October 6, 2016

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you, John Sollazzo. Buona sera.

Audience: Buona sera.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Italian]

Mayor: Chirlane is the most Italian non-Italian I’ve ever met in my life.

[Laughter]

She – her love of the Italian language and culture, the fact that she would pretty much always rather be in Italy, she would pretty much rather always eat Italian food, and she named her children Chiara and Dante – that’s as close to being Italian as you could get.

[Applause]

I also want to say – I want to welcome everyone. Benvenuti. I want to welcome everyone to our house – la casa del popolo – the people’s house, Gracie Mansion. And I want you to remember, the first occupant as Mayor of this house – he was a little self-conscious about it because he didn’t think a public servant should have such a nice house, but he gave us an example of leadership we will never forget in this city – Fiorello LaGuardia was the first resident of this house.

[Applause]

And that is a name that always makes me proud to be an Italian-American. In the focus we have on our family – and I tell everyone that I come across, if you are lucky enough to be born Italian, or Italian-American, you are taught a beautiful focus on your family. You are taught to really be there for the people who are part of your family all the time. And so, for Chirlane and I, Chiara and Dante are the center of our lives. I want you to know that Dante has taken a great interest in the Italian language. With a name like Dante, you would expect that right? And he studied Italian at Yale, where he’s at college, and then, this summer, he went to the University of Sienna to study Italian more. That’s pretty good, right?

[Applause]

Chiara loves everything Italian too. She hasn’t taken up the language, but, if you ever want to spend time with Chiara de Blasio, just offer eggplant parmesan and she will be right there.

[Laughter]

She and I share – we share that view. Today – one last family point – today, I had a real joy. You may have seen that the groundbreaking occurred for the new museum at the Stature of Liberty, and the man who leads that effort to create the museum, a guy named Steve Briganti, who was also one of the leaders in the restoration of Ellis Island, he is also my cousin, because my grandmother’s name was Anna Briganti. And he is my cousin, and he’s done a great thing with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Italian]

[Applause]

Now, we’re going to celebrate tonight. We’re going to celebrate Monday with the parade. I want you to know, and it refers to the point I made about Chirlane, everyone in this room know it – if you’re lucky enough to be Italian, you carry that with a certain pride. And then, how many people do you know who wish they were Italian? Okay?

[Applause]

They try to say the words like they’re the real thing and I admire that.

[Laughter]

Well, tonight, we have a lot of contestants, because when the members of my administration heard we were celebrating Italian culture at Gracie Mansion, everyone was suddenly Italian. So, I am going to introduce them, and I’m just going to do a running introduction, but they’re all amazing public servants who have served the people of this city all the time.

So, I’ll mix the Italians and non-Italians together because, tonight, we’re all Italian. Our Small Business Services Commissioner Greg Bishop; our Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Victor Calise; Community Affairs Commissioner Marco Carrion; Corrections Commissioner Joe Ponte; Environmental Protection Commissioner Vinny Sapienza; TV star and Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Esposito.

Not to make light of a very serious situation – obviously, the hurricane is hitting the south east very, very hard, but, when you hear their officials talk, they just don’t have the swagger of Joe Esposito, okay?

[Applause]

The President of the School Construction Authority Lorraine Grillo; Director for the City of Legislative Affairs Office John Paul Lupo; Director of our Federal Affairs Office Andrea Zuniga; Chief of Staff to the First Lady Roxanne John; our Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan – I’ve got to work on that one, Sree – Sreenivasan; and an Italian, a proud Italian who runs all these wonderful events and makes them all happen here at Gracie Mansion, and all over the City, our Director of Special Events Carla Matero.

[Applause]

The elected officials who are with us, I’m going to say the ones I know are here. Others may join us. Assemblymember Phil Goldfeder, thank you; Councilmember Vinny Gentile; Councilmember Jimmy Vacca.

[Applause]

We have two leaders of the Democratic Party in this city. They both do wonderful work for their boroughs. The Staten Island Democratic Chair John Sollazzo; and from a little small hamlet called Brooklyn, the Kings County Democratic Chair Frank Seddio.

[Applause]

And then we have representing the Italian republic – and I want to shout out this man – he’s now the new Consul General of New York City. You’ve got to get to know him – a wonderful, charming man. He said to me – this really moved me – before he came to New York to take up his post, he felt he had an obligation to go to my grandfather’s hometown. My grandfather, Giovanni, from Sant'Agata de' Goti, Province de Benevento. So, Francesco Genardi went to St. Agata first and then came to New York City.

[Applause]

And then a great thank you to our good friends at the Columbus Citizen’s Association for all they do – those scholarships you heard about, all the great work they do. Let’s thank Angelo Vivolo for all he does.

[Applause]

And our grand marshal this Monday – quite [inaudible] to be the grand marshal of the parade. Robert LaPenta, congratulations.

[Cheers]

Finally, if you want some great music, call an Italian, and that’s what we did. We called Dominick Farinacci for the music tonight. Let’s thank him and all the musicians.

[Applause]

And I’ve got one more – newly promoted leader within the NYPD. The new Chief of Personnel for the NYPD Diana Pizzuti, we thank you.

[Applause]

Now, I’m going to be very quick, but, I have to tell you, in this city – and I have to tell you, we New Yorkers – we don’t necessarily realize how close we are to Italy in every way. But there are not many other cities in the United State of America where if you walk down any block you’re going to feel the presence of Italy – that’s true in New York City. It may be a museum, it may be a pizzeria, it may be someone speaking Italian, it may be a name you see on a building or a store, but, in this city, you feel very, very close to our homeland. And look around you – and you get reminders all the time. Everything named after Fiorello LaGuardia, as I said, makes us so proud. Look at the new Whitney Museum – beautiful building, one of the great new jewels of New York City, and we thank Renzo Piano, the great architect who created that.

So many wonderful things, but, for all of us – for all of us, when we think about this city, we think about our family and our journey, and think about every single one of them and the very courageous choice they made to travel across the ocean, to establish a whole new life in a whole new world. For my grandfather, Giovanni de Blasio, for my grandmother, Anna Briganti – I’ve been to the very small towns they come from. The idea of 100 or more years ago, coming from that town in the middle of this metropolis and trying to make a new life, thank of how brave they were, think of how strong they were, and think of all that they gave to us, and think about how that made New York City a better place for everyone. Let’s celebrate our ancestors.

[Applause]

And that’s why we keep a strong sense of connection. Wherever I go, I say to people, if you have not been back to the hometown that your family comes from, you have to do it, it will change your life for the better. And if you haven’t brought you children there, you have to do it, because it will give them pride, it will give them such a sense of hope and strength to see where they came from. That’s what makes us strong.

And we remember – when Italy is in trouble – we remember to be there for Italy. The earthquake back in April – such a shock to see so much devastation. But the people of America and particularly New York City – Italian-Americans and so many others – stood up for the people of Italy in places like Amatrice and helped out. And we will always be there for Italy, won’t we?

[Applause]

My final point, and I know that Francesco and all the people at the Italian Consulate will say this as well – please keep this beautiful language alive – la lingua più bella del mondo.

[Applause]

Okay? If anyone knows – if anyone knows a lingua that is più bella, tell me – but I don’t know it. Okay? But keep the language alive. Make sure our children get a chance to learn this beautiful language because it makes their lives so much richer.

Allora – it’s time for us to bestow an honor this evening. And this one is very special to Chirlane and me because when you honor someone, you get an opportunity to say what they mean to you and to all of us. And I’m going to – I’m going to help you to understand why I’m so thrilled to have John Turturro here with us.

[Applause]

It’s not because John Turturro is a movie star. There are many movie stars. It’s not just because he is a born and bred New Yorker who made it to the big time. And we’re proud of him for that. It’s because he is a true artist. That’s what excites me. And I want to do a show of hands. We’re going to do audience participation. I want the truth here. How many of you have seen a masterful work that John created a few years ago – his film, his love letter to Napoli – called Passione? How many people have seen Passione?

[Cheering]

Okay – you have a homework assignment. I don’t care if you’re Neapolitan or what you are – if you want to see an extraordinary work of art, go and rent the movie Passione. Go on Netflix. Go wherever you have to go. Passione is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in many, many years. It’s just one of so many things that John has done, created, and acted in, and so much of what he has done makes us proud.

So ladies and gentlemen, we are very proud as New Yorkers that we contribute so much to the culture of this country and this world. Am I right? We are so proud as Italians and Italian-Americans – there is no nation on this Earth that has contributed more to global culture than Italy – am I right?

[Cheering]

So when we have the chance to honor a true artist, an actor, a director – someone who has done so much, it’s a special moment. So, I am now going to call to the stage or call forward John Turturro.

[Applause]

John – you have to hold this with me.

John is going to follow direction from his director here. This is a beautiful, formal proclamation of the City of New York that says a lot of things about John and all he has achieved. But here is the important part – at the very bottom here, it says – and this is formal, legal language, binding on all the people of New York City – it says I, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City do hereby proclaim Thursday, October 6, 2016 in the City of New York as John Turturro Day.

[Applause]

[...]

Mayor: John Turturro, give him a round of applause.

[Applause]

I want to conclude by just echoing something John said. And I felt it very strongly today standing in front of the Statue of Liberty. And I said what the Statue of Liberty says to us, what Ellis Island says to us, is that we are a nation of immigrants, yes. But even today in America, we’re still trying to understand that, we’re still trying to accept that, we’re still trying to embrace it. You see it every day on the news. And I think John hit a very powerful note. For all of us from Southern Italy, we are made up of many people. By the way, the town that my grandfathers come from – I told you a moment ago – Sant'Agata de’ Goti, Saint Agatha of the Goths. That means the Goths came through at some point, and many other cultures. And if you want to be a little fun about it, you would say all Italians, particularly Southern Italians, are fritto misto – we’re a little bit of everything. That’s right.

But we have to remind people, we have to remind people – treat the immigrants of today with the same respect we wish our mothers, and fathers, and grandfathers, and grandmothers were treated with.

[Applause]

Greatest nation on the Earth because we have been a nation of immigrants. We will continue to be the greatest nation on the Earth because we will continue to be a nation of immigrants for all. Thank you.

Buona festa a tutti! Grazie!

[Applause]