Transcript: Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray Host Puerto Rican Heritage Reception at Gracie Mansion

June 5, 2014

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Hola. Buenas tardes. Bienvenidos a Gracie Mansion. Esta es la casa del pueblo. Esta es tu casa. Y siempre son bienvenidos aquí.

[Cheers]

Now for many of you, I know Puerto Rico is never far from your thoughts, but this week, you have lots of company. All across the city, New Yorkers from every background join you in celebration. That definitely includes me. Puerto Rico has always had a special place en mi corazon.

[Applause]

When Bill and I started dating – that’s our mayor, of course – our first big adventure was exploring the island’s beauty. And we stayed in the paradores in Ponce, Luquillo. And my favorite, because it’s so romantic, Utuago.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Utuado.

First Lady: He’s correcting my Spanish. Utuado, is that right?

[Cheers]

We did our best to see as much of the island as we could, and in the process we found out that we get along pretty well – most of the time. And we got married, and now Bill and I have traveled to Puerto Rico almost every year for Somos El Futuro, sometimes with our children, Chiara and Dante. And we have learned more about the island, the culture, the people – our people – every visit. Unfortunately we have not been able to do as much exploring on those last trips because they keep us pretty busy at Somos. But no matter how busy, no matter how packed the schedule is, we always make a point to visit El Picoteo in El Convento in San Juan.

[Cheers]

You know El Convento. It has such an amazing history. Now it’s a hotel with an amazing restaurant, but while sitting inside, you can almost hear the murmurings of the nuns who lived there for 200 years. Another place I think very romantic. And now, I have made myself very hungry for another visit to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. And I would like to introduce my fellow traveler in life, our mayor, Bill de Blasio.

[Applause]

Mayor: Gracias my corazon.

First Lady: This is why I married him.

Mayor: So, our First Lady is needed at an important gathering where she is the keynote speaker in Brooklyn, so she has to get there. But I want to say, we could not have a more beautiful, a more progressive, a more wonderful, a more compassionate First Lady. She is my everything, now she’s New York City’s everything. Let’s thank her.

[Applause]

Buenas tardes amigos y amigas. Es mi gran honor estar con ustedes esta tarde. Bienvenidos a mi casa, mi casita.

[Laughter]

I have so much I want to say, I’m going to try and say it very quick – but first, it’s my honor to talk about some of the wonderful people who are here. I want to just shout out some of the great members of my administration who are here: Marco Carrion, the head of our CAU, Stacy Cumberbatch, the commissioner of DCAS. We have wonderful elected officials who really make us all proud as New Yorkers. I’m going to name them all – our Speaker of the New York City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito, I know our Public Advocate Tish James is out there somewhere, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, Congressman Jose Serrano, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr,, New York State Assemblymember Luis Sepulveda, New York State Assemblymember Maritza Davila. Now this is another Spanish name, I hope I pronounce it right – Councilmember Jimmy van Bramer.

[Laughter]

Councilmember Jimmy van Bramer: Thank you Bill, that’s great.

Mayor: Consejal Ydanis Rodriguez, Assemblyman – oh, here I should have noticed a video camera – Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who is videoing me talking about him. And I’ll talk about our special guests in just a moment, I hope we will be joined by other wonderful leaders as we go along. I want to thank our sponsors, these are amazing events, so many people here, we’re so thrilled you’re joining with us. Let’s thank the people who made it possible, Anheuser-Busch, thank them. And then here’s some products that I can personally vouch for: Delicioso Coco Helado, Goya, La Taza de Oro, and Sabor Boriqueño. The entertainment tonight, Los Pleneros de la 21. And – well I’m not going to talk about our last guest, you’re going to do that – I can mention it? I can mention that Calle 13 is here?

[Cheers]

This is the place to be, you know. Maybe last night it was Orchard Beach, but tonight this is the place to be in New York City. Now, speaking of Jennifer Lopez, one of her famous songs, ‘Jenny From The Block’, has the line ‘boricuas in the house’ – are there any boricuas in the house?

[Cheers]

I think we’ve established that fact, we can move forward now. You’re going to hear from Melissa Mark-Viverito in a moment, and I just want to say, I am so proud to be her friend and her partner in government. And she has made history in a profound way as the first Puerto Rican – the first Latina – to hold citywide office in this city’s history.

[Applause]

And she is leading the fight for a progressive agenda, and at the same time, doing an extraordinary job serving the people of her district in El Barrio and in the Bronx – South Bronx. She has been an amazing leader in the city. You’re going to hear from her in a moment, but I want to thank her. Let’s thank her for all she does.

[Applause]

And maybe we can tempt Calle 13 to say a little something, or sing a little something, it’s their choice. But I appreciate their musical talent, I appreciate their courage and their strong voice.

The Puerto Rican people in this city have been quintessential to all that is New York City. The personality of this city, the culture of this city, the strength of this city is derived in large measure from the Puerto Rican community of this city. That is a fact. It goes back hundreds of years. The first Puerto Ricans to be a part of life in this city, but in recent decades, the strength of the Puerto Rican community has flowered more and more. And this weekend, the 57th Puerto Rican Day Parade will be bigger and better.

[Applause]

You this is a heritage that is strong, that gives you strength, it gives you clarity about who you are and what you care about. As one of the great Puerto Rican leaders of our country, Justice Sonia Sotomayor says, she says her Latino heritage is, ‘an ember that blazes forever’. And it gives her strength and it gives her spirit in all she does. There’s so much to love about this culture, so much that’s made us stronger. Now, you can talk about art, you can talk about music, for sure. You can talk about the strength of the family ties, you can talk about so many things. I personally would like to note, sometimes food is an important part of culture. I am a leading non-Puerto Rican expert on the topic of mofongo. I – some people would say I am a mofongo-ologist. I have gone all across the island of Puerto Rico sampling mofongo, I am happy to share my research with you at some point.

I believe in the important place in the diet of arroz con gandules. And I have, as Chirlane mentioned for both of us, we have a real special love – a very personal connection – to la Isla del Encanto. It’s very personal, so many amazing moments in our life – our children have been there, they love it too. So we feel such a personal tie, and a tie to the people of this city who have the great honor of being of Puerto Rican heritage.

We have a wonderful night here to enjoy each other. All the people who have done so much for this city together. So before I bring these dignitaries forward, un momento en español.

Es un placer celebrar la herencia puertorriqueña aquí en Gracie Mansion, la casa del pueblo, con tantos grades boricuas. Los puertorriqueños tienen una rica historia en Nueva York, y su legado se siente por toda la ciudad.

And with that, I bring you a great leader of this city, and someone who makes us proud every day, and upholds a strong and spirited progressive tradition with all she does, the Speaker of the New York City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito.

[Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito delivers remarks]

[Calle 13 delivers remarks]

Mayor: Okay, well we are so appreciative to everyone who is here. I have to say, these proceedings don’t usually involve international superstars, so we want to thank Calle 13 for bringing it up for everyone.

[Applause]

And before we close the program, we’ve been joined by some other good friends and I want to call them out. Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez of East Harlem, our New York City Commissioner of Probation and a native of Puerto Rico, Ana Bermudez, and a very special visitor all the way from Puerto Rico, el alcalde de Guanica, Santos Seda – otherwise known as ‘Papichy’. So with that, everyone, we are so proud to be here together tonight. We’re so pleased you’re here. Enjoy the people’s house, enjoy the beautiful weather, enjoy the beautiful food. Thank you, God bless you. Muchas gracias a todos.