Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, police commissioner, for your words that really gather us all together as we mourn brothers and sisters who we lost in the line of duty. There are many things that we would experience as the leader of the finest Police Department on the globe, as the mayor of the greatest city. But I can never forget the night commissioner and I responded to the hospital after losing Mora and Rivera. I think about that over and over again, watching a family witness their entire lives change instantly and just hearing the cries and the tears that we’ve heard so often, “Please, God. Tell us it’s not true,” just to find out that our reality shifted.
And we often forget that even when the bullet hits the physical body it doesn’t stop tearing apart the anatomy of our spirit in our communities. This families continue to feel the pain and those who know both Officer Mora and Rivera lived through the thoughts every birthday, every holiday. Every time they hear the name or every time they hear a siren, they think about it over and over again.
And to the family members we lost during 9/11, the building is rebuilt, but we find it challenging to rebuild our lives. We have to always reflect on the promises that were lost when thousands of our fellow New Yorkers were prematurely taken from us. Today’s ceremony is our way of stating, “We will never forget.” But I hope it was not lost on you, as each fraternal organization was mentioned, the diversity of the various men and women who came from different countries to pursue this great experiment of democracy we call the American dream. And the only way we can fortify that dream is to find men and women who embraced the noble profession of public protection. The tree of freedom we sit under is watered oftentimes with their blood and bravery.
We cannot say thank you enough. I think about Officer Wenjian Lu and Officer Ramos and so many of our other brothers and sisters. Saturday, I saw January. January was the daughter of Officer Robert Venable, a close and dear friend of mine. She was a baby at the time that someone took her life. She’s now a grown woman with a child and she still feels the pain that many of us feel in the loss of Robert and so many others.
We have an obligation to make sure we are with the men and women who are front part of our law enforcement communities. I am of you. I proudly wore that uniform for 22 years and wore the bulletproof vest and protected the children and families of our city, and I’m committed to doing it as the mayor of the City of New York. Every day, I’m on that beat with you. Every day, I’m still answering the 911 calls of service. I know there are people out there that want to bring harm to the innocent people of this city. That is not going to happen as long as we have the NYPD.
God bless you, the family members, as you seek some form of understanding during these challenging times, and your faces and your presence here today to lean on your brothers and sisters who have joined an unfortunate membership and to those who have lost their loved ones in a line of duty. They served us well and they will never be forgotten. We will continue to lift them up and lift you up in prayer. God bless the NYPD. God bless America. God bless our city. Thank you.
NYC.gov New York City Hall website
