Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good evening, everyone. It is such an honor to welcome you here to Gracie Mansion to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and to honor our city's East Asian community. Thank you so much for being here, truly. Because you are here, you are filling the People's House with so much joy.
And I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders, both inside and outside of City government, who are here with us. As you've just heard from our deputy mayor, Julie Su, who we all love and know. And then we have some of our commissioners here. We have our commissioner of DCAS, Yume Kitasei, who is in the building. Our commissioner of New York City Parks, Tricia Shimamura. Our commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Faiza Ali. We have our City Council member here, Chris Marte. And I also just want to acknowledge we have our chief climate officer, Louise Yeung, who is in the building, as well as our city's chief procurement officer, Kim Yu.
So, three nights ago, the harvest moon rose above New York City. Large, full and orange-gold, the moon shone above fire escapes and water towers; food carts and bodega awnings; and millions of lit windows, each of them a home.
Behind many of those windows, from Flushing to Sunset Park, families were sitting down at the dinner table, sharing fruit, peeling pomelos, as they came together to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is fitting that the Mandarin word for reunion, "tuanyuan," carries the sense of roundness. The harvest moon, said to be the roundest of the year, represents the shape of a family made whole. Every community celebrates this night in their own way. Chinese families cut mooncakes into wedges and pass them around the table. Korean families set out songpyeon to remember the ancestors who came before them. Vietnamese families light lanterns and carry them through the streets in celebration.
For many New Yorkers, this is one of the most meaningful days of the year. A rare moment of togetherness. One of the few nights that everyone gathers to sit at the same table.
But that togetherness is only possible when families have the stability, they need to remain whole. This week, as our city's East Asian families came together, I find myself asking, what does it take for a home to be complete?
Can a home be complete when families do not know if they can make next month's rent? Can a home be complete when families cannot afford groceries? Can a home be complete, or even, frankly, remain in New York City, when the cost of child care is forcing families out of it? Too many of our neighbors have been left to answer these questions alone, and too many homes across the five boroughs have sat incomplete for far too long.
That is why I'm grateful for community organizations like CAAAV, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that every New Yorker has the dignity and stability that they deserve. But that work should not be the responsibility alone of community organizations. It is one of the fundamental responsibilities of City government, and it is work that we are proud to now lead from City Hall.
That is why we are taking on landlords who may violate their tenants' rights; putting our city on the path to universal child care; protecting our immigrant neighbors, including by sharing Know Your Rights trainings in Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and more. Because a family cannot stay whole if any seat at the dinner table might be empty tomorrow.
As we mark this festival, we do so together with the knowledge that what is true for a family is true for our city. So, tonight let us spend time with the people we love and share what's on the table. To every grandma on East Broadway, every aunt in Bayside, every neighbor looking out for another in Bensonhurst: you are the family that makes our city complete. Thank you for being a part of it.
There will be mooncakes that are waiting for you on the way out. So please do take one home, share it with the people you love. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone. Thank you so much.
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