Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray Deliver Remarks at Pre-Dinner Reception for 2016 SOMOS Puerto Rico Conference

November 12, 2016

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Hóla a tódos! Grácias por estár aquí con nosótros ésta nóche!

[Applause]

I’ve been practicing.

[Laughter]

Thank you so much, Melissa. You are the leader we need in these tumultuous times. And thank all of you. I’ve stopped counting how many SOMOS conferences Bill and I have attended. The important thing is that we are here after 25 years – 25 years ago was our first travel date to the Paradores of Puerto Rico—Luquillo, Utuado, Ponce.   And I’m so glad we came here because I might not have let Bill marry me –

[Laughter]

And we want to be here with all of you fellow soldiers in the fight that we have ahead of us. Now, I don’t have to tell you that public service is not for wusses.

Right?

Bill and I have been through so much, and we’ve had a great adventures and romance, and we have a lot of achievements but we’ve also had defeats and setbacks as well.

Last Tuesday was not our first long and sleepless night, and I’m sure it won’t be our last because that’s just what – that’s how life is. Right?

When I look back at the movements we’ve been a part of, the movements where we first met many of you, I’m struck about – I’m stuck of how far we’ve come despite all those setbacks that we’ve had.

And the task before us now, our shared duty to the people of New York, to our families is to protect all the progress we’ve made in these last 25 years.

And you know what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Pre-K for All which is providing 70,000 children with a solid foundation for a lifetime of learning.

[Applause]

I’m talking about Paid Sick Leave which we extended to more than 500,000 New Yorkers –

[Applause]

Because no one should have to choose between their job and their health.

And I’m talking about IDNYC which is the country’s most ambitious municipal ID program and has helped more than 860,000 New Yorkers protect their paychecks and experience all the city has to offer.

[Applause]

And I am mostly definitely talking about ThriveNYC which is the most comprehensive mental health plan of any city or state in the nation. And with our newest program, NYC Well, which connects New Yorkers to mental health care and short term and long term counseling, you know, we can’t take that away. Right? Can we?

Audience: No!

First Lady McCray: Right! So, I’m proud to lead Thrive. I’m grateful for your health with making sure that we have culturally competent programs that reflect the needs of Latino New Yorkers, and I’m just going to say –

Necesitámos génte que puéda hablár con los paciéntes en su idióma—génte que entiénda los problémas de salúd que tiéne úna comunidád pórque SON de ésa comunidád.

[Applause]

We are not going to let anyone take these victories away from us. And we are not going to stop building on this bold action to build on our success. That’s what we’re here on this Earth for.

There are three things that did not change on November 8th.

We are still New York.

[Applause]

We are still capable of creating lasting – real and lasting change with or without help from Washington D.C.

[Applause]

We – and I’m talking about all of us – are still committed to the same values that drew us to this work in the first place. Values like opportunity, liberty, and appreciation for each other – what we all bring to the table.

And last of all, but most importantly, we are still led by a Mayor who wakes up every single morning thinking about what he can do to increase the world’s supply of justice.

[Applause]

A Mayor who believes there is no challenge that cannot be overcome through hard work and organizing.

Un alcálde que sígue luchándo cáda día pára creár úna sóla Nuéva York dónde tódos podámos crecér unídos.

[Applause]

So, now –

Dámas y caballéros, démos tódos la bienvenída a mi espóso y nuéstro alcálde—Bill de Blasio! 

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Hermanos y hermanas.

[Cheering]

Yo tengo un gran problema. La Primera Dama habla español mejor.

[Laughing]

¿Quizás inglés?

[Laughter]

Public Advocate Letitia James: That’s all right, Bill. [Inaudible]

[Laughter]

Mayor: Tish is advocating for me, by the way.

[Laughter]

Public Advocate James: Defensora del pueblo.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Defensora del pueblo.

[Laughter]

We have in New York City the finest primera dama.

[Applause]

And when she’s not speaking Spanish, she is –

[Laughter]

I want to – I want to honor Chirlane because she believes, and it was very touching what she about how I try to contribute to this world. But I want to talk about how she contributes because she has the audacity to believe we can take a problem like mental health, which has been in every family, every single family. And the barrier between those we love and the help they need has been become of stigma, has been because of something our society created that actually hurts people – keeps them from getting better. And sometimes, someone has to kick down the door, and break the glass, and shatter the stigma, and our First Lady is doing it. Thank you.

[Applause]

There is a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood. There’s a sense of comradeship here today because we all are feeling so deeply. And it’s good to be together. It’s good to be together to know that when you feel somethings have descended into madness, turn to each other and remind each other, we were here long before all that began and we will be here long after it’s gone.  

[Applause]

But we have to recognize – really want to tell you from the heart this evening because it’s such a powerful moment – we have to recognize our own powers. I say to good people, I say to progressives, I say to activists, I say to organizers all the time – don’t talk yourself out of your own power. We’re in a little bit of shock right now. We’re undoubtedly a bit confused, and why shouldn’t we be? We don’t have a roadmap for this because we don’t even know what it is. But we do know our own power. All of us have changed this world many times before. Look around the room – I see many people who won elections that they were told they couldn’t win – right, [inaudible]?

[Applause]

I remember so many times we were fighting for change – union brothers and sisters, how many times were you up against the wall? An employer you thought had all the ammunition, but you still beat them, right?

[Applause]

Brothers and sisters who were in the fight for marriage equality – remember how that was supposed to be impossible?

[Applause]

And I’d like to remind people of the progression – it was impossible, it was impossible, it was impossible, and suddenly it was the law of the land – everywhere.

So, by the way, there are some things – I have to be fair – there are some things that literally cannot happen – we will never have a black president of the United States, for example.

[Laughter]

What? We have one?

[Laughter]

So, another example. Something that would – how many of us thought in our lifetimes, we would never see a person of color as President of the United States of America?

[Applause]

And how many people in this room were part of making that happen?

[Applause]

So we have to understand our own power right now.

I was on the subway yesterday. By the way, my advice to you is there is a part of Midtown that is not worth trying to drive through.

[Laughter]

Morally and practically – [inaudible]

[Laughter]

But, I was in the subway. And I’m walking through. And I woman like grabs me – very, real passion – grabs me. Short woman, Latina, and she says in English, but with a strong accent, she says thank you, thank you for the ID card.

[Applause]

And I knew she wasn’t saying that because she got to go to museums for free. You know you do.

[Laughter]

She was saying it because it was a response to the hatred. It was a response to the bigotry. It was a response to the division. And it was an acknowledgment that we will create our own rules here in New York City.

[Applause]

Guess what? This country has even been perfect? Our founding fathers had their own problems, but they wrote documents. Those documents you can’t un-write. And those documents give a lot of power to people at the grassroots. They did not create a federal government in charge of everything. They did not give all the power to Washington D.C. Maybe they were wise in this – the farmers and the people from the small towns – they wanted to make sure that they would determine their own destiny. Well, what goes around, comes around. That same Constitution means we in the City of New York get to protect our own people, our own way.

[Applause]

I want to talk to you about some of the ways I think we have to go forward. And we will go forward. We will. We will sort through this. We will go forward. But let me take a moment to thank some people because I think one of the things we also do in these moments – this is a time of fellowship. It’s a time to appreciate each other. It’s a time to thank people and remember what they’ve done. So, first of all, from my administration, I want to thank our wonderful Community Affairs Commissioner, Marco Carrión.

[Applause]

And from my administration, and even though she has day job at EmblemHealth – and thank you for hosting this wonderful reception – she’s a part of my administration because she’s my appointee to the CUNY Board – Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez.

[Applause]

Let me say for the record, the CUNY Board does not know what just hit them. Okay?

[Laughter]

I want to thank someone – I said to him, I don’t mind sharing this point publicly – I said to him that his work becomes more important than ever, not just for this city, this state, but also for this nation – our Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

[Applause]

And I want to thank some of the – I have the greatest respect, and she has been a fantastic partner, and now I believe that I’m going to call the different TV networks and I’m going to say instead of when Melissa comes on TV instead of saying Speaker of the New York City Council, just I want a two word phrase to come up under her name. It should say“dynamic boricua.”

[Applause]

That should be the name of your record company.

[Laughter]

No, but I have to tell you we have made tremendous change in this city. We’ve made it at a record pace because there was a Speaker of the City Council who knew there were no limits to change and lived that way. Let’s thank Melissa Mark-Viverito.

[Applause]

And while we’re at it lets thank all the members of the City Council.

[Applause]

We’ve got some new people on the scene, and I can safely say that when Adriano Espaillat made history he didn’t quite know what he would be getting into in Washington.

[Laughter]

This is called getting more than you bargained for.

[Laughter]

But if I know one man who is persistent enough – and you proved it, you proved it in your work, you proved it in your elections – there’s one man persistent enough to find a way to make Washington somehow make sense – Congressman-elect Adriano Espaillat.

[Applause]

We have a man who is carrying on a great legacy. We all miss the person of Ken Thompson and the beliefs of Ken Thompson, but they are being well-respected and continued by Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez.

[Applause]

We have some new folks who were not elected officials at the time of the last SOMOS conference, and they have now joined the fraternity and sorority. We welcome them, and we’ll tell them that it’s a pretty crazy job but welcome to it – Senator-elect Marisol Alcantra.

[Applause]

Assemblyman-elect Carmen de la Rosa.

[Applause]

And he’s been around for a few months, but he wasn’t a councilman at the time of the last SOMOS if my memory serves – Councilman Raphael Salamanca.

[Applause]

All of the members of the Senate, all of the members of the Assembly who are here – who have been such extraordinary partners fighting for the needs of New York City in Albany – let’s give them all a round of applause.

[Applause]

The man who organizes us all in this gathering and has shown tremendous focus on making sure that we gathered strength in defense of Puerto Rico and defense of our values and defense of the needs of the Latino community – Chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party and Assemblymember Marcos Crespo.

[Applause]

Then another – she was advocating for me a moment ago, and I appreciate it in my hour of need –

[Laughter]

And the people thank you for being a loud voice for their needs – Public Advocate Tish James.

[Applause]

Another great progressive who’s been through all of the wars, and she’s still standing – Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

[Applause]

Now I’m going to name some of our brothers from labor. And I want you to know – look, we’re all mature here –labor is in the crosshairs. But the good news is there is no one in labor who is blind to that fact, and there’s no one in labor who has not fought their way through a lot already. And I’m betting on the labor movement for the long haul.

[Applause]

President of AS37 Henry Garrido.

[Applause]

President of Local 371 Anthony Wells.

[Applause]

President of Local 372 Shaun Francois.

[Applause]

And President of the CSA Ernie Logan.

[Applause]

Pretty much if you’re cool, you’re here tonight.

Now I’m sure I’ve – I want to welcome all of the unions. I was just calling out the presidents, so I want to welcome all unions. Now let’s talk about this for a moment – let’s talk about how we are going to handle these coming weeks and months. I’m going to tell you as someone responsible for all 8.5 million people in the city, I am never going to – and this is a tough thing to say and I have trouble saying it – I’m never going to ignore the possibility that we might be able to find some common ground with the new administration on some issues. I’m being straight because you deserve that honesty. If we know we do not know what President-election Trump said he meant and what he didn’t mean –

[Laughter]

And we also know – and we know that to begin with – one thing we know: we don’t know.

[Laughter]

And, there are number of issues where he changed his position regularly throughout the campaign. You remember when he said women should be punished if they have an abortion? And that was gone in 12 hours? And they – there would be a Muslim ban, then there wouldn’t be a Muslim ban, then it was on the website, then it wasn’t on the website. I mean, you've got to laugh on the one hand, and it’s deadly serious on the other hand. But it also means – look, my job is to defend us all. If the President-elect is serious about a huge infrastructure investment plan, what city would be better off than New York City?

[Applause]

And we will – we will offer an open hand. If there’s a serious interest in doing good work for the people, we will offer an open hand. And if he wants to do tax reform and make the hedge funds pay their fair share in taxes

[inaudible].

[Applause]

He said that’s what he wants. If that’s real, we will be with there with him. There may be moments like that, and we have to wish for them. You saw President Obama – and I give him so much honor and I give Hillary Clinton so much honor – those were not easy speeches to make. Those were not easy speeches. But, from the heart, they were saying, we must hope that there is still some good that can be found, and it’s our job to meet it. And then, we are resolute in our willingness to resist and a willingness to fight those things that don’t fit our values.

What I tried to say on Wednesday is, our values – they’re really eternal. This city has been around in its modern form for 400 years. Some of who we are – it’s not just been decades, it’s been centuries. It’s been a place for everyone. It is not a perfect place. It is not a place that has worked out all of the differences. It’s not a place where everyone [inaudible] yet. But, if you look at our city over decades, and decades, and decades, we led the way. We led the way in so many movements for change. We led the way in the labor movement. We led the way in fighting inequality. We led the way in the LGBT rights movement. There’s so many examples where this city was for everyone. No one can stop us from being who we are. No one can take away our very core, our values, our humanity, and we’re going to have to be smart. We’re going to have to be smart. 

We will stand up. We’ll fight back. We’ll use every tool we have, and we have a lot of tools. They have a lot of strength in the city. We will use them to defend our people – it’s as simple as that.

And sometimes people are tempted in a moment like this to think that whatever might be done to us will move in perfect sequential order. No – no, President-elect Trump, if he chooses a path of extremism, will be met with opposition all over this nation. 

[Applause] 

It’ll be met with opposition from the Senate. He will be met with opposition in the House. This evening, brothers and sisters, 20,000 people are protesting outside Trump Tower.

[Applause]

I say this – there’s nothing – I’m not trying to be Pollyanna. I’m not trying to sugarcoat. But I want you to hear this sentence for its true meaning. This is not an end, this is a beginning. It’s the beginning of a new phase. It’s the beginning of a new era. And it’s what we make of it. But there is no slam dunk here. That vision that he laid forward – which he did not receive a popular majority vote for, by the way.

[Applause]

Please, please share with everyone you know right now this evening, as more of the count has come in, Hillary Clinton has an almost 600,000 vote lead in the popular vote [inaudible]. 600,000 votes. So, let’s shake ourselves a little that none of this is decided yet. None of this is decided, and it’s up to us. 

I’ll conclude with a couple of quick points. 

We’re here – this island is under assault. We’re here – we are blessed to be in this beautiful ballroom. We’re blessed to be together. A lot of us have the blessings of a good life but the people of Puerto Rico at this very moment are under assault.

And we need to defend them now more than ever because this new administration, you can say, well, it’s all over or you could say we just have to find a new approach to this movement.

We can’t leave Puerto Rico alone. We have to be in solidarity. That means that we will make sure that any time the needs of the Puerto Rican people are not met, we will make a loud and clear statement on the steps of the Capitol or wherever else, on the steps of the Stock Exchange – whatever it takes because there still is a public conscious out there.

When people in this country see that three-and-a-half million of our fellow citizens are suffering, when they see what the Zika crisis is doing, the health care crisis is doing to families, to seniors, to children – we have to be that moral voice that says we are not going to have three-and-half million Americans treated as second-class citizens.

[Applause]

And that moral voice matters because it’s not like the people of this country took out a questionnaire and checked every box and said, “Oh, we agree with everything he’s saying.” They didn’t.

Now, we have to learn something – I want to make a very important point. After Katrina – after Katrina we as progressives, we as activists we didn’t have a playbook, we didn’t know what to do, and the people of New Orleans, the people of Louisiana never really got justice.

We’re not going to allow another Katrina to happen in Puerto Rico in this time with a Zika crisis or a health care crisis –

[Applause]

Because what we learned is you have to relentlessly shine the spotlight and put the responsibility where it belongs.

We learned in Flint – at least in Flint, the governor of Michigan – everyone knows the governor of Michigan is the one responsible.

Let’s make clear – if Puerto Rico is not respected and the people of Puerto Rico suffer more, we bring it right to the steps of the White House and give responsibility [inaudible].

[Applause]

I conclude by telling you these times of pain have to be times of resolve. You have to sort of think like a slingshot. We went through that agony on Tuesday night, on Wednesday and we got pushed farther and farther than we ever thought. We saw things we’d never thought we’d see. We felt that despair and were pushed back and were pushed back and were pushed back but like a sling shot that is creating a tension and an energy. And when you let go we propel forward.

We propel forward and we reclaim this country for our values because these are the values of most people. Most people actually want to get along with along with each other.

[Applause]

Most people – most people want economic fairness. They want –

[…]

People will react. We have to be their shepherds. We have to help them stand up to the values that are actually the majority values everywhere but nowhere more strongly than in the City of New York.

We have a mission and we have each other.

[Applause]

Get ready to fight.

[Applause]