Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at United Bodegas of America Gala

Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at United Bodegas of America Gala

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the United Bodegas of America Gala and highlighted her commitment to small businesses and public safety.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Muchas gracias. Buenas noches. Radhames, you have been a great friend and a champion of the United Bodegas of America in a way that is so incredible. Let's give him another round of applause, my friend. This is extraordinary.

But before we get started, while you're in here celebrating and enjoying each other's company, I must speak out about something that has occurred just a short time ago here in our great city. During a Donald Trump rally, a speaker called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage." Yes, that happened just moments ago.

First they attacked Haiti, now Puerto Rico. What's next? The other islands of the Caribbean? I must stand here as the governor who represents a million Puerto Ricans. And a million Dominicans, and saying we stand together, we stand together and call out such vile hatred spewed against our friends and our neighbors and indeed in this case, American citizens.

So I call on all of you, to reject that hatred and I call on Donald Trump, to ensure that that statement is retracted and to disavow that right now. Because we are a loving community. This is New York City. We are an amalgamation of the most wonderful people all over the world that have come here. And so many of them came here. And actually opened bodegas.

Their families started with nothing. They came here with a dream. To live the American dream that was waiting for them all this time. Whether it's your families, or your grandparents, or great grandparents, we're all part of that amazing fabric known as yours. So when I heard from the challenges that bodega owners were facing, we sat down.

I visited a number in Morningside Heights, the Bronx, and all over. And I wanted to hear directly from you what is happening when you're trying to struggle and get through the pandemic. And I thank every one of you who stayed open during the pandemic, feeding our essential workers, taking care of our families. You put your customers first above your own health. And I'm so grateful to all of you.

And after that, and your business went down. Pandemic's over, it's time to come back. But what else did you have to deal with? The scourge of crime was going up and retail theft became a disaster because there were criminals who walked into your stores, swept the shelves, walked out, and were part of an organized crime ring that we needed to shut down. And the assault on our retail workers-frontline workers-every single day, who stand there helping us put food on our tables, take care of our babies, give them the diapers they need. And you're exposed to this violence.

So we worked together. We came to Albany, and I worked with some of our amazing leaders. And I want to recognize some of them right now: Senator Luis Sepulveda, Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia, Jenifer Rajkumar and also, working so closely with our Borough President Vanessa Gibson. Thank you, Vanessa Gibson, for all you have done for this community. You've been extraordinary. Dr. Guillermo Linares, who's part of my administration, we brought this message to Albany and said, "We must stand up," and that is why in our Budget, I allocated $40 million to stop retail theft, to give money to our prosecutors and to bring them to justice, so you can just live your lives.

Also, security cameras are so expensive. We allocated $5 million to help you have the security systems you need to protect yourselves, your workers and your customers. We got that done as well.

I will tell you this: I will always be there for you because you have been there for all New Yorkers, working hard to build in neighborhoods that are sometimes tough to work in, but you never ever give up. I admire you. I salute you. I will always defend and protect you. Thank you so much for making New York City, New York State an amazing place to live, to raise a family and to have a business.

Gracias!

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