Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Commisioner Silver Deliver Remarks at Coney Island Boardwalk to Celebrate Opening Weekend for New York City’s Beaches

May 25, 2018

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Alright everybody, so this is like the most beautiful day possible. This is absolutely amazing, like to start beach season on a day like this, what a blessing for all of us in New York City? So, I want to welcome everyone, welcome to Coney Island. This is one of the –

[Applause]

This is one of the jewels in the crown of New York City. And this is one of the places that people all over the world think of the most when they think of New York City, when they think of Brooklyn and we are so proud. And tomorrow the beach is open all over the city. Is everybody ready?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Alright. Now I want to start before I say another word, thank the people who keep us safe when we go to the beach. We look forward to the season all year long, but we look forward to it knowing there are people watching out for us and watching for our kids in particular. Let’s thank all of our lifeguards for the great work that they do, thank you to all of you.

[Applause]

Now the beautiful about this city is if you want to go to the ocean, if you want to go to a beautiful beach, you don’t need to get on a plane, you don’t need to have a fancy car. You just get on the subway or you get on the NYC Ferry and there you are at an amazing beach – whether it’s Coney Island or the South Shore of Staten Island, or the Rockaways, all over amazing beaches. And I’ll just say at the outset, we know that this summer there is going to be a challenge in the Rockaways, no one is happy about it, I’m not happy about it, Mitch Silver is not happy about it. But we are going to that situation fixed as quickly as we can and thank God there is 4.5 miles of beach that are going to be absolutely fine and available. So the Rockaways is going to have a great beach season even though we have got some work we got to do.

Look everyone this is something that we look forward to all year. This is one of the places that is just so wonderful in summer. Everyone enjoys it, every generation, no matter where you are from Coney Island is a place to love but we got some good news today that really shows that Coney Island is not just about its amazing past but it’s about preserving Coney Island for the future because this is a place every New York family has Coney Island memories. We want to make sure those memories are there for generations to come.

So we today are talking about how we make sure that this icon is kept special and kept wonderful and kept available to all. One of the things I love about Coney Island – it is a place for everyone. There are some places, there some beach communities, if I said the name you think well that’s only for the elite. When I saw the name Coney Island you think that’s the people’s beach, that’s for everyone. And we are so proud of that.

[Applause]

So we want to keep it that way. And you are going to hear from some of the elected officials who represent this community who have been so passionate about protecting everything that’s great about Coney Island, making sure it is available to everyone. And they have been working really hard on the thing that we are formally announcing today so I am proud to formally announce that from this point forward the Coney Island Boardwalk will be official scenic landmark of New York City.

[Applause]

And what I love about that is you’re going to be able to walk in the footsteps of your parents, and your grandparents, and your great grandparents because everyone has come here and had such an amazing experience. I remember bringing my daughter Chiara out here when she was just two or three years old and she was absolutely enraptured by the ocean. She loved Coney Island so much. My kids have loved it from the very beginning of their lives and the next generation, and the next generation is going to feel the same way.

So we do this to preserve something amazing but I also want to speak about not just the way Coney Island looks and feels I want to talk about the people of Coney Island who are amazing people, who are strong people, who are resilient people. Coney Island has gone through a lot my friends. A lot of people know it here – tough times for decades economically, and then the horror of Hurricane Sandy that hit this community very, very hard. But Coney Islanders are amazingly strong people. And Coney Island has come back better than ever – literally better than ever. Let’s give a round of applause to the people of Coney Island.

[Applause]

So everybody, I got a really simple message for everyone today. On behalf of 8.6 million New Yorkers I say it’s time to go to the beach everybody.

[Applause]

Beach season is here.

[Applause]

I just want to say a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

The importance of Coney Island and the strength of its people – that’s what we celebrate today. And now I want to bring up the man who is responsible with his great team for making all of this available to all of us. This doesn’t happen by accident. This beautiful beach every year – they make sure it’s ready and then they got to take care of it every single day and make it great for the people of this city and they got to do the same thing with beaches all over this city, our Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver.

Commissioner Mitchell Silver, Department of Parks and Recreation: Thank you, Mayor. Welcome to the unofficial start of summer in New York City. First I want to say happy 95th Anniversary to the newly landmarked Coney Island Boardwalk. I want to thank you all for joining us.

[Applause]

As we really start the celebration of this year’s beach season. I do want to make a word about the Rockaways. As you all know we had to make a tough decision. Twelve blocks will be closed due to safety reasons. So I know we’re in Coney Island, but if you can go out there at least once or twice over the summer to show the Rockaways some love, we certainly appreciate it. So beginning tomorrow all New York City beaches, 14 miles of beaches in New York City will be open seven days a week when life guards are on duty from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and we want you all to go out enjoy the sun and the surf. With nearly seven million visitors last year, Coney Island beach is the city’s most popular beach with tons of fun and activities – seven million.

[Applause]

And everyone’s favorite Friday night fireworks will begin on June 22nd.  There will be weekly movie nights in addition to the usual favorites like the hot dog eating contest and this summer the New York Aquarium is opening its newly completed ocean wonder section on June 30th. John Dolan is here, I know he’s excited, very excited. And while we certainly encourage all beach goers to have fun and be active, our main priority is to encourage safety. We want all of you to be water safe, as well as sun safe. We certainly want to thank the NYPD and our pep to make sure you follow the rules and have a great time. But also want to take a word just here to talk about some water safety tips. I just want to say as long as I can remember there was not one drowning when a life guard was on duty. Our life guards are here to protect us. So be sure to follow their directions, and do not go in the water unless a life guard is on duty. Another tip is never leave children unattended near water even when life guards are present. Teach children the importance of water safety and stay within arm’s reach while they’re swimming. So obey all the signs and posted flags. They’re there for a reason; they let us know when it’s safe to swim, and not to swim. And while we’re talking about the sun, for the second year in the row we are partnered with IMPACT Melanoma, and Bright Guard to provide free sun screen to beach goers.

[Applause]

Before I get off the podium I have to acknowledge our dear friend to Parks, Councilmember Mark Treyger. I want to say thank you for all the parks and beach in his district.

[Applause]

Also I want to acknowledge others that are here with us. We have State Senator Diane Savino.

[Applause]

Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz –

[Applause]

And we also have Denis and Steve from [Inaudible] from the Wonder Wheel USA, also a great partner.

[Applause]

And for keeping Coney Island in a great condition year around, I’d like to acknowledge the happiest commissioner in New York City, Borough Commissioner Marty Maher and his hard working staff.

[Applause]

I have to say I ran the half marathon in Brooklyn. I literally passed this right her to the finish line. And so I want to thank Marty and his team for big signs to boost me on the last leg of that run. So they do a great job keeping the beach ready every year. So I thank you, have a good time, and once again please remember to be water safe, and the beaches will be one week after Labor Day until September 9th. Have a great summer and have fun.