Multi-Faith Prayer Vigil Honors Victims of NYC Shooting
Earlier today, Governor Hochul participated in a multi-faith prayer vigil to honor victims of midtown Manhattan shooting.
VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).
AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.
PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will have photos of the event here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate that very much. Thank you.
Mayor Adams, on behalf of everyone in this city and the great State of New York, I want to thank you for the leadership that you showed in this trying moment — to show what compassion is, what having a heart is all about, but also being able to be calm in the face of the storm.
When I witnessed you going on television, I saw how challenging it was for you, but you stood there and persevered to describe the horrific actions that had taken place that just unfolded a few hours earlier. So, I want to thank you again, Mayor Adams, for everything you have done for this city and continue to do, particularly keeping all of us safe.
Commissioner Jessica Tisch, one of the most humble people you'll ever meet, but she deserves our gratitude, for the courage she has displayed in this moment of standing up to the hatred and the violence and supporting the men and women of the NYPD. Thank you Commissioner Tisch for all you do for us.
And to all of you come out here tonight. It's a hot evening. It's an emotional evening.
They say that grief is the price you pay for love. What does that mean? It means there were four individuals who just a little more than 24 hours ago walked this earth. They were so well loved by their parents, a husband, a wife, their children, their coworkers, that the pain is so searing right now. It seems unending, and as I called a young husband who told me with such great pride about his wife and her career and how she was raising their 12-year-old and 14-year-old, I didn't know what to say. I said, I've been married to a man I cherish. I'm a wife, I'm a mom. I don't know what to say to you to lift this pain off your heart. But I want you to know that we love you as a city and as a State we love you. And we are also traumatized by what you've had to go through, all of them. As I spoke to the young widow, an expectant mother of two, expecting her third child, I spoke to her today and I just try to convey again that sense of compassion that all of us as human beings feel.
I said, “Is there anything we can do for you?” And in her broken English, she just said, “Pray for us.” So, I am so proud that the Mayor and others have gathered here tonight to allow us to have that moment of prayer to lift up these families who are asking for our prayers. And we'll do that tonight. And going forward, I promised her that we'll keep that promise this evening.
And you're hearing a lot about hearts. Hearts connotes love. Today, I could not stop, but think about that iconic logo that defines all of us. The ‘I Love New York,’ that big red heart in the middle of it. You see it everywhere tonight, my friends. That heart is broken because there's collective pain shared by all of us. There's one thing I know though, that that heart will mend. It'll heal — because we are resilient. We are strong. We have been tested over and over and over again, and we always come together in tragedy to lift each other up. That's what makes us so special here in New York.
And I'll also echo the Mayor's remarks, but yes, we'll offer condolences and love and compassion, prayers above all. But if this nation misses yet another moment to do what is right that they've neglected to do for decades, then shame on them. This is the time to stand up and say no more slaughter by a weapon of mass destruction designed to kill people on the battlefield, not in our buildings here in the great City of New York, that era must end.
There's been too many vigils, too many lives lost, whether it's a school, a concert or at a grocery store in the City of Buffalo, my hometown, where just three years ago we lost 10 of my neighbors — randomly selected.
It has to end, my friends. And I know how it can start. Congress must have the courage to say, we are a great nation. Our citizens deserve better. We respect all rights, but no one should claim as a constitutional right, the ability to bear an arm, I assure you, our founding fathers did not contemplate when our constitution was written.
So, that must end now. So, I say we take our voices, we march, we continue in the lives of others we've lost. We must speak out in their names. So this moment is not lost, and I'm proud to team up with the Mayor and others who want to join in that fight, once again, it's not a new fight. But for once and for all, let's put this to bed and say, our nation deserves safety and security and to know when they say goodbye to their loved ones and they go off to work in the morning, or they're a police officer or office worker, they're going to see their family again at the end of the day.
That did not happen yesterday, but it must happen going forward. Otherwise, who are we as a people if we can't stand up for each other?
May God bless the NYPD.
May God bless the families whose lives have been shredded and torn apart.
May God bless the people of this great City and the State of New York.
And above all, God bless the United States of America and heaven help her in our time of need.
Thank you very much.
