00:00My fellow New Yorkers, today finally marks the end of this chapter.
00:07I want to thank my legal team, but specifically my counsel Alex Spiro.
00:17Now I clearly understand why those from Jay-Z to Baldwin call on him during difficult times.
00:25Alex, thank you so much for seeking and pursuing justice and obtaining justice.
00:32I also want to apologize to New Yorkers for having to go through this with me,
00:37a baseless case that should have never been brought in the first place.
00:42The lies spread through false leaks and splashed across sensational headlines and all of the distractions.
00:52But what I want you to know that I never stopped working for you, not for one day, not for one hour, not for one minute.
01:01And more than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic primary petition.
01:07But the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long,
01:12making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me.
01:20But I'm not a quitter. I'm a New Yorker.
01:24And that is why today, though I am still a Democrat, I am announcing that I will forego the Democratic primary for mayor
01:34and appeal directly to all New Yorkers as an independent candidate and the general election.
01:41I firmly believe that this city is better served by truly independent leadership,
01:47not leaders pulled at by the extremists on the far left or the far right, but instead those rooted in the common middle,
01:56the place where the vast majority of New Yorkers are firmly planted.
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