Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. Thank you, Fred, and I really want to thank our consul generals who are here and other dignitaries from the Eastern European community. This community means so much to our city.
And being mayor, I often state that it is symbolism and substance. The substance we know are the things that are important to everyone. Keeping our city safe, educating our children, making sure our businesses are able to operate and continue to see the city thrive and grow. And we have accomplished some of those great tasks.
But also, it's the symbolism, the symbolism that you see yourselves in our city. As Fred alluded to and talked about, this is a city where diversity is important. We are great as a city and as a country because we state, do not abandon your culture when you come to America. In fact, it's just the opposite. You are not called American-Georgian. You're not called American-Moldovans. You're not called America first.
In fact, your country goes first. That is what America states. And that is what we want you to know, that when you put your country and culture first and embrace it with America, you create this great product that we have. And so, when we lift up our Eastern European community, we realize what your contributions are to this country.
In many of your countries, it was the first time after 109 mayors that when I became mayor, we raised your flags at Bowling Green to show how important you are. You believe in what we believe in. You believe in family. You believe in faith. You believe in business. And most importantly, you believe in public safety. As we look at some of our police officers that are here from the Eastern European diaspora, we want to thank them for doing the job of keeping our city safe every day.
And next week, starting this week, we are inviting the entire globe here as we celebrate what we call UNGA, the UN General Assembly. This is an opportunity to put our hospitality on full display here in New York. Nowhere else is the building like the United Nations sitting on our East River, inviting people from all over the globe to come here and celebrate their country and celebrate what America means to them. You have made it possible.
That is why we're here today to lift up your heritage. And again, I thank you for gracing us with your presence here at Gracie Mansion. Let's continue to lift up our rich heritage and our rich diversity. Thank you very much. Let's honor our honorees. Thank you.
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