Portside

Since Donald Trump’s election, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been busy reaching out to New Yorkers at meetings all over the city, assuring them he plans to protect the city’s most vulnerable residents.

After a town hall style meeting at Cooper Union on Monday, Nov. 21, the mayor came to DC 37 to address a meeting of union leaders the following evening.

Before introducing the mayor, DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido praised de Blasio for signing contract agreements with the majority of the city’s unions.

“Today 99 percent of the unions have a contract and he deserves all of the credit for that,” said Garrido at the union’s monthly delegates meeting.

Garrido also highlighted the mayor’s universal pre-kindergarten program and the extra funding for the public hospital system.

“He’s making sure NYC Health + Hospitals is sustainable,” Garrido said.

De Blasio acknowledged that a Trump administration is entering uncharteed waters in Washington. But he said that, “a lot of people ready to fight.”

He expressed his concern that the Trump administration could cut taxes for the wealthy, and warned it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to register Muslims, one of Trump’s plans. “We’re not turning against immigrants and we’re not turning the New York Police Dept. into a deportation force,” de Blasio said.

De Blasio said he wants the city to be an example for the country. “We’re going to show the rest of the country what a dignified society looks like and show people the real America,” he said.

The mayor also talked about the importance of the city working together with the labor movement.

“The way we move this city forward is working in partnership,” he said. De Blasio mentioned the increase in police officers in the streets as an example of what happens when the city and unions work together.

“It’s because of the work of DC 37 around civilianization that we could put those officers back on the street and have your members do the clerical work,” he said.

De Blasio has joined other mayors in cities around the country–including Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Denver–that have vowed to protect vulnerable populations in their cities.