In The News
Andrew Yang: Ready on day…1,460?
Stringer: “Andrew Yang’s ignorance of critical issues facing our city isn’t just insulting — it’s dangerous. Taking the A train to the Bronx might be funny, but not knowing basic facts about public transit, police reform, and domestic violence is no laughing matter.”
New York, NY – In less than 48 hours, Andrew Yang repeatedly demonstrated how little he knows about key issues facing New Yorkers — and proved voters who are worried about his substance-free campaign right. From public transit to domestic violence to police reform, Yang flunked question after question on basic city issues and the plans he claims he has to solve them. Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer today is offering Andrew Yang the facts:
- On public transit, Yang could not explain how his proposed City takeover of the MTA would work, and could not answer how much debt the agency owes nor how much of its operating budget goes to paying back those loans. Yang also claimed the MTA makes its financial information hard to find. In fact, not only would City takeover of the MTA saddle the City with billions in debt service and capital costs, while adding tens of thousands of new employees to the City’s payroll — growing the City’s workforce by 15% overnight — but the MTA does publish its financial figures online for the public, see here. Yang’s plan also claims that “funding will not change and this will not devolve into a political play for power between the governor and the mayor” — a laughable notion untethered from reality.
- On domestic violence shelters, Yang suggested it “would be extraordinarily helpful to have specific shelters for domestic violence.” In fact, these shelters already exist. The City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) runs an entirely separate shelter system focused explicitly on supporting domestic violence survivors that, with more than 2,500 beds, is already the largest such system in the nation. The next mayor needs to expand these shelters and supports — but they’ll have a hard time doing that if they don’t even know they exist.
- On police reform, Yang could not answer if he supports the repeal of 50-A — and appeared to not even know what 50-A is. That’s a shame, since the repeal of 50-A in June of last year was a step toward real transparency and accountability in the NYPD’s disciplinary system, making personnel records of law enforcement officers public under State law. Any candidate who’s serious about reforming the police would know about 50-A — so it makes sense that Yang, whose campaign is being run by former PBA lobbyists, doesn’t. Stringer, on the other hand, has proposed further steps for transparency, including publishing all misconduct cases involving officers going back two decades.
“Andrew Yang’s ignorance of critical issues facing our city isn’t just insulting — it’s dangerous. Taking the A train to the Bronx might be funny, but not knowing basic facts about public transit, police reform, and domestic violence is no laughing matter. The next mayor of New York ought to understand how our city works and have detailed plans to tackle the biggest issues facing New Yorkers. The scale of what Andrew Yang does not know about city government is matched only by the vast emptiness of his ideas,” said Comptroller Scott Stringer.
“At this critical time, we can’t afford a mayor on training wheels. As mayor, I’ll be ready on day one to deliver real change to New Yorkers and rebuild a city that is fairer and more equitable for all.” Stringer added.
Scott Stringer grew up in Washington Heights in the 1970s. He attended P.S. 152 on Nagle Avenue and I.S. 52 on Academy Street. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Marble Hill and John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, a CUNY school.
Stringer was elected City Comptroller in 2013. Prior to serving as Comptroller, he was Manhattan Borough President from 2006 to 2013 and represented the Upper West Side in the New York State Assembly from 1992 to 2005. He and his wife, Elyse Buxbaum, live in Manhattan with their two children, Max and Miles.
###
