 One more time Good evening everyone. How you guys holding up over there good folks? Everyone is good Fantastic, okay so first I'm here one more time because the honorable mayor to thank our honorable mayor for giving us the opportunity and privilege to celebrate the Bangladesh Heritage and Independence Day of Bangladesh 52nd Independence Day. We are here Okay, we're all excited. Honorable Mary is here. He's gonna come over here But before that I like to thank him for a few more things. I know time is short as you know that This is the first time we're celebrating Bangladesh heritage and Independence Day of Bangladesh in Gracie mention This is an history and the history are all part of that and that has been possible Because we got a mayor like Eric Adams Who's not the mayor for? He's not the mayor for only one community. He's the mayor for every community He's the mayor. He's the guardian for New York City for us He's the best of the best. That's why we are here That's why we got the privilege. It's for every religion every community He just inaugurated a mosque in Jackson Hyde last Friday and This is also the first time ever any mayor did that for Muslim community It's not only for Bangladesh in Muslim community. It's for the Muslim community in New York City He inaugurated the mosque. He's the best and he got a gift a Quran I hope he's gonna get a time to read that and We got a gift for him too this time also so he also introduced as you know that Halal food was there, but he made an expansion To the schools he made big expansion to that halal food and Make sure that the Muslim people the Muslim Community and the kids can have halal food in the school and He makes sure of that one. Thank you an herbal mirror. Thanks a lot and He was so what and also as a former NYPD member. You are Compensate and tough on crime and also pushing to Amanda barely from act for the safety of our New York City For the safety of our New York City Thank you so much Our community is always with you our community is always gonna be back you up. We all love you Are we not love him? We all love him Thank you so much all the journalists. I will not come again. I'll not give my speech But my gratitude because what he did for us for a community Over here 95 like Bangladesh Heritage we all Bangladesh Let's celebrate Let's thank and show our gratitude to a mirror, but before that I want to say something one last thing That mirror has such a good team and he has hired such a good people in this organization in his time Especially during the pandemic time whenever I call him and one guy. I have to mention his name Dilip Chauhan Dilip Chauhan Help me out During the pandemic time. He's always helping the community in every aspect. Even this one is his idea Fahad, I think this is the best opportunity to do it. We need to do it our mayor gonna help us and Finally it happening. Thank you. Dilip Chauhan. Are you there? Thanks a lot You're always there for our community uniting the South Asian community, especially and thanks to Bappa Bappa is here. Am I right? Oh So many Bappa members Serving these New York cities protecting our life Protecting us. Thank you so much, Bappa. I like to thank Bangladesh American Friendship Society especially the president Azum Bhai for helping me out and Secretary Maxut Choudhary for helping me out Bangladesh Society INC That's the mother organization in New York 28,000 members. There are also few members are here 10 of them I cannot accommodate everyone. I cannot invite everyone. The mayor cannot accommodate everyone over here So we have 28,000 members. Thank you so much for joining us. Some of the executive committee members are here We have the president secretary everyone is here. Yes, and we have the JBBA president Jackson Abinsen's association Geesh Ambed is here. Thank you so much Geesh Bhai for coming. You're here And if I miss anyone, especially I want to thank all the Photojournalies Journalists electronic media Printing media Everyone came in you have to focus this we made our history. Thanks to everyone. Let's enjoy. It's our mayor time right now Thank you. Thank you evening. Come on. I know you have more energy. This is your first event. Come on You got to be excited. I am chaplain dr. Ingrid P. Lewis Martin chief advisor to the mayor Today I have the best ever Opportunity I Get to present to you someone that you all know when you all love We are celebrating first Right. Are we celebrating first? Are we celebrating first? City Hall has for the first time in history the highest ranking Member of the Bangladeshi in community and I believe in God so you can beat me up if you want to but we all believe in God whether it's Allah Buddha Hashem Jesus Christ whatever we believe in God and I'm thrilled and honored to in to present to you one of your own your very own your brother who was also my brother Why? because when We first went to City Hall We found a place that needed some TLC We found a place that needed to have a mayor who had his hands and fingers on the pulse We found a place that was in this repair And I was charged by the mayor to help put the pieces into place. I Would have never been able to do that Without the help of this gentleman that I will present to you He is our chief Administrative administrative officer. He runs the show Who's coming into the office? You're being hired if you're being released from the office? We handle all of the computerization in the office of City Hall proper He runs the show and Without him we would have been in a much poorer place So it's indeed an honor for me to present to you because I know all of you know him and all of you know love him And you have to give him the biggest round of applause that you're going to give anyone except for our mayor So without any further ado, I Present to you my brother who I thank From the bottom of my heart and I know that God brought him into our lives God brought him into the life of the mayor and into my life And I prayed for it because I knew something was wrong But I couldn't quite figure it out and I asked God, please clear the path. I Asked God, please help me to do what my brother the mayor needs to get done And who did I meet but your brother my brother mayor be share, please come on Organizing this memorable event for us. It's a great moment to be here tonight. I Welcome the Bangladeshi community to Gracie mentioned and I'm glad to see some of the community leaders and Lots of familiar face our crowds tonight, you know as Ingrid mentioned I work for for the mayor But I there is a little bit more to it So I have been working for the mayor's office for 25 years Serving for mayors, but this is the first administration who Who where I feel recognized and valued for my work as a chief administrative officer? Tonight I am proud to represent Bangladeshi community Which is one of the fastest growing community in New York City? I also wanted to give shout out to my Bangladeshi colleagues Who helps this administration guest stuffs done? I'm very grateful to our mayor Eric Adams for celebrating this special and Historic moment with us. I'm sure under this administration. There will be many more to come. I Appreciate our mayor for everything. He is doing for New York City and our community he's sincerely concerned about well-being of Everyone in this great city and I want to thank our mayor on behalf of Bangladeshi community Without going further It is my absolute pleasure and honor to present the hundred-tenth of mayor of New York City Mayor Eric Adams Look at this house, you know First of all, thank you so much and it's just good to be here with you and I think about my brother a Son who has traveled with me throughout the entire a city during The campaign and even before that when I was state senator when I was ball president It's been a real brother and a real friend and I just want to thank him personally But before I speak I want to bring on the first Indian American To be elected to statewide office of faith first woman to do so my good friend assemblywoman Roshka ma'am I'm your assemblywoman Jennifer Raj Kumar And we made history together when I became the first South Asian woman ever elected to a New York State office Thank you, but I want to ask you. Are you excited for the first ever Bangladeshi heritage celebration? I couldn't hear you We are here for this historic event at the mayor's house because the first time our community for the first time The South Asian community has a direct voice in City Hall And in fact they call Mayor Adams the first South Asian mayor He sees our community He understands us Whether you're from DACA select Jackson Heights or ozone park This is the mayor that values you he believes in us He's a true leader Great leader and so today on the week of Bangladesh independence day I am thinking of great leaders like Mayor Adams and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman The founding father of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Today, I am remembering the freedom fighters of the Bangladesh liberation War of 1971 Many of those freedom fighters are in your families some are here today and Today the Bangladesh communities fight for freedom and greatness continues here in the United States in the 1970s all of your families came to the United States just like my family and Today, we celebrate how far we have come in all fields In fact, New York City has the highest number of Bangladeshis of any city in the USA and We are thriving in all fields. I have young Bangladeshi kids working in my office And they are smart hard-working. They come from good families They are tomorrow's leaders and I am with them every step of the way Just like you were there for me Because when I first ran for this office people said Raj Kumari You're a nice girl You got no shot But the Bengali community was there for me uncles invited me into their homes and gave me their mango lassi and Said we are there for you and now I am your proud representative tomorrow I will proudly introduce Bangladesh independence day on the floor of the state assembly and make a speech And I'm gonna make a speech for the whole world to see Honoring this community and I am on the ground with you every day during Ramadan I am outside your mosque serving dates and water I throw your first ever iftar celebration of any representative in my district and I'm so proud to have supported the mayor's efforts an amazing effort to expand halal food options in schools But I want to thank Fahad Solomon charming energetic and Relentless fighter for our community who organized this event tonight and I would like to think Sukrani Dunford the mayor's incredible South Asian representative and I would like to thank my friend Babu Khan owner of premium supermarket Babu Khan has donated fresh halal meals to the people of my district We have stood outside of the mosques many times and we are actually the mayor is honoring Babu Khan today And he truly deserves this honor for the way he's given back Thank you all so much. I just want you to remember my office Is your office? Keys to my office are your keys. I love you so much Joy Bangla and just Assemblywoman Raj Kamal has been a real friend to the people of this city, you know the state And this is a significant moment of that. We acknowledge Bangal dashi heritage today and when you think about it she indicated during the 70s That you made your way here to pursue the American dream It should not have taken 40 years Before you made your way to Gracie mansion acknowledged your presence Like so many other groups. I say over and over again as I see my friend Nasbaraj from the not police community and others I Say it over and over again if you ask to describe The group of people I am talking about coming to America Eakin out of living trying to navigate the language and understand the culture finding their way Oftentimes leaving loved ones back home so you could make it and then bring them here Believe in an education believing in public safety believing in family You will have a difficult time talking about what ethnic group I am describing Because your journey as Bangla dashi is the same journey as my Haitian brothers and sisters my African diaspora my Chinese My French my German my South my Central America our journey is the same If you look under the fingernail of every ethnic group, you'll see the desire to climb up the mountain one hand at a time To participate in an American dream. That's why we come here because we believe opportunities are here And when you leave here tonight, and you go home and talk about being here and reflect on the 70s I want you to think about the migrant seekers that are coming here now They too want to pursue the dream that you pursued They too believe in America And yes, it's challenging that we're not getting a federal support that we deserve with 51,000 people coming here Leaving the persecution of the land that they left But just like you they look in the eyes of their children and they hope that one day That they can be a part of this great dream So that their children can wear the uniform of these men and women from the New York City Police Department that are here that their children can stand up and be like mayor and Managing the complexities of this city. They want the same things That is why they came here. That is what makes us great There is no other city in this nation that has the Statue of Liberty to assist in this harbor We are the welcoming map for everyone and I'm calling on you to go into the shelters in the Hurks where they're located and Volunteer give them some support Help them as they learn English Help them as they learn the skills that are needed Let them know that you see them like you wanted people to see you in the 70s This is the same journey. We are blessed and I know That it is not the belief in Allah based on being a worthy worshiper But it's going out and doing the deeds and service that are needed for mankind This is the greatest moment to show your faith By being there for those who are in need That includes those who are the victims of violence And those who participate in violence that includes going to shelters and talking to young people That include volunteering and food pantries That includes Being there for those who need clothing seniors who are living alone This is our opportunity as we announced yesterday We love new york the reason we love new york because new york is made up of the best stuff on earth And that's the people like you and like me and like all of us So I celebrate you This amazing community What you do in business What you do to lift up our families And all the things that are important We have Thousands of jobs That are waiting to be filled like mere We want you to go into your community and find people who are looking for employment and let them go into city service We want to increase the number of bangladeshi police officers so that we can have supervisors We want to increase the numbers of department of D.o.t. Department of sanitation Hbd All of these services don't be an outside spectator As you try to improve this city We want you to be part of this administration like so many others If it's commissioner kim who's the first korean american to be the commission of small business services If it's deputy mayor Maria tourist springer the first filipino to be a deputy mayor or mera josey the first Indian to be a deputy mayor or shina right the first african-american woman to be the first deputy mayor or ingris luis martin The first chief advisor We want to bring you all in Because you have not been noticed for so long I want you to know i see you I respect you, but most importantly i need you I need you And we heard you when you said you wanted A place to worship We created space for all of the muslim employees to go for juma We heard you When you stated that you want your children to have halal food We did a citywide campaign of bringing halal food into our school We're hearing you when you talk about your children are dealing with fentanyl And some of the other crises in the overdose We know we have to tackle that problem We hear you when you state that the women of your community Were being assaulted because they were a hijab That's why we put in place the office to prevent hate crime and bolstered it and now hate crimes have dropped by almost 70 So we hear you Now i want you to hear me Cities are made up of agencies I want every agency to reflect the diversity of this city When someone walks into an agency, they must see you and they must see themselves I want you to donate art so we can put it in gracey mansion and government to builders that's reflected of your culture I want you to spend time in schools and educate people on the importance of your culture And i want you to join us without breaking brand building bonds A thousand dinners across the city 10 people at each dinner All of them coming from a different culture And religious background And doing something we like to say is revolutionary talking to each other This is our opportunity This is what asan and i talked about many years ago And we are here now We are the mayor of the city of new york We are So let's make this city What we want it to be And so for hard i want to thank you for sponsoring this this event for coming out I enjoy so much the other day being at masjid abu urela Watching the opening of that beautiful mass to see the growth in the birth of this community I want us to continue to do These things as we move forward as a city You were there for me When I ran for office I told you then and I will tell you now I'll never forget you I'll never forget your support. I'll never forget your love. I'll never forget the bangles atc community. Thank you very much Thank you, mr. Mayor we got something um from the Association We would like to present some citation those who has done remarkable jobs for past year like whatever the deep Are always good. So we have to recognize them and I like to Present that citation. Please come on the stage Uh, I like to call on the name. So you folks can come on the stage First I like to call Please come on the stage. How I like to call up on the stage rima begum. Please run applaud. They deserve it Babu khan Please come on the stage Um And the um number um, Muhammad islam. Muhammad delor Islam. Can you come on the stage, please? I have brought a special gift for honorable mail, but I'm not presenting alone I'm presenting it to honorable mayor on behalf of everyone All members of bangles community as a gesture of love friendship and get it to you honorable mail This is the symbol of our independence Bangladesh independence. Thank you very much