Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Sansone Foundation Dinner

November 13, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio: This is – this is when we talk about the long and the short event.

[Laughter]

So I want to talk about Mary – and first of all, I want to note that Mary – I thought she was going to say in her very kind introduction that she thought I would be a good mayor because I share her philosophy. That would’ve been a very fair thing for her to say, because a lot of us share her philosophy. A lot of us believe in Mary Sansone. A lot of us learned a lot of what we think from Mary Sansone.

Unknown 1: [inaudible]

Mayor: What?

Unknown 1: [inaudible]

Mayor: What about Dr. [inaudible]?

Unknown 1: [inaudible]

Mayor: Well I agree with that. So – could security handle these hecklers, please?

[Laughter]

So – so Mary – Mary has been an example – and I can’t tell you how many people I have met who have learned from her, gained from her, grew from her, were inspired by her. The New York Times asked me five years ago who was the most interesting New Yorker I knew – and it was one of those things where you didn’t even have to think. For me it was like – and I know a lot of people – I said Mary Sansone right away. I said you find me someone more interesting, more energetic, who’s lived a fuller life, who has done so much for so many people – it’s extraordinary. And a lot of people have [inaudible] –

[Applause]

[Cheers]

And a lot of people in this room know her so, you know, you’re familiar with her, you think about your own prism with her – and in a way, that’s the most natural thing – but then think about how so many other people had the same experience you did – and how did one person reach so many people for so long? Well, first of all – here’s the secret of Mary Sansone – start when you’re really really young.

[Laughter]

And then never stop.

[Laughter]

[Applause]

Right? So, I said she’s the most interesting person – I could’ve equally said she’s the most inspirational person. But I said she’s the most interesting person because I look at this life where – you know, I guess you could almost say some people reinvent themselves along the way – I would never say Mary had to reinvent herself – she’s been the same person, to her great credit – but no matter how much the times change, she is relevant to the times, because of the way she lives, which is an amazing statement. There are some great people who – time passed them by. Mary is urgent and vibrant to this day.

And whenever I talk to her – first of all, I am – I shouldn’t say when I talk to her – whenever I listen to her – 

[Laughter]

– I bet no one else has had that experience –

[Laughter]

– when I patiently listen, receive my instructions –

[Laughter]

I am struck by – yes, I will admit that Mary is known to tell a story or two from the past – from time to time, she will remind you of certain historical truths – but she quickly moves to something that’s happening right now that she cares about. She cares deeply about what we’re doing to get kids pre-k, for example – she feels that deeply and urgently. She’ll tell you about something she did in the 1940s and in the next breath she’ll tell you about how we need more pre-k right now for kids in this community – and that’s a beautiful thing – to remember where you came from, remember what you fought for in the past, and still feel it as urgently today, that it’s relevant to today’s issues, today’s people. And then if you visit her house – so you could have two options – you could go to 42 Street to the United Nations or you can visit Mary Sansone’s house –

[Laughter]

– either way, you will meet interesting people from around the world, dealing with the issues of the day.

Unknown 2: You ever have meatballs, Mr. Mayor?

[Laughter]

Mayor: I am proud to say yes.

[Laughter]

By the way, the meatballs alone could’ve made her famous.

[Laughter]

You know? So I think it’s an extraordinary thing that Mary does every day – and have you noticed how she makes it look effortless? Have you noticed how, after all these years and all the people she’s reached and all the good she’s done, she never talks about what a strain it was or how difficult it was and, you know, what a burden – it sounds like a joy, because I think the way she’s lived life it has been a joy – and that’s something to learn from.

Now, from time to time, there is a side of Mary that can be critical.

[Laughter]

I – because I’m in high office and I would never use nasty words, I will let Mary use a phrase that she uses sometimes – it starts with the masses –

Mary Sansone: – are asses.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Now – thank you, Mary, for that assist. I don’t share that view – we’ve debated this point – I always tell her I think the people understand a lot – a lot of times the people are ahead of their leaders – but Mary can have her own sharp views. Sometimes she can tell it like it is, but that doesn’t stop her for a moment from having this love and this energy and this hope for people – and that really moved me along the years – really really moved me – because I think we all are looking for inspiration all the time. We’re all – I mean let’s face it, we all – a lot of people in this room I know well, have done a lot of good for the world and do important work, but you know, the modern world is a kind of draining place. It can be a tough place – a lot of demands, a lot of challenges. We all need that lift. We all need that energy. A lot of people – when I go to the version of the United Nations in Brooklyn at Mary’s house – a lot of people are there, I think, for reenergizing – for getting their batteries filled up for the next thing ahead, because there’s something about Mary and her consistency that keeps us going, reminds us what’s possible.

So, I wanted to be here because I love what Mary has done for all of us and for this city and for Brooklyn. I love the work of the foundation, which epitomizes what Mary and her whole family have been about.

It’s important to support this work. It’s important to keep it going. It’s important to remind people – by the way, it’s important to remind people what unity looks like. There’s another thing that Mary did long before it was fashionable was started talking about people needing to get along and see their common reality and their interests – the things they had in common, the things that bound them together – and stop looking at the superficialities that tore people apart. Mary was talking about that decades before a lot of other people were talking about it. Mary was working with people from different communities when it was almost taboo. And that is something that we still work on to this day.

I have a lot of faith in the masses, Mary. I have a lot of faith in you, but I also have a lot of faith in the masses. But I do think, as humans, we’re always working on the question of unity. It is a human challenge. We’ve learned over years and decades to get closer together, to understand each other better, to break down some biases, to get over some prejudices – but it’s still work we do every day. And Mary was doing it long before other people figured out that it was the right thing to do – and her very presence reminds us to keep at that work, to keep at it.

[Applause]   

Now, I just want to do just a couple of things very quick. The foundation – when the foundation honors you, you know you’re doing something right. So tonight I want to commend everyone who is a part of this – first the honorees, Dominic Caramagno – congratulations, Dominic.

[Applause]

And Gina DeSciora.

[Applause]

[Cheers]

Gina. You’ve got a cheering section here.  You know, I was just in Italy in July so I’m not going to do any of these American – I’m not doing the American versions of the names.

[Applause]

DeSciora.

Unknown 3: Perfect!

Mayor: Caramagno. [inaudible]. So – and of course, a man who makes this foundation work – we really appreciate his leadership – Dr. Carmine Gibaldi. Let’s thank Carmine for all he does.

[Applause]

And I’ve got to tell you – a lot of people have known Mary, been inspired by Mary as I said. I want to give you an example – one of them is here tonight. And in case you thought at any point in the last few weeks something had happened in your life that was inconvenient or a problem or a hassle and just ruined your day, well imagine when Dr. Ram Raju found out he had someone with Ebola at Bellevue Hospital.

[Laughter]

So – and I say that – I’m not making light of crisis – thank God Dr. Spencer is well – and we got to see him out the other day, which was a joy – he is a great hero – but Ram Raju literally getting that call – president of HHC – Ram, where are you?

[Applause]

President of HHC. So again, think of the thing in your life in the last few weeks that you thought was a real pain. Ram gets that call – the great thing about Ram is I talked to him very soon after and it wasn’t like there was the slightest panic or fear. He was like, “Yeah, we’ve got a little Ebola situation over here.”

[Laughter]

So – but Ram is great – everyone at Bellevue. And by the way, Bellevue Hospital made New York City so proud these last weeks – something beautiful to watch.

[Applause]

And now, because I am trained by Mary in public speaking, I’m going to wrap these concepts together and complete my remarks before I lose my audience entirely. So, the concepts here come together because we had this crisis at Bellevue Hospital and what happened? There were two kinds of responses.

There were people in fear – unfortunately giving in to their worst impulses – who literally started acting negatively to the people who worked at Bellevue. There were people in the nearby community who wouldn’t serve food to the nurses who worked at Bellevue because they thought they might get infected. We got a report of a daycare center who turned away the daughter of a nurse at Bellevue because her mother worked at Bellevue. So, we saw some of the – unfortunately – the side that we’re still working on as human beings. We saw the fear, we saw the prejudice. By the way, the individuals who were being discriminated against had nothing to do with Dr. Spencer, were nowhere near him – they just worked at Bellevue. That was enough for some people to say they wouldn’t have anything to do with them.

And you can say, well, if the story ended there that would be a very sad story – except the opposite was what really happened. People at Bellevue who worked there volunteered to help Dr. Spencer – they lined up to help Dr. Spencer. They wanted to help this hero who had gone to protect all of us. He went there to Africa to protect all of us and to protect the people there. So, the people who work at Bellevue thought it was their moral obligation to serve him and they went toward the potential danger. And people closed ranks and they did everything they could to make him well – and they succeeded. And that is the side of humanity we not only celebrate but we aspire to emulate – and that is what Mary Sansone has been teaching us all these years. So, that’s why I’m honored to – [inaudible] –

[Applause]

Thank you.