Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts Reception to Celebrate Bangladesh Heritage

March 7, 2024

Video available at: https://youtu.be/iGI-V07Wu2A

Mir Bashar, Chief Administrative Officer, Office of the Mayor: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to Gracie Mansion for the second Annual Bangladeshi Heritage Night.

Tonight, our Mayor Eric Adams has once again opened his doors to us to celebrate Bangladeshi Heritage Month. We are deeply appreciated of you being here. It is evidence of your unwavering commitment to our community. I also want to thank our Bangladeshi community leaders who are here tonight, and it's a moment like this that this reinforces and deepens our bond.

Our culture is rich, and it fills me with great pride to see our community come together to continue to honor the rich values of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Heritage Month is a time to reflect on the contribution of Bangladeshi movement, which has become an important fabric of this great city.

Our cultural influence is vivid, and can be felt throughout the five boroughs, whether you experience the culture in restaurant eating authentic Bangladeshi food, shopping beautiful costumes, art or seeking any professional services, and the list goes on. These local experiences along with our tradition are the testament of the incredible cultural mark Bangladeshi has left on the landscape of this New York City.

Bangladesh Heritage Month is also an opportunity to recognize resilience that is [the] strength of the Bangladeshi people both here in New York and back home. Despite our challenges, our communities continue to thrive, further enriching the City of New York.

Bangladeshi plays pivotal role in various professions, including medicine, technology, academia and expertise across diverse fields. As a Bangladeshi American serving as the first Chief Administrative Officer for the Mayor's office...

I am humble to say I am the highest ranking Bangladeshi staff in the mayor's office. I am committed to ensuring that our heritage is celebrated and our voices are heard. Let us continue to work together to promote understanding, inclusivity and unity among all communities.

This would not be possible if we did not have our Mayor Eric Adams, who has shown unwavering support to our community. Sometimes, I think he is Bangladeshi.

He continues to support us in civic engagement and discussing issues that are important to our community. Thank you, Babshah, for organizing this event and to all who joined us today in celebration. Let's make this Bangladesh Heritage Month in a memorable one. [Speaks in Bengal.] Thank you.

Now, please put a hand together for Chief Advisor to the Mayor, and my sister, Ingrid Lewis‑Martin.

Ingrid Lewis‑Martin, Chief Advisor to the Mayor: As‑salamu alaykum. It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here tonight to celebrate with my [Bangladeshi] family, with my brother, the highest ranking member— come up— in City Hall, of [Bangladeshi] heritage, Mir. Give him a hand.

You all look beautiful tonight. Some of the women, I envy you: I want some of your dresses and some of your headdress. I gotta like take you in the back room and you know, get some of your clothes. My sisters here, come, come, come, help your wife up.

So, you know they always say… a great man, I don't believe behind, a great man always has a great woman. So, you need to see this sister. This is Mir's wife.

So, as Mir said, the Bangladeshi community is a vibrant community in our city. We have Bangladeshians in every single walk of life. Tonight, I want to talk about our [Bangladeshi] police officers. Are you here with me?

Audience: Yes.

Lewis‑Martin: So, we thank you for putting your lives on the line and for being there for us. Sometimes when you are a police officer in New York City, people don't give you the love and the respect that you deserve. But we know that our minority communities such as the Bangladeshian community believe in law enforcement and believe in safety and public safety.

So, I take a minute to thank our officers from the [Bangladeshi] community. I see you in the back wearing your regalia and your uniform, and we love you.

So, without any further ado, when my brother calls me, he asked me to come and do what I enjoy doing so much. [Laughter.]

I had to take a minute. Everybody knows that I take really pleasure in presenting to you our mayor. It's for a reason. Our mayor is driven, he is so driven. He's a community activist. This room is a small testament to the love that you have for him because of all of the love he has had for your community.

He has made it his duty, his obligation, to ensure that people from your community are highlighted in our office, they have good key positions in our office and they are treated with respect. He has made it his mission to listen to your needs and to do his best to address your needs.

He's not a stranger to you. He is quite familiar to you. And he didn't become familiar to you when he became the mayor of this city. You supported him because for many years when he was a police officer, a police sergeant, a police lieutenant, a police captain, he supported you. And now that he is the mayor of this city, our second Black mayor, our 110th mayor of the City of New York, he continues to support you.

This event is a small token of his esteem, but know that he has been there for you in the past, he will be here for you now and he will continue to be there for you in the future. So, without... Yes. He always says, I am not new to this, I am true to this.

And his truth lies in the fact that he cares about communities that are marginalized, communities that people take for granted, he doesn't. Communities that have had their backs turned upon them for so many years, he does not do that.
So— hi, Christine— without any further ado, it is indeed an honor for me to present to you your brother, your mayor, Eric Adams. Come on now!

Mayor Eric Adams: Look at this room. As we're joined by our amazing assemblywoman, you know, everyone say that we always see the assemblywoman side by side on these various initiatives because we share the same vision that you share for the city.

And I want to thank the Consul General for standing with us as well and my good friend Mir. Mir is not in the position he's in merely because he brings a diversity, he brings the competency. He does the job, he does it well. And I cannot thank you enough for being with me from the first day that I took office.

Ingrid alluded to how I believe in being dogmatic and working hard for the people of this city, but that's who you are. Often think about Assemblywoman Rajkumar's story of her mother being born in a mud hut and making her way here to America with a few dollars in their pockets and going on to have her brother become a professional, for her to go through law school, for her parents to be medical professionals.

That's your story. What is different from her story than your story? Each one of you could articulate the challenges that you were faced with navigating the complexities surrounding being in a new country. But you came here with one thing in your heart, and that's to participate in the American dream.

And as I speak to you, the conversation is no different than I speak to any other immigrant group in this city. We're all in this together, and we must make sure that we uplift what's great about this city and what's great about this country without betraying our culture and our understanding, as Ingrid alluded to, with some of the beautiful attire.

It doesn't matter if it's a yarmulke, a kufi, a Sikh turban, a hijab, it doesn't matter what it is, it is representative of the diversity of this city. And this country requires that. You're not, I say over and over again, you're not American Bangladeshis. I'm not American African. A Chinese person is not American Chinese.

The country states you put your country and your culture first. You're Bangladeshi American. I'm African American.

A Jewish person is Jewish American; Chinese, Chinese American. You never have to shred and discard all that you bring from your dance, your food, your attire, your culture, your religion, your belief. You're supposed to bring that with you to make this great experiment of inclusiveness that this country represents.

But my role as mayor is not only substantive. Yes, we drop crime. Yes, we have more private sector jobs in the history of the city. Yes, the bond raters increase our bond rating. Yes, we have brought in tourism at a massive level. Yes, we were able to cycle us out of Covid, and dealing with 181,000 migrants and asylum seekers without children and families sleeping on the street. Yes, four million riders are back on our subway system. Yes, to all those things. Those are the substantive part of being a mayor.

But there are the symbolic things that are just as important. Why did it take 110 mayors before the Bangladeshi flag was raised down at Bowling Green to show your representation? Why did it take so long for you to have a Bangladeshi Day here in Gracie Mansion? Your Gracie Mansion. Why?

Why did it take so long for you, [that a] Muslims to have a call to prayer, halal food in school? Why did it take so long to see your representation in position of commissionerships and others?

So, just as I must be substantive, I must be symbolic, because your children are watching the city and saying, where do we fit in? Where do we play a role? What are we aspiring to become? Are we, too, lovers of America and lovers of New York?

This administration is saying yes. And it's not just unique to your community, this administration has opened the doors for so many communities that have been denied as, my chief advisor stated, for so many years.

It took too long to have the first Dominican to be a deputy mayor, the first Filipino to be a deputy mayor, the first East Indian to be a deputy mayor. It took too long to have the first Spanish speaker to be a police commissioner, and the first woman to be a fire commissioner, the first Jewish woman to be in charge of intel.

It took too long to have the first Korean to be in charge of small business services or a dreamer to be in charge of Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. This stuff took too long.

But not only did we kick the door open and allow you to walk in, we took the door off the hinges so it never could be closed again for anyone to walk in.

Significant and powerful moment. And don't downplay your role in it. I am mayor because from the Bronx Bangladeshi community, to McDonald Avenue Bangladeshi community, to Roosevelt Avenue Bangladeshi community, you showed me where Bangladeshi communities residents were and I will show you some Eric Adams voters and supporters.

We fought hard. We got here together. I am clear on that, and we will governed together, and we will ensure this city becomes a city that we all love and admire and respect, that our children can grow up in and be proud of the legacy that we're living.

And so, I thank you. And I am going to continue to call on you to be proud [Bangladeshi] Americans… Be proud to be here in this city and participate in this government.

And we have some great honorees that, Mir, I want you to come and bring up, because among your community are great leaders and people who have sacrificed so much to give back in a real way to this great city. And we want to honor them for their work and their commitment and dedication to the City of New York.

But again, I thank you. We have some great Bangladeshi food, so make sure you eat and enjoy the evening. Mir.

Bashar: Thank you. Okay, our first honoree tonight is Ruhin Hossain.

He's the founder of Rivertel. It is the first U.S. national telecom enterprise owned and operated by immigrant, changing the telecom industry and promoting immigrant empowerment.

Ruhin Hossain, Founder and CEO, Rivertel: Ooh, I didn't think... First of all, thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. I think the last time we met, I said that we meet more than we get to meet our relatives and all that, which is unfortunate, but for us, it's, you know, thank you so much.

And I think because I got the platform, I'll keep it short. Rivertel is a telecom company. It's the first of its kind, specialized services, unlimited international calling. Everything we have is a great deal for everybody, but it's specialized for immigrants, unlimited international calling to 180 countries, customer service in eight languages.

We are venture backed. We have been successfully able to raise a significant amount of money. And we are going to launch a couple hundred stores in the next year or so throughout the U.S. We're licensed in all 50 states.

And I want to thank my partners, [Yasser] and my wife and partner, [Mushad Onuva], who you all know from [Tikana]. Thank you all for giving me this honor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I really, really appreciate it.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Hossain: Thank you so much.

Bashar: Our next honor is Dr. Shamim Ahmed.

He has greatly impacted healthcare within the South East Asian community through his leadership at Interfaith Medical Center and establishment of great GetWell Med‑Care PC.

Dr. Shamim Ahmed: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's actually very, I'm speechless. I am honored and I am humbled to be invited in this event, and I am very grateful to get this honoree, as an award recipient.
And I really wanted to thank the organizer of this event, and I thank mayor again to allow us to come to the Gracie Mansion as a community.

We are here as a community to serve our community and to really survive in this country that is helping us grow. And I am grateful that I am this country, the great, great America.

And our community, in our community we have servicemen, we have businessmen, we have different professional people here, and police officers, they are serving this community and this New York City. I am thankful for you that you're serving this community.

And [inaudible], the [inaudible] organization, all of our business community coming together and bringing our nation, our community to the next level, as mayor promised, that we got access to this Gracie Mansion now, we got access to the City Hall, to the mayor office.

And in future, if we can do good work, we'll get more access and we can shine better. So, thank you, again. Thank you, everybody. I'm accepting this honor on behalf of GetWell, that is my family, and servicing our community there. And I'm proud to be one of the servicemen in the community. Thank you.

Bashar: Our next honoree is Manika Choudhury, founder of Shilpakala Academy USA, which focus on preserving and promoting Bengali culture, ensuring that rich heritage of Bangladeshi and Bangladeshi tribes among diaspora communities.

Manika Chowdhury, Founder, Shilpakala Academy USA: Good evening, everyone. Thanks to city mayor Mr. Eric Adams to add me the... [You had me] the honorary panel, thank you so much, and [Speaks in Bengali].

Thank you again, Mr. Bashar. We are proud of you, brother, because you are within mayor office, so [Speak in Bengali.]

Thank you again, Mr. Mayor.

Bashar: Our last honoree for tonight is Abdul Chowdhury, President of CEO of several companies, including [Dynamic Text], Starling Pharmacy. He's celebrated for his contribution of underserved communities and extensive work in finance, health and hospitality sectors.

Abdul Chowdhury, President and CEO, Starling Diagnostic LLC: Thank you very much. So, [inaudible] everyone. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the community for the love and the respect that you showed me. I think that there are a lot more other people who are more deserving of this, but thank you very much again.

I grew up here for the last 30 years and I have seen the Bangladeshi community how we grew up, how we are growing and taking out of positions. And we are going to be doing a lot better than what we are doing right now. [Speaks in Bengali.]

So, one thing I tell you, Mr. Mayor, we have obviously a lot of demands, and you are obviously helping us out. We never had access to [the] Mayor's Office like before. But we are one of those greedy communities who are going to ask a lot more stuff.

And I think we are, because we are deserving of it, not just because I'm Bangladeshi, but we are some of the most patient and hardworking communities out there, for sure.

And again, thank you very much. [Speaks in Bengali.] As‑salamu alaykum.

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