Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Inauguration of Senator Jesse Hamilton

January 18, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, everybody. It is good to be in Brooklyn.

[Cheers]

Unknown: We love you!

Mayor: It is good to be among family and friends.

[Applause]

And this is a joyous moment. This is a moment of renewal, when we get to pass the torch to new leaders – people who served our neighborhoods for so long now get a chance to serve on an even bigger level. That’s a beautiful thing – that’s a beautiful thing to watch happen – that growth, that moving forward.

[Applause]

Someone comes from the grassroots and now gets to represent us in the state capital – that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

I want to thank a future elected official, if ever I met one – little Jesse.

I would urge you to write your checks to little Jesse now, [inaudible]. I want to thank [inaudible] for her great work that she’s done on behalf of this community.

You have a lot of great leaders gathered here to honor Jesse Hamilton for all he has done and all he will do. He soon is going to be working – or is already, I should say – working with a great leader in Albany and my dear friend – someone who, even though she’s not from New York City, she cares deeply about what happens here in the five boroughs and she looks out for us as well – the State Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, thank you.

[Applause]

I want to thank the leader of our City Council, who is such a great progressive, who has made so much possible that we’ve achieved in the last year – Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, thank you.

[Applause]

And my colleagues in city-wide office, who have been with us through so many important issues, helping us to move forward as a city – Public Advocate Tish James and Comptroller Scott Stringer, thank you.

[Applause]

And someone who has brought unity – political unity in the borough of Brooklyn – and we’ve always said, if the biggest borough, the sleeping giant – if Brooklyn really grows up – when Brooklyn really got it together, politically – we can do great things for this city, and a lot of the credit goes to our Kings County Democratic Chairman Frank Seddio. Let’s thank him for all he has done.

[Applause]

I am proud to be a Brooklynite, who was recently transferred to a government facility on the Upper East Side.

[Laughter]

But I am a Brooklynite. I always get confused – and I still like to go to my neighborhood a lot, and then the car starts towards the Brooklyn Bridge and I get confused why we’re going the wrong direction. But it is a joy to be a Brooklynite. It is a joy to see the talents, the progressive energy that has come out of this borough more and more with every passing year. And there’s five wonderful boroughs, but a lot of what is happening in this city to move us forward is happening in Brooklyn – and we’re proud of that fact.

[Applause]

And Jesse Hamilton is a great example of that. The district he now represents – everything good about New York City, everything good about Brooklyn in one district – every kind of people together – there’s a lot of harmony – the harmony that is the essence of what’s good about this city and this borough – and we have to remember it’s our strength – every kind of people – West Indians, African-Americans, people from the Jewish community, Asian community, Latino community – all in one district – every kind of people together – and it works. And it’s part of what New York has had that so few other places in the world have had – that ability to find the best in each other and move forward. This has been the secret formula in New York City, literally, for centuries – the open city, a city that everyone could come to.

Now, we have a lot to do to protect that going forward. And we need leaders who understand people at the neighborhood level. We have to make this – each and every time, in each and every generation – we have to keep making this an open city. Nothing happens automatically on its own. We have to protect the inclusion, the tolerance, the openness. We have to make it a place affordable to all, or it won’t be that city for everyone.

[Applause]

So, we need leaders who get it – who get it from the grassroots. Jesse Hamilton is absolutely the kind of leader who knows how people live, the way they struggle, because he’s right there with them every step along the way – and that’s special. Some leaders don’t choose to dwell at the grassroots and be connected to the struggles of everyday people, but it’s always been the way Jesse’s seen things. I’ve spent many a day at his Democratic club, and that place – you walk in the door, it’s a place of energy and history, and you can tell it’s a place connected to everyday people – not elites – it’s not exclusive. That’s part of what makes Jesse a great leader.

I want to give you a little vignette, because I think it speaks volumes. Again, when you think about the notion that we have to earn our greatness year-in and year-out – each new generation providing the leadership. And it’s such a complicated place, it’s such a diverse place, it’s easy for things to sometimes go a little wrong. But when good people stand up, they bring us on the right track.

January 2013 – a year ago – some vandals, acting out of hate, acting out of division, spray-painted some hateful messages, some graffiti on buildings on Lincoln Place. I remember when this happened. It’s always painful when you see the hate like that come out in the open – when the few try to force their negative attitude on the many. What did Jesse do? He gathered together people to go to that building to clean off the swastikas, to show that every kind of neighborhood resident rejected the hate, that every kind of neighborhood resident had a common interest in moving forward together. That’s leading by example. And you know what that says to people – when you see someone who doesn’t have to show up at your defense, doesn’t have to go that extra mile for you, but chooses to do it? It says we actually are all in this together. That’s what Jesse did. He sent a message of what kind of community we are and what we aspire to be going forward. That is called leadership.

So, I commend Jesse for all that he’s done, all the people he’s helped, for his wonderful family. I also commend him for setting an example in a city that will always need a good example. It is a city that, whatever challenge we face, people yearn to move forward – it’s one of our characteristics. Some call it resiliency. Some call it strength. But one great thing about New Yorkers is we move forward. Things that would throw other people for a loop – we have that backbone, that spirit that keeps us moving forward. And we reject division. We don’t accept division. It’s not in our nature, because we honor all the people.

[Applause]

We know we can go farther. It is a city that’s getting safer – we know we can be safer still. It’s a city where we’re bringing police and community together – we know we can go farther. It’s a city where we’re striving for more fairness – we know there’s more fairness to be reached. We know we have to make it a city for all, so that means it’s affordable for all. We know a city for all means schools are good in every neighborhood, not just some.

[Applause]

And to achieve those goals, which I believe we can and will achieve, because of people – the people who demand it, the people who need it are going to need leaders who can take those ideas and put them into action. And Senator Jesse Hamilton is one of those leaders who will help to elevate us, who will help to move us forward, who will fight for us in Albany – a place where we need some strong men and women to do some fighting for what is right for New York City. He will do that for us.

[Applause]

I’d like to – we have –

[Laughter]

– we have audience participation.

[Laughter]

I’m looking forward to having Jesse Hamilton as an ally to make sure we work for progressive change – not just here in the city, but across the state and for the good of all. I know what he can do – I’ve seen he could roll up his sleeves. I know great things are ahead.

And I’ll finish with this, because this is a special weekend for all of us who think about Dr. King. Dr. King was so powerful in so many ways. You know, he may be best known for one speech, but you can find almost endless quotes that are instructive. They’re not just eloquent, they’re not just heartfelt, they’re not just visionary – they’re instructive about how we are supposed to comport ourselves. Every Martin Luther King Day, for me, is a bit of a seminar in how to do this work, how to live right, how to change our society. It’s actually something for the here-and-now and for the future, and not just to look back. Dr. King said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” That’s a positive statement – that’s not a burden. That’s not something that makes you feel what a struggle means – too much work or too many challenges. That is a reminder – it’s there for the taking, that we can reach it – but we have to be continuous. We have to be consistent. We have to struggle. But there is an end-point, there is a goal, there is a better place ahead – that’s what Dr. King was teaching us. And a leader like Jesse Hamilton, he will get us to that better place – I am convinced.

Jesse, to you and your family, my deepest congratulations – and to this community, a congratulations for the wisdom of selecting Jesse Hamilton. Thank you all.