 We are thrilled to have Comptroller Scott Springer here. Springer! Oh my God! I've been saying it all day. I am so sorry. I have Commissioner Scott Springer here. He always has deeply inspiring things to say about the arts, and he has been here with the League of Independent Theater since the beginning. Please help me welcome Mr. Comptroller Springer. Thank you. Wow, this is my first comedy routine. I'm going to be very brief because you have a great keynote speaker in Julie Menden, but I wanted to come by because some years ago when I was borough president, we had an organizing meeting and we basically put the marker down and said, look, if people in theater and arts and independent theater do not become politically engaged, we're going to slowly see arts and culture leave the city. And I want to tell you two quick things about what happens when we fight back and we think out of the box and how we can change lives. And the first work that I did is control an additional report that showed clearly that 400 schools around the city had no certified arts education teacher. Think about that. 400, we put out a report. But here's how government's supposed to work. When we put out the report, the New York City Council said $17 million in the first budget and said, no, we're going to make sure we fund arts teachers. I remember to this day meeting with Mayor de Blasio at City Hall and he said, is this report true? And I said, yes, sir, it's true. He said, well, we're going to do something about it. We brought in arts education specialists and we started to build that. That happened because government made it happen. And we began to figure out the inequality of certified arts education in schools around the city, but not in Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx. That's step number one. Step number two is we just put out a report showing that basically Donald Trump's attempt to defund and get rid of the NEA will have dire consequences for the city of New York. 419 arts education grants are given to New York City. When you have an NEA grant, it's a multiplier. It's a certification that says you're doing well. It opens up other cultural funding. So I tell you these two stories. One, about what's possible when we win. And second, why we have to be vigilant. Why we have to scrutinize candidates. Why we have to continue to build a political base because arts and culture matter. It's not just about arts and culture per se. It's about the high tech economy. It's about the creative economy. It's about making sure our children have the kind of economy and training they need to be successful. It all starts with what happens here tonight. So I just want to say to the leadership of this group, keep doing what you're doing. Every candidate tonight matters to the people of the city and you're leading the way. Thank you all very much.