Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Opening of Le Pavillon at One Vanderbilt

May 19, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Bonjour, Daniel. Ça va?  

Chef Daniel Boulud: [Inaudible]  

[Laughter] 

Mayor: He says he’s doing okay. I wanted to give you an instantaneous translation there. He says he’s doing well. 

[Laughter]

Everyone, what an amazing day. What a beautiful day. It is a beautiful day in every sense. The heavens are smiling on New York City, but this is because New Yorkers fought back. This didn’t happen by accident. This took good people who believed in New York City, and commitment. And we need to remember what we went through, but we also need to remember how we overcame it. A lot of spirit, a lot of heart – New Yorkers, we all know, we get knocked down, but we get right back up every single time.  

So, thank you to my colleagues in government for helping bring us to this day. Tim and Nina, thank you for always promoting what’s great about New York City. Mark, you’ve really done this the right way. It’s as simple as that. You believe in the city, you believe in investing for everyone, and that’s why this is such an amazing story. One Vanderbilt in general and this restaurant in specific, is a story of believing in the people of New York City and investing in them. 

But we go back to September and that was a really tough moment and a moment filled with doubt. You could have cancelled your ribbon cutting. You could have said, no, we should recede into the background, we should wait for another day. You forged ahead and it sent a very powerful message. So, thank you and everyone at SL Green, everyone who was a part of that.

And, Daniel, New York City has always loved you. You’ve loved New York City, but New York City has loved you back. And you are doing something powerful. This is the largest restaurant reopening since the pandemic. This is a symbol of New York City coming back, right here, right now. 

[Applause] 

And I love that you are paying homage to a great culinary history in this city with the original Le Pavillon. But you’re bringing something new and that’s New York City in a nutshell. Amazing history that we honor but a place where we always create something new.  

So, I am excited. And if you want a symbol of the greatness of this city, the resilience, the faith, come right over here, come with us today to see this beautiful new place built on faith. Merci Beaucoup.  

[Applause]