Zohran Mamdani on Freezing Rent, Making NYC Affordable Again & Who’s Really Stopping Him

YERRR – Zohran Mamdani pulled up and the boys got political in the most Flagrant way possible. From NYC rent wars to taking on Albany, Mamdani’s not pulling punches. We’re talkin’:– NYC Cost of living crisis– Rent control, red tape, and housing as a human right– Opposition from the Dems, and the pressure to deliver– And of course, the bench press problemAll that and more on this week’s episode of FLAGRANT. INDULGE. 00:00 Zohran's number + NYC Olympics 1:08 Hopefully doesn't go wrong 1:30 Running for something + Cost of Living 6:10 This will be a war vs Albany 10:07 No-one's leaving NYC + Special interest groups 15:38 Does Mamdani want DOGE? 17:39 Rent freeze, control & stabilisation 21:29 How do we build more housing? Red Tape 27:58 HSTPA + Collecting from Landlords 38:50 Housing as a commodity + Mamdani wants to try 44:02 Mamdani's moments that broke through 45:45 Immense opposition + Case study 51:33 Indians kicked out of Uganda + London is ish 57:16 Pressure to deliver + Challenging status quo 1:03:55 Why haven't all Dems supported him? 1:06:40 The role of Islamophobia in this campaign 1:10:01 We hope Mamdani can deliver 1:12:05 Bench press problem Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

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• 1:30Speaker 03

  You should come through. We're at Maharaja Suites in Jackson Heights.

• 1:33Speaker 04

  Hey dude.

• 1:33Speaker 03

  Giving them a tie.

• 1:34Speaker 04

  I would love to.

• 1:35Speaker 03

  All right. Next time I'll let you know.

• 1:36Speaker 04

  I'm gonna get your number because Tom's team ducks me. So.

• 1:42Speaker 03

  Take it.

• 1:42Speaker 04

  Okay, beautiful. I'm gonna get it after this episode.

• 1:44Speaker 03

  I'll give it to you right now, bro. Because they'll probably yank me back.

• 1:47Speaker 04

  Yeah. We gotta start this immediately. Zara runs a tight ship. Yeah, dude. She don't f-ing around. She does not.

• 1:53Speaker 03

  Feel free, you can share with everybody here.

• 1:55Speaker 04

  Okay, beautiful. Socialism. I'm so.

• 2:00Speaker 05

  You guys did the New York City Olympics. Cause I hit that guy up, I was watching the subway takes and I'm forgetting the guy's name right now, my dad. But he goes, we should have like a New York City Olympics where the boroughs compete. And I DM'd, I didn't DM Kareem, I DM'd the guy. I go, let's make this happen, like I am down. And he goes, how would we do that? And I go, we'll find a way. And then I see you a few weeks later like, we're doing it. Everybody come out, were you Far Rockaway or something?

• 2:29Speaker 04

  No, Cody Allen.

• 2:30Speaker 05

  It was Cody Allen. Anyway, guys, we're here with the next mayor of New York City.

• 2:38Speaker 05

  93% on Kalshi right now. Chance of victory. 93%. So barring this doesn't go horribly, I think.

• 2:47Speaker 04

  This is how we bring the numbers down.

• 2:49Speaker 05

  We gotta get some power here.

• 2:51Speaker 04

  Tell them people to understand this election's not over, so I'm gonna tank. If it's not at 85 by the end of this interview.

• 2:58Speaker 05

  We're gonna work on it. Dude, you've done like, I wanna give you like a few compliments here. But they're also like very validating because I think, you know, every week I'm talking to Charlamagne and we're talking with the boys here on the pods. And it's like, we keep on saying, hey, Democrats, can you please just run for something and not against somebody? And it is a very simple solution, but I think people at their core want to feel like their issues are addressed. You know, and their concerns are met. Not simply that guy bad. And then you guys have done it masterfully, obviously you're a great talent and your team is phenomenal. Zara, I know you're listening, you're great, you're great, you're great.

• 3:35Speaker 05

  Give us a little more time, you're great. But it was like, it was really validating to see that. You know, it's like, wow, if you talk about the issues people care about and say that you're gonna do something about it, they will support you. What a fucking crazy idea.

• 3:48Speaker 06

  You know, it's also crazy, the things that I would say you inspire, change and hope, the last great Democrat, those were kind of his mantras or however you'd say it. Change and hope, and that's what you inspire.

• 3:57Speaker 05

  Was that Hillary Clinton?

• 3:59Speaker 06

  And I think that's been lost a little bit.

• 4:01Speaker 05

  I mean, I appreciate you guys, I think it's just. There's been a lot of lecturing and not much listening. And, you know, we saw a swing towards Trump here in New York City in the last general election.

• 4:12Speaker 04

  Whose responsibility was death? Who the hell made that? What the fuck are we even talking about?

• 4:18Speaker 06

  I did those guys. Can't believe they did this.

• 4:24Speaker 05

  But you know, it was, it was, there are a lot of caricatures of who Trump voters are. And in New York City, we saw the swing was actually in the heart of immigrant New York. And I went to Hillside Avenue in Queens, I went to Fordham Road in the Bronx. And I asked New Yorkers, who did you vote for and why? And I met, the vast majority of them were Trump voters. And I asked them why, and it just came back to cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. And if I had spent that time lecturing them as to why they were wrong, as opposed to listening to them as, as to how we could get right.

• 4:54Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 4:55Speaker 05

  Then we would run a very different campaign.

• 4:56Speaker 06

  And this is one thing I said I wanted to talk about. I feel like establishment Democrats don't understand a pretty simple thing. We want to vote for someone who might make things better. Even if the risk is it will make things worse. There, a lot of people voted for Trump because he might make things better. And the other person is saying, I wouldn't change anything. Things are not good. In New York, things are not good right now. The other guy, to me, is just saying it's the same, and you're saying it could get better.

• 5:19Speaker 04

  It's a privilege to maintain the status quo. You know what I mean? Like if, like we're privileged, like it's very nice to know that we're gonna be okay.

• 5:31Speaker 05

  I had to hit the joint D S A link.

• 5:34Speaker 04

  You only can afford, more the same.

• 5:36Speaker 05

  So, so, so here's the thing, like, it's, it's so funny because I saw, that, I saw, it was like, Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk, and they were talking about you. I don't know if you remember this. I didn't see this. But they were speaking, and it was almost like the shoehorn theory. Have you ever seen that, like politically what happens? Oh, sorry, sorry, horseshoe, yeah. So it's like, and I, I think that they were basically saying that you were meeting the moment in terms of what people are concerned with, right? It's obviously cost of living, and it's like, I think it's so specific. I think it's like, it's rent, and I think everything is derivative of rent. Yeah. And. It's the number one issue in the city. The number, yes. Bro, I started looking up numbers, cause like, I, I, I, I think a two bedroom, six years ago.

• 6:23Speaker 05

  Was the average two bedroom compared to right now, I think has gone up 90%.

• 6:29Speaker 03

  I mean, it's it's untenable, right? Like, and I think this is the thing that wow 90% almost doubled in six years.

• 6:36Speaker 06

  That's great.

• 6:37Speaker 03

  How are people supposed to keep up with this? And and I think what's so kind to what you guys were saying, if the politics on offer is right now is as good as it's ever going to get, that's not good enough for the vast majority of people.

• 6:50Speaker 06

  And I think it speaks to how out of touch a lot of them are.

• 6:51Speaker 03

  Yeah. And and I think it's just you have, you know, I spoke to a nurse who, after she finishes her shift, she drives for an hour and a half, leaving the state of New York to get to where she can afford a place.

• 7:04Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 7:05Speaker 03

  That's what you're putting working people through. People are living in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Jersey City, commuting it.

• 7:11Speaker 05

  Dude, white people have to live in the outer borough.

• 7:15Speaker 03

  We need to fix this, dude. What is going on here?

• 7:18Speaker 06

  This is what happens when you call him a socialist, he got over.

• 7:23Speaker 03

  Going after a story.

• 7:27Speaker 05

  The Greeks are not white.

• 7:30Speaker 05

  But continue, please.

• 7:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:33Speaker 05

  It is. It is absurd that in order to afford her life, you know, and there are obviously certain like circumstances that have created this situation. What I want to talk about more is because I looked at your plan to go fix it. And I would really like this to be able to happen. A lot of people are making this like impending war about you and Trump. I think it's going to be you and Albany, bro. Can you speak a little bit more on that? Like what you need Albany to essentially allow you to do?

• 8:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:03Speaker 05

  There are restrictions in government, like there are systems in place that don't allow you to do what you want, even if you think it's in the best interest of people, and even if that's what the people want. So so how are you going to convince Hokel? How are you going to convince these people to allow you enact these policies?

• 8:15Speaker 03

  So New York City continues to be a creature of the state. New York City, if you have an ambition for the city that matches the scale of the crisis, you have to have an Albany agenda.

• 8:24Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 8:24Speaker 03

  So when de Blasio wanted to deliver a universal pre-K, he knew he would have to go to Albany.

• 8:30Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 8:30Speaker 03

  To get that money. He actually over. came the objections of then Governor Andrew Cuomo to get that money to make this a reality. Now it is one of the best examples of government actually meeting the needs of working people. And so when we talk about raising revenue, you know, raising taxes on the top 1% by 2%. The top corporate tax to match that of New Jersey, that's something we will do in Albany. And that's partially why the endorsements of Governor of Hockel. You almost said it. I'll never be taking that one. You almost said it. Governor.

• 9:01Speaker 05

  He's posting on Instagram immediately.

• 9:04Speaker 03

  You see the trauma is coming back. I'm going to deal with that man so much. Governor Hockel, Assembly Speaker Carl Haystreet, you know, Majority Leader of the State, Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins. These are endorsements, not just of me, but of the agenda. Because in Albany, it's often spoken about as three men in a room. Now it's two women and a man.

• 9:21Speaker 05

  Right.

• 9:21Speaker 03

  Who are in that room. And to have the endorsements of all of them.

• 9:25Speaker 05

  Huge.

• 9:25Speaker 03

  It's huge and it paves the way.

• 9:27Speaker 05

  I also think it speaks to like your political momentum.

• 9:29Speaker 03

  No, thank you.

• 9:30Speaker 05

  No, no, no, and I mean that, I don't even mean it as a compliment.

• 9:33Speaker 03

  Oh, damn.

• 9:37Speaker 05

  It's like a guy once told me, um, America doesn't have allies, it has interests. And I think that politicians are often that way. And I can't speak about you, but like, Hockel needs reelection. And she's gonna, it's next year, right? I imagine she is thinking, okay. If I raise taxes like you would want, I might lose some of my constituents. But she's also probably thinking, if this guy is such a tsunami and I rebuke, if I rebuke him, I could also lose people. So is your strategy to have so much support in a Trump-esque version?

• 10:18Speaker 05

  Like, he's the only other example I can see that has like found a way to completely transform his party. Is your, is your strategy gets so much support that Hockel's political future is dependent on her connectivity to you?

• 10:31Speaker 03

  My strategy is to build the political will such that Governor Hochul has a partner in delivering universal childcare.

• 10:40Speaker 05

  He's a good man, he's a politician.

• 10:41Speaker 03

  Because, look, look, look, Governor Hochul has spoken.

• 10:44Speaker 05

  He said, "Bend the knee."

• 10:45Speaker 03

  Governor Hochul has said she wants to deliver universal childcare. What she's had in the mayor we have right now is someone more focused on getting out of jail.

• 10:55Speaker 05

  Right.

• 10:56Speaker 03

  Than, than actually funding these kinds of programs.

• 10:58Speaker 05

  Or partying, "We're gonna bring 11 to New York." That is a fire idea. You shouldn't even know what that is.

• 11:02Speaker 03

  I didn't know what it was until you posted the clip. And I was like, "Huh."

• 11:05Speaker 05

  And now you're like, "Let him run again."

• 11:09Speaker 05

  You can still, you can still bring it though.

• 11:11Speaker 03

  That's still on the table, bro.

• 11:15Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 11:17Speaker 05

  You were saying, you were saying.

• 11:18Speaker 03

  So I think, I think it's, it's what are you using your political capital for? Because the same people who will say, "Oh, we can't afford free buses. We can't afford $700 million a year in making the slowest buses in America fast and free."

• 11:30Speaker 05

  I, I don't agree with that. I think you can. Like, no, no, no, like, but, but, but, but here's the thing, like.

• 11:36Speaker 03

  Can I put that on the website?

• 11:37Speaker 05

  You can put whatever you want. Like, I also think this idea that, like, New Yorkers are gonna flee because of a 2% increase. It's like, I've been everywhere else. You're not going anywhere. Bill Ackman's not going nowhere. He's gonna be in the Hamptons all fucking summer.

• 11:48Speaker 03

  There's only one place to write those tweets.

• 11:49Speaker 05

  That's it.

• 11:50Speaker 03

  New York City.

• 11:50Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 11:51Speaker 03

  Every character you want.

• 11:52Speaker 05

  Your AC goes out in July in Miami, you sweating writing tweets? There's no way.

• 11:57Speaker 03

  He's spending more money against me than I would even tax him.

• 12:02Speaker 03

  Every day is like a million dollars, like a million dollars, like, "Habib, I don't even want that." "Habib, you're going, you're going above and beyond."

• 12:09Speaker 05

  Okay, but, but, so I, I don't think anybody's moving, and I honestly feel that way. And like, I'm, I'm in the tax bracket, we're gonna tax more. Like, dude, if you're gonna deliver all this shit for 2%, give it. I, I'm 100% supportive if it makes life easier for New Yorkers. This, my one identity in my entire life is a New Yorker. It's the thing I care the most about. But, what I, what I, what I will say is that I think that there are gonna be people in government that are gonna try to restrict you from doing that. And I know that you're aware of that. So I'm like, how? And there are people that might disagree on economic policy. We can have like a philosophical discussion about like what economic policy works. I don't even know if, I think that's like a waste of time. What the fuck do you do when special interest groups are gonna be lobbying like crazy? They're gonna say, "I wanna build 200,000 units."

• 12:52Speaker 05

  And then the second you try, they're gonna be like, "Well, not in my neighborhood, I don't."

• 12:55Speaker 03

  I mean, you have to-

• 12:56Speaker 05

  How do you do that?

• 12:56Speaker 03

  You have to be ready to take on these fights. You cannot be naive to the fact-

• 13:00Speaker 04

  He's taking on it right now. Special interest groups are-

• 13:02Speaker 03

  But I mean, it's, I appreciate, I appreciate the point because there is a reason why we haven't had progress. Right? If you look, for example, at the Department of Education. This is the agency we spend the most amount of money on in any agency in New York City. Of the $40 billion we spend, we spend about $10 billion on contracts and consultants.

• 13:21Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 13:21Speaker 03

  Those are a lot of people who are looking forward to the renewal of their contract.

• 13:25Speaker 05

  No, it's to educate you nerds at Bronx Science. You know, some of us dumb kids that went to regular public school, you know, we don't need all that money.

• 13:32Speaker 06

  Where'd you go to high school?

• 13:34Speaker 03

  Baruch College, Kansas City.

• 13:38Speaker 05

  What was your mascot?

• 13:39Speaker 04

  Uh, the Blue Devils.

• 13:41Speaker 05

  All right.

• 13:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, which we just chose-

• 13:43Speaker 06

  Exactly, the White Devils.

• 13:46Speaker 06

  Isn't that funny? Who are you? I mean you, let's talk about that.

• 13:54Speaker 05

  Segue.

• 13:56Speaker 04

  Get us back to Hokel.

• 13:58Speaker 05

  Pivot.

• 13:58Speaker 04

  Get us back to Hokel.

• 13:59Speaker 03

  But here's, here's my point. There are people making money off the status quo. And so there will be a lot of interest in retaining that status quo. Right now, the city of New York will pay McKinsey a few million dollars to design a trash can. McKinsey's not gonna be happy when I say we don't need you to design that anymore. We can actually design that ourselves. The Second Avenue subway, which is the most recent expansion, extension of New York City subway lines.

• 14:23Speaker 04

  Shut that shit down, bro.

• 14:25Speaker 03

  Okay, that's not where I'm going.

• 14:27Speaker 04

  Nobody need a subway on Second Avenue.

• 14:29Speaker 03

  Why are you so against, why are you and Curtis Lee were so against the Second Avenue subway?

• 14:33Speaker 04

  Because we're from Manhattan.

• 14:35Speaker 03

  You don't wanna get to 125th Street or something?

• 14:36Speaker 04

  Never go to Upper East Side.

• 14:38Speaker 05

  I grew up, I grew up-

• 14:40Speaker 04

  I went to, I went to middle school there, I went to elementary school there. You don't go there now. I know, but. No, the last place you need a subway is on the Upper East Side, they're gonna be okay, they're not leaving. Put a subway down at Tribeca or something like that.

• 14:55Speaker 04

  Wherever you are, wherever you are. Connect the Q train to something.

• 15:01Speaker 05

  You don't take the subway.

• 15:03Speaker 04

  So what? It's not about that, you know what I mean? I'm here giving my 2%, but not to the Second Avenue subway. I'm not gonna stay in there 2% on the Second Avenue subway. Tell them to walk two more blocks and then take the 6th Avenue.

• 15:16Speaker 03

  I think, I think we gotta go from 96th Street to 125th.

• 15:18Speaker 04

  Did you just hear what he said?

• 15:24Speaker 05

  Nah, that's right, that's eight blocks mathematically.

• 15:26Speaker 04

  Well, I'm serious, why you trying to build more white people's subways, man? Look at this.

• 15:30Speaker 03

  Look at this. So you are fine with the Second Avenue subway, 72nd, 86th, 96th, but you don't wanna go to 125th?

• 15:37Speaker 04

  I never wanted it at any of those. Here's, here's my point. I've always been against the Second Avenue subway. They wanna live over there, make them walk. I dated a girl over there, that shit was horrible. I had to walk and they gotta walk, I was walking at York Avenue in shorts.

• 15:56Speaker 04

  Bring an 11, put an 11 on the Second Avenue subway. Use the poles for something. Here's my point.

• 16:03Speaker 03

  Here's my point though.

• 16:06Speaker 03

  Is that people in Harlem have promised a subway to 125th Street on the Second Avenue decades ago.

• 16:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 16:13Speaker 03

  And it's taken us so long to even get to this.

• 16:16Speaker 04

  Why didn't we start with them?

• 16:18Speaker 03

  We had to connect it.

• 16:20Speaker 04

  What is it, well you could connect it the other way too. We could've started it up there.

• 16:23Speaker 05

  But we're not gonna take it from 125th to 160th.

• 16:26Speaker 04

  We didn't start it, we didn't. I'm actually here to announce that the head of design at the MTA is about to be in this stand right here. Thank you, I would've done that too. Now you're making some good decisions. Yeah. Alright, I'm taking back my 2% if I'ma work for it.

• 16:43Speaker 05

  No, I heard you saying you gotta connect at the 51st Street.

• 16:45Speaker 03

  But I think the larger point here is though that like when you, when, when they did the first phase of construction for the second half of the subway, the MTA spent more money on consultants than construction. So this is part of the issue is that you're right that we're gonna have to transform the inner workings of government, and that means ending of patronage politics. There are a lot of people who have jobs more to do with who they know than what they do.

• 17:05Speaker 05

  Yeah, no.

• 17:06Speaker 03

  And that's not specific to Eric Adams. It sounds like you want to create a Department of Government Efficiency.

• 17:10Speaker 06

  Kinda sounds like it.

• 17:12Speaker 03

  Kinda sounds like it.

• 17:13Speaker 06

  I said I was in favor of it. This is a liberal cuck when it was a Republican idea, hated it. And now I'm in favor. Now look at him nodding.

• 17:21Speaker 05

  We're not gonna judge people who like to watch others have sex with their wives. That is their.

• 17:27Speaker 04

  I'm bringing it back to efficiency.

• 17:32Speaker 05

  Okay, sorry.

• 17:33Speaker 04

  Bringing it back to waste.

• 17:34Speaker 05

  Some people say that's efficient and we go.

• 17:36Speaker 04

  You can, you can wait for Andrew Cuomo to have these other conversations.

• 17:41Speaker 03

  Here's my point is that it is, it is sad that we've let someone like Elon Musk take the words efficiency, fraud, as if they are right wing concerns. I agree. These are actually the concerns that should be at the heart of a progressive politics. Because I want to increase taxes on the top 1% by 2%, and I also want those same New Yorkers to be able to look at that increased revenue and say, every single one of these dollars is being spent efficiently. It can't be in and of itself the reason why you do it. It has to be what you deliver with that money.

• 18:13Speaker 05

  And I think like Doge was universally supported before it became what it was. But the idea.

• 18:19Speaker 03

  It was never actually intended to fulfill the intentions. Yeah. But the intentions.

• 18:23Speaker 05

  The intentions are right.

• 18:24Speaker 03

  Of eliminating fraud and waste.

• 18:25Speaker 05

  Let's eliminate it.

• 18:26Speaker 03

  Okay, I love that. We'll see you there. So if rent is the most important issue, which I think we all agree, it's like fucking absurd, the rent freeze was like incredibly effective communication, right? This idea, because everybody else is talking about, we're gonna build all these units. When you're drowning, you're not worried about like someone building you a boat. You need a life vest. I get that 100%. I think that makes sense.

• 18:50Speaker 05

  You correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that you can do that to like about 50% of the units in New York.

• 18:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:56Speaker 05

  Because those are like

• 18:57Speaker 03

  Pretty much.

• 18:57Speaker 05

  They're like the rent stabilizer, rent controlled.

• 18:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, about 2.5 million New Yorkers live in these kinds of apartments.

• 19:02Speaker 05

  Got it.

• 19:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 19:03Speaker 05

  How do you offer relief to the other 50%? And let me just clarify to people listening, like those other 50% aren't necessarily people who are wealthy.

• 19:10Speaker 03

  They're just living in market rate units.

• 19:11Speaker 05

  The people that work here and they just didn't have the ability to get one of these, you know, rent controlled units.

• 19:16Speaker 03

  And so I'd first say there's rent control, which is a very small minority. The vast majority of what we're talking about is rent stabilization. Rent stabilization means there's a limit on how much your rent can increase every year. It's not what your rent is, it's what the increase will be. And it's all determined by a board called the Rent Guidelines Board, composed of nine people that the mayor appoints.

• 19:34Speaker 05

  You can appoint them.

• 19:35Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 19:35Speaker 05

  But I think the appointing process might even take a little bit, right? It's not like day one you do it.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  It is, it's, each of these terms are on kind of a rotating basis.

• 19:44Speaker 05

  Got it.

• 19:45Speaker 03

  And there are a number of these terms that are open right now.

• 19:47Speaker 05

  Got it. So you can point some, and there might be some people that are empathetic to your philosophies already.

• 19:52Speaker 03

  Because they, they actually did a study, that same board, under Eric Adams, did a study, it found that landlord profits had increased 12% of those units in the same year that the median household income of tenants of those units was $60,000. And with that information, they decided, let's hike the rent again. So it actually doesn't have to do with the data.

• 20:09Speaker 05

  Got it.

• 20:10Speaker 03

  But the point that you're making is right, which is that we have to have a housing policy for all 8.5 million people. And that's why you couple a rent freeze with construction of 200,000 truly affordable homes. The reason I say truly is because, like, I represent Steinway in Astoria, right? I'll call a constituent, I'll say, there's a new affordable housing development coming up, do you want to apply? They'll say, how much do I have to make? I say $140,000. They hang up the phone.

• 20:34Speaker 05

  Yeah, affordable housing.

• 20:35Speaker 03

  Because how are they going to afford that? Right?

• 20:37Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 20:37Speaker 03

  And so my point is, thinking about affordability more with the median household income in New York City, which is $70,000 for a family to afford.

• 20:44Speaker 05

  I, I love it.

• 20:45Speaker 03

  So you have to increase that, and you have to make it easier for the private sector to also build.

• 20:49Speaker 05

  I, I agree with you 100%. Like, I think Ezra Klein put out a great book that I think that he's been like unfairly maligned by a lot of people on the left, but like where he's just going, hey, I appreciate Democratic policies, I want to implement them, I think they're better for people, but there are certain things that we need to remove so that we can be competitive in an open market.

• 21:09Speaker 03

  And I think that there's a truth to that where, look, I'm somebody who believes in the public sector. I believe in regulation.

• 21:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:16Speaker 03

  I also believe that if I can't give you the reason for the regulation, then it has no reason to exist.

• 21:20Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:21Speaker 03

  I cannot justify a restaurant giving the city every year $25 for the right to sell a frozen dessert. That doesn't make sense. That is something that should be a limit.

• 21:29Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:30Speaker 03

  I cannot justify someone who wants to open a barber shop, filling out 24 forms, going to seven agencies, and then attending 12 in-person events.

• 21:37Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:37Speaker 03

  That does not make sense to me.

• 21:38Speaker 05

  Right.

• 21:38Speaker 03

  So I think that there is a truth to some of the regulations we've created have made it far more difficult to build housing.

• 21:46Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:46Speaker 03

  And even the justifications we used back then are not the ones that have been borne out today.

• 21:51Speaker 05

  I, I.

• 21:51Speaker 03

  So we need to change those.

• 21:53Speaker 05

  So how do we, first of all, I completely agree. And as like someone who has someone renovating above me, please believe I like the fact that there is regulation. Do you know what I mean? Like I have a kid who's 21 months old. It's like they want to sleep and if somebody's just gonna be buying it. 21, 21. This guy's a rapper.

• 22:09Speaker 03

  21 months old, yes.

• 22:10Speaker 05

  So, and so never listen to 21, that's.

• 22:14Speaker 03

  Apologies.

• 22:14Speaker 05

  No, no. And so I guess my question is like, how do we, how do we get those 200,000 units out? Because the real only thing that's going to solve this crisis, and it's a legitimate crisis, like, is more units. You can freeze rent, you can do all these things.

• 22:29Speaker 03

  You have to do it with more.

• 22:30Speaker 05

  And some people, and I'm sure you would probably acknowledge this, said like even freezing rent within the controllable units that you have could cause like a surplus pressure in the non-controlled units, and those might go up. So while we protect those 50%, the other people who are making the same amount of money as them because of those market pressures could have increased rent, right?

• 22:51Speaker 03

  Corporations are gonna make their money. And that's, but that's why you have to take this as an opportunity to also tackle the costs that landlords are facing. Because when I speak to landlords.

• 22:59Speaker 05

  Talk to me about that, that's interesting.

• 23:00Speaker 03

  I hear that the insurance of affordable housing units has doubled in the last few years, right? And that cost is one that is driving so much of the pressure.

• 23:08Speaker 05

  That's interesting.

• 23:09Speaker 03

  And there's a number of those landlords that came together to create a different risk pool through something called Milford Street Captive. And they've managed to depress that cost. What if the city invested in that kind of a mechanism? To help those landlords address that. The other thing here is that.

• 23:22Speaker 05

  Are they gouging the affordable housing units because they know that they're government backed?

• 23:26Speaker 03

  No, they're gouging them because there's money to be made.

• 23:28Speaker 05

  But in the same way that like universities can charge whatever they want for an education because they know the government will back the loans? Like is that?

• 23:36Speaker 03

  To me, what this gouging more looks like is there are many providers who are now paying the cost of a number of bad landlords who have made insurance such a high part of doing business.

• 23:48Speaker 05

  Got it.

• 23:49Speaker 03

  And so you have better providers who are pooling their risk together.

• 23:52Speaker 05

  Got it, got it.

• 23:53Speaker 03

  And so my point here is if you invested a significant amount of capital, you could assist that kind of an intervention.

• 23:58Speaker 05

  Got it.

• 23:58Speaker 03

  The second thing is you have a property tax system that's broken in New York City. One that effectively penalizes rental apartments and the owners of those rental apartments. And if you had a system that incentivized the construction of rental apartments, you could have a very different landscape of housing. So to me, it's freeze the rent and take on the cost of insurance and fix a broken property tax system and streamline development and have the city produce 200,000 homes. And often when I've talked about 200,000 homes, that's just what I think the city should do. I think the private sector should be doing an immense amount of additional construction.

• 24:32Speaker 05

  They're gonna need incentive structures as well, right? Like there was that program, forgetting what it was, was it?

• 24:38Speaker 03

  421A then 485X?

• 24:40Speaker 05

  I think that you're talking about the HTPSA that just sunset recently.

• 24:44Speaker 03

  You're speaking about the?

• 24:45Speaker 05

  That's the extension of 421A.

• 24:47Speaker 03

  No, these are separate things.

• 24:48Speaker 05

  Oh, okay.

• 24:48Speaker 03

  You're talking about 2019 rent laws.

• 24:50Speaker 05

  Yes, but that's not what I was referencing.

• 24:53Speaker 03

  Then there's the tax incentive.

• 24:54Speaker 05

  There's.

• 24:55Speaker 03

  421A now 485X or 45W.

• 24:57Speaker 05

  I'm talking about the one that basically allowed developers over 35 year period.

• 25:03Speaker 05

  So essentially the idea is there was like a tax abatement for 35 years, for the first 25 years, they didn't pay. The last 10, they started increasing 10% every year. And at the end of 35, the, the, all the units were now free market. But I think at a certain point in time, 30% of them were like rent controlled.

• 25:16Speaker 03

  There's, there's stabilization and there's a, there's a set aside for affordability.

• 25:19Speaker 05

  And again, I don't know like what metrics work and I'm not like an economist and I'm not a developer. But to me, just from talking to some people in development, they said that like since this. I think what was it the HTPSA since that or if it was this program was this affordable New York?

• 25:33Speaker 03

  HSTP is the Housing Stabilization Tenant Protection Act.

• 25:37Speaker 05

  That was the de Blasio thing. That's not this thing that I'm talking about.

• 25:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, you're basically, well, I'll kind of step back for a second.

• 25:43Speaker 05

  Please, yeah.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  You'll hear from developers that the HSTPA passed in 2019.

• 25:48Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 25:49Speaker 03

  Made it more difficult for them to maintain a lot of housing units because it put limitations on what they could do with regards to profit. And how they could push many tenants out of those same tenant buildings. At the same time, there's the incentive through 421A that has since been renewed to become something called 485, which is a tax incentive for the construction of new housing.

• 26:11Speaker 05

  Is that the New York yes or whatever?

• 26:13Speaker 03

  Then there's City of Yes.

• 26:15Speaker 05

  City of Yes.

• 26:16Speaker 03

  These are three different things.

• 26:17Speaker 05

  Oh, my God. Okay. Okay, so we can get.

• 26:19Speaker 03

  But I think here's the thing is that most New Yorkers don't have time to know every single set of numbers and letters.

• 26:28Speaker 05

  I don't know a single one.

• 26:28Speaker 03

  Right? But that's representative of more New Yorkers than those who know.

• 26:33Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 26:34Speaker 03

  And that's our job to break this down, right? What City of Yes does is it makes it easier to construct more housing across New York City. It changes zoning regulations. It's estimated to allow for the additional construction of a little less than 90,000 new units.

• 26:48Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 26:48Speaker 03

  We have to build on top of that. It has to be even more than that.

• 26:51Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 26:52Speaker 03

  My point here is that when I speak to developers, you know, we'll have disagreements about labor. We'll have disagreements about maybe materials and the cost of it. One place we have a real agreement about is the cost of waiting. Many of these developers will tell me one of the most expensive things they have to deal with is the wait.

• 27:08Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 27:09Speaker 03

  They'll put in, they'll put in an application, they'll put forward a bid and then they'll have to wait and wait and wait. And we know time is money.

• 27:15Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 27:15Speaker 03

  Because you're not just waiting, you're also paying other people who are waiting with you.

• 27:19Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 27:19Speaker 03

  And there is an environmental law at the state level called SECR. SECRA requires you, when you're putting forward an application, to estimate the traffic flows of 10 to 15 years from now. So when they did the Williamsburg rezoning,

• 27:33Speaker 05

  Right.

• 27:33Speaker 03

  They were asking people to estimate these traffic flows before Lyft and Uber existed in New York City. And so now, obviously, their presence in New York City makes a mockery of any estimate that was made prior to that.

• 27:43Speaker 05

  Right.

• 27:44Speaker 03

  And yet, that estimate is still one you could be held liable for in court, saying, "You said it would be this, and now it's this."

• 27:50Speaker 05

  Right.

• 27:50Speaker 03

  And so to me, these are examples of what you were bringing up earlier of, how do we bring these regulations more in line with reality? And how do we ensure that we are able to build the immense amount of housing we need so that we can actually have New Yorkers stay here?

• 28:03Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 28:04Speaker 03

  That's the goal, because we're building four homes per thousand people. Jersey City's at seven.

• 28:08Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 28:08Speaker 03

  Tokyo's at nearly 10.

• 28:10Speaker 05

  Where's Houston at?

• 28:11Speaker 03

  Tell me.

• 28:12Speaker 05

  They're doing an unbelievable amount, like, because there's just no regulation. Now, there are different circumstances. You're not building on top of each other, and there's a lot more land. I understand that. And I don't like those comparisons, generally, because New York is such a specific city. We're living on top of each other and next to each other, and there's different considerations that we have to make. Okay, the HTPSA.

• 28:34Speaker 03

  HSTPA.

• 28:35Speaker 05

  HS, yes.

• 28:36Speaker 03

  My boy about to say HSBC.

• 28:37Speaker 05

  Bro. World's local bank.

• 28:42Speaker 03

  I feel like I'm on the airport, just walking through the...

• 28:46Speaker 05

  So like, some people would say, and I think you just mentioned it, that like, this was a progressive policy that had really good ideas. Like, how do we protect these people that are in these rent-stabilized units from being pushed out? And then, obviously, what landlords would say is, you've created a situation, because you can, once something is rent-stabilized, it can no longer be brought to free-market rent, that it doesn't incentivize them to renovate the spaces. And now they have these, like, zombie apartments or ghost apartments. And I saw that one of your policies was to, like, impose punitive damages on, like, these, you know, big conglomerates like BlackRock that own all these, you know, that could be anything from brownstones to buildings that have these vacant units, right? And I have different theories on that, but do you think that that policy did lend itself

• 29:31Speaker 05

  to making these zombie apartments? From a perspective of it's not worth it as a landlord to reinvest in this unit because I can't extract the rent that would justify justify that.

• 29:44Speaker 03

  So I think the HSCPA was a good thing. I think it was a good thing because what you had prior to it was many landlords taking units out of rent stabilization and using a vacancy bonus that they could receive when you pushed out a tenant as the reason they would continue to harass.

• 30:03Speaker 05

  Yeah, things like a 20% bonus that you could get.

• 30:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, and and obviously, you know, you can imagine how many tenants were having to face that kind of harassment.

• 30:11Speaker 05

  To put it in perspective, like my friend Carlos growing up, like his, he was in a rent controlled building and they literally just stopped accepting his family's rent. And he had to put the rent in escrow during like a multiple year process where they were just trying to get him out of the building because they were obviously trying to flip the building. So.

• 30:28Speaker 03

  And and I.

• 30:29Speaker 05

  I say that to say that like 100% empathize with that and that is a real issue.

• 30:32Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 30:33Speaker 05

  But sometimes protecting real issues can cause other ones that are unintended.

• 30:36Speaker 03

  And that's where I think that, you know, the policies I put forward that you're referring to, there's two separate things. One is ensuring that we're actually holding bad landlords accountable. This is about violations of housing code because right now, the city of New York is owed $800 million by landlords who have violated housing codes that the city has not collected a dollar on. It's just sitting there.

• 30:58Speaker 05

  Why is that?

• 30:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, why? The lack of political will.

• 31:01Speaker 05

  Is it all, is it lobbying? Is it like, is it BlackRock going, I'm gonna fight this?

• 31:05Speaker 03

  The same, the same landlords who are saying we can't afford a rent freeze dropped $2 million against me in the primary.

• 31:12Speaker 03

  So my, my point being is that there is money and and I think you're right that we have to take all of these concerns seriously. And what I've actually proposed with vacant units is having an actual.

• 31:27Speaker 03

  Study being done on the number of them and the reason for why they are currently being held off the market and finding what is the cost of bringing them back online because there's a lot of discourse, a lot of anecdote. We want to get to the facts of it.

• 31:39Speaker 05

  Because there's like a circumstance where you look at, and I'm sure it happens in New York City as well, but like Vancouver, for example, where there's a lot of foreign investment in apartment buildings out there and then the people of Vancouver just couldn't afford to buy into their own city that they lived their whole life.

• 31:53Speaker 03

  And when I was a foreclosure prevention housing counselor, before I was an Assembly member, and when I was running for Assembly, at that point, one-third of all homes purchased in Queens were being purchased by unnamed LLCs. One-third.

• 32:07Speaker 05

  Does that, what would that mean? Is that somebody trying to be sneaking on taxes? Or is that somebody that is an outside?

• 32:13Speaker 03

  There's a lot of hollowing out of neighborhoods where you're purchasing it oftentimes for the intent of flipping it, where you're purchasing it, and this is, this is part of the issue where so much of what has been the foundation of stability for so many New Yorkers has become seen as an opportunity for something like private equity.

• 32:34Speaker 04

  All right, guys, let's take a break from this communist trash. Yeah. For one second, we need to talk about unbridled capitalism. Yeah, while we still have some money. While we still have a couple bucks, while you guys still have a couple bucks before this guy convinces us to give it all away.

• 32:49Speaker 06

  Well, no, I have Zara.

• 32:51Speaker 04

  Yeah. Holy shit. What the fuck?

• 32:56Speaker 06

  No, I'm not running for anything.

• 32:58Speaker 04

  Oh, thank you. Well, now I feel guilty, I was saying it because I thought it was here. Now this is sprech of what Mark just said. What, no, what you said. No, what you said. You said it looks like he ate Zara. I was fucked up. I said that? Yeah. Did I really? Yeah. I didn't even remember saying that. Why didn't, from the top, come on. Can we do this from the top, really? Did I really say that? Yeah. Shut up, you said that shit. No, you said that. Oh gosh, you're racist, bro.

• 33:24Speaker 06

  You're right.

• 33:25Speaker 04

  I apologize. I meant to say Alex, Alex, you're racist, bro.

• 33:31Speaker 05

  All right, but for real, today's episode of Flag is brought to us. Get back to the show. This is where we get into like the philosophy of like, what is housing? Like, is housing? Hit him. No, like, and this is where it's like, I have empathy for both sides. Like, I have empathy for the Puerto Rican family that worked their entire life and they were able to like, buy this brownstone and they were told that like, real estate is the only thing. Like, my parents are financially illiterate. They got lucky. They bought an arson residence loft in a neighborhood that was too fucking dangerous for us to live in, that ended up getting flipped around by NYU. It's like pure luck, you know? So it's like, so I have empathy for these people that put everything in it, right?

• 34:10Speaker 05

  And then, at the same time, I also see there are people that are kind of holding hostage in asset class that we maybe should look more at as like,

• 34:22Speaker 05

  I don't want to say a utility, but like, there can be a little bit more restriction when it comes to like a roof over your head. So I have empathy for your communist position. My mother was getting nervous about his own thoughts. I see you. I see you. He said, he said, I gotta get out of this one. I don't know, I got here. We'll be in this right here.

• 34:43Speaker 03

  No, but I hear you. This is...

• 34:45Speaker 05

  You can probably articulate what I'm saying better.

• 34:46Speaker 03

  No, it's that you have something which is a necessity for people's lives.

• 34:51Speaker 05

  Yeah, and it's tricky. So it's like, what if somebody invested in water?

• 34:53Speaker 03

  It's been treated, and it's been treated as a means by which to make profit.

• 34:56Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 34:56Speaker 03

  And so, I know that there are many who bought into this system with the promise of unrestricted profit. That's what it was before the HSTPA.

• 35:06Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:06Speaker 03

  And one of the issues you're hearing from a lot of landlords is they entered into loans with banks that could only be paid back if they evicted a majority of the tenants who were paying the rent at the time they purchased the building.

• 35:17Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:17Speaker 03

  And that's also why I have empathy when we're hearing about insurance costs and water bills and Con Ed and property taxes, because those are also costs that are skyrocketing.

• 35:27Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:28Speaker 03

  And so for me, it's how do we create a city where we understand housing as a human right? And also ensure that our affordability agenda is universal. It's tenants, homeowners, landlords.

• 35:40Speaker 05

  I think in order to do it, I think in order to do it, like, it's...

• 35:44Speaker 03

  In order to do it with rent stabilization or rent control, it's gonna be need to be government funded. Because I don't think any private developers are gonna see the incentive structure that they need to put that kind of capital in. And if you're gonna do it, you're gonna have to raise money. And I saw on one of your things was you were considering, you know, selling muti bonds, right? And I think you want to raise like a hundred billion dollars over 10 years, right? So we're looking at like, I think 70% of that was coming from the muti bonds? So it's like, we're looking at, let's say on average-

• 36:11Speaker 06

  We're saying we're at 30 billion, we gotta get, yeah, 30 billion.

• 36:14Speaker 03

  But like, and like, it's, it's an ambitious endeavor, you know? There are some limitations, as I'm sure you looked at. And this is where we go back to Albany, it's like, I looked into this, it's like, you gotta raise the debt ceiling in order to be able to do that. Like, you gotta ask Kathy to do that. Or if Kathy loses, you gotta ask, was it Stefanik?

• 36:31Speaker 06

  We're not even talking about Stefanik.

• 36:34Speaker 03

  No, but like, then that's not gonna happen. They're gonna, they're gonna fight you tooth and nail.

• 36:36Speaker 06

  We're not gonna have to worry about that hypothetical with Stefanik.

• 36:39Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 36:40Speaker 06

  But, but, but you look-

• 36:41Speaker 03

  So what do you, what do you do in that scenario? Because, and I think this is, you know, we're talking about, right? The current law is 10% of the five-year valuation of real estate in New York City, right? And having to change that. And I think this is where politicians don't get to decide the scale of the crisis they're facing. They get to decide how they wanna respond to it.

• 37:04Speaker 06

  Facts.

• 37:05Speaker 03

  And so this is an ambitious agenda, no question about it. But this is a time where if we don't match that crisis with that ambition, we're going to lose people.

• 37:13Speaker 06

  But you are held hostage by their will to match.

• 37:15Speaker 03

  That's what I'm saying. And what I would argue is that, I've been in Albany, I've seen legislators and legislative leaders who've had a vision of a city where you tax the wealthiest a little bit more to provide for everyone, and they haven't had a partner and a mayor. It's not to say it's gonna be easy, but my point is that we haven't even tried.

• 37:34Speaker 06

  Ooh, this is interesting.

• 37:35Speaker 03

  Like Andrew Cuomo is an example of not trying. He had 10 years of running the state-

• 37:40Speaker 06

  Well, he had some debts to cover up, a poor guy, you know what I mean? He was helping some people, he was busy, hands are full, literally.

• 37:46Speaker 05

  Sliwa had a bar, dude. Killing grannies and grabbing fannies is on the bar.

• 37:51Speaker 04

  Sliwa had some bars on the main stage.

• 37:53Speaker 05

  You love his hat, you want that shit.

• 37:55Speaker 03

  I can't believe, I can't believe, I can't believe that I'm being called a communist and the Republican nominee is wearing a red ring!

• 38:01Speaker 05

  I keep, I keep calling him Emily in Paris.

• 38:06Speaker 05

  Shout out Curtis. But yes, so what you're saying is- You're like shouting out a sponsor of the show. Yeah, Netflix show. But shout out Calci.

• 38:16Speaker 05

  You're at 80%. It's going well. So what you're saying is that there might be people in Albany that are more sympathetic, but because they've been up against a mayor in New York that has maybe no sympathy because they've been put in power by people who do not want this change, that they're not willing to. That's an interesting perspective, that they do not have the political capital.

• 38:38Speaker 03

  The coalition. And I think this is the other thing, is that we, from the beginning of this race, wanted to break out of the bubble of New York City politics and get into the world of New York City.

• 38:47Speaker 05

  I thought you just didn't want to go to Israel.

• 38:51Speaker 05

  I thought that's what this was about. Oh, go on, go on, go on. One of the best moments ever. It was that moment, and then the one in the debate recently where fucking Cuomo couldn't say whether he was gonna go to the Mets game or the Knicks game.

• 39:06Speaker 03

  He said he wanted to go to both.

• 39:07Speaker 05

  Bro, and like, you'll have moments where-

• 39:09Speaker 03

  Just pick one.

• 39:09Speaker 05

  Exactly.

• 39:10Speaker 03

  Just pick it.

• 39:10Speaker 05

  Exactly. You'll have moments where like, you cut through like, political fraudulence, and he's just like, "I would do half and half," and you go, "This guy."

• 39:20Speaker 03

  When they asked the question, in my mind, I was like, "There's no wrong answer here." And then he created the wrong answer. And it's like, just pick an answer.

• 39:28Speaker 07

  It is a five-year-old answer.

• 39:29Speaker 03

  How are you gonna do both?

• 39:30Speaker 04

  It's the Knicks game.

• 39:31Speaker 03

  I was like, "Come on."

• 39:33Speaker 05

  Because you're so poised, you're so articulate, and he said it, and you're just like, "This fucker."

• 39:40Speaker 03

  You created that. Anyway, I mean, it's, but look, I grew up in the city, and I've often seen the city that our politics cares about, and then the rest of the city. And there's that divide. And when I actually spoke to Trump voters, you know, in Queens and in the Bronx, it felt like here was a campaign that was bridging that divide, that was getting beyond that bubble.

• 40:02Speaker 05

  Right.

• 40:02Speaker 03

  And we have to, if we want to actually have people believe in democracy, we have to show that democracy can deliver on their needs. Like, I can't go and knock on somebody's door and say, "Help me fight for the ideal or the value of democracy." I have to go to that door and say, "This is how this democracy is going to make it easier for you to afford your apartment."

• 40:19Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 40:19Speaker 03

  "This is how this democracy is going to make it easier for you to afford your groceries." I mean, Fidel LaGuardia said, "You can't preach liberty to a starving land." And that's what we've been doing for so many years.

• 40:29Speaker 05

  So, what do you do? And this is like my, my concern. What do you do if you get strung up by the bureaucracy in the system? Because after talking to you, and even before talking to you, I genuinely think you believe this stuff. I don't think you're somebody who's like selling a dream that you don't believe in. And I don't think it's possible to communicate in the way that you've communicated and like touch people. Without authenticity. Without the authenticity. But like, I'm worried about entrenched politics. And I'm worried about the people that fund them, because they're the same people that have been fundraising against you. Okay?

• 41:11Speaker 05

  And I'm worried about them bending to their whim. And what scares me a little bit is, there are going to be people that are incentivized for you to fail. And then if that pendulum swings all the way the other way, how many more people get hurt? And I guess my question is like, do you ever worry about that? Or do you have to be so blinders on that you're gonna win? Like, I love this city more than anything. And it is something I consider, like, what if we get the complete opposite of you that has like no care about the tenants, no care about what people are paying rent, some guy who comes in and just goes, hey, this is a free market, welcome to New York, it's capitalism.

• 41:49Speaker 03

  You're talking about Andrew Cuomo.

• 41:50Speaker 05

  But like, I think it can be crazier than that.

• 41:53Speaker 03

  No, no, and I think my point here is that there is going to be immense opposition. There are incredible incentives to, to fight our agenda. What gives me hope is that the billionaires spending millions against me right now, they're not doing so because they're afraid my plans won't work. They're doing so because they're afraid that they will.

• 42:17Speaker 05

  And how would that not incentivize them in some way? If people in the city have more money, they have more money to spend on whatever business they have.

• 42:24Speaker 03

  If you look at the actual studies of free buses, it costs 700 million, it generates more than double that in economic benefit.

• 42:31Speaker 05

  What a bus on Second Avenue.

• 42:34Speaker 04

  You're a one issue voter? I was asking myself, who is Curtis Lee what talking to? I'm not extending this to another subway, it's this guy. Curtis, I love you baby! I love you comrade! It's Mr. Housing is a human right, but I don't want trains. To 1250. Well, here's what I think.

• 42:51Speaker 05

  I do feel like it's a human right housing.

• 42:53Speaker 04

  I, I, I knew. No, no, I knew, I knew. To my left, to my left, Andrew Schulz. Yeah, I'm a Mars.

• 43:05Speaker 05

  Not, not a human right inter-

• 43:06Speaker 04

  Well, yeah.

• 43:08Speaker 05

  Yeah. Yeah. I still think anybody should turn around, I do feel that way.

• 43:11Speaker 04

  Go on! You got the mission accomplished banner? Yes. Can you bring it up?

• 43:15Speaker 06

  No, I don't think, I think anybody who knows him would know, this is, he's, he's been fairly liberal most of his life. These are things he would believe. I think what we worry about is that it won't work. And then my larger worry, if you, you are a kind of like a, you are a test for all of America. You are a case study, whether you realize this or not. Yep. And if you promise all these things and you deliver 40% of it, 40% is a, New York will be better off. But people will look at you nationwide, maybe worldwide and say, you know what, that shit didn't work. Look at all the things he accomplished and look at what he couldn't get done. And yeah, they're spending millions, billionaires are spending millions to stop you now. My fear, they're spending millions so just so they don't have to spend tens of millions later. Ooh, that's a great one. I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna block everything he wants to get done. I just wanna save a little money, just have him lose so I don't have to spend more later. That's my fear.

• 43:59Speaker 06

  And I root for you because it feels authentic. I actually trust you more because you're not born in America. And I mean that. No, no, no, hold on, let me say this, because he cannot be president. That's a part I dislike. No, no, no, hold on, because you cannot be president. So many politicians, what do they aspire to? You're a star. I would look at that guy and go, he could be president one day. With you, that's not even an option. So I trust your incentives more, I just care about the city. What do I wanna be, governor of the state? Who gives a fuck? You're, you're starting- Mayor's above governor, right? Yeah. It is though, right?

• 44:30Speaker 04

  I look forward to working with the governor.

• 44:31Speaker 06

  Be honest, growing up in New York, did you ever-

• 44:34Speaker 04

  I'm looking forward to working with the governor.

• 44:36Speaker 06

  No, no, no, but no, I go with the- I just found out we had a female governor, I had no clue. I thought it was the blind guy, I thought it was the blind guy.

• 44:43Speaker 04

  He was a great governor.

• 44:48Speaker 03

  Governor Patterson?

• 44:50Speaker 04

  Patterson was fantastic. He was like a villain. They put him on the first base. They put him on first base at the Yankee game, the poor guy. Do you remember the photo op?

• 44:59Speaker 06

  In terms of star power, he's right. We've had Bloomberg was a celebrity that became mayor of New York. He didn't try to be fucking governor in New York, nobody cares. Star power rise, this is, this is the peak.

• 45:08Speaker 03

  Second most powerful position in the world.

• 45:10Speaker 06

  And you can't be president, so that makes me trust you more. I just worry that.

• 45:13Speaker 03

  Can you tell every uncle that you can find that I can't be president? Because every time, every time an uncle takes a photo with me, they whisper in my ear, "President next." And I'm like, "It's illegal." It's illegal.

• 45:21Speaker 06

  No, tell him to go for Vic.

• 45:25Speaker 04

  It's efficiency. Efficiency.

• 45:27Speaker 06

  I'm gonna connect you. I'm gonna connect you. Y'all have more in common than you realize. That's my guy. I like, I, well, the more I got to know. The more I got to know, the more.

• 45:36Speaker 03

  You're, you're, you're. You're Doge?

• 45:39Speaker 06

  This is a new partition. We don't need more Hindu Muslim beef. We don't need more Hindu Muslim beef.

• 45:44Speaker 04

  Yes, we do.

• 45:44Speaker 06

  In Haasam.

• 45:45Speaker 04

  Yes, we do.

• 45:45Speaker 06

  Haasam.

• 45:46Speaker 04

  Yes, we do. Haasam.

• 45:48Speaker 06

  A chalakayyo. What chalakay?

• 45:50Speaker 03

  Oh my God, it's one worded.

• 45:52Speaker 04

  Don't let me get my fucking hingey on, bro.

• 45:55Speaker 03

  Direct to camera, hit it.

• 45:56Speaker 04

  You're, you're from Uganda.

• 45:58Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 45:59Speaker 04

  You're from Uganda.

• 46:00Speaker 03

  You're like a diss, I was like, yes.

• 46:02Speaker 04

  You're barely even Indian.

• 46:03Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 46:04Speaker 04

  You're barely even Indian. You're barely even Indian. Wait a minute. You ever heard of migration?

• 46:09Speaker 03

  They always link together.

• 46:11Speaker 04

  Didn't they migrate?

• 46:11Speaker 06

  Can I be honest? The Indians in Africa are like, they, the Indians in America assimilated a lot more. He's more Indian than most Indians born here.

• 46:17Speaker 04

  But listen, but I was looking up a little bit of history.

• 46:20Speaker 06

  And your mom's a legend.

• 46:20Speaker 04

  Didn't they actually remove?

• 46:22Speaker 03

  We were expelled in 1972. My, my, my family was one of the.

• 46:25Speaker 04

  Idi Amin, right?

• 46:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, my family was one of the very few families that went back after the expulsion.

• 46:30Speaker 04

  Wait, back to Uganda?

• 46:31Speaker 03

  Went back to Uganda, that's why I was born there in 91. So my family in 1972 were expelled. They became refugees in London and lived in a refugee camp. And then after the fall of Amin, they returned to Kampala. And so that's where I was born.

• 46:47Speaker 06

  Shit on that, fuckboy.

• 46:49Speaker 03

  I'm just saying, how shitty is London? You're so bad. How shitty is London?

• 46:58Speaker 04

  Two winters in London.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  See, public housing, you stayed in public housing for a few weeks and you're like, we're gonna go back to Africa. I can't deal with it. Whoever built that camp, don't hire them to build the 200,000 units in New York. That's all I'm saying.

• 47:11Speaker 04

  I was wondering where you were gonna go. I was wondering where you were gonna go. You were like, this is pretty sad.

• 47:17Speaker 03

  I gotta shit on London. No, but, but.

• 47:20Speaker 04

  I just like London.

• 47:21Speaker 06

  London's my favorite city.

• 47:22Speaker 03

  The Shoom?

• 47:22Speaker 06

  But, yeah, no.

• 47:23Speaker 03

  I bet.

• 47:24Speaker 06

  No, no, no. Brigadier's better. The Shoom, fine. Jim Kana, it's great for white people. That's, The Shoom, fine.

• 47:33Speaker 03

  My man likes Vivekan, doesn't like The Shoom.

• 47:35Speaker 06

  Dude, dude. You're really gonna love Jim Kana. You're gonna love him.

• 47:38Speaker 03

  I tried Jim Kana.

• 47:40Speaker 06

  In London? Oh, it's a food place?

• 47:44Speaker 03

  I wonder if Michael's yoga. He's one of my closest friends. I grew up with Jim Kana. Shout out Bungalow.

• 47:52Speaker 04

  We love you.

• 47:53Speaker 06

  Bungalow, fire. Bungalow, fire. They got another one.

• 47:56Speaker 03

  Have you been to Bungalow yet?

• 47:57Speaker 04

  I haven't been to Bungalow.

• 47:58Speaker 06

  You haven't?

• 47:58Speaker 03

  Oh, wow.

• 47:59Speaker 06

  Let's go. I'll take it.

• 48:00Speaker 04

  Let's go to Kebab King.

• 48:01Speaker 06

  Wow. Kebab King, I've done many times, but I think it fell off a bit. But, we'll go Daisy Galaxy, because all the good Indian food is in New Jersey.

• 48:09Speaker 04

  Honestly, Edison.

• 48:11Speaker 06

  Yeah, Daisy Galaxy, that's my spot.

• 48:13Speaker 03

  Alright, guys, back to the show.

• 48:14Speaker 06

  If you cannot accomplish all these things you set out to, are you aware of the pressure that's on you? Or are you aware of the domino effect that potentially comes with that?

• 48:22Speaker 03

  Look, I think, I know there's definitely a lot of pressure. There's a lot of responsibility. I think oftentimes, though, the position of mayor, it's spoken about like it's a burden. There's also an immense opportunity. In fulfilling this agenda, you make it clear that politics can be more than choose between now and worse than now, as opposed to something that's better. And so to me, when I talk about freezing the rent, when I talk about making buses fast and free, delivering universal childcare, these are not slogans. These are, these are not just slogans, they're commitments. And I know there's gonna be immense pressure, but I also believe that once you start to succeed in your delivery of these things, the way you will see people's political imagination expand.

• 49:07Speaker 03

  We made five bus routes free in New York City. I went on them on the first day that that program started. And the one in the Bronx, the BX18A. And I got on the bus, I was talking to the driver. He was like, "Today's been better because all I have to do is get from point A to point B. Don't have to talk about the fare, I'm just driving." And then a nurse got on and she reached for her MetroCard in her purse. The driver was like...

• 49:29Speaker 04

  "I got you boo."

• 49:30Speaker 03

  It's free.

• 49:32Speaker 04

  Look at this guy. I'm everybody ad libs.

• 49:37Speaker 04

  You don't think he was trying to flex like he was...

• 49:40Speaker 04

  "It's all me today boo, it's all me."

• 49:46Speaker 05

  What was she wearing?

• 49:50Speaker 04

  Clapping for 7PM.

• 49:54Speaker 06

  Clapping for 7PM.

• 49:56Speaker 03

  You know, she's reaching for her MetroCard. And he's like, "It's free." And she's like, "What do you mean it's free?" And he's like, "No, no, no, they've made this one bus route free." And then she starts dancing down the aisle to her seat. And to me, this is an image of someone going to work at a hospital who has, for the first time in a long time, had government actually look out for her. And people said that we wouldn't be able to deliver that. They said that we wouldn't be able to have more riders. We wouldn't have a decline in assaults on bus drivers. That there would be more homeless people on the buses. None of those things were true. And that's what I see, is that every time we succeed, it builds the coalition even more for the next success.

• 50:32Speaker 06

  Yeah, I just worry some of the larger things won't happen and that's where you'll get juddered.

• 50:35Speaker 03

  Which ones are you worried about?

• 50:36Speaker 06

  I think the housing, the rent freeze is gonna be tough. I think raising minimum wage to $30 an hour is great in theory, I would love it. But I think we often forget that corporations just, like, you try to tax a billionaire, they find a loophole. You make minimum wage $30 an hour, watch how much we automate these jobs. And I'm not saying that's good, but that's my fear. And then if suddenly these two, like, major things don't happen, do we look at even getting free bus rises? Yeah, but that wasn't, that's, who gives a fuck, it's free bus rides. They already had five free routes, it still sucked.

• 51:04Speaker 03

  I think...

• 51:04Mark Gagnon?

  I don't think you have much to worry about because Trump ran on building a wall and cleaning the swamp and look, he's back being president. So it's like, if you don't get everything done, I don't think it's the end for his, you know...

• 51:17Speaker 06

  I don't wanna get caught in that.

• 51:18Speaker 03

  But I think, you know, both of you are debating a premise that we can't accomplish these things. And my point to you is that... It's an ambitious agenda, but it's one that I'm really confident delivering.

• 51:30Speaker 05

  The history of America's relationship with government is a very antagonistic one, right? Like, the inception of America is fuck government, fuck people telling us what to do. The reason why I hope you can succeed is because I would love us to have more faith in government. If you've spent time abroad, like, you know, you live in Europe and it's like, yeah, they're annoyed at their government, but at the same time, they're kind of like, eh, it's cool, I get healthcare, there's a little bit more faith and trust. And then you go to Scandinavia and they're like, the government can do no wrong. You know, they could literally just, they could kill like 400 people and the government would be like, the people would be like, ah, they probably did something bad. Like, they're just so trusting of the government. I think Americans need to see government working for them.

• 52:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 52:15Speaker 05

  And if that actually works, I think it would be a really beautiful thing where we can start believing instead of being skeptical of every single thing.

• 52:26Speaker 03

  Yeah. And I think the point here is that there will be many New Yorkers for whom I will have to deliver first to earn their trust, and I understand that.

• 52:35Speaker 05

  White people.

• 52:36Speaker 03

  No.

• 52:37Speaker 04

  Why are you wearing a gray sweater?

• 52:38Speaker 05

  No.

• 52:39Speaker 04

  ALG wearers.

• 52:40Speaker 05

  Not white people. Don't do it for white people. Don't do it for white people.

• 52:46Speaker 04

  Soho's gone.

• 52:47Speaker 05

  Just a little bit, just a little bit of whites.

• 52:49Speaker 06

  I'm gonna get my Frodo cap at the end.

• 52:50Speaker 05

  Zara, we're having fun, Zara! Zara's gonna make so much money, it's unbelievable. I mean, like, I know she's got to work with you and like build a camp, but when it's done, it's like, I told you, there's gonna be like warlords in the third world that are gonna give her chests of gold to just come run their campaigns. This is one of those talented. It's a brilliant campaign. Yeah, you're doing great, Zara! We're gonna keep going just a little longer.

• 53:11Speaker 07

  Is anything standing in your way? Like, you make it seem like, you know, Alban is excited to, you know, work with us and, you know, there's so much momentum and people are excited, so if things don't get done, whose fault will it be?

• 53:24Speaker 03

  The status quo is standing in our way. And the reason that I'm excited is I think we have all of the ingredients to change that status quo. But the same people who've spent millions of dollars will still have an immense amount of money that they could use to try and spend in opposition once we're in government as well. And that's why, to me, the speed at which we deliver on a wide variety of things is critically important. That's why it's not just a...

• 53:49Speaker 03

  Plan to deliver universal childcare. It's also, how do we take down scaffolding across New York City? I love this plan. But like, but my point is. You had on some specific shit. You're like halal cheaper and get the rid of the scaffolding. Some New Yorkers are like, yo, he's spanked.

• 54:05Speaker 03

  It's like, how could I begrudge someone refusing to believe in the ability for us to deliver universal childcare if their interaction with government is government's inability to deliver unremoving one sidewalk shit? This is what we're talking about. That's like, you have to find every single interaction where government has failed New Yorkers and say, this is an opportunity for me to do better. And, you know, the city has an opportunity to say, not just to building owners, what you should do, we have hundreds of sidewalk sheds at city-owned properties that have been up for more than three years. We could take those down ourselves. We don't have to wait on anybody. And my point is, let's be the example. Let's show that efficiency and waste and actually falling through on our commitments, there's not an Elon Musk idea. It's actually for us to do. Anyway.

• 54:50Speaker 03

  It is a Vivek idea. And you wanted to do it the real way, but anyway, go on, go on.

• 54:54Mark Gagnon?

  You have the support of Hochul in Albany. How come the other establishment Democrats like Kakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer haven't endorsed you?

• 55:02Speaker 03

  Talk that shit, though. Talk that real shit. Talk that real shit. I've appreciated the conversations I've had with them. And, and the reason I've appreciated it is a lot of the talk in our politics is just about what's in two weeks, the election. But to me, one of the most important dates is not just November 4th. So you should sign up, register to vote by October 25th. You've got a little bit of time left. It's January 1st. And I'm going to be working with Congressman Jeffries, with Senator Schumer on delivering the affordability agenda. And that's something that I'm looking forward to. Are there specific political answers?

• 55:35Speaker 03

  Give us that real shit, man.

• 55:42Speaker 04

  You got the party energized right now. You got the party energized right now. You're the Democratic nominee for, um, for New York. Like, why wouldn't they get?

• 55:52Speaker 05

  Why is the party running against you? That shit is crazy.

• 55:54Speaker 04

  The party needs to come together.

• 55:55Speaker 05

  And I think that's another reason why, like, many lifelong Democrats like myself have been disillusioned by the party. Because it's like, why aren't you accepting the will of the people?

• 56:04Speaker 03

  They did it to Bernie.

• 56:05Speaker 05

  They did it to Bernie twice, right? They tried to do it again during this election. It's like, when do we get to take part in the democratic process? And when we do get to take part in the democracies, when do you respect that? You might, they might disagree with you, but it's not up to them. This is the will of the people. So if the people want to see this through, why are they spending millions of dollars to stop it? It's very frustrating. I think it undermines democracy.

• 56:27Speaker 03

  I think, I think in, if you look at Andrew Cuomo and I, in the primary now and the general, it is in many ways a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Right, it's two very different visions. And the things that we like to say are exclusively Republican problems, we saw a lot of them in the Democratic primary. It wasn't a Republican that sent a mailer that artificially lengthened my beard. It wasn't a Republican that called me. I appreciate them.

• 56:52Speaker 05

  He's just so handsome with a big beard. He just, you know, it was my Photoshop.

• 56:57Speaker 03

  I thought you meant sincere.

• 57:00Speaker 05

  What you went through is unbelievable.

• 57:01Speaker 03

  But my point is that that's from a man that at one point was being spoken about as being the next president of this country.

• 57:08Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 57:08Speaker 03

  Like, it's easy to forget now that we watch Andrew Cuomo on stage.

• 57:11Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 57:12Speaker 03

  But not that long ago, people were saying he should be the next president of this country.

• 57:16Speaker 06

  Fucking idiot.

• 57:17Speaker 03

  Who?

• 57:17Speaker 06

  Well, you said that.

• 57:18Speaker 04

  When I say that?

• 57:19Speaker 06

  You said that early in COVID.

• 57:20Speaker 04

  Before he murdered everybody. Run the tape. Before he murdered everybody, we loved him.

• 57:24Speaker 06

  It was a private conversation, I'm not gonna get it public.

• 57:26Speaker 04

  We loved the meatballs talking. It was good meatball talk every night with him and his brother. It was fun. We're locked in. We're waiting for the last dance.

• 57:34Speaker 06

  I'm gonna ask you a question. You might not want to answer this. This is something I see, brown guy to brown guy.

• 57:39Speaker 05

  BG to BG.

• 57:39Speaker 06

  A lot of people, a lot of people like, there's a lot, there's an anti-Semitic label. Anti-Semitic label that happens. Do you think that happens if you're not Muslim?

• 57:51Speaker 06

  Because I've looked into what you said, it seems like you denounce antisemitism.

• 57:54Speaker 03

  I do.

• 57:55Speaker 06

  You criticize Israel. A lot of times it gets conflated, but the label won't stick unless there's another outside factor.

• 58:01Speaker 03

  I do think that Andrew Cuomo, there are a number of things that he has said and done, he would not have done if I weren't a Muslim candidate.

• 58:10Speaker 03

  And it is all too familiar for a lot of Muslim New Yorkers, grew up in this city, to see the speaking up of, for Palestinian human rights, to then be labeled as if it is bigotry against the Jewish faith. And what I've appreciated is that for all of the fear mongering that he's done, there are so many Jewish New Yorkers who are able to see through that. And that I can look through his fear mongering and still reckon with antisemitism in this city and talk about the real ways that we'll actually root it out. It's not how Andrew Cuomo wants to weaponize it, it's are you going to increase funding for hate crime prevention programs?

• 58:53Speaker 03

  Are you going to ensure that the NYPD are outside of synagogues and temples on the Jewish high holy days? Are you going to actually have a curriculum, like hidden voices, taught in schools that celebrates the breadth and the beauty of Jewish life?

• 59:05Speaker 06

  You will do all of these things.

• 59:06Speaker 03

  All of these things. And that's what's been so frustrating, is that this is a real concern that many Jewish New Yorkers have, and here's a guy who's just using it for political.

• 59:15Speaker 06

  And I think we all laughed at the Israel moment, and it was ridiculous to watch, but I knew the reason everyone was hammering you on it on that stage. It was like, it was pretty obvious.

• 59:23Speaker 03

  There was another thing that I thought was hilarious, like the picture of you with the Imam, and the New York Post put it in the front page, and I'm like, holy shit, this looks bad. And then I look him up, and like Bloomberg campaigned with him, and Mayor Adams campaigned, I'm like, wait, okay, so what exactly is going on here? And then I think Cuomo said something where he goes, "Look at him standing with this guy who's homophobic." Like, he even detached himself from the World Trade Center bombing thing, because he knows it was a coup. Well, unindicted co-conspirator is translation for man who has not found guilty of anything. Yeah. It's like, I obviously object to a number of things that the Imam has said about... Queer New Yorkers and I am able to still stand there and speak to him while having a platform

• 1:00:06Speaker 03

  to defend those same queer New Yorkers, celebrate and cherish them in this city.

• 1:00:09Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:00:10Speaker 03

  And Andrew Cuomo is always looking to distract from the fact that he has no plan for that.

• 1:00:13Speaker 05

  I'm not asking you if you justify yourself, I'm just showing you that there are these campaigns that are put out there and you know, people will twist the truth and like, it doesn't only happen with politicians, it happens like anybody famous, you know what I mean? So it's like, and you're getting the brunt of it. And I think you've handled it like with a lot of class, to be honest with you. Like, I know what it's like for the internet to say something about me that is completely false and then people just believe it. And you are existing in this and you're lucky enough to have a message that resonates with people where they can refute those lies that people say about you. I don't know if that's luck, I think that might be like talent, like you earned it. But it is fortunate that there are people that will be vocal despite the criticism that they might endure.

• 1:00:56Speaker 05

  Like, yeah, it's pretty, that's pretty awesome that you're touching people like that. I genuinely hope that like what you're presenting can be executed. I mean that sincerely. I mean that sincerely.

• 1:01:07Speaker 03

  I appreciate that.

• 1:01:08Speaker 05

  And I, I know that there's going to be a lot of opposition, you know that more than anything, you've been in government. And yeah, I just hope you have the political capital to push it through and I hope that these decisions actually make life better for New Yorkers. And I hope if you find that they don't, that you, you won't be caught up in your ego and you will be able to pivot for the best of New York.

• 1:01:31Speaker 03

  It always has to be for the city.

• 1:01:32Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 1:01:33Speaker 03

  Because that is, like just, sometimes we make decisions and we have the best intentions

• 1:01:36Speaker 05

  behind those decisions and they don't work out. And the politicians or the leaders in general that are willing to go, ah, that wasn't the right thing, we can make that better.

• 1:01:46Speaker 03

  You can actually grow.

• 1:01:47Speaker 05

  Dude, we'll like you even more for acknowledging it and we'll feel even safer.

• 1:01:50Speaker 03

  And I also think this is...

• 1:01:53Speaker 03

  It's a human, it's a part of being human, right? To be able to reflect and to be committed more to a mission than it is to yourself. Yeah. And look like I came on the show for me, it was bad for New York.

• 1:02:08Speaker 03

  I'm learning that, I'm not gonna come back. This was a selfish decision.

• 1:02:15Speaker 03

  I can learn that.

• 1:02:16Speaker 04

  You just wanna hang out with the boys!

• 1:02:17Speaker 03

  It's an expensive lesson. It's an expensive lesson. What's the odds at right now?

• 1:02:21Mark Gagnon?

  Fifty-one. Fifty-one percent. You have to win because I bet him a thousand dollars that you would win.

• 1:02:26Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:02:27Mark Gagnon?

  He bet against you, that's crazy.

• 1:02:28Speaker 03

  I had a guy I hadn't spoken to.

• 1:02:30Speaker 06

  I didn't have faith in the people.

• 1:02:31Speaker 03

  I had a guy I hadn't spoken to since high school, texted me like five days before the election. Goes, "Yo, bro, I just put a thousand on you, like, please, don't let me down."

• 1:02:41Speaker 04

  Okay, Zara is trying to get you at it, where do you have to go next?

• 1:02:46Speaker 03

  What does that mean? What does that mean? What are you procuring? Yeah, we're talking about how to cut down on waste. I love this.

• 1:02:52Speaker 06

  This is, don't talk my language. I will, if we honor the pod.

• 1:02:57Speaker 03

  You have responsibility.

• 1:02:59Speaker 06

  It's about the efficiency game.

• 1:03:00Speaker 03

  No, we're gonna go to Bungalow, then we're gonna talk, and then I'll be there. I'll be there with you.

• 1:03:03Speaker 04

  Come up, King.

• 1:03:04Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:03:05Mark Gagnon?

  Before you go, Joey, bring in the bench press because he has to.

• 1:03:09Speaker 03

  Why are you sitting on that bench, yo?

• 1:03:11Speaker 04

  Every year, I'm gonna do one pound more.

• 1:03:14Speaker 04

  Next year, 136.

• 1:03:15Speaker 03

  Let's go more. The year after that, I was like, you fucked up, dude, let me tell you. You shouldn't have done it.

• 1:03:21Speaker 04

  I knew I fucked up when I saw that.

• 1:03:26Speaker 04

  You think I thought, you think I thought I was gonna kill it? I knew it was a problem! And this guy was like, "You gotta do it."

• 1:03:35Speaker 04

  He was like, "You gotta do it," it's like, I really don't.

• 1:03:37Speaker 06

  You should have put the big 10-pound weights on, you know them big 10-pound?

• 1:03:40Speaker 04

  I was trying to get it.

• 1:03:41Speaker 06

  Now you got it.

• 1:03:43Speaker 04

  But next year, 136.

• 1:03:47Speaker 03

  Watching the cameras, I can keep.

• 1:03:50Speaker 04

  136. 136.

• 1:03:53Speaker 06

  You didn't keep 135.

• 1:03:55Speaker 03

  You gotta get there.

• 1:03:56Speaker 04

  Strike that from the edit.

• 1:03:58Speaker 03

  Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for taking the time. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

• 1:04:03Speaker 01

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• 1:04:33Speaker 02

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• 1:05:03Speaker 09

  Now, more than ever, we need someone on our side. But Rob Whitman? Whitman's votes drove up costs, cut Medicaid, and risked 350,000 Virginians' health care to pay for tax breaks for himself and his donors. He's not on our side. Shannon Taylor will fight corruption, cut taxes, and bring down costs. This November, vote for Shannon Taylor. She's for us. Paid for by HMP, the House Majority PAC dot com. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.