Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Woodland Art Collection at the New York Institute of Technology

November 8, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Suzanne, thank you so much. Congratulations to you. Congratulations to Hank, everyone at New York Tech for doing something that enriches this city. And when you enrich the City of New York, you enriched the whole world. Really, this is a special moment when we need more inspiration. We need something to help get our hope back. And the power of art and culture in this moment of history cannot be overstated. I really want people to think about what we've been through over two years. We're only beginning to understand it, but what we do know is we sought every element of hope, every glimmer, every moment that made us feel we could get through, we could recapture what we had, maybe even we could go farther. And, in this city, as art and culture started to reemerge, that hope reemerged, that sense of possibility. It was extraordinary to watch. We couldn't be whole without arts and culture in our city.  

And so, as another exhibit opens, it reminds us of what we've overcome. And this is an auspicious moment. Yesterday, we had the New York Marathon, coming back again, strong – a beautiful moment. And, today, for the first time in a long time, international visitors are arriving at our airports. So, it's all happening at the same moment as this exhibit, telling us we're overcoming, we're finding our way to something better.  

I want to take a moment really quickly to say, this exhibit moves me on many levels. It particularly moves me because it exemplifies the extraordinary contributions to the city and this nation of the Brzezinski family. And I want people to think for a moment, choose your favorite Brzezinski – 

[Laughter] 

And then, think about all that that individual has done. But put them together in one family and think about the relentless energetic sense of giving back in every way, in public policy, in journalism, in art, in academia. It's extraordinary. We, sometimes – I think Joe will appreciate this – we look back, and some of us look back, a little bit, with longing to certain generations. We talk about the Greatest Generation of World War II. We talk about the generation of the founders and those who helped us create this nation at the time of the American Revolution. And we ask ourselves, was that moment in history what created the greatness? Or, was it the particular combination of people who gathered together just for a brief and shining moment? But we should take inspiration from the fact one family in just a few generations has done so much, and given us so much, and giving us so much hope.  

So, let's do, first of all, a round of applause for Brzezinski’s far and wide. 

[Applause] 

And if there's a handsome, available tree, she'd like to meet that tree. It's basically a tree version of online dating. 

[Laughter] 

But what extraordinary works she has created. And in a moment where we realized both the power of art to sustain us and give us hope, we also have found ourselves turning back to nature. And I think everyone in this room might agree, we've turned a little too far from nature. We talk about sustainability and we talk about fighting the climate crisis, we realize everything that brings us back to a connection with nature helps us to survive at this point, and certainly gives us a sense of a spirit that we lack sometimes in the day-to-day madness we live in.  

So, these beautiful works pull us back to our essence, pull us back to our hope. Emelie, I hope you can hear us there, but thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for this city and this nation with this beautiful exhibit. Let's thank her. 

[Applause] 

And I also want to make clear, Joe, I was including you in the family in that praise, because, you know, I don't want – you're pretty good, too, Joe.  

[Laughter] 

Unknown: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: There's still hope. There's still hope. Everybody, look, I'll conclude with this. What makes a recovery? What makes a recovery? We're all asking that at this moment and we're defining it. A recovery sometimes is considered physical. Do people come back to work? Is there the same number of people on the streets? Are there the same number of jobs? Those are all very real things. We care about those things. But the recovery I'm most interested in is our belief that we can go farther. I hope after this pandemic, the greatest crisis we've ever faced, we come out of it with a sense of our own strength. Just as Emelie's art shows us the beauty of nature, and her art and her life are a story of resiliency, I hope we come out of this moment renewed. Tired, yes, but renewed. I hope we see the strength in each other. I hope we feel fellowship. I hope we recognize what we've all been through and how we’ve helped each other in ways we never could have imagined. I hope that everyone who comes to this exhibit leaves it ready to do more. Thank you. 

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