Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Hosts an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Event

May 17, 2022

Video available at: https://youtu.be/HaKPBdflmOU

Doctor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Chief Advisor to the Mayor: It's indeed an honor for me to be here with my family, the members of the AAPI community. Many of you know me. I am the Chief Advisor to the Mayor, Chaplain Doctor Ingrid P. Lewis-Martin. And for those of you who don't know me, it's an honor for me to be here as we celebrate our very, very first AAPI celebration at Gracie Mansion.

Dr. Martin: Everybody in this room should know, if you don't know, our very own senior advisor to our mayor; Winnie Greco, who is ... Come on, give Winnie some love.

[Applause]

Dr. Martin: She has been an unrelenting voice for the AAPI community. She has worked with our mayor when he was a senator, when he was a borough president and now as the mayor. Sharing all of the wonderful information about our community because I'm an honorary AAPI person, she's my sister and I love her. Sharing all of your wonderful traits and attributes. And she worked hard with many people in this room to ensure that today happened.

Dr. Martin: I'm giving a shout out to one of our sponsors, George Schultz. I'm going to do some quick acknowledgements of all of our commissioners. I'm not going to say their exact title, other than commissioner. We have Commissioner Edward Mermelstein, Commissioner Fred Kreizmann, Commissioner Manny Castro, Deputy Commissioner Dilip Chauhan. We have Deputy Commissioner of Small Businesses ... I mean, Commissioner of Small Businesses Kevin Kim. We have, from NYPD ... A number of people are here from NYPD, but one of our big partners is here. Our Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban. We also have Inspector Richie Taylor, yes, show some love. Our Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, and our other commissioner that we have here, Commissioner Asim Rehman.

Dr. Martin: So without any further ado, I will present to you, because I am not introducing to any of you, because everybody in this room should know our sister Winnie Greco. So much love, thank you for sharing this auspicious occasion with us, and thank you for having me as a small, minor part of it. Winnie, on you.

Winnie Greco, Special Advisor to the Mayor and Director of Asian Affairs: Thank you, thank you. Thank you. First of all, here our mayor, Eric Adams, says, people’s house. Our AAPI right now in the people's house. It's the first event, AAPI! So, AAPI right now in here. So our AAPI culture, so our love, so our peace, so our together. One family, four [foreign language], one family in this people's house. Thank you.

[Applause]

Dr. Martin: So we are one family, and the patriarch of our family is our Mayor Eric Adams!

[Applause]

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Wow. Wow. Wait a minute, first of all, this is a new tent, and you are the first event we are holding under our tent. So we love it. And we get nothing done in this city without just my amazing partners in government and they just bring the level of energy, the level of vibrancy and just commitment and dedication. So before I say anything, I really want to bring them forward because we should be so proud in this city with the diversity that we have. You see it reflected in government and reflected in my administration, because the only way we going to solve global problems is to have a global force of people coming together. So just a few of my electives who are here, I want to just bring them up to say a few words. My good friend, Councilwoman Linda Lee would be first. Councilwoman Lee.

[...]

Mayor Adams: Oh, good stuff. Good stuff. So thank you so much. I want to thank all of our council generals and ambassadors that's in the house. Give it up, give them a hand. Our council general and ambassadors. Now, what happened this year that I'm really excited about. We had, this year, the first AAPI parade in New York City. The first parade in Manhattan, and we were really proud to put it on. And so today, we are honored to celebrate the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month with all those who came out. This is really an impressive crowd that's coming out, showing you're proud.

Mayor Adams: And let's be clear, we want to just really embrace the diversity of this city. All of us, no matter who you are. If you are in America, you came from another country. No matter who you are, you came from another country. So if ever anyone tells you to go back to your country, you tell them you will when they go back to theirs. Because we all came from somewhere and we all are here to be part of the American experience. So we celebrate our unity and our diversity of our city. And I want everyone to know that this place is your place. This is the people's house, this is the people's yard, this is the people's place of assemblies. You pay the rent here. I don't pay the rent, you pay the rent. So you should enjoy it as much as possible. And we are going to keep our city safe.

Mayor Adams: There's one thing I know about this community. You are just as outraged as I am about the gun violence that we are seeing in our city. You know we deserve to be safe and you don't call to defund the police, you call to support the police because you know we need the police. And we're going to see a new era and safety and prosperity in our city. And the way we do that is by lifting each other up. Today, we're going to be honoring FDNY, EMS, highway safety, teachers, and the entire democratic process as we celebrate the diversity of our city and how you are reflected in every area of government. You show us why it is important to have that diversity and what this, the AAPI community, brings to our city. Whether it's public service, business, the arts, science, small business, every part of this city, you are there and showing your support for the city that you love. We may speak different languages, eat different food, have different dress, different dance. But one thing we have in common, we're all New Yorkers. We all love our city. We all appreciate what this city have to offer.

Mayor Adams: And I also want to acknowledge something that many people have forgotten. You and your ancestors are not new to the contribution of this city. You built our railroad systems, you built the businesses, you started small shops and provided services. And when this city shut down, many of the men and women of the AAPI community did not shut down. You ensured that the city was able to continue to thrive and grow. I saw you out there as we moved about to make sure this city was able to provide for the families. We owe you a special thank you, and a special form of gratitude for your commitment to the City of New York.

Mayor Adams: And we've all come here for different reasons. Some to stay, some to work, some to raise families, some to go to schools, but it's all part of the contributions we have made to our city. You built the Chinatowns, the Koreatowns, the Little India, the Little Pakistan, the Little Yemen, you built all of these communities. The Little Manila. The Little Turkey, the Little Haiti. You've all come together to build these communities. And so, on behalf of all of the men and women of my administration that's here, we are partners together. And so tonight, I'm proud to honor, and I want you to give them your love and appreciation, some of our frontline people that we want to give honor to. And the first is FDNY Battalion Chief Steven Lee, a proud person born in Brooklyn, and one of our bravest since 2001. Born, from Shanghai. Come on up and get your award. Our next honoree is EMS Deputy Chief John Paul-Dimen; a proud Filipino-American who bravely served as the Department Chief of the Emergency Medical Service of FDNY. We're going to do one group photo right here.

[…]

Mayor Adams: Yeah, but they got to give me the name. Yeah, but ... Okay, okay. We got one more before we eat. I can't understand that. Okay, the next is Anna Leong Goldstein, a proud Chinese-American who has dedicated her career to empowering our youth as a teacher with the New York City Department of Education for 32 years. Thank you, we want to take a brief photo. 

[...]

Mayor Adams: Yep, yep, yep. See, we got George Hall sitting at the house, who we want to thank. Also, one of our top sponsors; Emblem Health. Yes. So before we conclude, we were just joined by an amazing elected official who's fighting hard for our community. I'm happy she was able to make it. Please put your hands together for Councilwoman Julie Won.

[…]

Mayor Adams: So, thank you so much. An important month for us all. Enjoy the food, enjoy the night, enjoy the scenery. Thank you so much.

[Applause]

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