Andrew Yang Wants to Be New York City's 'Evangelist and Cheerleader in Chief'

Now he's running for mayor of New York City—and recent polls suggest he's already a frontrunner.

Among his policy ideas, Yang is pushing for a scaled-back version of his presidential campaign's national UBI plan and the launch of a new People's Bank of New York to serve the unbanked and underbanked, which he believes will go a long way toward addressing poverty in the city.

A number of people reached out to me and said, "Hey, now that you're out of the presidential, run for mayor?" That was in early 2020, but at the time I was very intent on helping Joe and Kamala win.

Throughout 2020, some people followed up with me and started to give me a better sense of the opportunity in New York City.

I think that right now a lot of Americans are frustrated that our systems of bureaucracy have not been functioning at as high a level as we had hoped.

I think that's a frustration that a lot of Americans and New Yorkers feel.

How do you get our systems working better?" I think that that's something I could help with.

I think it's one reason why people are being drawn to my campaign: Because they have an instinct that if someone has been embedded in government for years and years, they may not be the person that's going to necessarily improve the way that some of these systems are functioning.

On the flip side of that, what would you say to people who say, "This guy has no experience in New York City politics.

And that's the kind of thing that a lot of people crave from city government right now.

I think that having someone who is going to be free of some of some of the entanglements that have been holding the city back is vastly appealing to a lot of voters.

I don't think that there's any one set of experiences that you can point to and say, "OK, that is going to prepare someone to be mayor of New York City" at a time when we need to speed up our recovery from the deepest, darkest crisis we've seen in generations.

Now that you're running for New York City mayor, you're saying $2,000 annually for 500,000 New Yorkers who most need it.

But if you are the mayor of New York City you have a different operating environment than if you are the federal government.

I think people know, if Andrew Yang had the ability to do so, I would love to give everyone in New York City $1,000 a month.

Traditional banking works great for a lot of things, but it's going to miss a lot of both needs and opportunities as well.

People's Bank is going to launch with $100 million in working capital from New York City.

Right now 12 percent of New York City residents don't have a bank account, which makes no sense in the world's financial capital.

If we can expand access to low-cost, safe, financial services for the unbanked and underbanked in New York City, we can make it less expensive to be poor.

I propose that new officers live in New York City, which will make them closer to the communities that they're meant to serve and protect.

What do you think is the right approach to addressing the concern from business leaders while also ensuring that workers and average New Yorkers have the opportunities and support they need?

Business owners want a city that is thriving and vibrant and people are comfortable going into the office.

If you look at just the basic measurement of whether people are commuting to the office in New York City...

I think it's difficult for New Yorkers to be able to hold their leaders accountable when, like right now, you look up and say "Well, you know, this is an Albany responsibility." That would be a major step in the right direction, in my view.

I think that it's not good for anyone when the city and the state are not on the same page.

I genuinely think that the interests of New York City and New York State are aligned like ninety-five times out of one hundred.

New York City is the economic engine, not just of the state, but really one of the main engines for the country.

I think that the frustration that a lot of New Yorkers feel right now is around the vaccine.

Right now, a lot of resources are being spent in this direction, but not within the New York City public school system.

Now, I'm going to have to go into traffic, out of the bike lane." It's not a great feeling, ever.

One of my great hopes and visions for the city is we have to make it so that people do not have to own a car in the city.

I want it so that when someone moves to New York City, they think, "Great!

I don't need to own a car." One aspect of that is going to be making the city as bike-friendly as it possibly can be.

Do you think that relationship with the president would benefit you as mayor?

is going to be very important for New York City and New York State, moving forward.

The case has to be made loud and clear that there is not going to be a national recovery without a New York City recovery, and that investing in New York City is the right thing to do.

I'm friends with a lot of folks who are now going to be in a position to do something really positive for New York City.

That should be something that they're excited about, and if they're not excited about it, I'm going to get them excited about it because it's the right thing to do for the country.

If you have a friend calling you from New York City, as the new mayor, saying, "Hey Pete, let's build a tunnel.

It's overdue," I think that that's going to be very powerful and valuable for New Yorkers.

Whereas, if you have a mayor that comes in and does not have those relationships, or frankly, cannot get on national TV at the drop of a hat, then it might be a more difficult case to make.

And I'm going to be the evangelist and cheerleader in chief for New York City.

I'm going to be thrilled making that case as the mayor of the city.