Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks To Kick Off “Saturday Night Lights” Fall Season

October 14, 2023

Michelle Yanche, Executive Director, Good Shepherd: Welcome everyone. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the Prince Joshua Avitto Community Center. And first, I want to share with all of you that this community center was named after Prince Joshua Avitto, a 6‑year‑old boy whose life was senselessly taken in 2014. And in 2014, his life was senselessly taken in the Boulevard Houses just across the street. And when we decided to create this center, we wanted to name it in his honor. Five years ago, we had the ribbon cutting and opened this amazing space, and it really was an action that we took together with our partner, Man Up!, and my brother here, A.T. Mitchell.

Good Shepherd Services and Man Up! really wanted to name this space in his honor as a real testament to what every child really deserves to have, and that is a safe space in their community where they can live, thrive, learn and just have fun. And I can't imagine any better place to hold this today and celebrate Saturday Night Lights, which is a program that really welcomes young people into this space to do exactly that.

Since we opened five years ago, 3,000 individuals come in through the doors every year, and it is really a place that is teeming with activity, individuals of all ages, but most importantly, young people who can come here and really enjoyed being young, learning, having relationships with positive mentors and partners in the community; and most importantly, having time with each other, which every young person really deserves to have.

So, we are here today to celebrate Saturday Night Lights, and I really want to thank my colleague, Mark Yepez for his leadership since day one moving this program here when the center opened, and the entire leadership team here at the Prince Joshua Avitto Community Center, both the teams at of Good Shepherd Services and of Man Up!

We want to thank all of our partners who have helped both bring the center to life as well as to fill it with all of the amazing activities that the individuals of East New York are able to celebrate and enjoy every day, especially Saturday Night Lights. And I also want to share with you that once upon a time, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams helped to provide resources to open up this center and outfit it and make sure that they could have this beautiful gymnasium and where Saturday Night Lights is able to come to life. And so with that, I would love to introduce you to our New York City mayor, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. And it's unfortunate that Prince Joshua didn't have the opportunity to grow up to be the king that he could have become, and so many of our princesses are not going to be the queens that they could become. And sometimes we benchmark our lives by tragic events, but I'm going to ask all of you, particularly those of you who are part of the Cure Violence and Man Up!, let the babies speak. We like, you know, we like to hear from the babies.

Don't, you know, only emphasize some of the painful memories that many of you have experienced that are in this work, but think about some of the lives you've saved. Think about the young people… And those stats you can't find anywhere. You know, we count the number of homicides, we  counted the number of shootings, we count the number of young people that transition prematurely from the physical to the spiritual. But we don't count the number of lives that are saved

And if you were to sit back and give yourself the opportunity of reflection, how many of those young people you see walking down the block today that you had to take off the corner, or they came to you and said, I'm trying to get out of the gang, or I'm trying to put the gun down, and you sat down and you nurtured them, you hugged them, you gave them the consulting that they needed.

And you need to really commend yourself, because the work that you're doing, you may not realize it, but you're going through vicarious trauma also, you know, of funeral after funeral sometimes we attend, sitting in the hospitals. I remember going to the hospital with brother A.T.,  with one of your soldiers who was shot. You know, there's some trauma there.

And as we help people who are experiencing trauma, we've got to take our moment for ourselves, periods of reflection, periods of celebration, of acknowledgment for what we're doing, because this is real work. It's real work. You know, long after crime scene tape is gone, long after the cameras are gone, you're still on the ground. You're still on the ground talking to people, conflict resolution, stopping the retaliatory shooters.

The number of shootings, the number of the retaliatory actions that you have done over the years, it's just unbelievable. For my days of state senate to my days as borough president and now my days as mayor. You know, I am proud that the first dollars that went to the Cure Violence model [came] and the years from the legislation I passed in the state senate, which was SNUG ‑‑ "guns" spelled backwards ‑‑ and you guys were the best RDI, Return on our Investment that I could ever imagine.

And you have a real hero in my brother A.T. Mitchell. For the almost 30 years that I've known A.T., he has been just so true to this. As I like to say, he's not new to this, he's true to this. He's dedicated his life to doing this and to really pouring into the teams. And so the partnership with Good Shepherd, we could say over and over again, you will never be a good shepherd if you don't hang out with the sheep. You have to be among the people, and you have to continuously be there.

A lot of people want to solve these problems from the sterilized environments of their office spaces and don't want to get among people here on the ground. You know, we have to be on the ground. We have to be very much engaged, that's why you see me at the crime scenes, you see me where tragedy happens. I want to be in the hospital speaking with parents and loved ones, because if you're so removed from this, you think it's just a bunch of stats and it's not real human beings and real lives.

And the authentic approach to this work is what you have done — this team behind us amazing — and the amazing men and women of the law enforcement community, they have dispelled all those myths and rumors that law enforcement and the community can't work together and come up with real solutions, because they can. And trust me when I tell you, you know, there were many days when I was a cop and I had to sit in that locker room for hours because of what I saw while I was on the street.

I was so broken when I retired from the police department. Thank God for my son. My son said, dad, you need to get help. You know, know you need to get help. We can laugh it off, we can think we brush it off, but listen, those images stay with you. You know, those images stay with you over and over again.

And I want to thank the folks of the NYPD who are sincere, who really believe in this, who are dedicated to the work. And Brother Parker, you know, and what you're doing. You know, many of you may not know the work that Chauncey is doing in bringing in those dollars so we can continue to fund these upstream methodologies that we have put in place.

If a young person has a basketball in their hand, they're not going to have a 9 in their hand. If they are in a safe space, they're not going to be creating atmospheres where it's unsafe. These are proactive ways of Saturday nights to do things, over 100 programs all over the city just really committed to this work. And we're going to expand, you know, to give them applications to civil service jobs, to tell them to come into law enforcement, teaching, we need nurses.

You know, if you're in this space, you first play a little ball, then you sit down and you interact and say, what are your career opportunities? You know, what book are you reading; the chancellor is on this whole thing about, "what book are you reading now."

And just really allowing our young people to have an environment like this, a clean space where they can develop their full personhood. And we're reaching out to a lot of our celebs, entertainers and sports figures and saying, listen, you guys gotta come and get on the ground. You know, you've got to come and partner with organizations like yours and say, you know, how do we use those two terms that have been introduced into our lives "credible messengers" and "influencers."

We can be credible messengers and influencers to put people on the right path or we could be credible messengers and influencers that put them on the wrong path. And we want to do that.

Saquon Barkley from the Giants wants to come out, brother French Montana wants to come out. A lot of these cats are saying, how do we help? What can we do? You know, our lives are busy, our lives are full, but what can we do on the ground? People are ready to get back on the ground and do some real work, because all of us are tired of naming streets, buildings, places, blocks after our fallen prince and princess. It's time to allow them to be the kings and queens that they deserve to be.

There by the grace of God goes I, and I'm going to continue to be committed to this work for as long as I'm in the place and even after I leave the role as the Mayor of the City of New York, I'm going to continue to do this type of work, because this is what I believe in with all my heart and all of my commitment.

And I've turned over the responsibility of this to who I believe is one of my most important commissioners, the commissioner of DYCD. We had a number of hearings with young people throughout the city and we heard from them. Number one and number two issues, mental health, they talked about, and being safe. They were very clear. Out of all the things our young people are thinking about, they say we have to deal with these mental health issues that people are facing, and they said, we want to be safe. We want to be safe.

And those hearings and those town halls were so instructional hearing from our young people, and I thank them for what they contribute. We took all that information and we moved forward. And I just want to thank the commissioner of DYCD, we'll bring out Commissioner Howard. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner.

Commissioner Keith Howard, Department of Youth and Community Development: One of the things that the mayor had charged all of our city agencies with is making sure that we are working out of silos. That was the first thing that he charged us with. And here is a prime example how organizations, how agencies can work out of silos, work collaboratively to put forth his vision; and his vision is Saturday Night Lights, and he is well focused in on.

I want to thank Good Shepherd, of course. They're one of our senior partners and community based organizations. I can't say enough about Man Up! and A.T. Mitchell, he's my brother. And we worked so collaboratively together in the crisis management system. We want to thank the DAs, all five of them; Parks Department; NYPD, of course, for just being in this real space and working with us to make sure that the programs and Saturday Night Lights actually functions.

But here's something that you did not know that the mayor had also instructed DYCD to do. Back in June of 2022, we were in the Bronx at PAL and one of the young men who was playing basketball for Saturday Night Lights, he was complaining that he had no food. There was nothing to eat. So, what the Mayor did is he charged us to make sure that the Saturday Night Lights program actually had and served food. So, yes, clap that up, right?

From July, 2022, all the way up to last fiscal year, we served 200,000 meals at Saturday Night Lights. 200,000 meals in Saturday Night Lights.

In this new fiscal year, starting in July, we served 43,000 meals in Saturday Night Lights across the city for… And we're talking about over 130 programs. We're talking about more than thousands and thousands of young people, making sure that not only are they coming for a safe space From five p.m. to nine p.m., but that they're fed. And that food insecurity, which is also, as A.T. Mitchell has often said, a trigger to gun violence, that they get fed, have a good time and stay safe.

So, I also want to bring up one of our partners, and what can I say about NYPD? This year in Summer Youth Employment, SYEP, they had a thousand kids, a thousand kids in SYEP. Imagine that, a thousand kids. This coming October in our Work, Learn and Grow, they're going to have 600 kids working in NYPD, working side by side with detectives and lieutenants and commanders all throughout the city, learning, dealing with the community and community relations.

And I owe that not only to the Mayor but also to the police commissioner, Commissioner Caban, and also the First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, who we're bringing up now. Tania.

First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, Police Commissioner: Greetings, everyone. I was really excited this week because I knew I was coming here; and anyone that knows me — commissioner, Chauncey, the mayor, A.T. — I love kids. I was a precinct commander in the 120 Precinct last year at this time, and I remember being on a Teams meeting with Commissioner Chauncey a few months prior, the 2022 in the summer, and he was talking about Saturday Night Lights and opening up centers, and you know, in and around the developments in Staten Island.

And I was so excited. And I'll never forget telling him, count me in. I want to be… I want to keep our kids off the streets, count me in. So, every week we had a Teams meeting, we had a meeting and we discussed, how can we not just play sports with our kids, but how can we have a lasting effect? The sports was the icebreaker, right? The sports is the icebreaker, but how do we have that lasting effect on our children?

How do we keep our children off the streets? How do we not just play video games or basketball games with them, hula hoops, Double Dutch — I love Double Dutch — how do we keep them off the street, because I wasn't just a precinct commander, I live in the 120 Precinct. I raise my children in the 120 Precinct. I grew up in the South Bronx. And we never had this. We never had cops come in to play video games or basketball or Double Dutch or dodgeball with us.

So, it was very important for me as a precinct commander to make sure that my troops, my officers knew how important Saturday Night Lights were to me. And I remember telling Chauncy that we had this conversation that we have to feed these kids. We have to feed them, because some of our kids are going home not being fed. And I'm grateful for our Mayor. I'm grateful for the city that now that we have food, now we're able to feed them.

But the mayor is right: we as a community, it shouldn't be four or five, the same kids here every weekend. We as a community — meaning you, me — have the obligation to our children to keep them off the streets. Me? I will have that obligation to make sure that officers, the right officers are here, mentoring, playing basketball with the kids, having them sign up for Blue Chips, having them sign up for academic help if they need academic help.

Just because a kid makes a mistake doesn't make them a bad kid. And we shouldn't count them out. We as adults, as a community, parents — because we're all parents here — should make sure that our children are off the streets on Saturdays in the summertime, make sure they're here playing basketball or Double Dutch, dodgeball, and making sure that they have somewhere to go where it's safe and fun. Thank you and God bless.

Commissioner Howard: So, we're going to invite Matt, the producer, up to show us the PSA.

Matthew Ross: I'm Matthew Ross, this is Alan Bibby, we directed the spot together. I'm about to introduce this gentleman in a second. Normally we make feature films, television, commercials, music videos. But honestly, this was a much richer and more rewarding experience than any of that stuff.

When commissioner Parker first approached us about working on this and we spent a night touring the Saturday Night Lights facilities all throughout the city, we immediately said yes. It was just a remarkable experience.

Alan Bibby: It's initiatives like this that really bring people together in our great city of what's really important right now. So, we're both New Yorkers, we're both fathers, and to be able to contribute to something like this that we really believe in was an incredible opportunity.

Ross: Yes. I was born in Manhattan, I live in Brooklyn. I've got a 2‑year‑old daughter. So, working with these kids just meant a tremendous amount to me personally.

Bibby: And having a 14‑year‑old son growing up in Brooklyn, I've lived here for about 24 years, it was pretty special.

Ross: And just again, just meeting everybody involved with this program, from the officers, to the kids, to the cops that are spending every Saturday night looking out for these kids, was just...it was beyond inspiring. I felt like I was participating in something really special, and that's what this program is.

Bibby: Also seeing how it's grown, like from a few gems to so many across the boroughs and what it's brought to all of them, all of the kids.

Ross: So, hearing the stories and the passion from our friend Zaire Washington... Varsity point guard at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, excellent basketball player, but really just an even better young man. He really personifies what Saturday Night Lights is all about. When we were touring the facility the first night, he came out and introduced himself just to tell us how much he loved it, so we knew that we had our star immediately, and that's what you're about to see in the spot that's about to come up.

Bibby: So, I just want to thank everyone who donated all of their time, all of the efforts, from the crew who shot this to the sound designers, musicians, editors, everyone who contributed all of their time because they thought it was something really worthwhile and something worth being involved in. So, I thank you.

Ross: Again, thank you, everyone. And let's watch the spot.

[Video plays].

Commissioner Howard: So, we have a star in the making. C'mon and say a couple of words. I know I'm going to put you on the spot. C'mon. Your family's here. Say a couple of words.

Zaire Washington: I just want to thank you for everybody supporting me, and enjoy the moment while we have it. Thank you for SNL. Thank you.

Commissioner Howard: I want to bring up now our amazing Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas.

State Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas: Good afternoon, good evening to everyone. You all sound exciting, good afternoon!

So, this is really a tremendous moment for East New York. A lot of times, mayors come in coming to this district...or, don't come into the district. And I just want to, before beginning anything, just acknowledging the commitment that Mayor Adams has made to East New York and similar areas like East New York, because while we have some severe conditions that happen in our communities, it is not unique when it comes to places that house Black people — and we have to be unafraid to really say those things.

The level of commitment that he has made is not just here today with the tremendous partnerships of Man Up! and Good Shepherd, I've been running this man down from the time...and this is the truth, that's why he's probably laughing in the back. But this is before he even became mayor, when he was the borough president, he was an assembly person.

And his level of commitment and passion for community, young people, for our future has been consistent. And that, to me, measures his character as being one of "the" most genuine persons that I have come across as a colleague as well as a leader and a mayor. So, I just want to acknowledge that and just kind of clap him up.

A lot of people don't understand the dynamics of our culture, of our community. This Saturday night program really brings a lot of friends and enemies together. This is a place in which people who have beef on the outside leave it on the outside. This is where partnerships and friendships are developed. This is where people eat, some people have to shower, and this is a reflection of what's going on in our community that have often been ignored for years.

And if we do not and did not get this right and together as partners, I don't care if we agree or disagree on some things, but the one thing I think that we agree on is that we have to protect our future. And if we don't do it, then who will?

And so I want to leave with this: if God grants you the next day, if God grants you tomorrow ‑‑ and this is for everybody and especially our young people. If God grants you tomorrow, understand that your past doesn't dictate where you're going to go and tomorrow brings you another opportunity. And this is important, that we level out and provide all of the resources necessary for our young people to grab those opportunities and live to see tomorrow in a positive way and be able to share that.

I love y'all. If nobody else ever told y'all that. Being here in this community, I appreciate all the love that we have within this room. But it's nothing if we don't share these opportunities with each other. So, if you're here today and you don't see your friend or your neighbor, let them know what's happening in our community, because a lot of times you hear everything that's negative but you don't hear those positive things.

Man Up!, Good Shepherd, my office, 425 New Lots Avenue are open spaces to welcome and house and safe spaces for us to go. But I need y'all to share the opportunity. I need y'all to share the information. Does everybody agree to do that? I don't see everybody with their hands up.

I love y'all, and thank you, mayor, thank you, A.T., thank you, Good Shepherd.

Commissioner Howard: Finally, to close us out. I really want to introduce someone who has been at my side at DYCD overseeing the office of gun violence and crisis management and the gun violence task force, our czar, and as the founder and CEO of Man Up! he plays a major role in fighting violence here in East New York and basically throughout the city, in all the five boroughs.

I often tell A.T. if he wasn't the czar or the founder and executive director, he should be a pastor, because he has some very inspiring words, and he has a vision and he has a vision that he knows how to articulate to the community to get community involvement.

Just bring up the head of the Man Up!, the one who runs this center, the czar who is out there putting his life, going out there every day making sure that the community's safe, my friend, my brother, A.T. Mitchell.

A.T. Mitchell, Founder and CEO, Man Up!: So, good evening, everyone. It is in fact a good day here in East New York. I really am excited. I'm elated as I stand and I look outside and I look at all of you and I see, this reminds me of the day that we cut the ribbons of this beautiful center now some five to six years ago.

I cannot tell you all enough how excited I am whenever our Mayor is able to come by our way here, East New York, which is very frequent, by the way. He's no stranger to these parts of Brooklyn. And I am so appreciative of the men and women that he chooses to commission his agencies — i.e., my good friend, Commissioner Keith Howard, and of course, our first deputy commissioner from the New York City Police Department.

And so I am so grateful to actually have these relationships in place. We have these partnerships like my partnership with my friend as well as Collins here at Good Shepherd Services. I don't know how many of you all grew up but we used to hear the commercial, it's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are? Right?

Well, we can tell you in East New York here at the Prince Joshua Avitto Community Center, if you ask yourself that question, as my colleague Michelle mentioned, our young people are in this building, and they're taking advantage of this lovely space. They're upstairs and they're downstairs, they're in or around about so long that the maintenance team, security team, they have to often push us out because we really tap out, we take it all the way to the wire. And that's the kind of work that has been happening.

And this is exactly how the Mayor said, this is how you reverse crime, this is how you reverse gun violence. You reverse gun violence by having centers like this where programs like the Saturday Night Lights and other programs can coexist, that can be offered. If you offered a Saturday Night Lights to any young person and you put it next to a gun, and you put it next to a decent housing and decent food, more than likely, the gun will be the last choice that that young person chooses. They will pick up a program like Saturday Night Lights, a decent program, some food in a minute.

But we are working collectively as you see demonstrated with our state assemblywoman and our elected officials to make sure that these options are made available. And so we are excited about today. I want to congratulate my good friend Chauncey as well, Parker and his work that he has put in with Saturday Night Lights as well… 

And to all of the men and women who work diligently, can I get my men and women of Man Up! to stand, please? I do not want, like the Mayor said, to take advantage...I want to take advantage of this time, because these men and women, although a lot of people don't understand exactly the work that they do...

But they put their lives on the line every single day and every single night that they come to work as well, and they are a big part of the public safety ecosystem. And so I just wanted them to be recognized in this space as well. Thank you for you entrusting in me as your leader and being a comrade and a colleague of yours. Thank you so much. Thank you all for coming out. We're looking forward to, I believe there's some food that we're going to enjoy, break some bread. And please, always feel comfortable coming back to the Prince Joshua Avitto Community Center. Thank you.