Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Delivers Remarks at FDNY Annual Memorial Day Ceremony

October 12, 2022

Mayor Eric Adams: As I walked by and shook the hands of the family members who lost their loved ones, I felt the emotions, I felt the pain, I felt the questions.

This is probably one of the most challenging aspects of our existence, when we try to find normality of how do you lose a 22-year-old probationary firefighter? How do you lose a loved one that has committed and dedicated his or her life to fight on behalf of protecting our city? How do you come up with the answers?

And the commissioner and I, the chief and others have to go to the hospitals and meet and greet you. When you get that knock on the door, you're told your loved one is not coming home; your brother, your husband, your son, what could be more unnatural than a mother burying a child, or a dad losing his son? It's a hard moment and it makes you feel as though you are in a dark place.

My mom told me as a child, "Baby, if you are fortunate to live long enough, you are going to find yourselves in dark places. It's going to feel as though it's a burial. And somehow, somewhere you have to dig down and turn that burial into a planting." It's a painful moment. And somehow we have to turn pain into purpose.

And I often think when I'm at these events, what would the 18 say? What would they say to us? I can't help but believe that they would say... if we were to protect their city, they gave their lives for the City of New York. This is America's city. What happens here determines what happens throughout this entire country.

And so, the question mark of uncertainty of why the lives of our heroes we lost at the time we did, today at this memorial, we turn that question mark into an exclamation point. They loved New York. And that's how I feel about this city. That's why I served as a member of the New York City Police Department for 22 years. I love this city. I love the people in it. And those we lost shared that same love.

And somehow, someway, in this dark moment, we have to find the purpose that they wanted us to find. Those who lost as we classified as on duty and those who lost due to other ailments, a firefighter, a police officer, an EMT, we're never off duty. We never stop responding. And right now, they're still on duty, watching over the people of the City of New York.

“Bombs burst in the air, gave proof through the night that our flag is still there.” Those bombs are not only physical bombs, they're the bombs of crime, the bombs of COVID, the bombs of polio, the bombs of immigrants — all those bombs. But our flag is still here. Our flag is still here because they were there. God bless New York. God bless the FDNY. God bless America.