 Yes, this is Lady Cardona. She made it especially for you this morning. Nice and fresh. We're not going to give Dana a piece or Michael. Good afternoon everyone. Thank you all for being here. My name is Kevin D. Kim and I'm the Commissioner for New York City Department of Small Business Services. It's truly an honor to be here today with Mayor Eric Adams, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer, Deputy Mayor Torres Springer is the co-architect of the economic blueprint recovery program and Mayor, Deputy Mayor. We have great news. The plan is working. It's a huge success. We have almost 97% of all the jobs that were lost during the pandemic now recovered. We've gotten 33,000 businesses that have started up in the past year. This is a great time and the plan is working. We also want to acknowledge our other elected officials here, Queensborough President Donovan Richards. We've got Council Members Julie Menon and Lynn Shulman whose district we're in today. We've got the Queen's Chamber of Commerce President Tom Gresh and so many other leaders and advocates for small businesses. Thank you all for being here today. And why are we here today? We are here to celebrate the opening of another small business, Ladylicious Cakes. And we're also here to officially announce for the first time ever New York City Small Business Month. Now what does that mean? Nationally we celebrate National Small Business Week the first week in May. Last year SPS went on a five borough five day tour to celebrate and commemorate National Small Business Week by bringing resources to immigrant communities in each of the five boroughs. But this is New York City and five days is just not enough to highlight our small businesses. So we are declaring today, thanks to Mayor Adams, New York City Small Business Month. And what we're going to do during this month is we're going to go to the five boroughs again. Every day we've got a PAC schedule with MOBI, our RV there where we go to meet small business owners where they are because they all can't come down to UnLiberty Plaza for our services. We're going to have a financing fair in Industry City in Brooklyn. We're going to have a workforce development fair up in the Bronx and so many more other programs. So we encourage everybody to look on our schedule, on our website and come and participate. Now why it's so important for everyone to be supporting small businesses? Data shows that if you spend $1 at your local mom and pop store, 70 cents of that circulates within that community. That's to support your neighbors, that's to support your community, your commercial corridors, promote public safety, keep the lights on at the different stores. So that's something that we want every New Yorker to understand that when you shop at Ladylicious or if you shop at your local hardware store, local toy store, you are supporting your own community. Finally, I'm here because we want to celebrate one of the initiatives that Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer came up with called NYC Best. That's the Business Express Service Team and I just want to point out and give a shout out to my NYC Best team right here. And you can see Lady giving the loudest applause because she started her catering business in 2018 and then in January she discovered our NYC Best team and she called us and she said, I want to fulfill my dream of opening up my own retail store. And so what did our team do? They kicked into action, helped us with the licensing permitting process, got this beautiful store open in as quick of a time as possible. And that's why we're here to celebrate the grand opening today. We have a vegan cake here as well for the Mayor later. So Lady is not alone. We have helped 2200 businesses, unique businesses in the past year save over $22 million in fines and violations just by the work of our SBS NYC Best team. So can we give them another shout out and a round of applause? Finally, I just now want to turn it over to our Mayor who goes by many titles. He's got the Get Stuff Done Mayor. He's sometimes self-proclaimed Nightlife Mayor. But today and every day he's our great small business mayor. And so let's turn it over to Mayor Eric Adams. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks so much Commissioner. I am just amazed at how you and your team, how serious you are about this and you having so much fun doing it. As we look across the city, you have assembled together some amazing folks who understand what it is like to pursue the American dream. I think there's nothing more part of our American experience than having someone open a small business based on their observations on what they believe the city actually needs. And I'm going to slice into that cake a minute. But Deputy Mayor, you took this up from the beginning. I remember when you put the task force together to tell every agency to look at how do we expedite? How do we look at fines? Which ones are outdated? And how do we give cure periods? So you just made it easier for businesses. And a dollar amount means a lot. Because every dollar we take away from a business, it impacts on the ability to hire, the ability to expand their businesses. And we don't want to do that. And I think that at the final analysis, we need to start displaying how much we've saved and fines to allow these dreams to come true. So congratulations. I'm so excited for you and your ability to open your business. And we're pleased to be at the open of Lady Lychee's cakes. Now, how could you not buy something with a name like that, Lady Lychee's? Hold on, hold on, hold on. Officer, officer, have her or him get out of the road. Okay, you know, if they come to one of your sweet treats, they would be more kind, you know. Please tell me. Yes, yes. Good to see you. So just come and shop, spend some money. And so in my first month in office, months in office, I signed the Small Business Forward Executive Order, which cut red tape and removed bureaucratic boulders from small businesses across the five boroughs. It was a real initiative. And when I remember when businesses came to Deputy Mayor Maria, when agencies came to Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, they tried to give her a watered-down version. She said, nope, you got to go back and get it right. And they did just that. And I'm really pleased the success of it. The 2,200 businesses that went through our New York City Best Initiative expediting permit and licensing processes and helping small businesses save, as it was mentioned, $22 million by avoiding fines and violation. And Lady Cordona was able to open the doors of Lady Lychee's Cakes because of New York City Best, and we are going to do our best to continue to allow small businesses to grow and thrive in the city. And you can see the recovery. 99, 98 percent of our businesses that we lost pre-pandemic have returned. The city is just thriving. And people often say that, you know, the city is coming back. And I say over and over again, the city is not coming back. The city is back. And the way to bolster the recovery is to come out, leave your homes, come out, shop and spend money in the city. And I think the report that came out last week with several officers that came out last week said it all, you know, loneliness is the equivalent of smoking several packs of cigarettes a day. We have to engage New Yorkers to come back out. We have to engage New Yorkers to just enjoy the city again and allow these businesses to open and thrive. So congratulations. Thank you, SBS. You guys are SBS on steroids. I want to thank my electors who are here as well for just continuing to do the right thing. Can I give the proclamation? Would you put any cream on that? Look at all. You know, so on behalf of the city of New York, whereas small businesses of economic heart and soul of our city, this year's celebration is an excellent opportunity for all New Yorkers to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and uplifting small businesses throughout the five boroughs. Together, we will continue to work to forge a more vibrant and united small business sector that reflects the incredible entrepreneurial spirit that defines the five boroughs as well as building better, brighter future for all. All Eric Adams, Mayor of the City of New York. Congratulations to you. Oh, man, I love New York. Come buy some cake. Thank you so much. We're going to give it to you so you can hang it up on the wall. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have the privilege of introducing Lady Cardona. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for being here. And I just want to tell you a little bit of my story. So Lady Licious is a realization of a dream I have since I started baking at nine years old. And opening these doors, these new doors surrounded by friends, family, and Mayor Adams. And the Department of Small Business Service make the experience even sweeter. Thanks to the help I received with license permits from the SBS New York Best Team. My vision become a reality even faster. And I'm happy now to share it with all of you during the small business month and beyond. Thank you so much for being here. And I hope to make your day celebrations or even a sweet experience. Thank you. I got my lectures here. I just want you guys to join in. Ball President Riches and my two councilwomen, please say a few words. Well, Queens get the cake today. But truly an honor to be here. And thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the second day the Mayor is in Queens yesterday. We had the privilege of opening up a new 145-unit, 100% affordable housing building in Astoria. It's always good to have the mayor in Queens. I think this mayor has been in Queens more than any other mayor in my memory. But happy small business month. Thank you to our commissioner, Kim, who also come from Queens. And considering how Queens economy runs on our small businesses, I don't think you could have picked a better borough today, Mr. Mayor. This is the world's borough and our economy here looks like the United Nations. I'm going to name a country and I can show you the block we've got. Name a country and I can show you the block where we've got authentic restaurants, shops and stores run by immigrants from Queens. So many of these mom and pop locations were devastated by COVID-19. When I came into office, Queens unemployment rate was hovering somewhere around 23%, Mr. Mayor. Today we can say we're at 4.9% and Lady Licious is another one of those businesses that are going to help us to continue to grow businesses here and to employ individuals. And I also want to thank your administration because we worked extremely closely coming out of the pandemic, especially with the Department of Small Businesses and EDC to create the Queens Small Business Grant, which was a $15 million grant funded generously by the Metz Foundation. So we were able to give 750 businesses with no strings attached grants to keep their doors open. So that would not have been possible without the collaboration with the agencies here. And that's why I'm here, happy to be here today to not only celebrate Small Business Month, but to applaud SBS and in the New York City Best Program. One thing that unites all our small businesses are frustrations around being nickled and dime with fines and violations that could have been easily resolved with assistance. Saving our small businesses more than $22 million is nothing to sneeze at. That's $22 million that's going to wages for our workers. That's $22 million that will help keep the lights on and the doors open because now more than ever we need to be supporting our small businesses. We need to make offerings hands up, not coming to them with our hands out to squeeze even more money out of them. Forget McDonald's today. Go grab dinner at the mom and pot restaurant down the block. Forget ordering a cake from Carvel or a grocery store. Get it right here at Lady Licious. In closing, we all have a role to play in boosting our economy and supporting our small businesses. It's something we can and all must do. Thank you, Shop Queens, Shop New York City. What does it say? Yeah, Shop New York City. But most importantly, Shop Queens. Congratulations. Congratulations. So welcome, everybody. I'm so happy for Lady Licious and the New York City best team. Let's give them another round of applause because they made this happen. And it's so funny because I saw that this bakery was opening up and I was going to come visit myself because I'm very invested in our small businesses, which are the foundation of our economy. And it's so important for small businesses like this one to open. But you beat me too, Mr. Mayor. And this Mayor and our Deputy Mayor Springer and our Borough President, everyone has been so amazing in making sure our small businesses thrive with the New York City best program and also small business first. And I'm so glad that this is small business month that this is just amazing. And so it is, I make sure that I go and I'm going to ask everyone here as the Borough President said to go and visit your local businesses to eat, to shop. And there are so many, particularly in this district. This is the heart of Forest Hills. And a vegan cake. I want you to know that I'm very invested in vegan cakes. And this Mayor has made it very clear about how we need to have nutritious meals and also desserts. So with that, thank you very much. And congratulations. And I will be coming back here to buy some things. Great. Thank you so much. I'm Julie Mennon. I'm Chair of the City Council Small Business Committee. I'm thrilled to be here with my colleague in my colleague's district, Council Member Shulman. And wonderful to be with you, Mr. Borough President. I really want to thank the Mayor and the Commissioner and the Deputy Mayor for their incredible work supporting our city's small businesses. In the next month, we're actually going to be voting on a bill that I have that is codifying the Mayor's executive order to lower fines in 40 different categories. Earlier this year, the Mayor signed a bill that I had to create a one-stop shop portal that is going to consolidate every city license and permit into one website, one app. And that is really emblematic of the partnership that we have between the Mayor and the Council on these important issues. In addition, earlier this year, the Mayor announced $5 million is going to the city's 35 smaller bids to market and promote small businesses. So this is so exciting. And I couldn't be more proud to be here at today's announcement because this is really about saving money for these small businesses. And in closing, I will just say I'm a former small business owner. I used to own Vine Restaurant downtown, so this is personal to me. And the work that you're seeing here today that is being done by the city is really helping these small businesses to move forward. Thanks so much. Thank you. Just a few on topics before we do off topics. Okay, good. That means a good job. How both of you stand? Can you share some of your cake? We're going to do off? Sharing is caring. He's back here. Come on. Let's go. He's in there with your wife. I can tell this is real. There's some up there. They've got some up all. Wow, that is some cake. Yeah, and all good for you. The mayor's happy. The city's happy. I'm great, man. Good to see you. Thanks so much for being here. I mean so much. Let's move out or move over. Can we move over so they can? Okay, you guys are good. Yeah, mayor. Okay, brother. Do a few off topics. I am, you know, I have been extremely clear that the district attorney, the police department, they're doing their investigations. And I'm going to respect that. There are many layers to this. Let them, let the process follow its course. And so get engaged with comparisons and where we are, where we are, where we aren't. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to let the investigation run its course. For comments you made last night on Sigheta already, I'm saying that you're minimizing this, that you should come out with more strongly worded remarks on it. What do you have to say to those folks? You know, I took the train today from the day of print service and the passengers that stopped on the train and spoke with me saying, you know, mayor, thank you for allowing the process to take its way. And so there's going to be those who are going to criticize no matter what's done. And I have a responsibility for this entire city. And I have faith in the criminal justice system. And I'm going to let the process take its place. And those who believe that I should do something differently, I respect that. But I have to make the right decision for the city of New York. When I feel this is enough information, all the other electors, they have a role to play and I have a role to play. The police is doing the investigation and the discontent is doing his investigation. I respect the process. Yes. Well, every circumstance is different. But we need to be extremely clear that from day one of this administration, I focused on we cannot have people with severe emotional illnesses on our subway system. And there have been many people who have pushed back against my subway safety plan and my outreach. We should not wait until something happens with someone and then react. We should be proactive. And that is what we are pleased about what we have done. 4,000 people we have taken off to get services. Some have returned. But the number of engagements that we have participated in really showed how we had foresight in this issue. You can't have people on the system that need care and ignore them. Others decided to ignore them. I said, no to that. And I'm asking everyone to join me and help me as we give people the care that they need. And this really highlights why this is important. No, I don't think I'm the only one. I think that if you speak with Mayor Lightfoot, she has a voice just clear outrage at what is happening in her city. If you would speak to my other mayors, they've shared the same. I don't think I'm the only one. It's just that when you look at New York, New York has received a brunt of close to 60,000 of those who are coming to the city to participate in the American Dream. And we're not giving them the resources. So it's not that I'm alone. I think it's unfortunate that we have ignored the voices of others. But I'm very clear. I speak with my colleagues all the time. They are furious about what is happening. And it's just wrong. It's wrong what we're doing to cities. And it's not about trying to attack the administration. It's about protecting New Yorkers. I have an obligation to make sure New Yorkers receive the resources they need to manage this crisis that we're facing. I'm glad you raised that because when I read that in the paper, that was really bizarre that it took 15 minutes. And then I started when I spoke with the police commissioner and I spoke with the detectives. Then I asked to get the body cam and I realized that they were there in six minutes. And I said, well, what did the 15 minutes come from? You know, someone blurted it out and all of a sudden it became the facts. And so we have to be very careful that facts is based on the actual facts and not what we want to create them to be. Police officers were on the scene in six minutes, not 15 minutes in six minutes. And I want to commend them for their response and how they handled the situation upon arrival. And I just want to be clear. It did not take police officers 15 minutes to get there. When I first read that, that was too bizarre to me. I was a former transit cop. Listen, I did this as a career. I know what it is to be in a subway system. I know what it is to have to respond to a job. And those officers did a great job in doing so. Thank you.