Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks to St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church

December 12, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, St. Gabriel’s.  

Audience: Good morning. 

Mayor: First, I want to give honor to God. Without him, this day would not be possible. I feel very, very thankful today, profoundly thankful. And it feels like coming home to come back to St. Gabriel's, this place that has meant so much to me and my family on our long journey. I have to tell you this extraordinary church is a rock of this community. I know you know it, but I want to say it – it's a rock of this community. It is a place where so much good springs from. And you have had extraordinary leaders over the years. And now, that mantle falls to Father Donovan, to lead this great church forward. And I was moved by his words, his powerful invocation of what we're going through at this moment in history. And Father, thank you – thank you for the honesty of acknowledging the greed that is out there in the world and hold so many of us back. 

[Applause] 

And if these last eight years are anything, it has been an attempt to answer that greed, to ensure that those who have done very well share a little more with all the rest of us, to make sure that hard working people get their due and are able to live a decent life. That's what we've all been doing together. But it all happened because of you. I want to say, Father, thank you. Thank you for your leadership. This extraordinary church that helps the community in so many ways, helps young people with scholarships, helps seniors. The whole way through life, this church is here for the people of this community. And Father Donovan has been an extraordinary leader. Let's thank him for all he does.  

[Applause] 

Absolutely beautiful. And what an example of the beauty of this place and the faith. And that, again, comes from leaders, and it comes from family, and it comes from the strength of this community. And in our house, at Gracie Mansion, we have corrected a historical mistake. You know, for a long time, many of us grew up with a phrase that is no longer appropriate. We used to say, behind every great man stood a great woman.  

[Laughter] 

Well, as I salute the First Lady, Sandra Legall-Leys, of this congregation, I would like to say what Chirlane McCray has taught me to say – my wife has taught me to say – is beside every great man stands a great woman. Thank you, First Lady. 

[Applause] 

And I also want to thank for his leadership here, the Right Reverend Daniel Allotey. Thank you, Reverend.  

[Applause] 

And, Reverend, I think in these last days as our Mayor-elect has visited Ghana and visited Cape Coast where I have been as well, I imagine you're feeling some nostalgia. But we're glad you're here with us. We're glad you're here with part of this community.  

[Applause] 

Now, I want to say a few things. I'll be very quick, but I have to say at the beginning, I understand – I have a sense of humility as I finish this part of the journey as your mayor. I understand I never would've been your mayor if it wasn't for all of you. And I understand that you might have not seen the possibilities that I could bring and my team could bring to this city if it weren't for the extraordinary leadership of Una Clarke. I want to give her all the praise. 

[Applause] 

And I am one of not just dozens, but hundreds who have been taken under her wing and who she gave the inspiration and the support to keep going. What I think is so powerful about Una Clarke's journey is it has never been about her and how she amasses power or recognition. It has been about the empowerment of the whole community. And my colleagues who were acknowledged earlier will personally attest, each and every one of us and so many others were able to serve because we had a mentor and a guide who was about something bigger. I have to tell you, she has been indispensable not only to this community, but to this whole city. Let's thank Una Clarke.  

[Applause] 

Her only failing is if only she had a more flamboyant fashion sensibility.  

[Laughter] 

So, on the theme of thanks, let me say this – everything was made possible by you, everything. And it's not just the act of deciding who will win an election. And this community spoke powerfully back in 2013. It is the belief that things can and must change. When we presented the vision of Pre-K for All – and I know this has been so near and dear to the heart of Una Clarke, and, obviously, Congress Member Yvette Clarke as well. We presented this vision and it was met with the doubting Thomases. They always show up, don't they? The people who tell us what we can't do. This is such a pervasive reality. And it's personal, as well as political. We are bombarded with messages about what we can't do. So, I presented something that people wanted. The people wanted pre-K for their children. They wanted it guaranteed. They wanted it for free. They wanted it to be quality. And immediately, the naysayers said it was impossible. But you believed it was necessary. And now, in this city, because of you, pre-K is guaranteed to every single child. And we liked it so much, we now have guaranteed it for our three-year-olds as well. This changed because of you. When we said that we needed to create affordable housing for the community, we needed to create and preserve, and subsidize hundreds of thousands of apartments, so every-day working people could stay here and thrive here. They said it was impossible. They said it couldn't be done. Well, in the next few weeks, we will have reached 200,000 apartments built or subsidized, and protected for every-day working people in this city – 200,000. And we need more. And more are coming.  

When we said we could ensure that all the good entrepreneurs, this small business people, the people who built something, and came from communities of color, and who were women should have more opportunity. The folks who had been, for years and years, shut out of all those government contracts, that they should be favored, and we would need to do it on a grand scale. $25 billion – I said, let's put $25 billion of government contracts into the hands of this community. They said it couldn't be done. Well, my dear friends, we are going to meet that goal. We are going to reach that goal. $25 billion in small businesses invested in this city to make a difference in people's lives. Each and every one of these things – and most poignantly, my wife Chirlane, based on pain we had experienced in our own family, she said let's do something revolutionary. Let's break the stigma associated with mental health.  

Let's change the reality. Let's have a city where people can talk openly about a very human reality that we all, every family, is touched by mental health challenges because they're part of the human condition. It's not something to be ashamed of. It's something to work through together, and she created an approach to ensure that mental health care would be available in every community for those in need. They said it couldn't be done, but now it exists in this city. It's happening today.  

[Applause]  

All of these things were because you believed a change could be made. And so, I come here in thankfulness, deep thankfulness, because the real change has to come from the people. It's impossible without you. And I would urge you to never lose faith or hope that that change can be made. It's hard in these moments, what we've been through the pandemic, those tough four years we went through in Washington D.C. with a president who shall not be named, it's easy to be discouraged, but the way we change things is by keeping our hope and by standing strong and by bonding together, and you have proven it time and time again. Now I want to tell you something, this particular part of my journey will end in the next few weeks, but I am more focused and energized than ever on public service because I've seen what we can do together. Even in the midst of this pandemic we fought our way through. The heroism here in this congregation and this community, the heroism, the compassion, the strength people have shown, it's given me more faith, more hope, and I believe we can keep raising the bar on what our families deserve.   

And so, I'm going to fight, not just for things like pre-K and 3-K, I'm going to fight to make sure that every single child can stay in their school, if a parent needs them to stay in school until the end of the afternoon when the parent gets off work, what if our schools actually reflected the lives of our families and the child could stay there for free, with support and love and tutoring and recreation and arts and culture. A child should be able to stay in school as long into the afternoon as parent needs. That's what a society that actually cares about children and families looks like. In the summer, you should not have to wonder where your child should go. It should be free and universal and available to all. This is the level of guarantee a family deserves. I'm going to fight for that because we proved we could do more and there's still more to do.   

So, everyone, thank you. Thank you for in every moment, by your own example, giving me faith. By your own example, not just words, not just votes but by your example and your goodness. I have more optimism for the future today than when I first saw you over eight years ago, and you've given me that hope, and I know together we will end this pandemic. Together we will build a better and more fair and more just society. We've proven we can do it before, and we will do it again. Once a good man asked me a question last year in the worst of the pandemic, he said, Mayor, do you think New York City will ever restore what we had before? Will we ever regain our lost glory? And I said to him, I respect the question, but I think it is the wrong question, because before the pandemic there were great things, but there were also problems. There was a lot of inequality. There was a lot of unfairness that still had not been addressed. We should not be asking the question can we restore our past glory? We should ask this simple question, how do we reach our greater glory? Because it's in us. We could do that together. Thank you. And God bless you all.   

[Applause]  

Now, one special, special moment I want to take with you, to honor a member of this congregation who's done so much and I believe it's her birthday now as well. Estella Phillip, will you come forward, please? Is Estella here? Yes. Alright. While Estella is coming up, I will say this, for 20 years now she has supported the seniors of this community at the Older Adult Center, and she is such a great example of what we love about our borough, Brooklyn, our City of New York, people who come here, live out their dreams, achieve so much in their life, but then do that most beautiful thing come back to the community and contribute. And what Estella has done for so many of the seniors is given them a better life, giving them a sense that someone loved them and cared about them and could make their day better. And she's not just done that for a day or a month or a year. She's done that for 20 years – 20 years.  

[Applause]  

So, Estella Phillip, on behalf of the people of New York City, in recognition of your extraordinary contributions, I want to present to you this official certificate to say New York City thanks you. You came to join us and you made this a better place. Thank you and God bless you.  

[Applause]   

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