Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good afternoon, everyone. Before I announce some new members of our administration, I want to first provide New Yorkers with a quick update on the winter weather that our city continues to contend with. Tomorrow, light snow will likely fall across our city. This will be nothing like the storm that hit us last weekend. We are expecting flurries. If snow does accumulate, it will probably not surpass one inch. City workers will continue to do their remarkable work of digging our city from out underneath the snow.
The numbers tell a story of incredible commitment. We have melted over 67 million pounds of snow and laid more than 188 million pounds of salt across the five boroughs. As of 8 a.m. this morning, workers have cleared 24,649 crosswalks, 14,831 bus stops, and 6,947 fire hydrants. We know as well that this work continues, and so that is why an additional 130 city workers are joining these efforts this weekend. That means in addition to the 2,500 sanitation workers who are working each 12-hour shift, we now have more than 1,200 additional workers who will be assisting in the cleanups of this city.
And while these efforts will continue, I want New Yorkers to remain prepared for the intense cold that continues to brace our city. This is one of the longest, most sustained cold stretches our city has endured in years, and it is showing no signs of abating. We remain in a Code Blue. Outreach workers are canvassing our city to help homeless and vulnerable New Yorkers get into shelter. We have warming sites and vehicles open across our city. And I have said this before, and I cannot say it enough, no one in this city will be turned away from shelter.
The City government will continue our outreach, but we all have a role to play in ensuring that this city gets through this cold front. So, I ask New Yorkers, please check in on your neighbors, especially older adults, New Yorkers with disabilities, and those without access to reliable heat. As the cold persists, it has an accumulative effect on our utilities. So please knock on that door, make that check-in, call 311, even if you're unsure. And as the weather continues, please continue to stay informed by texting NOTIFYNYC to 692-692 for emergency alerts.
Now, it is also a Saturday afternoon here in New York City. Families are sledding across our five boroughs, children are visiting grandparents, crowds are getting out of Broadway matinee shows, and snow is being shoveled off our streets. That is the New York that is visible to the eye, and it is in full flow, but that flow does not arrive by accident. It is the product of an incredible amount of unseen effort, much of it done by public servants who are far from household names, who dedicate themselves daily to the vital work of supporting New Yorkers, preparing the next generation, and ensuring that each of our neighbors can live lives of dignity and of safety.
We are together today to appoint five of those public servants to senior roles in this administration, each of whom will be entrusted with tremendous power to both shape and improve the lives of countless New Yorkers. First, I am thrilled to name Stanley Richards as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction. Stanley will make history in this role as the first-ever formerly incarcerated person to serve as commissioner. That achievement is not merely symbolic. It is a testament to the thought and leadership he will bring to every member of corrections staff and incarcerated New Yorkers underneath his purview.
I will turn to Stanley as we work to build a city where justice is at the heart of our corrections system, where every Department of Correction employee and incarcerated New Yorker is safe, and where every New Yorker reenters society seamlessly from corrections. As the former first deputy commissioner for the DOC and the executive vice president of the Fortune Society, that work has long been Stanley's purpose, and I am deeply grateful to him for returning to public service.
Second, I am proud to announce that Dr. Alister Martin will serve as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. A city is only as vibrant as it is healthy, and in Dr. Martin, an emergency room physician with extensive experience on the front lines of public health as well as at the highest levels of government, New Yorkers will be well looked after. Dr. Martin will oversee our city's public health apparatus, monitor disease outbreaks, and work alongside City Hall to build a city where access to high-quality health care is not a privilege accorded only to a select few, but rather something for every New Yorker. Congratulations, sir.
Next, I am delighted to appoint Sandra Escamilla-Davies as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. In the words of the great Mr. Rogers, “Anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.” And I know that Sandra will be a hero not only to me, but to so many across our city, because for countless families, she already is. She has dedicated her career to uplifting the children of this great city, to providing them with activities that nurture their minds, strengthen their bodies, to investing in our schools and our community centers, to growing youth-based organizations that give so many kids across the city a sense of belonging and a sense of self.
She most recently served as the executive vice president of Children's Aid and spent 15 years working at the fund of the City of New York's Development Institute, where she rose to serve as executive director. As commissioner of DYCD, she will do more than build after-school programs and expand the Summer Youth Employment Program. She will work every day to ensure that every child in this city can imagine a future of health, of joy, and of possibility in the place that they call home.
Now I am excited to name Yesenia Mata as the commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services. For anyone from Staten Island, Yesenia's name is immediately synonymous with service. As the executive director of La Colmena, she has been a tireless advocate of our city's immigrants and day laborers – New Yorkers often without a champion. As commissioner, Yesenia will continue that work, fighting for the 135,000 veterans who call this city home, and ensuring that they are able to access the housing, the healthcare, the supportive services that they sacrificed so much for. This work is personal to Yesenia. She is a military police sergeant in the army who understands firsthand how much veterans and active duty service members have given to our city and our nation, and how little they often receive in return. I look forward to working with her to tell a new story, one where we repay our veterans with the dignity that they deserve.
Finally, I am proud to announce Vilda Vera Mayuga as the new commissioner of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Commissioner Mayuga has expansive experience in City government, having most recently served as the commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, in addition to having served across state government in a number of roles, where she advanced civil rights and advocated for workers. As OATH commissioner, she will oversee our city's independent administrative law court and make justice the expectation for every New Yorker.
I am deeply grateful to each of these five leaders for assuming such important roles in our City government, and for heading up the agencies that allow this city to be the envy not just of the state or of the country, but of the world. And I hope that New Yorkers will see their work reflected in young people who grow into happy and healthy adults, justice that is administered fairly across our city, and millions of New Yorkers who are tended to, cared for, and know that when they turn to [the] government, their concerns will be heard and their interests prioritized. Thank you so much. And now our new commissioner for the Department of Correction, Stanley Richards.
Commissioner Stanely Richards, Department of Correction: Mayor Mamdani, thank you for your unwavering commitment to a safer and fairer justice system in New York. I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful for this opportunity to serve in your administration. I also want to thank the love of my life, my wife Satara Richards, who, for 35 years, from the moment we met, didn't see how much time I did, didn't see my experiences, you saw me. And you're taking this journey with me. And I just want to thank you. Thank you.
Today, we turn the page, and we start a new era. Under Mayor Mamdani’s leadership, we will chart a path of hope, healing, and transformation. His administration made clear that the future of Rikers is not endless confinement, scapegoating, or demonizing. It is safety, transformation, and rehabilitation. My vision aligns fully with that mission. Safer jails today, borough-based facilities that prioritize dignity, opportunity, and humanity. We’ll prioritize the safety of staff and incarcerated people and strengthen connections to community services like housing, mental health care, education, and employment. So that every New Yorker leaving our custody has a real chance to succeed and contribute to building a stronger and safer New York City.
Over the years, I've had the privilege to serve as vice chair of the Board of Correction on [the] task force to close Rikers, and as first deputy commissioner of Programs and Operations in the Department of Correction. Each of those roles has reinforced one truth. Reform isn't just possible, it's essential, and we will do it. My experience and journey is a testament that when we provide support, when we center our collective work on hope instead of fear, when we see what is best in all of us instead of judging people on the worst thing that they've ever done, when we see our commonality as opposed to our difference, we can achieve the unimaginable.
And underneath [the] mayor's leadership, we will. Today begins a path of hope, transformation, transparency, and inclusion, and [that] will result in a more humane and just system. So, as I step into this role, I do so with this statement as my North Star. To the officers, non-uniformed staff, and union leadership, I'll work tirelessly to ensure the Department centers our work on jail safety, transparency, and accountability. To the people incarcerated, their families, friends, and loved ones, I'll spend every day working to ensure the Department keeps you safe and provides a pathway for change, redemption, and successful reentry.
You see, this is our collective mission. To build a Department of Correction that New Yorkers can be proud of, one defined not by punishment, but by progress. So, I pledge to work with the City Council, our unions, advocates, [and] communities to deliver results. We'll innovate boldly and measure success by the lives that are transformed, not by lockups. Here's my ending call. To the staff of DOC, I'm with you. To those inside, your story isn't over. Support and hope is here. And to every New Yorker, this is our city, and together we will get it right. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Before I pass it over to our new commissioner for [the Department of] Health and Mental Hygiene, I also just want to acknowledge we have a few of those very elected officials that we've referred to right here in the house. I think I saw Assemblymember Landon Dais, who is here. And I think I also saw Council Member Althea, who is here as well. When you say the word youth, you have to follow it with Althea. So now I pass it over to our new commissioner for DOHMH, Alister Martin.
Commissioner Alister Martin, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, mayor. I'm honored to accept the role of health commissioner for the City of New York. And while this is a new chapter for me in this city, it is not the beginning of my story. It's a continuation of one that began just down there in the street in Queens, a little place called Jackson Heights. I know we're in the Bronx, but – I gotta represent. I was born in this city. My mother raised me as a single parent in Jackson Heights, just a few blocks from Elmhurst Hospital.
A Haitian immigrant doing her level best, she worked her way up from a fry cook at McDonald's to a consultant at the United Nations. Where is she? Hold on one second. Mom, don't hide. But when I got sick, everything changed. I was sick as a kid, and she faced the same reality that so many families in this city face. The need for reliable health insurance and a stable job. So, she became a public school teacher, and in doing so, she set the foundation for me to become the public servant leader I am today.
I know what it means to live on the margins. The community I was raised in was one where those margins were razor-thin. A missed check and you could be facing bankruptcy. A single medical crisis and your life could come crashing down around you. I had seen it, how good folks get caught up in the tentacles of circumstance. As a physician, I have never forgotten those stories. I've never forgotten the folks in my community, and I have seen my patients get caught in those same tentacles of circumstance.
The young woman who came to my ER with abdominal pain, her lab showed starvation ketosis. Her abdominal pain was because she was hungry. She had been choosing to pay for her father's medications instead of her food. The mother of two, who came in with chest pain she had been ignoring for weeks that turned into heart failure. She had been afraid to miss a shift at work because one missed paycheck meant no rent. The 20-something Latina who came in with diabetic ketoacidosis. She'd lost her health insurance and had been rationing her insulin, taking her supply of one and spreading it out over three months until her body gave out.
These stories have shaped me and they have forced me to make a decision. What am I going to do with this suffering? Do I sit and watch and bear witness, or do I try and do something? My career has been that answer. The work I've done to help patients across the country access millions of dollars in cash assistance benefit programs, dollars right while they're waiting in waiting rooms in health care settings all across this country. The work engaging hundreds of thousands of patients with vaccine access, so they have access to safe and effective vaccines. The work aimed at converting our nation's ERs into the front door for opioid addiction recovery.
I've been building my skills, I've been adding to my toolbox, ready for this moment to come back home, back to Queens, back to New York City, and apply everything I've learned on behalf of the people of this city. And now, as your health commissioner, here's what we are going to do together. We will continue to protect the city every single day. As an emergency physician, I know what it means to be on the front lines, responding to outbreaks, preparing for emergencies, [and] protecting the health of mothers and children.
That core mission of public health will always come first and we will strengthen it, but we are not stopping there. We are going to make sure that when a family walks into a health center, they can walk out not just healthier, but more financially stable. We're going to make sure that the health insurance coverage losses that are coming, potentially from the federal government's cutbacks, that we keep people insured, we keep people housed, and we keep people whole. We're going to prove that public health is not just about disease, it's about dignity, about stability, about making sure that no one gets left behind.
We're going to build a new vision for how public health works in this country, and we're going to do it here in this city. And we will do it by partnering across City government, with health and hospitals, with our schools, with our city counselors, and our community-based organizations who know their neighborhoods best. So, to the thousands of staff at the Department of Health, the epidemiologists, the nurses, the community health workers, you are the backbone of this city's health. I see you, and I am honored to join your ranks. To Mayor Mamdani, to Deputy Mayor Arteaga, thank you. And to the people of this city, I cannot wait to get started working on your behalf. Let's go.
Mayor Mamdani: And one of the people that our new commissioner will be working with is our esteemed State Senator Gustavo Rivera. He's here and has been leading the fight for the very kind of dignity that we hope to deliver right here in New York City. He's been doing so in Albany. Now I'm going to recede into view as we hear from our additional incredible commissioners. So, next up, we have our new commissioner for the Department of Youth and Community Development, Sandra Escamilla-Davies.
Commissioner Sandra Escamilla-Davies, Department of Youth and Community Development: I just want to take a moment and just take in this experience. I mean, let's give it up for these commissioners. I mean, how lucky am I? I feel so excited. Thank you, Mayor Mamdani. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Arteaga, for this incredible honor. To the community leaders, advocates, agency partners, and the children, youth, and families of this great city, I am honored to accept this appointment as the next commissioner of the Department of Youth and Community Development.
DYCD is one of the most impactful agencies in our city because it strengthens the ecosystem that shapes people's lives. Ecosystems built in school buildings, community centers, and CBOs, all in the five boroughs. And I step into this role with a deep respect of the people who make this work possible and with a commitment to support and strengthen them. Now this appointment is personal to me. I'm the daughter of Ismael and Nubia Escamilla, immigrants who came here from Colombia, seeking a better life for themselves.
Because they had the courage to come here, I grew up in this incredible city, also in Queens, Jackson Heights and Woodside. And the city opened its doors for me, with the most incredible Elementary, Middle Schools, and High Schools in Queens that had amazing cultural arts programs, and mentors who fed into my soul, and community partners that believed in me. Everything I believe about youth development is from that lived experience. I'm also a proud social worker who has been steeped in the field of youth development for more than 25 years.
And throughout my career, I had the privilege of working alongside practitioners and advocates who formed me with one enduring understanding, that children, youth, and families are assets to be cultivated and celebrated, not problems to be fixed. And this strength-based belief has guided me in every chapter in my career, including the last 10 years at Children's Aid, where that belief was deepened. My work has always been connected with DYCD, from my early days as a social worker in Beacons in Sunset Park, to implementing programs for vulnerable youth after school in East Harlem, to supporting learning and innovation across the field.
I step into this role with appreciation for the staff at DYCD who continue to deliver during times of turbulence and transition. And I look forward to working with the team to position the agency for the next phase of our work with clarity and purpose. And the truth is that I joined this administration because I believe in the mayor's vision of a city that's more affordable, equitable, and safe for every single New Yorker. And this vision calls for a level of imagination, resolve, and a collective commitment in our ability and will to do better by everyone.
And so, I want you to, for a second, just imagine, imagine a city where access is guaranteed to every single young person, regardless of their zip code. They get a high-quality program. Imagine continuity of care from early childhood to college and career, with each step intentionally curated. I want you to imagine supports delivered and moved in an integrated way so that a young person has to tell their story once, and that support comes quicker and more holistic. I want you to imagine young people shaping what we build with programs connected to real credential, real pay, and real jobs. And then finally, I want you to imagine community-based organizations of every size supporting this beautiful ecosystem, and they're being fairly resourced and even competitively, and they're paid on time. And as commissioner, my goal is to make this vision real by aligning systems, removing barriers, and investing in trusted community partners who bring opportunity to life every single day.
Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, deputy mayor. Thank you to my family, my mother, Nubia, and to my belated father, Ismael, to my husband, Chris, and my daughters, Veronica and Isabella, who insisted that I say their names, not the sisters. And to my siblings and their families and their partners, and to my mentors and my YDI family and my Children's Aid tribe. You have ordered every single step of the way. I've been here with you, and I am so excited for this journey. So let's do this.
Mayor Mamdani: Now, our new OATH commissioner, Vilda Vera Mayuga.
Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga, Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings: Thank you so much for joining us. It's really delightful to be here today. I'm Vilda Vera Mayuga, and I really spent nearly my entire professional life in public service. And that is because it's what I learned from my parents. My mom, mamita, querida de mi alma. She's right there, she's always like in hiding, behind the photographer. Both my mom and my dad really instilled in me the need, the necessity that you have to be part of community by giving back to community. And for me, the way that I've done that is through public service. You're in community, we all need each other. And that has been what I've been doing.
And in this latest chapter, I embark on a really exciting journey of serving – just serving under you, Mayor Mamdani, is really an honor, it is a privilege. You've been an inspiration, and I am really delighted to be part of this history that we're making in our wonderful city. OATH, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, I think a lot of people don't know it. Hopefully, if you're a small business, you've been having a positive experience with it. But it really is exactly that. It is a place that a few know about, but many encounter.
And at OATH, the smallest of businesses can have their chance for a day in court. However, for many of these business owners, going through an administrative hearing can be a really confusing process. And going to OATH should be simpler and more straightforward than going to court. And all the parties, everybody who shows up at OATH should be listened to and respected, even if the decision does not go your way. Throughout the years, OATH has been tasked with more and more types of cases, but has not necessarily paused to modernize and strike the right balance of independence from and collaboration with sister agencies and non-governmental stakeholders.
I look forward to engaging with the team currently at OATH, with all who have interactions with OATH, so we can chart a path to potential improvements in the administrative judicial system of our great city. Thank you again, Mayor Mamdani, thank you to our Chief Counsel Kassem for the opportunity to serve. It truly is a privilege and an honor to be appointed to lead the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. And I have to do this because [like] everybody else, it's like my family will kill me too, and I made them all come. My daughter is over there, I will say her name, although she wouldn't want me to, Pilar. I think I see my son over there, Joaquin, and my husband, Enrico. Thank you so much, you've all really been with me, and it is gonna be a delight. Thank you so much. Looking forward to it.
Mayor Mamdani: And last, but certainly not least, our new incredible commissioner for the Department of Veteran Services, Yesenia Mata.
Commissioner Yesenia Mata, Department of Veteran Services: I want to begin by thanking Mayor Mamdani and Deputy Mayor Arteaga for their leadership and for this appointment. I'm deeply honored and I'm ready to serve. I step into this role with a clear commitment to ensure that veterans and their families across New York City are fully supported, because the weight of service does not end when the uniform comes off, and neither should our support. Military service to uphold our constitution and rights demands courage, discipline, and sacrifice. And when veterans served, their families served as well, through the deployments and separations. No veteran or military family should struggle to access the services they deserve.
Too often, veteran challenges are seen as isolated issues, but veteran issues are never just military issues. Veterans are business owners, educators, nonprofit leaders, and neighbors. Yet too often, they have been pushed into the shadows. But that ends now. Veterans and their families will have a seat at the table to help shape the services they need. This requires cross-agency collaboration, and I truly look forward to working with my fellow commissioners and [the] City Council, because this responsibility belongs to all of us.
I also want to recognize the veteran-led nonprofits and the grassroots groups who have been doing this work long before today. I'm ready to listen and to be guided by you. This mission is personal to me. I come from a military family. My brother served in the Iraq War. My husband is in active duty. As a military spouse, I understand the weight of separation and the sacrifices families make. I also began my own service as an enlisted soldier, became a sergeant, and now serve as a commissioned officer. Through these experiences, I understand the challenges of service firsthand.
As executive director of La Colmena, an immigrant-led workforce development organization, I oversaw a wide range of government contracts and programs in job placement, legal services, entrepreneurship, childcare, and social services. While not veteran-designated, I employed military families of veterans. Before La Colmena, I worked with deported veterans. Yes, deported veterans, green card veterans, and their families who were at risk of deportation, helping them navigate the complex legal pathway to citizenship. Including my husband, when he served as an enlisted green card soldier.
At La Colmena, I continued that work, further connecting veterans and military families to other services they needed across all five boroughs. I remain committed to this holistic approach. Through this work, my experience allowed me to integrate both of my worlds to fully understand veteran challenges. I want to thank my husband, now Captain Vargas, for his service and his support, and my parents for teaching me that service to community and service to country are one in the same. To La Colmena team, to those I've had the privilege to serve with, and to everyone that has been part of this journey, as the first Latina in this role, I am ready to lead as commissioner of veteran services, ensuring every veteran and military family in our city who has upheld our constitution is seen and supported. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Just before we begin, I do just want to say thank you once again to every single one of you. Each of you are inspirations to New Yorkers, both in this room and outside of this room. And I've appreciated also the presence of family and friends who are here today, because I know that for all of you, just like for me, just like for every New Yorker, we are the products of all those who pour everything into us. And so thank you to the parents, to the children, to the siblings, to those who've inspired both at work and outside. Thank you for giving us these incredible New Yorkers who will serve in this administration.
Question: A question for you and for Mr. Richards. There was a remediation manager named for Rikers earlier this week. Have you spoken with him yet, Mr. Richards, been in touch with him yet? And then Mr. Richards, is it your understanding that that position will have more power to institute reforms? Is that a frame that you're comfortable with and do you feel aligned with the work of the remediation manager?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I have not yet been in touch, but my administration has. And we look forward to working with the remediation manager on improving conditions in our city's jails, both for those in custody and for corrections officers. I'll just pass it over now as well.
Commissioner Richards: I think that's the answer. The remediation manager will be in partnership with me and the Department to bring about the change that we need to bring. And I look forward to working with the remediation manager.
Question: Council Member Chi Ossé called out in a social media post for your help and your office’s help in relocating people who are affected by a power outage in Bed-Stuy. Specifically asking for hotel placements that's on the city’s dime. Have you connected with him on that, [on] providing any of those resources? Are you surprised at all to have that public callout from someone who [inaudible] on the campaign trail?
Mayor Mamdani: My team is in touch with Council Member Ossé and they are going to be delivering the very kind of services they've been delivering across the city. Because what New Yorkers deserve is to be warm, especially in a moment as cold as this.
Question: Can the city put out people in hotels who are affected by long-term outages?
Mayor Mamdani: I can tell you that our administration is going to exhaust every possibility in front of us to ensure that people are warm, and that work will continue through this cold front. Thank you.
Question: Were there any more deaths reported than other than the 10 people that have already died? And also, following up on the other question, is your administration considering any other measures to force people off the streets and into warmer places?
Mayor Mamdani: Every life lost in this city is a tragedy. And my heart is with the families of the loved ones, of those who have died during this brutal stretch of cold. Yesterday, we informed New Yorkers that 13 New Yorkers had lost their lives over the course of this cold front. We've now been informed that an additional New Yorker has lost their life, so that brings the total to 14 New Yorkers. And they have died outdoors since the beginning of this cold front. Now, we know that the cold front began prior to the snowstorm.
In eight of these cases, preliminary findings indicate that hypothermia played a role. We are still awaiting final results from the medical examiner's office. At that point, we will also inform New Yorkers of them. I wanna be very clear that this city entered entered into a Code Blue on January 19th. We have been taking every possible measure to get New Yorkers inside. This has been a full all-hands-on-deck approach. And so that means we've intensified an outreach, whether it's from DSS staff to homeless outreach workers, who I joined for a shift earlier this week, to NYPD officers.
And since the start of this emergency period, we have successfully made more than 860 placements into shelters and safe havens during what could end up becoming the longest period of consecutive sub-32-degree weather in our city's history. And we have involuntarily transported 16 New Yorkers who were determined to be a danger to themselves or to others. We have also opened warming shelters across the five boroughs. We have expanded shelter capacity, relaxed intake rules, and worked with faith-based and community-based organizations to scale up outreach. And as we have made clear, we are not going to slow down in this work, because frankly, the cold is not letting up.
Last night, as part of our whole-of-government response to this crisis, we deployed 17 on-call ambulances that will go directly to people on the streets, offering warmth, food, medical attention, and a direct path indoors. We are also opening a new low-barrier bed shelter site specifically to meet people where they are and remove obstacles to coming inside. And I will continue to remind New Yorkers, this cold is dangerous. Remain diligent. If you see anyone who you think may need help, call 311. And it takes everyone stepping up and keeping an eye out for those across the city for us to be able to protect each and every New Yorker. Thank you.
Question: This is off topic about your World Cup czar. I was wondering if you could specify something exactly, given that New York's hosting no games in the city. And from what I – technically, I think that's what people in [New] Jersey were telling me – and from what I understand, FIFA has pretty strict contracts on what host cities have control over. If you could tell me exactly what you hope for her to be doing in coordinating.
Mayor Mamdani: We have an incredible opportunity. The most-watched sporting event in the world is coming right here to New York City and New Jersey. And I've already had New Yorkers stop me in the street, asking me for help to get them tickets. [I] had a man who asked me how he could get Brazil Morocco tickets, I told him I'm looking. The importance of having a World Cup czar is to ensure that the World Cup is not simply a moment in time where people from across the world visit this city, but it's also a moment where we introduce our city once again to the world and to ourselves.
I am a soccer obsessive. I went to [the] World Cup myself in South Africa in 2010. And I can tell you, aside from crying in the stadium when Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty against Uruguay, my favorite memories are actually beyond the games that were held. They were the moments where I was just a fan moving through these cities and the fan zones and the cities that were opened up and alive in a way that I'd never seen them. I want New York City to be the same.
And so, our World Cup czar, Maya Handa, is going to be tasked with ensuring that we bring the game to the people, and that we also take every opportunity we have to make this a real moment of celebration. And one also for small businesses to introduce themselves to those who might otherwise only come and understand New York City as a few select neighborhoods, to instead know it as the entirety of this city.
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