Restler thanks ethnic media and recounts de Blasio-era ad-spending order

Thank you so much, Chair Brewer.

Chair Brewer enjoys giving me a hard time at every opportunity.

Every opportunity I can.

And I will just take this moment to say something nice.

I think this is the first time I actually have the chance to join a GovOps committee hearing since.

I formally chaired this committee, and I can say I can think of no better colleague to chair this committee in this term than Councilmember Brewer.

So thank you for your leadership.

I really appreciate it, and I enjoy working with you, especially when you give me a hard time.

And I want to just take a moment to thank all of the...

Representatives from community and ethnic media outlets that have taken the time to join us today, but much more importantly for the work that you do day in and day out to educate and inform your viewers and readers.

It makes such a difference.

And I know it's hard work.

We all know how the local media landscape has really been decimated in recent years, and it is harder and harder to get by.

But the work you do is so important, and I really appreciate it, and I know everyone here at the council does.

So thank you for everything you do.

You know, when I worked in the de Blasio administration, I had the chance to contribute and work on the executive order back in 2019 that.

Dedicate that set the goal of, you know, our significant percentage of our ad spending going to ethnic and community media from city agencies.

And the purpose there was in part to stabilize the struggling industry.

And I think that particularly under the leadership of Eric Adams,

this didn't work very well.

So, you know, I recognize and appreciate that you're not responsible for the failures of the previous administration.

Thankfully, we can say previous.

But I