Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at Flag-Raising Ceremony for Lebanon

December 6, 2024

Watch the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VubcWwXB3u4

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. And we all know that New York City is the Beirut of America with our large Lebanese community, and my visit to Lebanon was one of great joy and friendship.  

I don't care if it's Pigeon Rock or if it's Cedar Forest, the people are the same. If you sit out and smoke a hookah in Beirut at one of the cafes, you get the same love, you get the same diversity. Many people don't know of the rich, Christian, Arab, Muslim, and all groups that come to Lebanon.  

And so it breaks my heart as I see the conflict in the region, a region that's so important. And whatever plays out on the international stage, it plays out on the streets of New York City as we continue to come together as one city.  

I wanted to be here today to have the first flag raising of the Lebanese community right here at Bowling Green, where many of you started prior to building the Battery Tunnel. You settled here, you worked here, you believed in what this city had to offer and what this country has to offer.  

But we're very clear in America. You do not have to abandon your country and your country of birth to embrace the American dream. In fact, we encourage just the opposite. We encourage you to bring your food, your way of life, your dress, your dance, your music. To be part of the underlying theory of Americanism, it is to bring your culture with it.  

So I thank you for what you have done for our city. I thank [you] for the many relationships that have developed, some extremely personal like my friend John and Habib of what he has brought to me. And as I spread the love of all of our communities in general, specifically, I want to thank the Lebanese community for what you have done for the city and our country. Let's raise a flag as we raise your independence. Thank you very much. 

###