, it had to be tough and everything for. [00:04:18] Speaker C: Yeah, look, that, that 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. [00:04:31] Speaker A: That chimney. Right, I just saw that today. [00:04:33] Speaker C: Yeah, A lot of my kids lived in Mitchell and Mott Haven and Patterson houses. And even back then those developments were pretty run down. And yeah, the crack epidemic was still underway at that time and definitely impacted the school in a lot of ways. There were a couple shootings in and around the school. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:56] Speaker C: 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. Just had this incredible hunger for knowledge and hunger for understanding the way the world work. Some of them have gone on to incredible careers. Couple are in nursing. I'm really proud of them. But 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. It's all about check cashing stores. [00:05:44] Speaker A: You firsthand saw everything, right? [00:05:47] Speaker C: 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 and abandoned bank branch, if you know Washington Heights, behind the bus terminal on Fort Washington Avenue and 179th Street. [00:06:13] Speaker A: Well, actually, I know it really well. [00:06:15] Speaker C: You happen to live not that far away, Kelly. [00:06:18] Speaker A: I live not that far away from Washington Heights. Yep. So, yeah, I know it well, but go ahead. I'm sorry. [00:06:24] Speaker C: Well, this, this, this credit union really, it launched like a rocket and quickly grew to over 5,000 members. Most of the people who didn't have a bank account. We eventually added also West Harlem to the, to the catchment area and it's still going strong today. Moved a few blocks, now it's on 166 in St. Nick, which I'm sure you know that area well very well. Made $100 million of small loans. [00:06:50] Speaker A: Wow. [00:06:51] Speaker C: Helping families buy a home computer, pay for education, start a small business. Repayment rate 98%. [00:07:00] Speaker A: Wow. [00:07:00] Speaker C: Which is just a beautiful testament to the power of giving people an opportunity. I'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. [00:07:16] Speaker A: So, you know, real quick. So this is before you got into politics. You did this. [00:07:20] Speaker C: It was. [00:07:21] Speaker A: So you just had this idea and did this on your own. Is that how, how did this work? [00:07:26] Speaker C: You know, there was a community development credit union started in the early 90s in central Brooklyn. And one of the founders is someone who you will know well because he's become a star of New York political journalism. Errol Lewis? [00:07:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:42] Speaker C: On New York one. [00:07:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:44] Speaker C: 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. And 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 de los Santos, was a teacher in District 6 uptown. And we said, man, there's nothing like this uptown. And Washington Heights really needs this. And so we basically replicated what Errol Lewis and his co founder, guy named Mark Winston Griffith, did in Bed Stuy. And we did it uptown. And, you know, the project's still going strong for you. I'm really, really proud of it. At this point, I'm just a cheerleader or a proud parent. Great team in place There now. [00:08:39] Speaker A: Yep. [00:08:40] Speaker C: 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. [00:08:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:48] Speaker C: 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. [00:09:06] Speaker A: This is fascinating. [00:09:07] Speaker C: And a council seat opened up and I ran for city council. I lost Kelly, in 2001. Yes, I did. I later ran. It was a 10 way race that came in a close second. [00:09:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:18] Speaker C: But you know, you 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 has given me a message that this isn't for me. But again, my friends and family are like, that's your passion, man. [00:09:37] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:37] Speaker C: And there was a council seat, the same seat, opening up in 2013. And at that point I, I'd really developed a base and kind of correct. Had a name for myself because I, I came very close these two times. And he know, I tell young people, getting started in politics, you can run and lose. [00:09:55] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:55] Speaker C: And still move your career forward if you run honorably and make a good showing. And I broke through in 2013. [00:10:02] Speaker A: Good for you. [00:10:02] Speaker C: Thank goodness. I stuck with it because I loved being in the city council. [00:10:06] Speaker A: 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. [00:10:26] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:10:26] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead. [00:10:28] Speaker C: Wow. So 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. I know your listeners know the geography of New York so well. [00:10:40] Speaker A: Right. [00:10:40] Speaker C: And I chair the parks committee my first term. I am passionate about green space. You do a lot of good videos in park, so you must understand that. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:52] Speaker C: This is about the health of New York City. I believe parks are, they are about our physical health, our mental health. [00:10:58] Speaker A: 100 agree. [00:10:58] Speaker C: Community health, economic development. Also, by the way, you know, drainage during storms and cooling the city on hot days. [00:11:07] Speaker A: Yep. [00:11:08] Speaker C: Because of climate change, though. And I really fought to bring money to parks. I love Central Park. But I fought to bring parks and low income money to parks and low income neighborhoods like Harlem and the South Bronx and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. [00:11:21] Speaker A: Some parks that a lot of people don't really know about because most people know about Central Park. [00:11:25] Speaker C: 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 too. Really fought for that. Parks equity is, was. Was really my mantra my second term. I became chair of the City Council Health committee. [00:11:47] Speaker A: Nice. [00:11:47] Speaker C: 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. They said, Mr. Chair, don't worry, you got a very easy committee. In fact, it might even be boring. The worst crisis you have to deal with is an outbreak of Legionnaires disease. Well, a year later, we had a global pandemic. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. [00:12:07] Speaker C: And. And I would chair 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. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Nice. [00:12:19] Speaker C: 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 mean messages, literally. Probably the same people were replying to me and still are. I'm still a warrior for public health. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Good for you. [00:12:41] Speaker C: And I became Manhattan Borough president. And here we are today. [00:12:45] Speaker A: So what are the responsibilities of the Manhattan Borough President? [00:12:48] Speaker C: 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, all of that are based on rules, right? That. That the city defines, that the borough president has a major voice in. And we are in the middle of a housing crisis that I'm sure every one of your listeners, if they're in New York City, knows all too well. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:24] Speaker C: I get a report every month on average rent in the borough of Manhattan. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:30] Speaker C: Average rents right now are 5500 per month for market rate apartment. [00:13:34] Speaker A: That does not surprise me. [00:13:35] Speaker C: Even though this is a crisis. [00:13:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:37] Speaker C: 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. Also over 1000 appointments on community boards and many other important bodies. 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. [00:14:30] Speaker A: You are? Well, how long have you been Manhattan Borough president? [00:14:32] Speaker C: So it's a four year term. And I came into office New year's Day on 2022, and I'll go through New Year's Eve on 2025. [00:14:40] Speaker A: Nice. [00:14:41] Speaker C: And if, God willing, I'll start a whole new job in 2026. [00:14:47] Speaker A: As what? [00:14:48] Speaker C: The New York City Comptroller. [00:14:50] Speaker A: That's interesting, too. So what does that entail? What is that job about? [00:14:53] Speaker C: Now, this is a job which some of your listeners might not be familiar with. Comptroller. What is it? People don't know how to pronounce it. Don't know how to spell is the chief financial officer for New York City. [00:15:04] Speaker A: Wow. [00:15:05] Speaker C: This is a huge job. It is the second most powerful job in city government after the mayor. [00:15:11] Speaker A: Big responsibility overseas. [00:15:13] Speaker C: The pension funds. Would you like to guess or you, Jay, like to guess on how big the New York City pension funds are? [00:15:20] Speaker A: I. I can't even take a guess. [00:15:23] Speaker D: I'm sure a few million dollars. [00:15:25] Speaker C: Oh, million. No, you got to give me billions. [00:15:27] Speaker A: Yeah. It's got to be an exorbitant amount of money. [00:15:30] Speaker C: 315 billion. Wow. [00:15:33] Speaker D: This is. [00:15:34] Speaker C: This is retirees. [00:15:35] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:15:35] Speaker C: Firefighters, teachers, social workers, bus drivers, police officers. [00:15:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:42] Speaker C: Their pensions are managed by the comptroller, 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 influenced over the budget. [00:15:56] Speaker A: Yep. [00:15:57] Speaker C: And more. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Where does that money come from? [00:16:00] Speaker C: Yes. Well, look, the. The city workers make contributions during their career, and ultimately, this is their money. But, you know, you start when you're twenties, you might not retire till your sixties. What happens to that money? Well, in the meantime, it has to be invested so that by the time you reach retirement age, 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. [00:16:35] Speaker A: Right. [00:16:35] Speaker C: And the goal is to over time have a 7% return. Now I'm getting into the weeds, but if you do that. [00:16:42] Speaker A: Interesting, though, Very interesting. [00:16:43] Speaker C: And look, it's complicated and there's a big team at the comptroller's office, but also comptroller manages the debt. Like if we borrow to build a new school. Yeah, well, those are bonds that the comptroller issues and more. [00:16:58] Speaker A: So with all that in your background and the election coming up now, what? [00:17:05] Speaker C: Like you, Kelly, I believe in New York City and we are counted out after every crisis. We were counted out after 9, 11. Wouldn't want to live here anymore. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Correct. [00:17:17] Speaker C: 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? [00:17:25] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, right. [00:17:26] Speaker C: 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. [00:17:48] Speaker A: I was going to ask you that, actually. [00:17:49] Speaker C: Yeah, look, economic clouds on the horizon with the tariffs that have really hurt New York. Tourism is down in New York. [00:18:00] Speaker A: I truly am feeling that I sit. [00:18:02] Speaker C: On the tourism board in my role as borough president. So they've had to revise our projection for tourism down in 2025. We were poised to beat the all time record Pre pandemic of COVID 19. We're not going to do that anymore. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Yep. [00:18:18] Speaker C: 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. [00:18:30] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:18:31] Speaker C: Et cetera. 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 Second Avenue subway up to Harlem. [00:18:48] Speaker A: Oh, I did not hear that. [00:18:49] Speaker C: He's 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. He's cut over 100 million from law enforcement in New York already, particularly in counterterror, 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 health care is charity is backward. We're subsidizing the red states who don't have strong economies relative to ours and who get far more on 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. [00:20:14] Speaker A: Thank you, Mark. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Kelly. 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. So thank you for that. [00:20:31] Speaker C: 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 gonna continue to talk about what I love in New York City, but how resilient we are, about how beautifully diverse we are. [00:20:54] Speaker A: Keyword diverse of New York diversity. [00:20:57] Speaker C: And look, anyone who's seen one video on New York City Cop knows this is true. We're so dynamic. [00:21:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:06] Speaker C: We're so vibrant. We're so diverse. You see it in your videos. And what I love about the city, it's what your listeners love. We're gonna fight for it, you know. [00:21:15] Speaker A: And for the most part, we're considerate of each other, too. We look out for each other as New Yorkers. And look what you. How you're looking out for us. [00:21:23] Speaker C: Yes, indeed. [00:21:24] Speaker A: Thank you, Mark. That's. That's truly amazing. [00:21:25] Speaker C: Thank you, Kelly. [00:21:27] Speaker A: 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? [00:21:41] Speaker C: 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, is 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. We'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. But 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, is so big, 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 priority as comptroller. We 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. [00:22:53] Speaker A: Wow. Good for you. [00:22:55] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:22:56] Speaker A: I don't even know what to say after that. [00:22:58] Speaker D: I think it's a. It's a cool idea. Like the money that people have been putting into the system giving back to help new people put more money into the system. [00:23:07] Speaker C: Yes. [00:23:07] Speaker D: 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. But, like, I don't know, people need a great 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. [00:23:37] Speaker C: I couldn't agree more. And, you know, the workers who are building our housing and the workers who have given their careers to the city themselves need housing. [00:23:46] Speaker D: Sure. [00:23:47] Speaker C: And so something I'm excited to do is finance what we call workforce housing, where some of the very people who are building these house 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. I mean, that would just be the best of, 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 report back on how it's going. [00:24:19] Speaker A: I would love that, actually. Part two with Mark. I would love to do that. [00:24:24] Speaker C: I'm here for it. [00:24:26] Speaker A: 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 Ramdami? [00:24:35] Speaker C: Barring a surprise, I expect assembly member Mamnani to be the next mayor of New York City. And 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 certainly was his top priority. And in fact, we won a lot of the same neighborhoods. 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 will do everything I can to help him succeed, to help him build more affordable housing. [00:25:18] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:18] Speaker C: But also, this job of comptroller, by definition, is to bring accountability to the mayor and every agency of city government. And so that sometimes means you have to push back. [00:25:29] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:29] Speaker C: 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. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Right, Interesting. Well, we'll see what happens in November when you win, and we'll see if mom dummy wins and where we go from there, so. And then we can have you both on the couch and talk about that, how things are going. [00:25:55] Speaker C: That would be a lot of. [00:25:56] Speaker A: That would be amazing. You know, favorite NYC park, Mark? [00:26:01] Speaker C: Fort Tryon park is an absolute jewel. And I know that some New Yorkers, if they don't live in uptown Manhattan, 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. [00:26:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:19] Speaker C: Have I met a good sale? [00:26:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it's beautiful. [00:26:21] Speaker C: Good. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say cloisters are there, too, and it's. It's so beautiful. Best slice in Manhattan. [00:26:27] Speaker C: Best what? [00:26:28] Speaker A: Slice of pizza. Whoa. Is that a hard one? [00:26:31] Speaker C: Yeah. I love Flaco's pizza. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Oh, I never been there. [00:26:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Right. In Washington Heights, on 162nd street in Broadway. It's really good. Check it out. [00:26:41] Speaker A: How do I not know that one? 162nd of Broadway. I'm definitely gonna check it out. What's more stressful, Mark? A Times Square on a Friday night or a city council budget hearing? [00:26:51] Speaker C: Whoa. Yeah. City council hearings. I don't think anyone would call them fun. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:59] Speaker C: They are important. They matter for the city. They can be very long and sometimes painful. So I'm going to say that a stroll. A stroll through Times Square is probably more. More light. More light and enjoyable. [00:27:13] Speaker A: Perfect. And last question. What's your perfect Sunday in the city? [00:27:17] Speaker C: It would be walking through a park. [00:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:20] Speaker C: And to me, it. Honestly, Kelly, it's almost like meditation. To soak in the beauty and also to see the people. You know, New Yorkers don't go to parks to watch squirrels. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Right. [00:27:33] Speaker C: Apart to watch other New Yorkers. [00:27:35] Speaker A: True. [00:27:36] Speaker C: 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 got to 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. [00:27:58] Speaker A: I love your passion for the parks, too, because I'll never forget when I was new to New York City, I was walking to Central Park. It was just freshly fallen snow all over the park that I've never felt of the. 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. You know, everybody's so happy. Yeah. New York City. Love that you love parks. [00:28:27] Speaker C: Amen to that. [00:28:28] Speaker A: 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. [00:28:38] Speaker C: I think it's defined by resilience. What we've talked about throughout this conversation, the. The innate quality of New Yorkers to never stay down, to always get back up, to support each other in the process. [00:28:53] Speaker A: Yep. [00:28:54] Speaker C: We've just proven it again and again and again. It's why we're still going strong after 400 years. We're going to be here in 400 more years, and I'm just honored to be part of this beautiful story, be part of this history. There's no place like it in the world. And I want to say how grateful I am to you for telling that story each and every day, Kelly. [00:29:17] Speaker A: Well, I appreciate you that. I loved what you said. You're, you know, you're a New Yorker. You're a true New Yorker. We don't have to be born here to be New Yorkers and you are a true New Yorker and that's why I wanted you here. Your passion for the city and everything is incredible. [00:29:29] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:29:30] Speaker A: So thank you truly for being on the show. I'd just like to thank Mark Levine for joining us today for this week's episode of the New Yorkers Podcast. Mark had to leave being a politician. He's a busy man. So I'll tell you what social media he is on. You can find Mark on all his social media at MVP Mark Levine. And Mark also left us a little note and thanks so much Mark Levine again for joining us. So don't forget to vote for Mark for Comptroller on November 4th or vote early. Early voting period is October 25th, 2025 through November 2nd, 2025. Once again, I'm your host Kelly Kopp, also known as New York City Cop across all my social media. [00:30:15] Speaker D: Please like and subscribe to the New Yorkers Podcast and you can follow the New Yorkers on social media at the New Yorkers Podcast. [00:30:22] Speaker A: You can leave a rating or a comment to let us know how you are enjoying the show. We read through all your comments and DMs. So please we would love to hear from you. Thank you Janet Gerald, Maureen Rice and Beth Lee Siegel for your kind words on the last episode. If you want to be featured at the end of an episode, leave a rating on Apple Podcast or a comment on Spotify. [00:30:43] Speaker D: And thank you Carol Whitting, John Cooper and Patrick Wicker for your comments on Facebook. [00:30:49] Speaker A: Have a lovely day and we will see you next time my friends. [00:30:52] Speaker D: Bye. [00:30:55] Speaker A: Thank you New York 100 for sponsoring this episode. To learn more about them, visit ny100.org. [00:31:05] Speaker B: This is the last stop on this train. Everyone please leave the train. Thank you for riding with MTA New York City Transit.