00:01Can we have another round of applause for Jose? I had never thought about thighs that way.
00:13And now I'm going to be thinking about it.
00:16How are you, New York?
00:20Good evening.
00:21It is a pleasure to welcome you all here to Gracie Mansion as we celebrate our Hispanic community here in
00:31New York.
00:32Truly, welcome home.
00:34And I want to acknowledge we have leaders both inside and outside of city government who are here with us.
00:41First, you've heard there are many members of our administration.
00:44I'm just going to say a sweeping declaration to all the members of our administration that are here.
00:49You know them. You love them.
00:53But we also have to give some love for the people that we've already heard from tonight.
00:57We have DJ Xoloiso.
01:01We have Rafael Abeo.
01:04We have the one and only Frankie Miranda.
01:10We have Ligia Gualpa.
01:14We have our deputy mayor, Helen Arteaga.
01:21And the man who reminded us of the beauty of the color of a yellow cab, Jose Olivares.
01:28I also want to acknowledge that we have the Consul General of Mexico in the building, Marcos Busillo Mujica.
01:38And we have a number of elected leaders here.
01:42We have our state senator, Gustavo Rivera, in the building.
01:47We have our assembly member, Marcela Mitenes, in the building.
01:51She's over there.
01:53Marcela was the person who asked me, do I really want to know what Bad Bunny is saying on Calla
01:57Ita?
01:57I said, I just want to listen to the song.
02:01We have the assembly member of the district I used to have the privilege of representing, Diana Moreno.
02:10And we have the assembly member who, rumor has it, might soon be a congress member, Claire Valdez, also in
02:16the building.
02:18So, truly, it's a joy because, as you know, there are so many more leaders than the ones that I
02:23have named.
02:24But it's a joy to have all of you here.
02:26Because what today is about is celebrating this community that has given this city so much.
02:32And too often has not been recognized for what it has done, for who it has served, and for what
02:39it has created.
02:40And so, I'll say it out loud because we're all thinking it.
02:44For as long as there has been a New York, and even before we called this city what it is
02:50now,
02:51Hispanic people have arrived on these shores, searching for work, for opportunity, and for a better life.
02:58You can even go back to Juan Rodriguez, a trader from Santo Domingo, who came...
03:03Santo Domingo's in the house.
03:07...who came to this island as a translator on a Dutch ship in 1613.
03:14And when the ship sailed home, he decided to remain.
03:18He was the first non-Indigenous resident of what would later become New York City.
03:23In 1868, when the Cuban people rose up against colonial rule,
03:27New York City became a refuge for those escaping the conflict.
03:31They found work alongside Puerto Ricans, rolling cigars in the factories and tenement workshops of lower Manhattan,
03:38made this city their home.
03:40In the 1980s, Salvadorans and Guatemalans arrived here, fleeing civil wars back home.
03:45They worked double shifts in kitchens, cleaned office buildings overnight, and saved what they could.
03:51And we see the fruits of those laborers today in bakeries, in churches,
03:55in pupacerias from Elmhurst to Woodside.
04:00Hispanic immigrants arrived in our city from every nation.
04:04But if I tried to name every nation,
04:07I would get accused of doing a terrible Benito halftime show impersonation.
04:12So I'm going to leave it there.
04:15Now, some families did not choose to leave home.
04:18But they chose to make New York City their new home.
04:21And they chose to stay.
04:24Those decisions were rarely easy once.
04:27It took time to settle in,
04:29to find a winter coat that would fit,
04:31to grow comfortable with familiar dishes cooked with new ingredients,
04:36to find a rhythm in a new language,
04:38in a new city,
04:39in a new country.
04:41And yet the story of Hispanic New Yorkers is also a story
04:44of refusing to be daunted by that hardship,
04:48of never accepting adverse odds as anything other
04:51than something to be overcome.
04:54And whether you arrived in this city weeks ago,
04:57or your family has lived here for generations,
04:59Hispanic New Yorkers keep this city running.
05:03As I speak,
05:04a bus driver from Oaxaca is finishing a route on Staten Island.
05:10A doctor from Honduras is checking the charts
05:12at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn.
05:15And a construction worker from Mambato
05:17is tuning into a radio show in Quichua
05:19on his commute home in the Bronx.
05:22But La Chamba is not all you bring to this city.
05:26It's not.
05:28Hispanic New Yorkers help to give our city
05:30its flavor,
05:32its sound,
05:33its very sense of style.
05:36Where else
05:37can you savor
05:38the aromas of chaufa
05:40and champurrado
05:41on the same block?
05:43Where else can you hear
05:44mixtec and Quechua
05:45on the same train?
05:47Where else can a Dominican barber
05:49give a Venezuelan kid
05:50a fade,
05:51a life lesson,
05:52and a new accent
05:53all in one visit?
05:56And this summer
05:57when the World Cup
05:58came to our city,
06:00the world watched
06:01as our city's Hispanic communities
06:02came together
06:03to celebrate the beautiful game.
06:05In Brooklyn,
06:07Panamanians and Colombians
06:08packed into living rooms
06:09and restaurants
06:10to watch their teams play.
06:12In Corona,
06:16Mexicans and Ecuadorians
06:17battled over
06:19the right to claim
06:21Roosevelt Avenue.
06:23It was L3 versus La3.
06:26And moments like these
06:27only happen in a city
06:29where people have
06:30the opportunity
06:30to stay long enough
06:32to become neighbors.
06:34But we know
06:34that that opportunity
06:35is under threat
06:36for far too many
06:37Hispanic New Yorkers today.
06:38That is why
06:39we are here
06:40not only to celebrate
06:41this community,
06:42but also to commit
06:44that we will work
06:45every day
06:46to ensure
06:47that that choice
06:47to remain in this city
06:48is one that is
06:50accorded to all.
06:52That means
06:52building a city
06:53that yes,
06:54families can afford
06:55to stay in.
06:56And it also means
06:57defending our
06:58immigrant New Yorkers
06:59by upholding
07:01our sanctuary protections,
07:02by saying it
07:03with pride,
07:05ensuring 100% compliance
07:07of all of those protections
07:08no matter what agency
07:09we're speaking of,
07:10and keeping our clinics,
07:12our schools,
07:13our shelters
07:13open to everyone
07:15regardless of their
07:16immigration status.
07:26and you know
07:28that for so many
07:29in our administration,
07:30this work is deeply personal.
07:33You've heard it already
07:35in the words
07:36that I will have
07:37a hard time
07:37ever forgetting
07:38that our deputy mayor
07:39has described
07:40what it means
07:41to be a Latina woman
07:43in leadership.
07:44The obstacles
07:45that you face,
07:47oftentimes ones
07:48that are not seen
07:49by anyone else
07:49but are deeply felt
07:50by those having
07:51to go through it.
07:53And we know
07:54that in each
07:54of these commissioners,
07:55in each of these
07:56executive directors,
07:58in each of these
07:59New Yorkers,
08:01there is a story
08:04of those who believed
08:05in this city's promise,
08:07who fought to overcome
08:09every obstacle
08:10placed in their way,
08:11and whose children
08:12now help to run
08:13New York.
08:16And it is
08:19the same words
08:20we say to them
08:21is what we say
08:21to every family
08:22who chose this city.
08:24Welcome home.
08:26This is your home.
08:28This is a place
08:29that is proud
08:30that you have chosen it.
08:31It is proud
08:33because we can see
08:34that legacy
08:35in all those
08:36that I've named,
08:37all those that go beyond.
08:38I look out there,
08:40I see a few
08:40soon-to-be
08:41assembly members
08:42in the back.
08:43David Orkin,
08:44I think I see you there.
08:48Who else?
08:49Is there somebody else there?
08:51Brian Romero!
08:54Can't forget
08:55Brian Romero.
08:56And what I see
08:57in all of that
08:58is a commitment
09:00that we don't just
09:00celebrate our past,
09:02we continue to work
09:03together to secure
09:04that future.
09:05And it is a future
09:07where Latino New Yorkers
09:09know that they can be
09:10both of those things.
09:12There is never a tension
09:13in the identity
09:14of being Hispanic
09:15and being New York.
09:16If anything,
09:17it is one of the best
09:19definitions of what it means
09:20to be New York.
09:22Truly.
09:28So I say this
09:29as someone
09:30who recently
09:31started eating
09:32pan de bonos
09:35and now
09:35have no idea
09:37how I'm going
09:37to lose weight.
09:40It is such a pleasure
09:41to welcome you
09:42back home.
09:43This is your home.
09:44We are so proud
09:45of you
09:46and we're so happy
09:46that you're here.
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