Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks to Celebrate Holiday Season Open Streets on Fifth Avenue and Provides Weather Update

December 17, 2023

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Happy Holidays.

Audience: Happy Holidays.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: A little more cheer than that: Happy Holidays! [Cheers, Applause.]

We were rained out, winded out last week, but we're here doubling down this week. Thank you, everybody. The first year of the Adams Administration we opened up Fifth Avenue during the holiday season to the world; and this year, we're back. New York City's back, Manhattan's back, and Fifth Avenue is back. And we're here to enjoy...

Enjoy everything New York City and Fifth Avenue has to offer. It's our crown jewels, our parks that book end each of each end of Fifth Avenue— Bryant Park and Central Park— and on these special Sundays, it's the sights, the sounds, the colors, the entertainment and the smells—- make sure you all watch out for the smells.

So, everybody join me in welcoming our mayor, Mayor Adams, the first mayor after decades and decades of asking has finally brought the people what they want, a holiday treat to remember for the years, and open Fifth Avenue.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks so much MD. Thank you, councilwomen, both Powers and Brewer, for being here as well. And thank all of you. Get a hand warmer so when you turn over that dollar to Bergdorf Goodman's and the other stores your hands are warm and the money's warm.

We want you to really capture memories by enjoying Fifth Avenue. Over 50 years, has been almost 50 years since you were able to scroll up and down Fifth Avenue enjoy the holiday spirit. There's no better place to be in the country around this holiday season than in New York City, from the tree lighting a our shops, our stores, to all of the activity that takes place, and a little rain is not going to get in our way because we are resilient, not only New Yorkers but America's and international travelers that come from all over the country to experience the beauty of the holiday season in New York.

Thank you. Happy...Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas. We're going to love them, too.

And so the goal is during this holiday season, you know, many people are feeling a lot of angst and anxiety and pain. They believe the answers is to yell at each other instead of embracing each other. That is the spirit of this season. We need to show the love, the nurturing, the kindness that it takes to be great moment that we're in right now.

So, I'm excited about Fifth Avenue being open. I'm excited about all of you being here. I'm excited about the opportunities for the new year's, and the new year's resolutions that we should all make is how do we bring a little more kindness, a little more love, a little more nurturing in our city.

Let's enjoy this city and this holiday season on Fifth Avenue. Good luck to you all. Have a happy, happy, happy holiday season.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you, mayor, and thank you to all of the work that goes into making every detail of this open street as amazing event as it is. If you look up, you see a beautiful snowflake. If you smell by the trees you've got curated scents. If you look at the windows up and down Fifth Avenue, a tremendous amount of artistry that goes into it— all for New Yorkers, because we want you to enjoy our streets.

And a special thanks to the Fifth Avenue Association who's the foundation of today's event. So, I'd like to introduce President Marie Boster.

Marie Boster, President, Fifth Avenue Association: Thank you, Deputy Mayor Joshi. Welcome to the Gift of Fifth Holiday Open Streets. I'm Marie Boster, the president of the Fifth Avenue Association.

First, I want to thank the women and men working today to make the Gift of Fifth Holiday Open Streets safe, clean and just exceptional. None of this would be possible without them.

Our goal today was to build an event that New Yorkers would be proud. Over 11 vehicle‑free blocks, we feature New York City's amazing performing arts schools, local professional musicians, the choirs from our historic churches; and today, the Doris Duke Foundation has brought Grammy Award winning and nominated jazz musicians who are ere performing a few blocks from here.

We have more than 22 different performances all free and for everyone to enjoy during the holiday season when the cost of performances during the holidays is at a premium and are often less accessible. We also brought some delicious and creative food options, and— and— our members have over 20 popups, including for the first time ever in 20 years the slave from the movie Elf is just right there. You can get your selfie when we wrap this up.

So, there's a lot to enjoy, and none of this would be possible without Mayor Eric Adams and our partners in city government.

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Maddie LaBadie, the Department of Transportation, the entire city‑wide events team led by Dawn Tolson, NYPD, who have been phenomenal, the Department of Sanitation; and oh, yes, even the Office of Emergency Management to help with the weather. It has been an amazing team effort. We also benefit greatly from our other partners in government, Councilmember Keith Powers and Manhattan Borough President.

Fifth Avenue was first known as Middle Road; and then over 200 years ago, our journey began. Fifth Avenue has been at the center of ambition, hope, dreams, art, culture, commerce, nature, architecture and so much more. This is a critical heartbeat of the city; and after 200 years, Fifth Avenue is ready for its next chapter.

While Fifth Avenue remains one of the most iconic streets in the world, it's time to reimagine and plan a street that New Yorkers are proud of. We are a walking city, and we want this to be the most extraordinary place to walk; and of course, shop.

And thanks to the vision of Mayor Eric Adams, this process is underway. Under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Chief Public Realm Officer, Ya‑Ting Liu, and Madelyn Wils, the Chief Advisor of the Fifth Avenue Association who cochairs the Future of Fifth Planning Committee. They work in partnership with EDC and many other important stakeholders.

Every day they're working to make sure Fifth Avenue remains a beautiful and worthy destination; and it's through this work that we continue to secure Fifth Avenue as a top economic engine for New York City. Like some of the greatest streets in the world, Fifth Avenue has excellent bones, and we can create a pedestrian‑centric boulevard that links two of our most iconic assets: Bryant Park to the south and Central Park to the north.

Our board and members are excited to support and build a beautiful Fifth Avenue. We all know Fifth Avenue has an extraordinary history, let's make sure we have an extraordinary future. We are deeply grateful to Mayor Eric Adams for leading the way for Fifth Avenue to retain its spot as the most iconic avenue in the world in the most important city in the world. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you very much to Marie and the entire Fifth Avenue Association. Next, I don't know if she was able to join us from the Doris Duke Foundation...she's not. But I do want to call out, as Marie mentioned, the amazing talent that is featured up and down the street. Please stop and linger for a while. It's here for you.

And next, I'd like to bring on our Councilmember Gale Brewer. Thank you.

Councilmember Gale Brewer: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and the [Fifth] Avenue Association, and deputy mayor, and my colleague, Councilmember Keith Powers. I have to say that when you are in New York City and you see the free and the shopping in one Fifth Avenue it's very, very special people.

People come from all over the world just to see these Bergdorf Goodman windows; and they come, but they don't know when they get here, because it's an open street you will then see amazing musical talent. You will see the slave. You will have popup food that you've never had before. That's what's special about New York: the surprises!

And they're so special today on Fifth Avenue. To be honest with you, the top talent in the world is here in addition to the shopping. So, I'm just excited about Fifth Avenue being closed, I'm excited because I think that New Yorkers and visitors don't realize how much New York City has to offer. Just come to Fifth Avenue and you'll see it. Happy Holidays to everyone, and may 2024 be the best year ever. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: And now I'd like to bring up Councilmember Keith Powers.

Councilmember Keith Powers: Thank you. Thank you. I'll be very, very quick. I am so delighted to see everyone out here today. I was walking up the avenue, and I couldn't even believe how many people were out here, even on a rainy day, enjoying their city.

And it's not just folks that are visiting, and we want to welcome them and make sure they have a place to be, but seeing New Yorkers actually take advantage of one of the most wonderful times of the year to be a New Yorker, to walk down this avenue, see the tree, enjoy the shopping and to have a little bit of New York that you can enjoy without the cramped sidewalks and the overwhelming feeling is amazing.

And I want to give a big credit to the mayor and his team, because when we've been talking about this, they were willing and eager to do something here for the holiday season, but now we're also talking about the long‑term future of this amazing avenue, which deserves to be iconic like so many other boulevards throughout the city.

And we're coming up with a big long‑term plan for this area which is going to make this look like this all the time, amazing and accessible and open to the people and welcoming. So, I'm very excited about that as well. So, Happy Holidays, and to everybody who's watching on TV or else, come enjoy Fifth Avenue. This is your city. Come take advantage of it. Happy Holidays.

Deputy Mayor Joshi: Okay. I think we're going to do the weather briefing over here. Okay. From over here, yes.

Mayor Adams: Okay. All right. Listen, enjoy the day, spend some money and have fun.

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Mayor Adams: We just want to give a quick weather update. As you know, there's a coastal storm that is going to hit the city. We're expecting it to be later this afternoon, this evening, into [Monday]. And it's imperative that we get all New Yorkers engaged to make sure that we can navigate the concerns that we have.

I'm going to turn it over to Deputy Commissioner Farrell who's going to give a brief update on what we are expecting.

First Deputy Commissioner Christina Farrell, New York City Emergency Management: Good afternoon. Thank you. As the mayor said and as you can see, the rain has started. We don't think it will be heavy until late tonight, probably about midnight. We're expecting two to three inches across the city, although some areas could see higher amounts locally. We are also expecting heavy winds, especially in Brooklyn and Queens, but across the city— 25 to 35 sustained at their peaks and then guests 50 to 60.

The third hazard that we are tracking is some coastal flooding around high tides, mostly in Jamaica Bay, so Rockaway, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, and Broad Channel are the main areas of concern. We could see widespread moderate to some major flooding.

The city has been preparing all week. We started interagency calls on Thursday. We have activated the emergency operations center. We have extra staffing, and all the agencies are staging, prestaging some equipment out to get if we need to do any special help to Rockaway residents.

As the mayor said, now every day is a good day to prepare. That begins with following NotifyNYC or signing up for NotifyNYC, available in 14 languages including American Sign Language. Also when we see winds of this magnitude, we may see some power outages, so people should keep their phones and devices charged.

And also, it is the holiday time. Once you're prepared, please check in on your neighbors, senior relatives, anyone with special needs that may need a little extra help, in the holiday spirit. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Thank you. And catch basins, catch basins, so important. The agencies are going to do their job in coordination, but everyday New Yorkers can do their job clean: clean those catch basins, make it easy for the water to drain so that we can ensure that we can continue to operate. We will get through this storm, but preparation is the key.

First Deputy Commissioner Farrell: Yes, so unlike last week, this storm is coming in a little later. It will affect the Monday commute, so people should take it slow. We are in touch with the MTA, they have been preparing; and as I said, all the agencies, we will have the emergency operations center and other centers open.

So, it may be, you know, a slow, a little messy commute, nothing not New Yorkers can't handle. For the main flooding that we're looking at is the coastal flooding, the tidal flooding in the Rockaways, but there could be some local flooding.

This event, it's raining over several hours, so we're not expecting really any flash flooding. But any time you have two to three inches of rain, some… you know, some of the highways or spots could be prone to some flooding, which is why we've been in constant contact with the agencies, so they can clear catch basins and also have crews ready to go out when we start to see impacts.

Mayor Adams: Okay, thank you. Go do some shopping.

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