Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at Flag-Raising Ceremony for Republic of Korea

August 14, 2023

Commissioner Manuel Castro, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs: Give it up for the Asian American Youth Council. Let's hear it. Give it up for our Korean American community in New York and give it up for our mayor, Eric Adams.

I'm Manuel Castro, the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. And like always, I want to thank the Bowling Green Association for this wonderful partnership. These flag raisings began in part because of a conversation I had with Abraham early last year, and where we both agreed that in the capital of the world, no matter what anyone says, this is the capital of the world, in the ultimate city of immigrants, immigrants, our community should not be at the margins. We should be at the center of what our local government does. And I want to thank Mayor Eric Adams for allowing us the ability to make sure that we celebrate and honor all our communities here in the center of the capital of the world in New York City. Thank you, Mayor Eric Adams. In my office, I always take the opportunity to thank the community leaders and community organizations that we partner with to provide the services and the support that our immigrant communities need.

And so I have a list, a long list of Korean and Asian led organizations that without your partnership, I don't know where we would be in support of our communities. So I want to shout out the Korean American Association of Greater New York, the Korean Community Service of Metro New York, the Asian American Federation, the Korean American Family Service Center, the World Hug Foundation, the Asian Americans for Equality for all the work that you do every day for our communities. I also want to shout out Phoebe Lee, our operations project manager, who's here with us from the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Eunice Lee, Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Prevention of Hate Crimes. And he's not on my list here, but I saw him earlier, Kevin from our city legislative affairs office, he's our liaison. Oh, there we go, Kevin.

Big shout out to Kevin. And it is now my honor to introduce to you someone who's been a tremendous partner with my office, but who has also become a very close friend of mine, and someone who I know understands what our communities go through. Please welcome commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services, Kevin Kim.

Commissioner Kevin Kim, Department of Small Business Services: Good afternoon everyone, Mayor Eric Adams. Let me simply start by just saying [speaks in Korean]. And that means thank you from the bottom of my heart. To many who see this flag raising event from the outside, it may just seem like a ceremonial event. I see all these people. Welcome to New York City if you're visiting. If you're New Yorkers, welcome here anyway. We love that you're here to observe something that is so special about our city. Over 190 countries are all here in the greatest city in the world, as Commissioner Castro just mentioned. But from the outside, it may just look like a ceremonial event. But I can assure you for the approximately 225,000 Korean Americans in the greater New York area, the 2 million Korean Americans in the United States, and the 40 million plus Koreans who call Korea their home, this event today has a deep personal meaning for us all. After all, it's an official recognition by the mayor of the greatest city in the world, that the contributions and sacrifices of Korean Americans over these past 139 years in America matters.

And it's an official recognition that so much of the fabric of the New York City economy relies on the often 24/7 operations of our Korean-American owned. Small businesses, our unsung heroes, the American delis, the nail salons, dry cleaners, and restaurants that all of you have frequented. And it's an official recognition of the 70 years of a strong security alliance between our country and the Republic of Korea that has helped bring prosperity to both nations. It's all that and so much more. As I look out into the audience, and as you look at the special invited guests here, I see three generations of a community that has come to America with a dream, the American dream. I see the future. I see the people who are here, who are the present, who have toiled away, many of them, in the storefronts and businesses so that people like me and people like my daughter can have that American dream and a better life than they had coming here.

So while many in our community have not had the political voice in the history of the United States thus far... Just until last year, we only had one state assemblyman who identified as Korean-American, and now we have two. Until last year, we never had a Korean-American member of the New York City Council, and now we have two. And until last year, New York City had never had a proud Korean American as a commissioner leading any New York agency. But thanks to Mayor Eric Adams, I am here today proudly standing before you as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. So again, Mayor Eric Adams, a true ‘Kamsahamnida’ in Korean. Thank you so much. Now I have the distinct honor to introduce to you someone who needs zero introduction.

We call him the get stuff done mayor. We call him the small business mayor. We call him sometimes the nightlife mayor. But above all, he is someone who has said New York City welcomes everyone, and everyone who comes to New York City will have the opportunity to live their American dream. So thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much, Commissioner Kim ,who not only is an advisor but a friend. Both Commissioner Castro and Commissioner Kim, they have played such a significant role as we continue to have a city government that is a reflection of the people that are the constituents and our clients that we are here to serve today. I was so proud to announce the first Persian deputy mayor in the city history with my deputy mayor of communications. Just to add with the first Filipino deputy mayor, the first Dominican deputy mayor, the first Trinidadian deputy mayor, the first African-American first deputy mayor, the first Filipino deputy mayor of the first... Over and over and over again, you hear the first. And as Commissioner Kim stated, a significant office at Small Business Services to be able to have someone with his dynamic experience to head these Small Business Services, something that many of our Korean Americans and Korean immigrants use. Small Business Services, for so long, and his approach to making government less bureaucratic has been a real win.

And I enjoyed my trip to Seoul. I like to believe that New York City is the Seoul of America. We have one of the largest Korean populations right here in this city. And as the mayor of Tenafly, I want to thank him for being here today, but to all the people on the line waiting to touch the bull, if you're from out of town, we only ask you to do one thing, spend money. Spend a lot of money in New York. Go to some of our small businesses and spend money. And to the Asian American Youth Council, I thought it was powerful, the words that came from one of the young representatives, because what the globe is going to look like is what we see in our young people today, and the crosspollination of ideas of culture, of experience, not staying within the sterilized environment of our own little communities, but expanding beyond that and really enjoying the diversity of this amazing city.

This city's classrooms are not inside buildings. They're inside our streets and our corners. And no one contribute to a great level to this community than the Korean community. You have been an amazing partner in small business services, finances, from Koreatown and Manhattan to Koreatown and Queens, steadfast, and your devotion and commitment on how to uplift this amazing city we call New York. You believe, as I say to all my immigrant, and second and third generation immigrants, you believe in family education, you believe in business, and most importantly, you believe in public safety, which I believe is a prerequisite to our prosperity. We must be safe. And so this flag raising has so much significance. Because when you are able to raise a flag here at the heart of Bowling Green, our financial capital of what we reflect on and live by, you're sending a strong message to the globe.

My role as mayor, I say over and over again, is to be both substantive by appointing great leaders like Castro and Kim. But it also must be symbolic. The symbolism of who we are is so important. Far too long, this city has not been a symbol of inclusiveness. The Japanese Americans who had to march in the park, the Persian Americans that didn't have a mayor that came and walked with them at their parade, the Korean Americans that didn't see representatives inside government and all the other groups, those days ended on January 1st, 2022 when I took my oath of office and stated I was going to be the mayor of the greatest and most diverse city on the globe. We're living that out today. Your children need to see you in government. Your children need to see their flags, their culture, their representative. What's great about America is the only country on the globe where you're told don't abandon your culture as you embrace this new culture. That hyphen that fits between our name indicates the importance of America.

Korean-American, African-American, German, Jewish, Polish, French, Italian-American, bring your culture to America so we can put our stamp of approval and show what a good product we have. No one does it better than New York City. This is not the city that's just the capital of the state. We're the capital of the rural. You have to be blessed to be a New Yorker. There's only two types of Americans, those who live in New York, and those who wish they could. You're one of the ones that wish they could. And we're going to raise this flag, raise our spirits, raise our energy, raise our city as we continue to recover from the devastation of Covid. We are not coming back, New York. New York is back. And we're back because of the great men and women of our immigrant community in general, and specifically to the Korean community. Thank you so much. Let's continue to raise the flag. Thank you.

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