The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Michael Blake Talks Affordability In NYC, Housing Justice Plan, Cuomo's Corruption + More

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

Today on The Breakfast Club, Michael Blake Discuss Affordability In NYC, Housing Justice Plan, Cuomo's Corruption. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and I'm the host of the On Purpose podcast. Today I'm thrilled to welcome back to On Purpose, Cynthia Erivo. A Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor and singer you know from the color purple, Harriet and Wicked. Cynthia Erivo. This may be a hard thing to say, but sometimes hurting someone actually aids the growth

of another person. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone. Most of all, his wife, Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives.

You're going to want to divorce me. How far would he go to cover up what he'd done? The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery.

Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up! Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the Guy, we are The Breakfast Club, Long LaRosa is here as well.

We got a special guest in the building, He's running for mayor of New York City. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Blake. Welcome, brother. What's good? What's going on, y'all? How you feeling? Oh man, another day above ground's a blessed day. We rocking right now.

That's right. For people that don't know who you are and your background, give them a quick rundown of who Michael Blake is. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York. Public schools K through 12, PS 79, 118 deal with Clinton. Let me go a step back. Full name is Michael Alexander Blake, so for the Jamaican massive.

Soon as you said Alexander, they knew exactly who you were. They ready to understand Bustamante vibes, they ready to understand what's going on out here right now. Everybody has a Winston, Larrington, or Dexter in their family right here, or Donovan. Grew up here, left went to Northwestern, studied journalism, grew up here, left, went to Northwestern, studied journalism, my mom, you know, blessings to my mom, 40 years,

she worked at a manufacturing plant, raised four boys. My dad got rest of his soul, it was in Janitor, St. Barnabas. And after Northwestern, you know, life was changed forever when I was trained by this man named Barack Obama. It was one of the 10 in the Yes We Can program. They trained us on how to run races.

Went out to Michigan, we won races in Michigan, and then rocked with him. Life was changed from there. I always joke, I was the other black man in Iowa with him right there. And then after Iowa, seven more states. Went to the White House with him for two and a half years, ran all his black outreach, minority business outreach,

and then I came back home because I wanted to help my people. Quite frankly, I wanted to show these young cats on the block that you can grow up on the block and still make it, go to a White House and come home. Came back home, was elected to the assembly for six years. My brother's keep a program for boys and young men of color, prompt pay bill, raise the age.

Khalif Browder was our constituent. But now it's about doing more. So I'm a husband, I'm a bonus father, just having my first Father's Day as a bonus dad, so that's been a blessing right there. Much love to the fathers all here. I'm an alpha, I'm a mason, I'm a reverend. We decided to here do something special.

Now why putting your hat into this New York City race? I think I'm the best one prepared right now. The biggest thing people are facing is affordability. New York is just crazy expensive. And at the end of the day, I got a full agreement right now. And if we wanna be serious about changing the game when it comes to cost of living, then there's specific things we have to do.

We have to have ending credit scores. Credit scores are being used for housing applications, doesn't make sense. We need to increase income limits on these housing applications as well. We need a local median income because area median income is not working. It doesn't make any sense that you have Westchester,

Suffolk, and Rockland County in the calculation. That doesn't make sense at all. And then when we think about what's happening, I do believe you need to have someone who has White House, state, house, and local experience, and I have all three, because we're watching the foolishness of Trump. And people are understandably scared every day,

whether it be in New York or LA or anywhere in between. And so I jumped in because I wanna show people, yes, you can have the next generation of black leadership. Yes, you can have someone who was qualified at all the levels. Yes, you can have someone who's actually focused on affordability in a very real way. And let's be clear, you gotta talk about

how you're gonna pay for all this. And I said, there should be a vacant apartment tax for people that are not living in New York City. We should focus on the NYPD excessive overtime. You got $1.4 billion in that. We can do things to actually pay the bills and actually make sure we change the game at the same time. And that's why I say to folks,

if you're looking for the candidate who can do that, you should be ranking Michael Blake first for mayor. How did you feel about how Mayor Eric Adams ran New York? I mean, I wouldn't be running if I thought he was doing his job. I mean, he spent more time trying to stay out of jail than actually helping people.

What do you think he did good, if anything, and what would you change immediately that you didn't like what he did? I mean, shit, how much time we have? We got a little bit of time. Look, I think, how many things can you change? I mean, you have a scenario where you had unconstitutional stop and frisk on the rise.

You had a culture of corruption. You had a dynamic where they were trading dynamics when it comes to ICE raids for him to, again, stay out of jail. That's not me saying, that's just the reality. You have one out of eight New York City public school students are homeless. Costs are going up, I mean like the list goes on and on. I think that you have a scenario where there was

great talent hired in. I think sometimes what happens is that the very select few who made a lot of mistakes cast a shadow on everything else. But you can't ignore that when you have a dynamic where people are getting promotions because of sex deals at AYPD and people getting paid off, that's nonsense, right? And real talk, it makes it harder for all of us

that are black that are trying to do some things. Because you go in these conversations like, well, I'm not sure if the city's ready for the next thing. No, it is. We are not him. And if we wanna talk through how do we do this differently, then you gotta change the game on this. I gotta ask you, what the hell is cross endorsing, right?

Because it came out today that you are cross endorsing Zoran Mabdani. Yeah. What the hell is that? That's kinda, it feels like, look, we're going to battle together, but we gonna be friends while we do it? Like, what is crossing doors?

You break it down. I mean, that's the vibes right there. So, all right, so 11 of us are Democrats running in the primary. 11 of us are Democrats running in the primary. Correct. Because we have ranked choice voting, which started four years ago.

What is ranked choice voting for people that don't know? So, in New York City, you don't have to and you shouldn't just vote for one person. You should actually rank five people. So whoever is your first choice when you go to vote, which if that means if you vote in absentee or if you vote in early voting, early voting goes to the 22nd, or if you wait to the 24th.

Your first choice, you should circle in, this is my first choice. Your second choice, second choice, all the way through. Because now, the only way someone can win is if you get 50% plus one of votes. So, whoever is the lowest vote getter in the first round gets knocked out. If Envy says, you know what,

Michael Blake is my first choice, and then Raven Robinson is my second choice and Hannah is my third choice. Michael Blake gets knocked out, then Raven then gets the vote. So it actually gives the voter of New York more power. Because back in the day, if you only voted for one person and that person doesn't make it through a runoff, then you're pretty much done.

So what we're saying right here, in particular when it comes to Zoran, Zoran and I talk about affordability the most. We're real clear on if we're serious about the number one issue that New York is talking about, is that it is crazy expensive in the city. So who has the plans around that? And I've said, I'm making it clear,

I think Zoran is gonna be my number two. I'm ranking him as my number two. Grateful that he is cross endorsing us as well because he's also making it clear we got a break from the corruption of Cuomo and we gotta make it clear that you can address affordability. You can do both.

So we're gonna still figure out who's the rest of the ballot. I think I'm pretty clear on the rest of that team because you have other great candidates. Adrian Adams, Zell Noamari, Brad Lander that are out here doing their thing. But I wanna make it very clear to New York City, you should rank Michael Blake first,

especially for all the folks out here who are still trying to make their decisions, but then the cross endorsement is saying, I want you to know that there are other people on the team that I also wanna make sure are on your ballot. Now question, this is devil's advocate, right? Talk to me. Why wouldn't he rank you number one

and you tell everybody to rank Eric Adams number two? I tell you why. If Zoran is your biggest competition, why would you rank him too and not rank somebody that is really no competition number two because it's easier to win. It's kind of like when you're playing basketball, right? I wanted the Knicks to play the Pacers.

I didn't think the Pacers were gonna rock them. Come on, come on, play the Pacers. I didn't think the Pacers were going to rock them. Come on. It's too soon. I didn't think the Pacers were going to rock them. I don't think nobody did, but you would want that because you feel like that would be an easier win. Fair. So the one, two is not necessarily you are trying to battle with that person. It's really making it clear to your voters that if I don't keep going,

this is who I want you to make your next person. Got you. So like this is the allegiance that we wanna see happen here. So when people are thinking through, okay, help me to understand this, and this happened last few days, first debate we had, everybody,

Times, Post, Daily News said that I won the debate. It was real clear that we handled the debate stage. Now you have a lot of folks that are coming through saying, okay, I'm now trying to decide who's my five. So I want everybody in the squad to understand if you are saying we can do this differently and you don't wanna go back to Cuomo

and you want something different, then you should rank me first. You should rank Michael Blake first. But then I need you to fill out the rest of the ballot. Because if you don't, you actually helping other cats. Gotcha. Right, and that's the key right now. And the reason why we keep drilling this home,

I made a decision on who was most aligned with me on that issue. Why don't you like Cuomo? I mean, I've seen you take a shot to Cuomo in his past and all the things that he did. What's your major problem with Cuomo? I mean, 15,000 people died in COVID nursing homes because of policies that he did for a book deal.

You had 13 women who credibly said that he sexually assaulted them and had a toxic environment. You have a dynamic where he said shuck and jive in 2008 and made it seem like it wasn't about Barack Obama. Barack Obama was the only black candidate that was real in that scenario. He consistently is laying out all the bad things about other people and is actually not talking through

what is good right here. Closed hospitals when it comes to addressing the mental health crisis. So like we don't need to go back to a name just because you recognize a name. It's now time to change the game. And so I'm saying to folks, here's the difference you have. He's saying that when I talk about public safety, I'm saying there should be here's the difference you have. He's saying that, when I talk about public safety,

I'm saying there should be a thousand mental health professionals instead of NYPD, because NYPD will tell you they weren't trained on doing that. You want to help these kids? We should have civics, financial literacy, and mental health for every student before they graduate. You actually want to help people with their housing?

Let's talk about what's going on with credit scores and income limits. And at the end of the day, Andrew Cuomo, who, real talk, wasn't even living in New York City for a minute, I mean, pretty much was in Westchester the whole time, now is saying I should come back because he thinks he's the best option?

Nah. And I think people gotta really ask themselves, like, during COVID, his policies were killing people. During COVID, I was with World Service Kid feeding people. That's what people gotta be asking themselves. You're right. Now you mentioned the police. Crime in New York City, it seems like is on the rise, right?

If you've been out and about, I think last week, two people got shot in Times Square, right? I mean, the numbers say otherwise, but the feeling is real. The feeling is like that. It feels horrible. What would you do for crime? We had Zoran up here, he says he wouldn't necessarily

defund the police, but he said he would take some finances from the police and give it to different agencies and things like that. What would be your take on that? Number one thing we have to do, anybody that's walking the block, whether if I'm in the Bronx at 3rd Avenue 149, if I'm in Harlem at 125 and Lex,

the mental health crisis is real. Correct. It's like a zombie land out here right now. And those cats need help. They don't need to be locked up. And so what I say to everyone, my main priority for public safety, we should have a thousand mental health professionals

on subways and streets to help them immediately as opposed to the NYPD who is saying, we're not trained on this. I came with that number because a thousand is essentially a number for the National Guard that's been put out there. National Guard and more police standing there is actually not fixing anything, right?

And I wanna be clear, I got much respect for those that serve in uniform, but if someone is struggling in need, help them. And they're telling you, we're not trained on this. So you do that, then people feel safer to get on subways, they feel safer to go outside. And we got to focus on involuntary commitment. When you know someone is clearly a threat to themselves, why would you just let them be there?

And so if you do that, then you can do two different things. You can have police with body cameras on, so there's actual accountability on both sides, right? And simultaneously, then you can have more cops that actually walk in the street and do precision policing in neighborhoods that need the help. That's what folks need right now.

And look, I'm that cat who had, I endured police brutality twice. Once in high school where a cop said, I went to deal with Clintons in high school, once where a cop said that they heard me yelling at them while driving the other direction. I was like, okay, so we just looking to pick a fight right now, right?

And then when I was an assemblyman, there was a fight that was happening, we deescalating the fight. They grabbed me, they tossed me against the gate, and another cop comes over and says, get off of him, get off of him, he's the assemblyman. And I said, what would happen if you wouldn't recognize me?

Right. Right. Even still, I'm saying, you need to have police out here, but it's gotta be smarter policing, right? The last thing that has to happen, repeat offenders, right, there's an underlying current. If we help people make and keep more money in the front end, then we're not talking about people shoplifting on the back end, right? So if you do those steps, then you have more cops

to come back on the force, actually trying to do it the right way. I don't know any person that doesn't want to get home. Cop and community. And if we're serious about the fundamental issue around public safety, to me it is underlying around mental health. Well, what do you say to people

because sitting here talking to you, you explain what you mean when you say defund the police. And we understand that, but on face value, someone like Aquomo, he shoots back at you guys with the fact that you say defund the police because the messaging is not interpreted the right way. How do y'all get around that in this race? Because people here defund the police and they don't understand what you just said to me. And I remind them that in 2020, Andrew Cuomo said out of his mouth at a press conference that defund the police is a legitimate movement.

Andrew Cuomo's hoping folks have amnesia. So I'm going to help remind them that Obamacare can help him with that. He gets real confused about things. So when we talk through it, there is no one out here saying eliminate the police department, right? When they're using the phrase, it's about how do you change the funding that's happening to focus on preventative measures? Violence interruption work, you know,

life camp, save our streets, until freedom with Tameka. I mean, you got so many dope groups that are doing that work. That's what people are really trying to say. And at the end of the day, what we're talking through is, everybody wants to be safe. So we can keep talking about this random one-liners or how do you actually fix this?

You know, my thing has always been when we talk about budgets, right? Yeah. And people say to fund the police, to take money from the police, fix this? You know, my thing has always been when we talk about budgets, right? Yeah. And people say to fund the police, to take money from the police, but I always feel like we find money for so many different things.

For everything that we want. If we want to start a agency where we have more mental health professionals on the street, why don't we pay for it? Thousand percent. I just seen somebody spend 45 to 48 million dollars on a parade that only had five people out there. Thousand percent.

So if we can find all that, even with congestion pricing, right, what are your thoughts on congestion pricing? The intent of congestion pricing is the right intent, because at the end of the day, it was to reduce traffic and improve the environment. The implementation was clunky, right? They didn't do that right. But at the end of the day, when we think about,

from a budget perspective, a budget shows someone's values, there's no way we can say in a $115 billion budget, we can't find what we gotta pay for. And so when I'm talking through, yes, you can have that $1.4 billion excessive overtime at NYPD and put that towards the kids. Yes, you can actually reclaim back the $2 billion of unclaimed fees and fines and actually help the community.

We can do these things. And the reason why it's not happening is because of lack of leadership. And to the earlier question about Eric Adams, we gotta ask ourselves, for four years, what was he doing on this? That's why we're all running, because it's not working.

And so when I talk through, how do you make sure that you help nonprofits get funding upfront so they're not waiting for reimbursements on the back end? What are you doing to make sure that our immigrants are being protected? Because yes, we're gonna stay as a sanctuary city because that's the right thing to do.

Yes, we're gonna put safe havens on our schools because we're gonna ban ICE from coming on in. You have to put that kind of money in place to actually help people because to the underlying piece, you got Trump. And you gotta worry about Medicaid cuts and Medicare cuts and all these things that are happening. And that's why when people are saying to me,

all right, Michael Blake, why you? I'm seeing these other names. There's a lot of people out here, why you? You gotta ask yourself January 1st next year, who is best prepared to make sure we can actually battle against Trump, help our city, but also keep our focus on what we're doing around affordability

and people of color. Now you talk about congestion pricing and you said it's a great idea, right, but executed horribly. My question to you is, I feel like we go for the money before we care about people's feelings, right? People are scared to take the train, right?

They're scared to take the bus. And you even said that it seems like sometimes it's Wild Wild West out there, right? So you're forcing me to take the train and the bus when I have to because I can't afford congestion pricing, but you're forcing me to get on the trains with sometimes mentally ill people and fighting for myself.

But then also you're forcing me for a lot of these mom and pop businesses to close down because people can't afford to drive in anymore for a nice lunch. They can't afford to come in and conduct business in my spot anymore. So why do we do the congestion prices where it affects people and hurts people

before we make sure that the ordinary people are the ones taking care of and are okay? Well, when I'm on the train, that might be the only time I can listen to my music. So sometimes that's like that getaway you have right there. But like, when we talk about what we have to do here, way too often I'm not thinking through the integration of life.

It goes back to COVID. People would say, I want for everybody to be able to figure things out during COVID and have social distancing. Well, how does someone have social distancing when they have seven people living in their crib? Some of these things don't make sense. Hey, I want for these kids to be able to figure out remote learning,

but they don't have a tablet and don't have Wi-Fi. So to that same vibe, we talked through around congestion, pricing, these other policies. I'm trying to reverse engineer and say, let's think about how does it impact people? How do we think through that if I'm making that turn on 60th, but there's no real ways to turn off before that, you're effectively forcing people to go into that zone

and taxing them. That doesn't make sense, that doesn't seem right. I think there should be an exemption on people that live in these zones, and I think there should be an exemption on people that are public servants, right? That just makes sense to me, right? If someone is coming in and they're like,

yo, I'm driving into the zone because I wanna go to a show, I wanna get a meal, then that's their choice, right? But for the cast that are like, I'm just trying to get by, that doesn't make sense at all. And a lot of the argument has been, well, we're making so much money from congestion pricing so that makes it worthwhile. No, if people are struggling still, right?

And so to me, I'm re-imagining what this city can look like and trying to show people that you have a different option out here. And that if you actually want to show people, yes, we can have an affordable city where we don't lose who we are as black and brown folk, then you have an option and that's me.

How can you eliminate credit scores for apartments and home ownership, right? Sounds amazing, but I think you and I both know that anytime you go to fill out a loan, whether it's a housing loan, a bank loan, an apartment loan, the number one thing they check is credit score. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and I'm the host of the On Purpose podcast. Today I'm thrilled to welcome back to On Purpose, Cynthia Erivo.

A Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actor and singer you know from the color purple, Harriet and Wicked. Oscar-nominated, incredible actor, singer, author, and producer. Cynthia Erivo. What's the difference between achieving and overachieving? You've done something really amazing, but how can I be more than amazing? How can I push more?

How can I do more? You always felt like you didn't fit in. I had to come to terms with the fact that I don't think I'm ever going to fit in, and why would I want to? We don't want to let people down. We won't be able to be happy. We don't want to break someone's heart.

But the reality is, that is how the way things go. I feel like a villain for doing it, for hurting someone. And this may be a hard thing to say, but sometimes hurting someone actually aids the growth of another person. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all, his wife Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community. She said you left bruises, pulled her hair, that type of thing.

No. How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done? You're unable to keep track of all your lives, and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future. This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception, lies that left those closest to him

questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it. I'm JR Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself. And I'm honored to tell you the stories of

these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and I Heart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor, going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant,

and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck.

This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here and I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. Stephen Ronella So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where

we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Two is probably if you actually have a job and you're paced up. And sometimes for good reasoning too,

just to see kind of like what your payment history is like and all of that stuff. Like as a, like I get, you answer the question first and then I'll come back. Cause I'm thinking about it all out, go ahead. Credit score is a recent thing, that started in 1989. This is not something that was like back in the day. We had many ways to assess how someone was able to pay

their rent and their mortgage. The notion that a credit score, which could be impacted cause you missed a phone bill, a credit card bill 20 years ago, is more important than are you paying your rent consistently. Oh, I agree with you. It doesn't make any logical sense. Because you could have one bad month. And then it's a wrap.

As an entrepreneur or anything, one bad month. Somebody steals your... Anything happened one bad month and your credit is down in the drain. And I think that sucks. Destroy it. Yes. And the reality is, I'm actually go back to one of your earlier questions. This is one of the things that Eric has done well

that needs to be expanded upon. We're not assessing these credit scores on some of these HPD units right now in New York City. So it's not an argument that we can't do it. It's a choice. So, you know, transparently I'm on the border of ready life, which is where, this is what I learned about it, chaired by, you know, Dr. Bernice King, led by Ashley Bell,

where it was like, okay, let's use some common sense. What is the best way to determine if you can pay your rent or mortgage on time? Have you paid your rent or mortgage on time? That's more important than did I do something else. So to me, if we actually want to help more people have a chance, eliminate that completely across the board, and then assess, okay, how do I help you?

But then the second piece is you have to do, we got to increase the income limits on these housing applications. Because what's happening right now is, you either have to be really rich or poor enough to get access to a home, and then people getting boxed out. The reason why so many people are leaving the city, because housing and childcare.

So to me, if there's anything that someone's trying to think through, what is the main policy I want to make happen? And credit scores when it comes to housing applications. Expand that out, you do that, which we know we can do because the city is doing it to a limited degree. Increase the income limits, do that, and then have a local median income.

That out the gate changes the game. And each of those three are happening in other places. The only reason why we're not doing it right now is lack of leadership. And if you're asking someone, yo, right now I'm struggling to pay these bills, I'm trying to figure out how to make this all happen, but my life is gonna be impacted

by something I forgot to pay 20 years ago, that's crazy. Or it could be something as small as hey, my mother got sick and I had to use my money for rent. To help somebody. I'll catch up next month. 1000%, like. Happens all the time. All the time, like you know what, hey, landlord,

yo, I don't have you on the first, I got you a little bit later because I can do X, Y, and Z. And the other thing about credit scores that people think through is like, you have different agencies creating different numbers. So again, that's just not fair in how this all works. And I wanna show people if we're serious about having housing, which I do think we gotta build

about 600,000 units at least. Current numbers say it's about 540 just to hit the current supply demand. But for you to build the housing, you then gotta make sure people actually could afford it when they get there. That was gonna be my question to you. That's why I said for some time, good reasoning,

only because I'm thinking like, all right, so you say we'll make it where these people can afford it. We'll give them better money, better income, right? So then they're able to pay their bills and the credit raises, and then we'll have more housing for them. But a lot of times it feels like politicians will say things like that,

but you can't do everything at once. So maybe you create more jobs for people with better pay rate, but then that middle point where they can't, they're not making enough money for certain places, but they're not broke enough to get into, or the income isn't low enough to get into other places. You said broke enough, you can stay there after you.

Okay, so you get what I'm saying? You're in this place where it's like, I might be making more money, but I still don't qualify for these margins of three or five times the rent, so I'm still struggling. So it's kinda like, as a landlord, you're looking at it like, well, I just gotta do the best I can do

by determining who I can let in here. So it's like we always caught in this circle of things. How do you know for a fact that you can do both at the same time if you get an office? Well first, I'm Jamaican, so I'm used to three jobs. Right. So we regularly make it happen. Second, I'm not a normal politician.

I've actually made things happen. I run small businesses right now. I helped get Barack Obama elected. I served in the White House. I saw how to make these things done, get these things done, and when I was in the assembly, every single year,

and I'm gonna come back to the housing piece, but I think context is important. Every single year, we did something major that they said couldn't get done. My brothers keep a program, no other state in the country has that. They're black and brown boys right now going to school and graduating from school

that did not have funding, we made that happen. Prompt pay bill so that businesses get paid in 15 days instead of 30 days. Bipartisan bill, they said they couldn't make that happen. Raise the age, Kalief Browder was our constituent. New York and North Carolina were the last two states for 16, 17 years to be tried as adults. We changed that when they said that couldn't happen.

So to the question of how, We changed that when they said that couldn't happen. So to the question of how, we know right now that there are easy fixes that would help people be able to stay in their homes. And for all the black folk, brown folk, low income folk who are leaving New York City because of housing, fundamentally raising the income limits on these applications, which would be a huge help

for our seniors as well, huge help for those that are disabled as well, so that it is actually proportional to your neighborhood. Then you actually give someone a chance. The wilder thing is, and actually I'm going back and forth on the Eric good bad, right? We voted on true cost of living, so we can actually understand

what are the costs by your neighborhood. He hasn't implemented it. The reason why that's important is that you can understand not just housing costs, but groceries, transportation, education, because if you know all of that, then what we put in these applications is proportional to that number.

What's going on in the South Bronx is not the same as South Shore, Staten Island. What's going on in Central Brooklyn is not the same as Southeast Queens. What's going on in the South Bronx is not the same as South Shore, Staten Island. What's going on in central Brooklyn is not the same as Southeast Queens. What's going on in East Harlem is not the same thing on what's going on on the Upper West Side. And so we should base it upon that. And to do that, you need someone

who's actually talking about it. And I'm the only one that's talking about that in that very real way and talking through how you make this happen. These are policy changes through legislation. This is administration changes through leadership. And then this is funding changes in the budget. Full stop.

What's your relationship with President Barack Obama now? Or how's your relationship? Still my dude. You know, he's consistently been a blessing to me. What's been his advice when he knows that you're running for this? Because he's faced some of the things that you're facing now that he was far behind at one time.

So what is his opinion to you? Be very clear about why you're running and giving people choice and contrast. That you can't just talk through big ideas. You gotta make it clear to folks that there's a difference, right? When we were in Iowa, thinking about this here, when we were in Iowa,

there was a point where he was down like 30. He flew in, got everybody together, and he told this story about how he was at the St. Patrick's Day Parade running for U.S. Senate, and he was the last entering the parade. And so what that meant was that everybody was saying Barack Hussein Osama, saying wild things. And they were a little drunk,

so people were saying wild things. Year later, St. Parade, he was the grand marshal. And he was like, if you put in that work and you make a clear round choice in contrast, then people will remember. And I always took that, and he stays with that. He's like, when people voted for him, he said, I'm gonna end the war,

I'm gonna get you healthcare. Make it real clear on your big ideas then everyone's can rock from that. And that's why I'm being consistent in the same way. When I talk through credit scores, we talk through a thousand mental health professionals, we talk through civics, because when you have so many people in the race,

if you don't give people that clear choice, then the easy thing is just pick a name you've seen before. Right? And he stays with me. I mean, the screensaver that I have is when we brought him to the Bronx. We launched My Brother's Keep Alliance in the Bronx. And he would joke with me.

He was trying to give me a shout out. I was trying to be cool. He said, yo, the president says your name, stand up, get TV time. He still is in that same zone of follow the vision, make it clear, but make it clear about choice and contrast. And he's also showing us and telling me, like, be that messenger, you know?

I don't know if we brought the signs, but there was a time when we were in the White House for a legislative event, dapped him up, he's about to walk by, and he tells people, we would not be here without Michael Blake. And I'm forever grateful for what he did for me, and I'm gonna take that same kind of energy. He's also, I mean, everybody likes to criticize Obama too,

at the same time. Who's everybody? There are people that criticize Obama. I mean, some, I don't know. There's a lot of people that criticize Obama, but I mean not me personally, but I'm saying that we hear the criticisms. So I'm asking you, is there things that he says,

just as a mentor almost, that I would advise you, not, like something he learned that he would advise you to approach differently or not to do while on your run. I mean look, at the end of the day, you have to stay true to the numbers and how you organize. And it's easy to get distracted by noise and that can take you off your plan. And that kinda, to your point,

you're gonna hear a lot of folks who are just like, yo, why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? Two, three weeks ago, I had people saying, why are you even out here doing these things? And then by the end of that night, in the next day, pretty much every publication said I won the debate. Oh, when you came at Cuomo.

Right, so it's like, you gotta stay locked in, even in the midst of the noise. A lot of times with politicians, I feel like they don't speak straight to things, especially like Democrats. But so I learned about you or found out who you were, or I guess maybe started paying attention more when the Cuomo thing happened,

because I like, even though, not to be messy, but I just like, you were, you said what you meant. You said to him, the people who don't feel safe are young women, mothers, and grandmothers around Andrew Cuomo, right? And you said that straight shooter. Do you plan to still be that way as a mayor? Because a lot of times, once people are elected,

they have to like step back and filter what they say. Nah, I'm, this who I am, all day, every day, right? that they have to step back and filter what they say. This who I am, all day every day. Whether it be in the family, whether it be on the block. You can't grow up on Crested and Burnside and then go back on these kind of things. And I would say that whether it be on a debate or if I'm just talking to people at the restaurant. And I think one of the reasons why we've been successful

in office is that people see that I'm consistent in what I'm doing. That's what folks can't stand about politics right now. They feel like, yo, to your point, you just say something and you just kind of keep it moving. And you're not real about that. And it is easier to be consistent in who you are than trying to move around and shift by neighborhood.

That's just not how I get down. And that's why I say to people, give me the chance. Right now, I tell folks, number two in most of these polls, if it's not Zoran is undecided, right? You got a lot of time to still make a decision. And it feels like a lot of time to still make a decision. And it feels like a lot of people are still trying to understand, well, who can I rock with in this moment?

And I'm trying to show you, you got a choice. Should undocumented immigrants be allowed to vote in local New York City elections? Potentially, for municipal ones, itself. We gotta figure out how this all gets incorporated collectively itself, right? To that degree. Because it's a fascinating piece, right?

Because a green card holder is able to contribute to campaigns in New York City. So it's just like, we gotta figure out a way to make an equal balance across the board. Should Rikers Island be closed or reformed? 1000%. Has to be closed. Why? It's an inhumane place.

It's the second largest mental health facility in the country, only LA County being larger. You've got to find more ways, and most people there haven't even been convicted of anything, they're just waiting. And so if we actually reduce the population so that more people can actually be closer to their homes while they're waiting, and you can actually help the people who have the mental health concerns, then you can take the real steps

of getting into the space where you can build borough-based jails, which is what we actually need. Borough-based jails makes much more sense than just sending people off to Rikers to sit there. Okay, well, get out there and vote for the last thing. Tell people why they should vote for Michael Blake. Michael Blake is the only candidate saying the truth

around ending credit scores for housing applications. Michael Blake's the only one that is out here saying that we need 1,000 mental health professionals instead of NYPD. Michael Blake's the only one that's saying civic financial literacy and mental health for these kids. I'm the only one that was that truth teller on that stage. Not afraid of Trump, not afraid of Cuomo,

not afraid to end the noise. If you want someone who has the ability to change the game at all levels, and you want the handsome Jamaican who actually comes from the Bronx right now, right? Who can talk about hip hop and talk about housing at the same time, I wanna be your first choice.

And if I'm not your first choice, I wanna be your second choice. But most importantly, I wanna be on your ballot. That's why Michael Blake should be your first choice. And if I'm not your first choice, I wanna be your second choice. But most importantly, I wanna be on your ballot. That's why Michael Blake should be your mayor. All right, well there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Michael Blake, do your research, and if they want to donate to your campaign, how can they do that?

Oh man, much love on that. Go to the website, Blake, F-O-R-N-Y-C.com, Blake for NYC.com. You can sign up to donate. You can sign up to volunteer. You can sign up to volunteer. We have offices all across the city. Our headquarters in the Bronx at 1 Bruckner Boulevard. But we have satellite offices in all five boroughs.

And just again, remember everybody, fill out the ballot. Don't just rank me first. Fill out all five spots of your five choices. That makes it a point that your candidate's gonna win. I'm telling you, don't message your donation money because you'll file a lawsuit. Yo, let me tell you something. I'm, man, people play games.

Mm-hmm. Play games and find out. And find out. There you have it. Play super games, win super prizes. That's right. That was percent. That's Michael Blake.

It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning, good luck. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Good luck. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and I'm the host of the On Purpose podcast. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome back to On Purpose, Cynthia Erivo. A Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award winning actor and singer, you know, from the

color purple, Harriet and wicked, Cynthia Erivo. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone. Most of all, his wife, Caroline. He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me. How far would he go to cover up what he'd done? The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations

in the future. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

This medal is for the men who went down that day. On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the MeatEater Podcast Network, so join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.

Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.