October 8, 2017Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, I want to thank Taboo and Apl. To have a group that has sent such powerful positive messages as the Black Eyed Peas, to have them here with us. It is inspiring. Let""s give them a big round of applause everyone and thank them. [Applause]And you""re gonna hear from them later on. They""re gonna share some of their gift with us, but it reminds us of what is motivating everyone right now.This is an act of love that people are coming forward all over this city to help the people of Puerto Rico. And they may be 1,000 miles or more away in terms of geography, but they""re right here in terms of our hearts. We are with Puerto Rico. We feel at one with Puerto Rico right now. We""re never gonna let go of that love for Puerto Rico, right?[Applause]And I’ve got to tell you, I have seen this outpouring of love and support all over the City. It""s everywhere. It""s very powerful. I can safely say nowhere is the love stronger than in the Bronx, so thank you for all you""re doing for Puerto Rico. Everyone in the Bronx should be very, very proud.[Applause]Now, we""re in a very poignant place here. Station 26 of EMS, and we think about EMS, we think about all FDNY coming to us whenever we""re in a moment of need, whenever tragedy strikes, they are there for us. And what we""re seeing now, they""re going the extra mile. And they""re there for the people of Puerto Rico too. This station takes on special meaning for us because this was the station that Yadira Arroyo served in. 14 years she served this city as an EMT. Proud daughter of the Bronx who exemplified everything good about the Bronx, everything good about the Puerto Rican community, gave her life serving other New Yorkers.So we""re here remembering her powerful and beautiful example. And we see that the men and women of the FDNY, all of our EMTs, all of our firefighters have stepped up with passion to help Puerto Rico in this moment of need. I wanna give a special thank you to Chief of the Department of FDNY, James Leonard and Chief of EMS, James Booth. Let""s give them a big round of applause.[Applause]And let""s thank all the men and women of this Station for the extraordinary work they do every day, and what they""re doing for Puerto Rico. And also representing the people that do such crucial work, the President of Local 2507, Oren Barzilav – Barzilay, my apology. Oren, thank you.[Applause]I want people to remember what""s going on here. 3.5 million Americans who happen to live on the island of Puerto Rico, they are fellow Americans. It doesn""t matter where they live, it doesn""t matter the color of their skin, it doesn""t matter the language they speak. They""re our fellow Americans, but they""re not being treated that way.
I always tell people if you want to visualize what""s happening, just think very, very close to here. State of Connecticut, almost exact same population as Puerto Rico. If over 90 percent of the people in the state of Connecticut did not have electricity, if millions of people didn""t have enough food or water or healthcare, the entire United States military would be there helping them out. No one would tolerate in our neighboring state if help didn""t come. And I""ll tell you something, you would never hear a President of the United States say that people in Connecticut are lazy and they""re not doing enough for themselves, right? So he should never have said that about the people of Puerto Rico either. People in Puerto Rico work very hard. They""ve been through a lot. They are resilient, they are strong, they""re showing us bravery and heroism in the midst of a terrible tragedy. Nothing like that""s ever happened to a whole state of the 50 states on the mainland, but it is happening in Puerto Rico. Well, we learned something a long time ago. When the government doesn""t do enough, people step up. And that""s what we""re seeing all over the City and that""s what we""re seeing in the Bronx. When the Federal government isn""t there, it doesn""t stop the rest of us from coming in to help the people of Puerto Rico. So we all have to step up. We have to keep calling out the Federal government cause they""re not doing enough.And we""re never gonna be silent about that. But in the meantime, we are all acting in every way we can. And let me tell you what, the City of New York, I am very, very proud of what our city workers are doing. As of this morning, the City of New York has 164 employees on the ground in Puerto Rico helping people in need. [Applause]And some of them literally were there from the very first day of this crisis. They""re from FDNY, NYPD, but also Sanitation workers are down. They""re clearing the debris, making the streets passable again. We have Buildings workers who are helping to make sure that buildings are safe so people can go back in them. They""re there at the front line. And what I hear from New Yorkers of every background – they wanna help more and more. And they understand this is gonna be a long struggle.I tell everyone, we don""t just have to think about Puerto Rico this week, or next week, or next month, we have to be with Puerto Rico for years to come. So whatever way you can help, we""ve gotta be there for Puerto Rico. Who""s ready to be there for Puerto Rico? [Applause]Now some people, the only thing they can do and it""s very important, the only thing they can do is give some money to help. We appreciate that deeply. And you can go online NYC.gov/fund to the Mayor""s Fund, and you can donate to organizations that are helping Puerto Rico directly. But so many New Yorkers have wanted to do something physical and tangible to help the people in Puerto Rico. And that""s what you see right here. This is a result of this donation drive all over the City, at firehouses, EMS stations, police precincts. You wanna find out where to go, just look online NYC.gov/donations, and all the locations are listed.I""m gonna remind people and spread this word that New York City drive, with the FDNY and NYPD, we""re looking for five things and five things only. We""re looking for diapers, baby food, batteries, first aid supplies and feminine hygiene products. That""s what we need. And so please, the more the better because people in Puerto Rico are in desperate need. What we do not need right now, we do not need bottled water. I understand why everyone wants to give it cause they see people don""t have enough water, but some of our other agencies are out there making sure that people get more and more water. But these are the products that people in Puerto Rico need, and they""re not gonna get enough of them if we don""t do this. So, I wanna thank everyone. I""m gonna turn to my wife in a moment to talk about another very important challenge in Puerto Rico and the way we""re gonna try and help. But I just want to, before I conclude, I wanna say a few words in Spanish also, but I just wanna thank everyone because everyone here, this is a labor of love. I know everyone is feeling this mission and doing all they can. And that means so much to me and Chirlane. It means so much to the people of Puerto Rico. You make us proud. You make New York City proud with your commitment to the people in Puerto Rico. So. congratulations to everyone for your extraordinary effort.A few words in Spanish –[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]With that, I""m turning to my wife, our First Lady, because I think a lot of you know she has focused on the mental health needs of New Yorkers, and she""s recognized that we have to break down the stigma around mental health and we understand that""s true every day. But when crisis hits, when tragedy hits, the mental health needs of a community intensify. Everyone knows. Look what the Puerto Rican people have been through, and they""re feeling it. And they need our help in a special way now. So it is my pleasure to introduce our First Lady, Chirlane McCray.First Lady Chirlane McCray: Thank you Bill. Thank you everyone for being here today. I want to give a special thank you to the Black Eyed Peas for joining us today. Although I""m –[Applause]We can""t thank them enough. Although I""m sorry it""s under these circumstances. Music has incredible healing powers, and we""re delighted that more people will pay attention and help in this effort because these celebrated artists are here with us today.I also want to thank our elected officials who continue to support relief efforts and to everyone who has brought in items to donate today and over the past weeks. New Yorkers have watched with grief and horror as the devastation in Puerto Rico has unfolded. We have seen the terrible flooding, homes demolished, businesses swept away, as children and families have struggled for their lives. And as Bill noted, there is some devastation we cannot see with our eyes. What does it mean to lose the roof over your head? Your cherished family photos and mementos, along with your entire neighborhood? Some things can be rebuilt, but not everything can be replaced. How do you recover from the loss of a loved one? It is more sadness than we can measure. And it""s not just the people on the island of Puerto Rico who suffer in this way. It""s our fellow New Yorkers right here too. Many endured an unbearable silence for days while waiting for news from their loved ones. And many are still waiting. And all this stress and trauma has long-lasting effects.Because of the generosity of New Yorkers and many others, desperately-needed supplies will keep coming. With the hard work of response and recovery personnel on the ground, power lines and cell towers will restore service. Over time, entire neighborhoods will be rebuilt. But healing emotional pain isn""t that straightforward.Often people don""t even know how to ask for this kind of help. Or realize how affected they are until months and months later. And they suffer in silence. That""s why in addition to supporting every aspect of the physical recovery that we can, New York City will help address the lingering mental and emotional challenges as well. I am pleased to announce that through ThriveNYC, we will partner with the Disaster Distress Helpline to support the people of Puerto Rico and their loved ones. This is a trusted national helpline staffed with behavioral health counselors, specially trained to help people who have suffered disasters like Hurricane Maria. As the phone service is restored, New York City""s emergency team on the ground will distribute flyers and help spread the word about this critical service so anyone in need can easily reach a trained mental health professional. Our emergency personnel will also assist by testing the call and text services in real time from the island.And we have established a two-way referral pathway between the Disaster Distress Helpline and 1-888-NYC-WELL, New York City""s free 24-hour mental health helpline. When New Yorkers call NYC Well seeking help for their family members in Puerto Rico, our counselors can connect them to the Disaster Distress Helpline. And similarly, anyone calling the Disaster Distress Helpline with plans to move or return to New York City will be connected to treatment and care options here through NYC Well. I want to thank our wonderful colleagues at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Mental Health Association of New York City who fund and administer the helpline for making this partnership possible.Let me share the two numbers. For those in Puerto Rico or for people seeking help and support for loved ones on the island, please call the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.
That""s 1-800-985-5990. [First Lady McCray speaks in Spanish]They can also text, talk with us or hablanos to uno –Mayor de Blasio: [Inaudible]First Lady McCray: No, hablanos to uno.[Laughter]Mayor de Blasio: Hablanos, you""re right. She""s right. She""s right.First Lady McCray: Husbands.Mayor de Blasio: My wife is always right.[Laughter]First Lady McCray: They can also text, talk with us or hablanos to uno dos uno dos quatro seis uno quatro seis tres cinco. Anyone in New York City can call 1-888-NYC-WELL or text WELL, that""s W-E-L-L to 65173. Because NYC Well anticipates support needed for Puerto Rican residents traveling to New York City as well as for returning emergency personnel. That""s so important. People who help with these tragedies often experience trauma as well. And you deserve that support. We are also preparing NYC Well to meet those needs of everyone. So, that preparation includes specialized training and psychological first aid and disaster counseling, as well as making sure we have enough Spanish speakers to meet language needs. No matter when they decide they need help, NYC Well will be there for them. So, thank you again to everyone who""s reaching into their heart and helping with their hands to help our fellow Americans get through the physical and emotional trauma created by Hurricane Maria. Let""s do everything we can to make this a swift and smooth recovery. Gracias a todos.[Applause]Mayor de Blasio: And please, everyone, Chirlane has made such an effort over these last years to break down this stigma and to let people know if you have a mental health challenge, there""s nothing wrong with that. It""s part of being a human being. And if you""ve been through a disaster, you""ve been through a trauma, it""s only natural that there""s a lot of feelings and a lot of confusion that that creates. And people often need someone to talk to so please spread the word that these helplines are available to help people through everything they""ve been through. All of the difficult changes in their life to help them get strong again so families can move forward after this disaster.With that I want to turn to two elected officials who""ve been in the forefront of this aid effort. They have worked very hard in their communities to mobilize people to help Puerto Rico. First – my please to introduce Senator Gustavo Rivera.