 interested in taking medicines only once they understand that there is a path that would enable them to take fewer medicines or to take no medicines if they are able to heal themselves through a variety of lifestyle changes such as improving diet, more exercise, meditation, stress reduction, sleeping better. And I think in many ways American medicine has sold a false bill of goods that you have a problem, therefore you take a pill. But there are other ways of being able to heal yourself and live the life that you want to choose. And Michelle has really, Dr. McHacken has really led the way on a patient-centered approach where lifestyle medicine is not about dictating to anyone what to do. It's about getting to the core of what it is that's important to people in their lives and helping them to achieve those goals. So I'm so glad that we can be here in South Bronx. Lincoln is the hospital with the busiest emergency room in all of New York State. We want it to be the hospital with the busiest lifestyle medicine practice in all of New York State. Thank you. All right. Well, first off, let me just say good afternoon, Lincoln. It's great to be here today. We've been looking forward to this for a long time. So my name is Ted Long. I'm our Senior Vice President for Ambulatory Care and Population Health at Health and Hospitals. But more importantly than that, I'm a primary care doctor right here in the Bronx. I've been practicing at Moore-Sania Community Health Center for the last six years. And every year, I diagnose my patients that I care about with chronic diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure. And I know that every time I diagnose one of my patients, I think to myself I'm going to fight for them to help them to live their healthiest life and to help them to manage their chronic disease. But every time I do that fight with them, it's not what I want. What I really want, which has never been possible before, is to reverse their chronic condition so that I can tell my patients with diabetes I can get you off of your insulin. But before today, I couldn't do that. And I want to tell a quick story that broke my heart recently about why today is so important to me. So recently, this past year, I've started a couple of my patients on insulin, a couple of my patients with diabetes on insulin. Recently, I was talking to one of my patients about it, and I explained to him that starting insulin means you'll have to give yourself an injection one, maybe four times a day. You'll have to check your blood sugars multiple times a day. You'll have to see me multiple times a year. And he looked at me, he understood, he said, okay, I'm ready to start insulin. Then he asked me the question that broke my heart. He looked at me and genuinely asked, oh, and by the way, doc, how long am I going to have to be on my insulin for? I knew at that moment, that day, that the answer was, in all likelihood, you're going to have to be on insulin the rest of your life. But today, I'm so excited to be here because I can give him a different answer today because of Lincoln Hospital. Today, I will refer him to Lincoln Hospital, I can refer him to the new clinic at Lincoln Hospital where we can potentially reverse his diabetes, get him off of insulin, and potentially save his life. So I finally just wanted to say, I'm so excited to, I'm excited too, right? We'll call him together and we can, yeah. So I finally just wanted to say, I think it's really important to note where we are today. Right today, we are in New York City, in New York City's public hospital system at Lincoln Hospital, and Lincoln Hospital is going to show the rest of the country how to create this new, innovative care that can literally reverse the chronic diseases that nobody else can. The innovation in the country isn't starting somewhere else, it's starting right here in New York City and starting here today. Concluded with a couple of thank yous. I wanted to say thank you to Dr. Katz because his belief in all of us is the reason we get anything done and why we're here today. I want to say thank you to the mayor who's going to be joining us in a moment because with him, his story, we would never be here today if it wasn't for him. And I want him to know that his support of us being here at Lincoln will save lives. I want to say thank you to Mr. Roker because he can get literally anything done. I want to say thank you to Dr. McMacken, who's our program director for lifestyle medicine in the system, and she hates it when I say thank you. Thank you. And now I'm going to pass the baton to one of my heroes, the chief of ambulatory care at Lincoln Hospital, none other than Dr. Akinola Fisher. Good afternoon and welcome to Lincoln. So, it really gives me great pleasure. I've been here, this is, I think, my 13th year here. And obviously, one of the things we really want to do is improve the health of our patients and the community in the sound Bronx. And I have to say, and also our colleagues and staff, because we're also members of this community. So, it's really, really exciting that we're starting this program. You know, one of the things that I've always struggled with is that we tell people to, you know, make these changes, but we don't coach them through. I think what this brings is supports to coach you through the program. And it works, you know. I am going to tell you, sometime last year, I found out my, you know, I was diabetic, I've always struggled with high blood pressure. And then I just made a decision that, you know, I was reading for the lifestyle medicine boards, I'm not going to provide the care, the fantastic for providing the care here. But I decided that, you know, let me put it to test. And I'll have, you know, my A1C is down to 5.5, all right? So, it does work. That's why I am totally inspired to make sure this succeeds, all right? So please join me in welcoming the lifestyle medicine team. It does work. If you are one of those people that are struggling with chronic illness, I believe that you do need your provider to make a referral to a lovely program so that you could begin to make those little changes. If you've read Atomic Habits, it's not about a sudden change. It's those little changes. Change one meal, change the second meal. Before you know it, it's five days a week, you're on plant-based nutrition. Two more days to go, and then you're totally on a plant-based diet. Before you know it, stand exercising once a day. Change, it's about changing who you are, all right? Don't go and say, oh, I'm a diabetic or anything like that. No, just say I'm going to live a healthy life as a, this isn't of the United States of America. As a New Yorker, I'm going to live a healthy life. Make those changes, and I assure you, yes, you'll still see me occasionally because we need to check you, but you are not going to have us adding any more medications to what your complex medication regimen is already is. Thank you very much. Thank you guys for doing such a good job. Okay, for further ado, I have to introduce to you the director of Lifestyle Medicine for New York City Health and Hospitals, Dr. Michelle McMacken. Thank you so much. I have to say, I didn't think I could get any more inspired, but hearing your words and hearing what everyone said, I have chills. Well, it's also very cold outside. But so good afternoon. Again, my name is Dr. Michelle McMacken. I am a primary care physician and I'm also executive director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine for New York City Health and Hospitals. And today is truly, truly a momentous day because what's arriving now to the South Bronx is this very powerful tool that you've heard. It's called Lifestyle Medicine. And you see, the science is actually very clear that when we adopt healthy habits across nutrition, physical activity, sleep, coping with stress, avoiding substance use, and cultivating meaningful social connections, we can not only help prevent, but we can actually dramatically improve and even sometimes turn around chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. I want to tell you that I personally will never forget the first time that I worked with a patient to help her adopt a plant-based eating pattern and healthy lifestyle changes and she turned around her new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and put it into remission. I did not even know at that time as a physician that that was even possible, but it changed my practice as a physician forever. Because once you see something like that, you literally cannot unsee it. You realize that every single person deserves the support and guidance to help make those changes and sustain them. They also need help accessing resources if they're facing barriers like low access to healthy food. So now what we have at Lincoln in this Lifestyle Medicine program is exactly that. We have this incredible all-star team. You're gonna meet a few of them in a few minutes. We have physicians, a nurse practitioner, registered dietitian, a health coach, a psychologist, community health workers, a fitness instructor, a program coordinator. This team will work with patients to help them live their healthiest and best lives. With today's launch, New York City Health & Hospitals completes its expansion of lifestyle medicine city-wide. And we're doing this in the biggest public health, municipal public health care system in the nation. What that means is that New Yorkers who might otherwise not have access to these services can now access them and these are the communities that actually arguably stand to benefit the most. So at the end of the day, it's all about adding years to people's lives, yes, but also adding life to their years. So I'd like to take a moment to thank Dr. Katz, Dr. Long, Health & Hospitals, and Lincoln Leadership, Mr. Roker, Dr. Fisher, and of course the incredible Lifestyle Medicine team here at Lincoln for their enthusiasm and their commitment. And of course, we would not be here at all were it not for the incredible vision of Mayor Adams whose commitment to making this life-changing, life-saving service available to all New Yorkers has not only already inspired many health care systems across the nation, but it will undoubtedly save countless lives. Thank you. So I want to transition to say that we're thrilled that the Lincoln Lifestyle Medicine program is actually collaborating with the community-based organization, the Mott Haven Community Partnership. And Mott Haven Community Partnership's mission is very, very closely aligned with our mission in terms of working with the health and the well-being of the community. So I'd like to ask the Mott Haven Community Partnership Director, Dan Montes-Trent to share a few words. What's up, Mott Haven? Are you guys from the Bronx? I wanna see some X. So thank you so much for having me over. I do not work in a hospital setting. I work for a very small organization called Mott Haven Community Partnership on 149th and 3rd Avenue. Why am I here today? Because I believe in this program. My father had diabetes. Unfortunately, we did not have this program around a few years ago. And he's not here today. So I do believe 100% in this program. I believe that our families deserve better. I deserve the kitchen I'd be struggling with. Can I have kool-aid? Because we know that they want sweets. We know that they want to be able to eat hot dogs over the summer. But I do believe that by enriching families' lives, we are prolonging their lives. I believe that having access to this information is going to help and make better decisions. I don't believe in telling them what they should be doing. It's the way to help them improve their health. I believe in providing these resources, making it accessible, making sure that they know where to go, that's the way to go. Because we're not in the business of making decisions for anybody, right? But what we are doing is that we're connecting them by partnering with Lincoln Hospital with the Lifestyle Medicine Program. That's what we're doing. We're not making decisions for them, but we're making sure that we partner with organizations like this program that can enrich our lives. So thank you for having us over. And it's a pleasure to be here today. Now, I think we're gonna introduce our lifestyle. Oh, chef. So everyone talks about changing your diet, changing your diet, right? We have a chef who has done amazing things with plant-based foods, right? I'm not a huge plant-based fan, but the food is delicious, right? And you're gonna be able to try it. So I'd like to now introduce you to chef. If he's around, he's preparing. Okay, chef McDonough, here, thank you. Hi, good afternoon, everybody. So I'd also like to start off by the number one chef, Phil DeMilo, who's unfortunately able to be here today. But he was really one of the ones to really start this. And I feel grateful that I am able to work with him and create these amazing meals. So what an incredible honor it is to be celebrating the launch of our lifestyle medicine program here at Lincoln. By combining thoughtfully created plant-based meals with lifestyle medicine, we're taking a proactive and innovative approach to healthcare that focuses on prevention and holistic wellness. We are committed to providing the best care possible for our patients, and we are confident that these initiatives will have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing. Creating our recipes, we recognize the importance of catering to the unique tastes and preferences of our diverse patient community. By incorporating flavors and indigenous ingredients that are traditionally used in our patients' cultures, we aim to provide a more nostalgic and authentic dining experience, translated utilizing fresh plant-based ingredients. We hope not only to celebrate the rich culinary traditions of different cultures, but also to deepen our connections with our patients and create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for all. I am confident that these amazing programs will not only benefit our patients, but also inspire other healthcare institutions to embrace similar practices for the betterment of both individuals and our planet. Thank you, Dr. Katz, Dr. McMacken and the lifestyle medicine team for your support and dedication to creating a healthier future for us all. Let's continue working together to make a difference in the lives of those we serve. So shortly after the ribbon cutting, we are gonna be providing Mayor Adams and everyone else a nice little tasting of two items that are currently on the menu. So I hope you guys are excited and thank you very much. Thank you, Chef. Our patients love the food too, by the way. Just had to put that out there. Now I'd like to introduce you to our lifestyle medicine team, which will be led by Dr. Oviedo. Good afternoon, everybody. I am Carmen Oviedo. I am a primary care physician and medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program here at Lincoln Hospital. So I wish to start by saying that it is a true pleasure to be with all of you today and to express how privileged I feel by finally having this program in our facility, which is a dream come true for most of us. I have been serving the Bronx community in this hospital for almost 10 years now and I have witnessed continuously the struggle that our patients face, the frustration and the challenges when they're trying to take control of their medical conditions. And not only here in the hospital, but also with my own parents who suffer from multiple chronic medical conditions. So when I was a resident here, I decided to see if there was a different approach, if there was something else that could be done. And led by Dr. Moise Casubai, I was introduced to the Lifestyle Medicine Program. We know that the underlying root cause of these multiple medical conditions as they were mentioned, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol are due to poor lifestyle habits. So the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine, the exercise, the healthy eating, stress management and all the others that were mentioned, there is evidence that they can treat, prevent and even put into remission, as Dr. Macen was mentioning, those conditions. On the personal note, I started incorporating more plant-based dishes and meals into my diet, things that I wasn't even familiar with. And I started to notice my mood improving, my energy level, my cognition. And also when I spoke to my patients during my primary care visits about lifestyle changes, I was surprised of how engaged and how open they were to discuss this and to have a more active role in the management of their conditions. So our goal with the implementation of this program in our hospital is to motivate, empower and support our patients and their families to adopt and maintain behaviors that will improve their health and quality of life and lead them to a wholesome and more fulfilling life. Last but not least, I would like to deeply thank an endless list of amazing people that have supported and encouraged our team to make this a reality in our institution, something that is so greatly needed here in our community. So for the organizers of this beautiful event, also thank you from me, from my team, and from our community. Thank you, Dr. Oviedo. At this time, I'd like to introduce our borough president. She is family here at Lincoln. We are so glad you're with us. Vanessa Gibson, please welcome. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for being here to the entire team at New York City Health and Hospitals, Lincoln Hospital, my family, my champions, agents of change who are doing this work every day in the trenches to make a difference in encouraging healthy lifestyles, healthy living, health and wellness, and making sure that we're building healthy families in the great borough of the Bronx. Thank you to our incredible president and CEO, Dr. Mitch Katz, for your incredible leadership. You know that the Bronx Borough President's office is a friend, and we will always make sure that we are doing this work together because we know that in order to make sure that we build and sustain our families, we need access to healthy food. When we talk about overall comprehensive healthcare, mental health services, when we talk about holistic approaches and trauma-informed care with wraparound services, we have to talk about food equity and food justice. Because it is an injustice if any family does not have access to healthy food. And when you talk about this rollout here at Lincoln Hospital, it's really important and it's critical because this is what saves lives. This is what changes the narrative for us here in the Bronx so that we are no longer number 62 out of all 62 counties in the state of New York when it comes to positive, healthy outcomes. Now I know I speak for everyone when I say we want more in 24. We want more programs that build our families. We want more healthy options. We want more creative approaches to supporting our residents, our children, and our families. So today, as we officially recognize the Lifestyle Medicine Program here at Lincoln Hospital, which we know started as a pilot back in 2019 when I was a member of the New York City Council and we were able to start at your colleagues, our colleagues at NYC Health and Hospitals, Jacobi Medical Center, and now we are here in the heart of the South Bronx. Thank you to our president, President Roker, and our CEO and to the entire team at Lincoln Hospital for what you do every day when it comes to healthy habits, when it comes to living better, when it comes to better health outcomes, when it comes to better choices, we have to realize in this moment that it is important for us to meet clients and patients where they are. Many of us have stories of our struggles. I myself was pre-diabetic several years ago until I started to change my lifestyle. And although I'm no longer pre-diabetic, I still live with high blood pressure every day. My mom has type two diabetes and renal failure. We have a lot that we just deal with that are hereditary, that are cultural in nature, but that does not mean it's not impossible to turn these numbers around. We know the statistics, but guess what? We can change those statistics into success stories. We have an administration led by Mayor Eric Adams that understands the importance of incorporating healthy food in schools, in homes, in community centers, in hospitals, in all spaces. That's what this program is all about. We wanna make sure that we do patient-centered care in a culturally sensitive way with language diversity because not everyone speaks English as a primary language. But Lincoln understands that because you have been here for years doing this work, often not recognized, but we are here today to celebrate this incredible launch for all the right reasons. I will not accept that the Bronx will lead in everything bad, but rather we will lead in everything good. So we are here as a testament, we are here as a testament of the possibilities, of the promise, of the potential. Mayor Adams, our CEO, Dr. Katz, President Roker, we all understand and we cannot do this work without all of you. We need our partners at the community level, organizations like what Dr. Anderson-Thorez is doing at Rain Total Care and all of our non-for-profits that run our Norx, our older adult centers. We are about taking care of the patient from the youngest to the most seasoned and we appreciate the recognition that it doesn't matter how old you are, but it's all about what you have access to. And in many of our communities, these types of programs are not always available. But now, as a result of today's official opening, these services will be available here at Lincoln Hospital. So I commend you, I salute you, I thank you to all of our everyday heroes and cheerles for all the work you do on behalf of my family, myself, the entire administration at Bronx Borough Hall. Let us continue to work together on one accord with the same priorities, the same blueprint, the same vision, and that is to save lives, to set families up for success and not failure, to make sure that they are living their best life, as the young people say, and that they are as healthy as they can possibly be. This is a circle, and in order for the circle to work, all of the parts need to come together. So I am excited about today. I thank you for the investment. Most importantly, thank you for never giving up on the Bronx. As your borough president, I will continue to invest. Last year, $6 million in all of our NYC health and hospitals, facilities from Lincoln to Jacobi, to North Central, to Gotham, Marasena, Belvis, and we will keep going. This year, we're also going to support more capital projects because we cannot just talk about it, right? We have to be about it. So let's continue to work together. Congratulations on the launch here for the Lifestyle Medicine Program, and we look forward to building healthy families so that we are no longer number 62, but rather we're going to be numero uno. Congratulations, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. So now I'd like to introduce someone who's basically the reason why we're here, and it is our patient. Mr. Raul Cabaro has recently joined the program. We're just starting, but I want you to hear from him reasons as to why he's at Lincoln and what he wants to get out of this program. Mr. Cabaro. Woo! Excuse me, one minute. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Raul Lorenzo Coveo. I'm 67 years old. I've been a patient here in Lincoln, maybe 15 or 20 years. I'm happy to be here. From what I've heard, all these doctors and every other person that's here that's involved in this program, I think this is what I've been looking for because I was diagnosed, first of all, I have hypertension, COPD, and type 2 diabetes. And I'm very reluctant as maybe my favorite doctor here who introduced me to the program, Ms. Carmen Oviedo. She always says that I'm her favorite patient and she's my favorite doctor. She introduced me to the program. She knows that I'm very reluctant as far as taking medication, especially for diabetes because it scares me. I see some of the people that take medication for diabetes. In the long run, they happen to turn out worse than the diabetes. So from what I've heard here today, you can either reverse or help these conditions by different lifestyle. I'm in the right place and I'm happy to be here. And I look forward to participating in everything that they have to offer. So I thank you. I thank everyone here and I'm happy to be here. Thank you, thank everyone. Ms. Carmen Oviedo, I love you. And we promise, we're in this together, right? We're in this together. Now I'd like to introduce our registered dietitian who was on your team, Mr. Corbedo, Samantha Pizer. Hello, good afternoon. My name is Samantha Pizer and I'm a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist for Lincoln's lifestyle medicine program. I am honored to be here today to celebrate Health and Hospitals' expansion of its life-changing lifestyle medicine services to the South Bronx. Having this program come to fruition at Lincoln is serendipitous to me and I will tell you why. I have been the main dietitian in the primary care practice at Lincoln for almost 10 years. About five years ago, Dr. Moise Casubai, an advocate for plant-based nutrition at Lincoln, nominated me to be involved in an IRB study on plant-based nutrition for our patients in primary care. I will admit that at the time I didn't have much knowledge on plant-based nutrition, nor was I eating plant-based and I didn't even like beans. I've come a long way. So I was intrigued and inspired by the strongly evidence-based information and personal experiences he shared with me. I'm the type of person that walks the walk when I can tell the walk is gonna be a good one. As I gradually changed my way of eating to be more plant-based, I could feel a positive shift in my digestion, enjoy eating new types of foods and dishes and was excited to eat more sustainably for planetary health. My counseling shifted as well to include more plant-based nutrition education. I was thrilled to see that my patients that did make these nutrition upgrades reported increased energy, less constipation and better blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Simultaneously, Bellevue was finishing the pilot year of their lifestyle medicine program, funded by then Brooklyn Borough President and now Mayor Eric Adams. Once I got to meet their dietitian, Lily Correa, once I got to meet their dietitian, Lily Correa and then medical director, Dr. Michelle McMacken, I garnered allies, support and mentors in this field. A few years later, when I found out Lincoln was part of the lifestyle medicine program expansion, it was a full circle moment for me and connected all the dots. As a registered dietitian, I greatly appreciate how health and hospitals leadership and New York City as a whole understands the importance of uplifting nutrition initiatives. The interdisciplinary nature of the lifestyle medicine clinic, the broad access it provides not just for Lincoln patients but also for staff in the surrounding community and its holistic approach to health and wellbeing aligns with my core values of how the healthcare system should be. I can't wait to work with the incredible team we are building. I know this program with its focus on the core concepts of a healthy lifestyle will be successful at improving patients' health outcomes, helping them to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. Thank you. Thank you. Now I'd like to introduce our guest of honor and we couldn't be more welcome to have you here. The mayor of New York City, Mr. Eric Adams. Thank you. All this talk about lifestyle medicine and plant based, people think that the food must taste bad so I have some goodies. You know, back when I was a rookie cop, you know, we were dealing with a high level of violence in our city and oftentimes we looked at what happened to the victim without understanding what has happened into the people who are connected to the victim. And there were times I would visit a community after a terrible incident and they were asking me of, you know, officer is my child safe, is everything all right? And I would say yes to try to bring them comfort but in actuality, I knew that it was not safe and everything was not going to be all right. And I think about that when I think about my healthcare professionals, we know what happens to a patient when they start out with pre-diabetic as our bar president stated, may go to metformin, metformin may go to insulin. All of a sudden they could find themselves dealing with kidney failure, they could find themselves having to lose their sight, lose some fingers and toes. And you know beforehand, you know the pattern could, those of you who practice, you witness this spiraling impact. And you may say to yourself, you know, God looks what's happening to this patient but we deal with vicarious trauma. Don't kid ourselves. Just as I felt every time I responded to a crime that took place in the community and we lost a loved one or an innocent person, you are feeling this when you see a patient slowly go down that road and you do not go to medical school just to be a co-conspirator and watching someone lose their quality of life. Not only does it impact that patient, but it'll also impact the family members as they watch those who they love that they are full of life and energy, all of a sudden take that turn. And that's what I saw with my mom. Her mom was just full of life. She has so much energy, so much aspiration and I just watched how diabetes just took over her life from dealing with heart disease, to arthritis, to high blood pressure. The entire American package that we were handed and I was handed that when the doctor said you were gonna lose your sight in a year, Eric. Your diabetes was through the roof. I was experiencing an ulcer, high blood pressure, vision loss, nerve damage in my hands and feet, tingling all the time, not knowing what was happening. There was a level of just hopelessness until we saw something different and it started with one doctor, Dr. McMacken. Real vision. Real vision and one of my staff is Rachel Atchison who we sat down and saw this years ago and it was a tough battle because we're dug in and it is hard to believe what we have been doing was not the right thing to be doing. It takes a lot of challenge and neat real leadership and was something that Dr. Katz saw and understood how important this is for health in hospital and we had to do three things. Food must be good for you. It must look good to you and it has to taste good. No one is going to stay on any form of eating regimen if it is not something that they enjoy. God gave us a pallet for a reason, not to spit things out but to chew them and enjoy them like the cookie that I handed to our few lucky guests. That's what this is about and lifestyle medicine is real and it is revolutionary in our thoughts and concept and there's a larger picture and dynamic that we must get our doctors and professionals on board and as a dietician stated, it is just an aha moment when you look at the evidence and how you can turn around the lives of people. Nothing is more enjoyable than that and when people stop me all the time and send me letters and emails and tell me how they were able to reverse some of the conditions that they dealt with, everything from weight loss to regaining in sight to not having to go through dialysis, that is just so powerful and all of us, no matter who you are in this room, everyone knows someone that's going through a chronic disease right now, all of us and 80% of our chronic diseases are connected to the food we eat and it is about cascading not only out from this beautiful hospital that is doing so much, everything from guns down, life up to what you're doing about preventive care. This is a major, major contributor and it's a focal point for our entire community and if we start here, we can change some of our bodegas to have more healthy foods, our supermarkets, we could have a community that's not dealing with just junk food but have whole food like Park Slope and Upper East Side and other parts of our city where their children are eating healthy and the connectivity, the food to mental health, of food to how we're feeling and food to how we interact with each other. This is a significant period, seventh location. We started out with a real battle to get one but we were consistent. We knew we can get it accomplished and to have it here in the Bronx with a borough president that understands and is willing to lean into and say the Bronx does not have to be 62 of everything bad but it could be number one of everything good. This is one of the most significant initiatives that's in my administration. People look at my public safety aspect of my contributed to the legacy of being a mayor and a public service but no, it's this, this is what I want to be known for that I showed us that it's not in our DNA. We don't, you're not born with chronic diseases and it's not our DNA, it's our dinner. It's not our lineage, it's our lunch. It's not where we're born, it's our breakfast. Our food is determining our destiny and today we're saying we're regaining control of our destiny. Right now somewhere there is an Eric Adams who will not reach his full potential because of the chronic disease but because of the work of the people who are here with me, I went from a chronic disease to be the mayor of the city of New York and everyone could have that aspiration. Thank you so much for what you're doing. Excuse me. Sorry. Can I have one look this way please? You got it, right? Good. Yeah.