Governor Hochul: "I'm proud to serve you. So proud to represent you. And I'll keep fighting for you every single day of my life. And I say right now, let's celebrate the Three Kings. Let's get out there and talk about this beautiful, diverse culture that we embrace that is the identity of New York State."
Hochul: "The Three Kings went on a journey, and it was not an easy journey...We're on a journey together as New Yorkers to lift up the voices that have been suppressed and silent for too long."
¡Buenos días! So happy to be here this morning. What an extraordinary event. The first parade of 2023, I'm looking forward to marching. We're going to do this all the way through the year, and I have some extraordinary leaders here with me today, and I know you just heard from our borough president, but he has been such a strong ally, and I thank him for all he has done to lift up the voices of the people he represents and will be looking forward to working very closely in the future.
Adrienne Adams is here, and the word is partner. You didn't always hear that in the past. And I have brought in a new era of collaboration to government to let people know that we represent the same people, and they expect us to work together. And that is something that's important to me particularly. But on this day, and I'm so happy to be back here. I have been here so many times. Yes, I have. We've been here a lot. We were here with Adriano Espaillat's Hispanic Heritage Month just in October. We were here for a bigger announcement, we announced in September our Institute for Immigration, which was really important. We did some announcements here. As you know, our congressman can't be here for a very important reason. It's extraordinary to think of what is happening in Washington. I was once a member of Congress. I'm much happier to be your Governor.
But you know, the Museo del Barrio is one of our, really crown jewels. I mean, this is a place that people can come and understand history and culture and what it feels like to embrace the story of people who fought so hard and came here to build a better life. And that is what this purpose is of this event, but also this place. And I want to remind everybody they should come and see all the attractions. I want to thank Patrick for his leadership of this great organization. And also, I do want to give a shout out to our Kings. Is this considered a queen too, or are we all Kings? We're all Kings? How are we handling this? I'm a little sensitive about, you know, okay. Non-binary group of leaders. Okay. That's who we have here today. We're going to do it politically correct. Right. Alright.
Well thank you for being here today, but you know, we're also entre familia. This does mean we're a family and we come together as a family, and you think about what we can continue to do together as a family and lift up voices who have been suppressed for far too long. Far too long. Where people who have been put down, not given opportunity, not getting the healthcare and the education and the housing and the positions in power that they have deserved for a long time. And I'm referring to the beautiful Latino community. It's long time, been a long time, and I, as Governor set out my very first day to make sure that I had the most diverse administration in the history of our state. I'm very proud of the leaders that have joined my administration, my incredible Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, our Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez, the head of the Department of Transportation for the entire state of New York, who has battled more storms and floods and blizzards than anybody probably in the history of the state. Our great leader, Marie Therese Dominguez. But when it comes to protecting people's human rights, the leader of our Division of Human Rights is Maria Imperial. And I want to thank Maria for all she does, Maria.
But also, when it comes to protecting justice, something that's, to my core, is one of the most important things we do is protect justice, our head of Criminal Justice Services is Rossana Rosado, and I want to thank Rossana for all she does for us as well. Higher education, Guillermo Linares. I want to thank Guillermo for all he does to make sure that we have that pathway to better education for our young people. Denise Miranda, the Executive Director of protecting people with special needs. I want to thank Denise for all Denise does. Julissa Gutierrez, our Chief Diversity Officer to make sure that we don't miss any opportunity to lift people up. Julissa, thank you.
And there's also another opportunity that lies before us to do something that has never occurred in the history of the great State of New York, and that is to put a distinguished individual on the highest court in our land. An individual who has a stellar record. A record of accomplishment, a record of bringing people together, a record that supports fairness and justice - core values that are so important to me as a leader. And that's why I was so proud to nominate, and expect to have the process unfold with hearings, with a vote on the Senate floor to confirm our next Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, Hector LaSalle.
Because I believe, and what we're talking about here today, is a journey. The Three Kings went on a journey, and it was not an easy journey. Oh, it took months. But when you think about the Three Kings, they're also known as the wise men, right? The wise men. Well, one would think the wise men had all the answers - that they knew everything. But it turns out they knew that they needed to seek the truth. And the truth sometimes takes work, a journey, a path toward understanding and having an open mind to get you to the right place - to eventually get to our savior. And that's the journey they undertook, and one that we are all called to do in our positions. So, I'm looking forward to the journey. We're on a journey, we're a journey together as New Yorkers to lift up the voices that have been suppressed and silent for too long.
That is what I intend to do as the Governor of the State of New York. I'm proud to serve you. So proud to represent you. And I'll keep fighting for you every single day of my life. And I say right now, let's celebrate the Three Kings. Let's get out there and talk about this beautiful, diverse culture that we embrace that is the identity of New York State, and let's have a fabulous parade. Thank you everybody.
No comments:
Post a Comment