I hope you are enjoying a happy holiday season with family, friends, and loved ones.
2022 has been a time of significant challenges—and real progress—for Manhattan and New York City. It’s been my enormous honor to serve as your borough president during this eventful year.
When I took office last New Year’s Day, our city was in the midst of a crisis, with the deadly omicron wave at its peak. Soon after we were rocked by the horrific losses of Michelle Go and Officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera. We have faced the ongoing tragedy of homelessness and a broken mental system. Evictions have been rising. There has been an alarming rise in hate crimes.
In the face of these challenges we have fought together to achieve something extraordinary: the comeback of our borough and city.
Our work together over the past year has included:
Collecting, organizing, and distributing thousands of pounds of donated clothing and essentials to migrants sent to New York City by a cruel Texas governor;
Fighting for strong public health policy, to contain the covid crisis, beat back the mpox outbreak, and more.
Appointing hundred of local leaders, reflective of the diversity of their neighborhoods, to lead on Community Boards throughout Manhattan.
Passing legislation to curb rat infestations;
Passing legislation to identify locations for public bathrooms in every ZIP code;
Working to create more space for pedestrians in our streets, and to improve safety for all—from pedestrianizing Broadway and 5th Avenue, to reducing the impact of e-commerce on our bus lanes, bike lanes, and sidewalks;
Pushing to make New York City more resilient, from launching a campaign to plant one million more trees, to creating an agency that better governs our waterfront infrastructure so that we are prepared for climate change;
Launching a $2 million small business loan fund in partnership with the Hebrew Free Loan Society to help small businesses fighting to recover from the pandemic.
We have much more work to do together. And as we prepare for another impactful year ahead, I'd like to take this time to invite you to my first State of The Borough on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 6 pm at The City College of New York (CCNY). We'll look back at the past year and forward to the next. Please save the date; invitations with information on how to RSVP will be sent out in January.
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