Key to New York City November 17, 2021

“I’m both deeply honored and, personally, very touched by the presentation yesterday by Mayor de Blasio of the key to New York City. I am a born and bred New Yorker, and the city’s make up and its extraordinarily diverse array of cultures and ethnicities have molded me, diversified me, and given me an opportunity and an openness to all points of view. My childhood in Brooklyn was filled with stickball in the streets of Union Street and touch football in Prospect Park. Every Sunday I would visit my grandparents in Brighton Beach where the boardwalks are such vivid and cherished memories. New York City is, certainly, a part of me wherever I go and in whatever I’ve done.

New York City has been tested these last two years as never before, but the city has fought back and will continue to do so. You can feel it all around you. You can feel it in the air. You go to restaurants and they’re back to being packed. The Broadway theatre is back well. New York City will unquestionably be better than ever. And I want you to know that I will be there to help make sure of that with every, every fiber of strength that I have.”

11/17/2021

Location:
New York City, New York