00:00Ya Allah, Ya Rahman, Ya Arhamar Rahimeen, most merciful of those who show mercy, we
00:07turn to you on this day from our city with hopeful hearts.
00:12Thank you for this moment.
00:15Thank you for the amazing individuals you have gathered here, diverse in color, language,
00:20journey, and name, but united in purpose, stitched together by shared hopes, all yearning
00:25to build something meaningful, lasting, and rooted in love, dignity, respect, and justice,
00:31no longer for the few, but for all.
00:34We come before you mindful that moments like this do not arrive on their own, they are carried
00:41forward by sacrifice, by organizing, by courage, by people who refuse to accept that the way
00:47things were was the way they had to remain.
00:51We come knowing that this day stands on the shoulders of so many who were told to wait
00:56their turn, to quiet their demands, to lower their expectations, but instead chose to believe
01:02that another New York was possible.
01:05We recognize that belief is not abstract.
01:09It was practiced by tenants organizing against displacement, by workers demanding fair wages,
01:16by parents advocating for their children's futures, by communities who kept showing up even when
01:22the odds said they should not.
01:24We gather today with heart shaped by this city, by its noise in its neighborhoods, by its subways
01:30and sanctuaries, by the dreams carried in many languages and the prayers whispered on crowded
01:36blocks.
01:38We thank you for New York City, for a place that has taught the world how difference can
01:43become strength, how survival can become solidarity, how strangers can become neighbors, and for
01:50being a place that taught us that a young immigrant democratic socialist Muslim can be bold enough
01:57to run and brave enough to win.
02:00Not by abandoning conviction, but by standing firmly within it.
02:05Not by shrinking who he is, but by trusting that authenticity can move a city towards justice.
02:12We thank you for the beautiful diversity of this city, for a people formed across continents
02:18and generations, across race and religion, culture and class.
02:23Teach us to never see that diversity as something to manage or fear, but as a sacred trust, a collective
02:29inheritance that expands our moral imagination and strengthens our shared future.
02:35On this day of transition and responsibility, we ask you to bless this moment of leadership
02:41and all who are entrusted with the weight of public service.
02:45Grant wisdom to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and remind him that leadership is not about power, but
02:51about proximity to the people who struggle, to the voices too often ignored, to the lives
02:57behind the statistics.
02:59Keep him close to the realities of this city.
03:02To the family doubling up in a one bedroom apartment because rent has outpaced wages.
03:08To the home health aide commuting hours each day to care for others while struggling to
03:13afford care for themselves.
03:15To the public school student navigating overcrowded classrooms.
03:19To the small business owner choosing between closing their doors or passing rising costs
03:25onto neighbors who already have too little.
03:28Yes sir.
03:29Bless him with the courage to remain grounded, the humility to keep learning, and the strength
03:34to lead with principle even when the profession, even when the pressure to compromise is loud.
03:40Let his leadership reflect the movements and communities that made this moment possible.
03:45Never let him forget that this office exists to serve the people, not to rise above them.
03:50We lift up all those who came together to make what many said can never happen happen.
03:56Organizers and volunteers, neighbors who spoke to neighbors, young people who believe their voices matter,
04:03elders who remembered past struggles and recognized this moment as part of a longer arc.
04:09Bless those who knocked on doors in the cold, who stood on street corners with clipboards and hope,
04:14who had difficult conversations rooted in love and who chose participation over despair.
04:20Let the spirit that carried this moment forward not fade after today, but deepen and always endure.
04:27Make this city affordable for the families who built it and the workers who sustain it.
04:32Let no one have to choose between rent and dignity, between medicine and meals, between staying
04:38and surviving.
04:40We lift before you those living paycheck to paycheck in the shadow of unimaginable wealth.
04:46Those working multiple jobs yet still one emergency away from crisis.
04:51Those whose labor keeps the city moving but whose lives feel increasingly pushed to the margins.
04:57Let justice not be a slogan but a structure.
05:00Let equity not be a promise but a practice.
05:03Let policy be shaped by compassion and budgets reflective of our values.
05:08Protect the most vulnerable amongst us, our children and elders, our immigrants and asylum seekers,
05:14our unhoused neighbors, our workers, our artists, our caregivers, and the students who keep
05:18this city alive.
05:20Heal what has been broken by neglect and greed.
05:23Soften hearts hardened by fear, replace cynicism with courage, and despair with collective hope.
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