Transcript: First Lady Chirlane McCray and Mayor de Blasio Deliver Remarks at 2015 Upstander Awards

October 13, 2015

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Thank you Rose, and hello everyone! It is so wonderful to be in Harlem for this Upstander event – it’s always nice to be in Harlem, but especially nice to be here tonight. I want to thank you Rose. I want to double down on what I said about you last week, when we were in Staten Island for the opening of the fifth Family Justice Center. Nothing in this world can take the place of passion and persistence, and Rose, you have a large measure of both. Although the mission has been a tough one, you have been undaunted. I also want to second Rose’s praise of Harlem Hospital. What a joy it is to be here! With roots stretching back more than 125 years, this is a community hospital in the fullest sense of the word – a place that is of the people, by the people, and most definitely for the people. Yeah, so I like that.

[Laughter]

[Applause]

As chair of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, I also want to give a big shout out to our valued partner, J.P. Morgan Chase. Chase is sponsoring this year’s Upstander Awards, which is absolutely wonderful, but that’s not all. They’re also recognizing National Domestic Violence Month by loading every Chase ATM screen with a message urging victims of domestic violence to seek help. I think such a big commitment deserves a round of applause, don’t you?

[Applause]

Now tonight, we are going to honor some heroic men and women, who went above and beyond to help those whose lives are defined by pain and fear. But it is important to remember that the Upstander Awards are not only a celebration of individual acts of courage, they are also a reminder that every single one of us has a role to play in developing a city-wide solution to a city-wide crisis.

Last November, I had the honor of visiting the United Nations and signing a Memorandum of Understanding between New York City and U.N. Women. As part of that agreement, a coalition of city agencies and partners are working hard to make all of our public spaces free from sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence. New York is the first U.S. city to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with U.N. Women.

[Applause]

And I don’t think she’s here now - she was here earlier - but I want to give a big shout-out to my partner in this work, Madam Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. She’s not here, and I’m glad she’s not here hearing me mispronounce her name, but we love her and we’re so grateful for her partnership. U.N. Women was created under the leadership of another very important person we are lucky to have with us tonight, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

[Applause]

And the creation of U.N. Women is just one example of the secretary-general’s commitment to women and girls. The secretary-general created the Unite campaign, which calls on countries to make a real, tangible commitment to end violence against women and girls through both laws and on the ground action. He also founded the Network of Men Leaders, an organization dedicated to making sure men do their part to end the scourge of violence. As the secretary-general put it, “Men must teach each other that real men do not violate or oppress women, and that a woman’s place is not just in the home or the field, but in schools and offices and boardrooms.” Now that is what an Upstander sounds like!

[Applause]

Now in this work and in all things, the secretary-general has a strong and assertive partner in his wife –sound familiar, Bill?

[Laughter]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I can relate.

First Lady: Just checking. Madame Ban Soon-taek is the patron of U.N. Women for Peace Association –that’s the U.N. Women for Peace Association, which is focused on preventing violence against women and girls and making sure they play a central role in the creation of a more safe and peaceful world. And when the United Nations organized a march last year to end violence against women, Madame Ban was at the front of the pack, leading the charge.

[Applause]

And so on behalf of all New Yorkers, women, men and children alike, Bill and I say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. It is now our honor to present both of you with a 2015 Upstanders Award.

[Applause]

First Lady: It’s your turn.

Mayor: It’s my turn? Uh no, I’ve read the official program, and we are off-program, people.

[Laughter]

Because at this point, the secretary-general and Madame Ban are invited to come forward and speak to us, which is a great honor for all of us. Please, secretary-general.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Thank you, secretary-general. My friends, what a tremendous honor for all of us. You know, there is only one institution in this world that brings together all the nations of the world, and fosters peace and progress and the intense devotion to human rights for all, and that is the United Nations. And to have the leader of that global government; the leader of that one institution that unites us all here with us really uplifts this entire proceeding. And Madam Ban, and secretary-general your partnership is so evident; your common and strong commitment to defending the rights of women and all people. And you’ve bought an energy to your leadership at the United Nations, which we New Yorkers deeply appreciate. We’re honored to be your host. We’re honored to be your partners and it means a lot to all of us, and certainly to the Harlem community to have you here tonight. Let’s thank them both for all they do.

[Applause]

Well, I have a strong partner – wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Laughter]

My wife from the very beginning of her consciousness of the world around her saw herself as a feminist and a change agent. And we know revel in the fact that we have two young people – our son and our daughter who see themselves as feminist and change agents and it doesn’t get better than that. So, the next generation’s coming on.

[Applause]

But I have to say as our first lady, Chirlane is having an extraordinary impact on this city, and the work she’s doing now on mental health will be felt in every corner of the city. And the way she uplifts all people, and in particular defends the rights of women and stands up against domestic violence is an example to people all over the city. Let’s thank our first lady.

[Applause]

Now, I want to thank some of the leaders who are here with us tonight. I want to thank, ofcourse, our Commissioner for the Office to Combat Domestic Violence, Rose Pierre-Louis for her leadership.

[Applause]

The secretary-general acknowledged our commissioner for Internal Affairs, and he said her name perfectly – this is part of why he is secretary-general, he can say every name from every culture. Let’s thank Commissioner Penny Abeywardena for her great leadership.

[Applause]

I want to thank my counsel who’s leading so many key initiatives of this administration, Maya Wiley thank you for your leadership at City Hall; Ann Roest our commissioner for Information Technology and Telecommunications; Carmen Malalis our commissioner and chair of Human Rights Commission, thank you;

[Applause]

Lisette Camilo, director of the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services; Nilda Mesa director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. So many people, by the way, who work on so many important issues, but consider the fight against domestic violence part and parcel of what they do in all of their work in government and that speaks volumes.

We are honored to have, also, from the United Nations Undersecretary-General Cristina Gallach, we thank you for your leadership and for being here tonight.

[Applause]

And two of our great elected officials – and their work could not be more pertinent. First of all, the Chair of the City Council Committee on Public Safety Vanessa Gibson thank you so much.

[Applause]

And the chair of the City Council Committee on Women’s Issues Laurie Cumbo, thank you.

Tonight, we are honoring people – and you know, in the work that Chirlane and I get to do we meet wonderful people. Some the most famous in the world; some people at the grassroots who you’ll never know they’re name, but you will feel the impact they’ve made on this world. And we meet people trying to help on so many different levels – trying to make this city a more positive place. But sometimes we not only meet someone wonderful. We meet someone who humbles us a bit because they’re work is so hard. And their challenge is so great, but they still take it on. And people who fight against domestic violence and people who work with survivors are, to me, some of the most noble people in our society. This is one of the challenges that the secretary-general said, it’s a challenge we shouldn’t have to be still talking about in 2015 in the greatest and most sophisticated city in the world, but we do have to talk about it until this scourge is ended.

So, for Chirlane and I the opportunity to be among the people who do this work – people are overcoming the stigma that still hangs in the air; and the people going to the frontline to help those in need, it is humbling. We look up to them for the work they do. And it is inspiring to see people who stand up. That’s why the concept of upstander is so positive because it says we all have a role to play. We all have a chance to speak out; we all have a chance to right the wrong. Now, we know something about domestic violence and intimate partner violence that grips at us. It can happen anywhere. Sadly, it doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to people of any background; of any income level, in any neighborhood. Every kind of relationship; every kind of age; every kind of orientation, unfortunately, this a scourge that cuts across all aspects of our society. And once you know that then you realize we have to reach across every boundary and let people know that we are here for them; that whatever they’re going through we’re here for them. Whether it’s well understood or not; whether there’s a stigma attached or not we’re here for them. And our message to all survivors is straightforward, you are not alone. You are not alone. We are here for you. There are so many people here for you, ready to stand by you. We are working in every way to reach every corner of the city. You heard the good news Chirlane mentioned – we’re so proud of the fact that we just broke ground on the fifth Family Justice Center in the city. Now Staten Island is being reached with this extraordinary effort.

[Applause]

And it’s very important – I must say it here and I ask everyone to please spread the message – the services of Family Justice Centers are free. They are confidential. It does not matter what your documentation status is; it does not matter what your sexual orientation is; it does not matter what your age is, family justice centers are there to serve you. There’s legal services; there’s help in getting the protection needed; there’s counseling; there’s a host of support available. And we also know that people who go through this challenge need a place to live, and need shelter sometimes, and we have added so much more shelter for survivors of abuse – more than 13,000 more New Yorkers will now have a save refuge because of new initiatives o add shelter for them.

[Applause]

So we all together – all of us are building our capacity to reach those in need. We’re building up the consciousness of the people of this city. We’re standing up – and by the way, even though we’re talking about a tough topic and a topic that is long from solved we also have to take stock of progress because here’s a lot to be proud of to. Intimate partner homicides are down 27 percent from the year 2013 to the year 2014, and that is tremendous progress.

[Applause]

And with all the different work of the people here collected – all of your work helps to protect people. I’m going to talk about our men and women in uniform in a moment and they do such particularly important work for us protecting people from intimate partner violence, but everyone in this room plays a role in protecting, and educating, and counseling, and supporting. But we are making some progress. And we have to use that progress as inspiration to go farther. Tonight, we’re going to honor some of the people who really show us what it is to go the extra mile. And they exemplify what it means to be an upstander.

The next award goes to Ambassador Sandra Fuentes-Berain the Counsel General of Mexico in New York City.

[Applause]

Mayor: Come on over Ambassador. Alright, we’ve got a plan. Well, the Ambassador is not only an Upstander, she is a self-starter. She saw the Upstander public service announcement that the Office to Combat Domestic Violence did last year and she said she wanted to reach more and more people in this city. And she thought there had to be the right version for people who speak Spanish. So she did not want to see, to her great credit, the language barrier keep people from getting the help they needed. So she organized members of the Coalition of Latin American Consulates and leaders of the Latino community, to participate in a Spanish language public service announcement, to send a message to people of all nationalities from Latin America, that together they would work to uplift those in need and to serve them – spreading a message of help and hope to literally tens of thousands of people. My friends, would you agree with me that that defines an upstander?

Audience: Yes

[Applause]

Mayor: Alright. The jury has spoken. We now present the award to the ambassador.

[Applause]

Mayor: Ambassador would you share a few words.

[…]

Mayor: If there was one of those taglines at the end, it would say, he’s Donald Trump and he did not approve that message.

[Laughter]

Mayor: We’ll continue that theme of people that Donald Trump does not approve of for the next awards.

[Laughter]

Mayor: To Univision and El Diario La Prensa, for their extraordinary coverage related to domestic violence. This is something, very moving to me because for all us of in public life, we wish that there would be when the times the media would look at an issue more deeply. We understand the rush of events, we understand the 24 hour news cycle, but you sometimes yearn for a closer look at these very deep and complicated issues.

Well, our prayers were answered because this year Univision and El Diario La Prensa worked together – they did a comprehensive week long effort – a whole week devoted to in depth consideration of this issue including the challenge and what is being done and what can be done and that’s what holds all of us accountable, when our colleagues in the media really raise the bar and look at an issue that deeply.

Univision’s television segments combined with El Dario’s’ article for maximum impact and they lifted the curtain on the problem and on a set of solutions – looking at the specific s challenges related to domestic violence in the Latino community – looking at services available for immigrants and where there are gaps in those services and the kind of initiatives needed to teach young people how to be a part of healthy relationships. And they began with – a crucial part of the reporting was an article titled, “El silence es el major aliado de la violencia domestica,” “Silence is the best ally of domestic violence,” what a powerful way of framing the issue and reminding us of what our mission is. So, there’s no question that these two organizations have helped to break the silence and shed light where it’s needed and to inspire and uplift the survivors. First, accepting the award for Univision, the news director, Esteban Creste.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Now you have to wait because you are in television, you have an opportunity to provide something called a sound byte in Español.

[Laughter]

[…]

[Applause]

Mayor: And now, accepting for El Diario, the Editor-in-Chief Carmen Villavicencio.

[Applause]

[…]

Mayor: Now, I mentioned earlier, that there are some special heroes here. Everyone knows of the extraordinary ability of the New York City Police Department and the challenges our police officers face every single day and how they keep this most complicated of cities safe. But I think it’s fair to say that our police officers who work to prevent domestic violence and to help the survivors of domestic violence, have one of the toughest assignments in the entire police department, and they take it on because it is a challenge that they want to overcome – it’s something they do because they believe in the cause. We have 80 members of the NYPD today – 80, here tonight.

[Applause]

Mayor: From all five boroughs, and they represent over four hundred officers all over the city who are devoted to this mission and if you haven’t met one of them, please take a moment tonight to meet them and thank them because this is noble work. It is work that really – probably doesn’t fit the stereotype or assumption that most New Yorkers have about policing. Because they think of a traditional vision of policing but this is some of the toughest police work and it takes so many different skills and such a keen understanding of human reality and what each and every individual family is going through. This is a tough assignment and it’s an assignment that – it takes a certain special breed to achieve.

So, let me give you a sense of what it can mean because it’s also an assignment that brings a lot of complexity with it. It can mean working through the night to apprehend an offender or it can mean dressing up in costumes to entertain children at a Family Justice Center. I bet some of you have done both, correct?

[Laughter]

Mayor: So, I want to give you one example and it’s a great example, in the case of – the example Sergeant James Cordiner of the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway.

[Applause]

Mayor: The Sergeant, in one situation, was working to protect a family that was in – clearly in mortal danger – working a case where an offender drew a gun and threatened to kill a woman and one of her children. It’s not shocking to tell you that the victim was reluctant to seek help, but Sergeant Cordiner worked with her, stayed with her and eventually convinced her to seek shelter. He likely saved her life and remains in close touch with the family. That’s the kind of work it takes, that persistence, that ability to relate with someone going through so much. Now the sergeant’s week can also include meeting with victim – the victim support group he runs, with his counterparts in the 100th precinct, which provides a safe space for victims to gather and share experiences. And they have told him how glad they are to be together – to have a chance to feel so distinctly that they’re not alone. Sergeant’s example is a great one; let’s give him a round of applause for all he does.

[Applause]

Mayor: But all of our police officers, who focus on domestic violence have stories to tell that are equally noble, and we thank them for their work. When other people have been put down, let down, struck down, our police officers have stood up and they’ve been Upstanders, let’s thank them.

[Applause]

Mayor: So, we have been graced with the presence of extraordinary people tonight, but I conclude the way I began. Everyone – everyone in this room has a chance to make a difference, everyone have a chance to reduce the stigma to provide the information and the support – to lift people up, to give them hope, to say we won’t allow this scourge in our city and every day we will do better. That’s all of our mission and for that I can say, you are all Upstanders. Thank you everyone, goodnight.

[Applause]