June 14, 2016Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good evening, everybody. I want to thank my friend Rick del Mastro. Give Rick a round of applause. He deserves it.[Applause]Tonight, we all have something to celebrate, all of New York City has something to celebrate, because Mary Sansone is a treasure of this entire city. [Applause]Now, we can safely say, it’s been the century of Mary Sansone. [Laughter]I have to tell you, the New York Times asked me a few years ago when I was running for Mayor – the New York Times asked me, who did I think was the most interesting person in New York City. And I can tell you, with no contradiction, it only took me a second to say Mary Sansone. [Applause] For those of you who watch television, you know the Dos Equis ad? With the world’s most interesting man? Well, Mary Sansone, without question, to me, was the most interesting person in New York City, because a lifetime – a lifetime of changing this world and changing this city for the better. And, if you’ve heard her story – now, I want to tell you, if you’ve heard Mary’s story, she never repeats herself, ever –[Laughter]– she never tells it with passion – no, it’s beautiful to hear Mary tell the story of her life, and it starts with her family, and it starts, particularly, with her father and all he did to help working people. And when I hear those stories to begin with, when I hear about her father in Union Square so many decades ago, rallying working people for a better life, and a then-little Mary Sansone, watching, and taking the inspiration, and then I think about not just dozens, not just hundreds – thousands and thousands of people who have been inspired by Mary, who are helped by Mary, or mentored by Mary – and it all goes back to those meetings in Union Square. And how beautiful that is that the torch would pass from her father to her, and then she took it, and ran with it, and did so many things. Now, Mary, we can safely say she was born ahead of her time. When you listen to the things she was doing, she was always ahead of her time. She was a strong woman, professional, and a strong leader when women were told that wasn’t their place. No one ever stopped Mary from being a leader. No one ever told her to stand back. She cared deeply for her family. She cared deeply for her people, and her love of the Italian-American community is very deep in her, as we know, and has been a key part of her whole life, but that did not stop her from loving all peoples, and embracing all peoples simultaneously. And if you’ve been to her house, you notice a United Nations of people passing through, and that so much of her life was united – about uniting people. So much of her life was about making sure that we overcame those barriers, those boundaries we never should have had between us in the first place. There are some people in our national political dialog who could learn a thing or two from Mary Sansone.[Applause]I never heard Mary talk about building a wall.[Laughter]But what she’s done throughout her life is build bridges. And, I have to tell you, Mary, you have a sense of what your followers – and I want to call them that – those for whom you were a mentor, and a leader, and an inspiration – you have a sense of what you mean to them. I’m sure they’ve told you over the years. But what you haven’t gotten to hear is the people who, when you’re not there, give all the credit to you, and I have heard it over and over again. People tell me how their life was changed by Mary; how they believed they could do something bigger; how they believed that they could create a better society; how they got involved in their community, they got involved in their city because Mary was their example. It was so deep that people talk about it all the time, and they’re still talking about it because you’re still doing it right now. Even at this exact moment, you still bring in a whole new generation and show them the way.So, I don’t know how you do it. I’ve always been amazed. I don’t know where you find the energy, and the love, and the passion, but you always do. And 100 years – you are the same in the beginning, and you’re the same now – you believe. You believe in something and you do something about it. So, I wanted to tell you how much I admire you, Mary. I want to tell you what an inspiration you’ve been to me. I want to tell you how much pride you give me as an Italian-American, because we all look up to you. [Applause]And you have done so much for this city. And you have to sometimes take on the politicians and the powers that be to do it, but that never stops you. And you have done so much for this city. So, now, you deserve a day named after you. And on behalf of the 8.5 million people –[Applause]Now, for the record, the official day was Sunday. So, we’re naming Sunday after you.I, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, do hereby proclaim Sunday June 12, 2016, in the City of New York, as Mary Sansone Day.