Transcript: Mayor Adams Makes Madison Square Garden Entertainment-Related Announcement With Billy Joel

June 1, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams: I start my day, get in the back of the SUV with my security detail. I place on the earphones, and I play New York State of Mind. And what really touched me this morning with all that my Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom has to deal with as she manages the asylum crisis, the homelessness, human services, mental health issues. When she heard I was coming here today, she said, Eric, I have to come to see Billy Joel and tell him thank you. And there's something that if you only see the performance of this great artist on probably the biggest stage in the country, not the globe, you will miss that he's not merely an entertainer. The million plus people who came in to sing along to the songs, at the conclusion of the show, they left. They left re-energized, they left thinking about how blessed we are, and how privileged we are to be a New Yorker.

He captured the essence of New York City. He was an ambassador of what's great about New York, and where the American dream lives and grows every day, and the diversity of his audience. When I walk around, and I hear people all brag about, not that they attended a show, but how many shows they attended, the repeated number of people who come over and over and over again to hear all the favorite songs, all the favorite beats, and they become anew again, this was a revival, not merely a residency. This was a moment for New Yorkers to state that no matter what we went through or what we are going through, we can come in and get the energy that comes from that piano, from that voice, from the surprises that came every day. I am so happy and blessed to be here, to be the mayor during the time that Billy Joel is finishing up this amazing run, going to be 10 years of doing this. Exciting.

And to his two beautiful daughters who probably did not capture the moment of the relevance of this moment right now, they're going to look back over it in time, and they're going to see what their dad did, not only on the stage of Madison Square Garden, but on the stage of New York City. New York is the most important country city on the globe that makes Madison Square Garden the most important arena, and that makes Billy Joel the most important artist. Job well done, brother. You did your thing, man. I'm looking forward to hearing many, many, many more moments again. Thank you. Let's give it up to Billy Joel.

Billy Joel: Thank you. Thank you very much. It is an honor to be here today to celebrate. Oh, that's your thing. That's great. Thank you, Jim. No, this ain't mine either. [Laughter.]

Anyway, it is an honor to be here. I'm kind of flabbergasted that it didn't last as long as it did. And my team tells me that we could continue to sell tickets, but 10 years, I don't know. This is 150 shows, 10 years, alright already. [Laughter.] I mean, despite what you've read, I'm selling my house in Long Island, but I'm not leaving New York. I'm just spending a little more time down in Florida, like all Jewish guys do from New York City. So it's really not that much news. So essentially we're just here to hype the next 10 shows. It's promotion.

And I don't have my notes, wherever they were. It's hard to believe that we've been able to do this for 10 years. I didn't know how long it was going to last. I thought there would be an arc to it. Maybe it'll sell well in the beginning and then eventually it's going to dwindle out. But it keeps selling and people keep coming, and people keep buying tickets. And I'm now 74, I'll be 75 next year. Seems like a nice number to just, okay, thank you. Here I am. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Adams, for your words.

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