Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Reopening of the Drama Book Shop with Lin-Manuel Miranda

October 26, 2021

Video available at: https://youtu.be/dFAKuVbJU74

Mayor Bill de Blasio: So, everybody, this is a joyous place. And this represents something really wonderful for this city as we're coming back. Drama Book Shop, I'm feeling, like, incredible New York vibes of, like, what makes us who we are. We are the great city of arts and culture. We are a city of creativity. We are a city of strivers and believers, and the fact that this place has come back to life, resurrected to keep that tradition alive, is incredibly beautiful. And I'm feeling everything we've been through in the last year and a half overcoming it, bringing the city back, bringing it back the spaces that means so much to us, that give us the grounding, that give us a sense of home. And Lin-Manuel, I think you could say this was another home for you, the original incarnation then, now this, giving us a sense of belonging and a sense of hope. We're going to talk about this place. We're also going to talk about how important it is for New Yorkers to go to these places and spend your money here. I'm going to be very blunt, I hope you don't find this crass.   

No, but the fact that there are people in this city who with their own heart and soul created bookstores and theaters and places of profound and unique culture, we can never take that for granted as New Yorkers. We can't assume it's going to be a part of our life, we have to make it a part of our life. There's lots of wonderful ways to spend money, but I want to really urge people as we get ready for the holiday season, focus on our local stores, our mom-and-pop stores, our unique New York City stores, the places that are about us and our people, that's where you should put your money where your mouth is. You love New York City. You love our culture. You love our neighborhoods. Spend your money where it's going to help preserve who we are. I want to thank our Small Business Services. Commissioner Jonnel Doris who has been doing so much to help small businesses, including bookshops all over New York City, and our Media and Entertainment Commissioner Anne del Castillo, who has been leading the way helping the theater come back and the whole cultural community come back. Broadway's back. Film and TV, stunning amount of shows being filmed right now, movies being filmed right now in New York City, something powerful is happening.  

Before I turn to Lin-Manuel, I want to express gratitude to him and everyone who saved this place because just coming in here, I'm feeling like – you could just feel the presence of the history. First of all, history is saved – 1917 it was started and it's still alive. And like everything in New York City, sometimes the location changes, sometimes some of the look changes, but the heart and soul is still there. So, Lin-Manuel, you and all your colleagues saved something precious. Thank you. Thank you. And I want to say, come in here. And I just feel good. I just feel good. We were just talking about, with a book and a cup of coffee, I could spend a long time in here, and you added the coffee. That's really important. But this is a symbol of our rebirth, it really is, and something precious is happening here that’s back. Everyone, look, if you love the theater, if you love books, if you love New York City, come to the Drama Book Shop and experience the greatness of this place. Come and see what it's all about. 

And I want to give you, Lin-Manuel, something to you and all your colleagues to signify what this means, and this proclamation on behalf of 8.8 million New Yorkers acknowledges the incredible history of this place, but also that it was saved by great New Yorkers like you. And so today, what is it? November – should be October 26th, thank you. Today, October 26 – time flies when you're having fun – October 26th, 2021, the City of New York, I hear by proclaim Drama Bookshop Day.   

[Applause]  

Rolls off the tongue. All right, Lin-Manuel –  

[…]  

Mayor: So, in a moment, I'm going shopping with Lin-Manuel, because we have an aspiring writer in my family. I have had generations of writers in my family, including, of course, my wife, Chirlane. Now, the new generations, taking it up too, so we're going to go find a good book about writing for Dante as an early Christmas gift. But I want to just say something to you, Lin -Manuel, and to Luis as well. I don't know I'll have another opportunity as Mayor to be doing something public with you guys. I just want to say, I've known you for so long, Luis. I've watched your story and Lin-Manuel got to know you. I want to take it back to the notion that a young man could come here as an immigrant and change the city. A young man could go to a bookstore and dream of creating something. And Lin-Manuel, when you sat there thinking about what you wanted to say to the world, I believe you had dreams, but I believe you didn't know if they would definitely come true, right? Like many an artist, you had a vision of something beautiful, but would it actually be seen and felt by the world, and you – there are literally no words. You've had plenty of acclaim, I'm not here to add to the standard acclaim. I want to say it as Mayor of the City, you changed New York City. You changed New York City for the better. New York City is now, and what you've done, and, Luis, what you've done, is a place that respects everyone more, that sees everyone more because of your work. That is the truth. You have been one of the people who made this a different and better place. And I love the notion that you sat there surrounded by books, dreaming a dream. It might've been, it might not have been, but because it was, we're just a more human place, a more humane place, a place for everyone, just a little bit better and getting better. You did that. God bless you, brother.   

[Applause]  

Okay. That is my deep feeling. Now let's get back down to Earth and go shopping.  

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