Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry, Public Safety: Good morning, everyone. I know they heard the breaking news today. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going. We'll be here for the next four years, but I will be stepping down just for a small bit today and DJ Daniel will be taking my place as the honorary deputy mayor for Public Safety. And with that, I was going to turn it over to the mayor of the greatest city in America, Mayor Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you, DJ. Thank you for being with us here today that he has moved across the city and country doing what he loved. And, you know, in this city, public safety has always been the administration's top priority. It has been DJ's top priority as well.
He has set the Guinness Book of World Records for being sworn into the most law enforcement agencies, being sworn into over 1,300 law enforcement agencies across the country, 1,350 to be exact, including high profile roles like the New York City police commissioner for the day and an honorary member of the U.S. Secret Service. And today, we're proud to add one more role to this list of achievements and that's the deputy mayor for Public Safety for the City of New York.
When it comes to choosing people to serve in the critical role, we are looking for courage, commitment and experience. And you see all these stars and shields and diamonds and he has the experience that we need. He's battle-tested. He's a battle-tested leader with a strong record of public service and we are proud to swear him in for one day as a deputy mayor of Public Safety. I look forward to working with him to deliver the safety for all New Yorkers.
We're going to make sure that while DJ is here that he gets to visit the Empire State Building and other major attractions in the city that we keep safe from those who want to harm us. And so DJ, let's do the swearing in. Okay, are you ready? We're doing it here or here? Here? We'll be right there.
Okay, place your hand on the Bible and raise your right hand. I do hereby pledge and declare that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of deputy mayor for Public Safety of the City of New York according to the best of my ability. So help me God.
Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel: I do hereby pledge and declare that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of deputy mayor for Public Safety of the City of New York according to the best of my ability. So help me God.
Mayor Adams: Congratulations, DJ. Can’t be deputy mayor without one of the deputy mayor shirts. And that's for you, okay? You don't have to put it on, you can just turn it around and show.
Daniel: That's not how we do it out in Texas. Just act like nobody's seeing you.
Mayor Adams: Love it, love it. Thank you. He’s making sure the uniform is sharp.
Daniel: Well, I gotta make sure it don't look bad.
Mayor Adams: We have for you your proclamation. So whereas DJ is a 13-year-old young man from Houston, Texas, who has been battling brain and spinal cancer since 2018, when he received the devastating prognosis of having just five months to live.
Now, after seven years and more than 13 surgeries, DJ is still standing and fighting. The teen dreams of having a career as a police officer and has been sworn into 1,351 law enforcement agencies across the country, including the New York City Police Department, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Secret Service.
He is on a quest to set a Guinness record while shining a light on the vital roles of first responders in the five boroughs and beyond, and raising funds for organizations that advance medical research and support families impacted by childhood cancer.
And so this morning, we want to thank you not only for becoming our honorary deputy mayor of Public Safety, but giving us a true symbol of resiliency and strength and courage in how you turn pain into purpose. You are a hero to us all. Thank you very much.
You want to say a few words? Come on up. You can tell us about your battle you had with a rat.
Daniel: Well, I wasn't expecting that huge thing. But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my dad. He's been— I'm gonna be honest. This all started from 2018 through Hurricane Harvey. Me and my brothers were in the George R. Brown running because we figured that we could skip the lines to get snacks. And these three officers stopped us and brought us to our dad. And our dad asked, were we in trouble? And they just and they said no, they just wanted to take us out of a nightmare and bring us upstairs for pizza.
Now, normally on a daily basis, we wouldn’t eat this type of pizza, but it was a curled up pizza that had mushrooms on it. And my dad savored that taste on his tongue. Now, normally on a daily basis, we wouldn’t eat that. And that's how it all started.
And my dad's been driving me everywhere. No matter how tired he is, he still gets the job done. And out in Texas, we don't say we get it done. We get her done. We get her done. Like my dad says.
Did you have anything to say? And everywhere my dad drives, I ain't gonna lie. Every time he drives, I be trying my best to stay up. Like last time, I'm not sure where we went, but I actually stayed up the whole ride because I know that he's feeling pain because he be popping caffeine pills.
Next thing you know, a couple of years before then, he gonna be in the backseat of a Cybertruck. And he gonna be sleeping. And I'm gonna be looking at the road looking like I got double pink eye. Like we say out in Texas, one monkey don't stop, no showing. You see the monkey talking right now.
Mayor Adams: Thank you Thank you, everyone.
Question: What's his day gonna look like? Can I ask? DJ, do you know what you're gonna do for the day as the honorary deputy mayor? Hopefully he's gonna take you out to lunch and take you all around.
Deputy Mayor Daughtry: We got some tow operations that we're gonna be doing. No, we're gonna go visit the Empire State Building. We're gonna go on a boat ride. And I basically asked DJ what does he wanna do while he's here in New York City. So he told me that he never saw the Empire State Building. That they drove by it. They drove by the World Trade Center. So we're gonna go visit some of the iconic landmarks in New York City.
And this is– the day is all about him. What does he wanna do? I'm gonna explain a little bit about the day to day operations that I do. But it's all up to DJ and his team and his family what he wants to do here in New York City. This day is about him, not about me.
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