Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Eid Mubarak. Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. It is such an honor to be here with all of you on this blessed day. I want to say thank you to the Brooklyn Islamic Center. Thank you to Imam Sirajul Islam. Thank you to the president of the center. Thank you as well to my former colleague and friend, Assembly Member Bobby Carroll. I know that many here, myself included, stayed up late last night as we celebrated Chaand Raat.
I know that many woke up early this morning to decorate your homes with ornaments, [and] to fill envelopes for your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. And it is a beautiful sight today to see everyone dressed in their Eid best. I stand here before you as our city's first-ever Muslim mayor. And when I reflect on the past 30 days of suhoors and iftars, when I think of fasting alongside the people of our incredible city, I am filled, frankly, with a deep gratitude and a renewed love for this place that we call home. It has been one of my great honors to spend this past Ramadan as your mayor.
And I have experienced anew the breadth of Muslim life in this city, the different languages that we speak, the foods that we eat, [and] the customs that we practice. Over the past 30 days, I've had the pleasure of sipping Adani chai with members of the FDNY, eating ćevapi with Bosnian New Yorkers, hosting iftars at City Hall, praying Jummah in Jamaica, eating biryani with delivery workers, [and] kneeling side by side with incarcerated Muslim New Yorkers on Rikers Island alongside those Muslim New Yorkers who work on Rikers Island. All of this and more has meant the world to me.
At every moment through it all, I have been humbled by the resilience and the solidarity that I have seen throughout every corner of our city. I say resilience because it is not always easy to practice our faith in this city that we know is our home. And yet I know that so many here and beyond always find a way, whether that means breaking fast while in the back of an ambulance or walking on the beat. For others, it may mean delivering food to strangers as your own stomach growls with hunger.
And through all of this, I'm reminded of verse five of Surah Ash-Sharh, for indeed with hardship, there will be ease. There is hardship to be sure, but this hardship also blossoms in beautiful solidarity. That is where I have found ease, and where I know so many of you find it as well. I think of the teacher and UFT leader who opens up her classroom to Muslim colleagues to pray, the Palestinian New Yorkers who work against all odds to deliver aid and Eid gifts to their families in Gaza and the West Bank, [and] the Imams who built thriving congregations, initially from the beginnings in their brownstone basements.
And the beauty of this solidarity is that it is not limited to any one particular set of people, but it is extended to New Yorkers across this city. For the beauty of Ramadan is that we break fast not by asking the person next to us of their name or their faith, but simply by asking if they are hungry. And I think of the many Muslim city workers who commute long hours and work even longer shifts, breaking fast alone so that 8.5 million people in this city may live a cleaner, healthier, safer life.
Today, we celebrate Eid. Soon we will return to the normal rhythms of our lives. Morning iced coffees, sips long past sunrise, water drunk freely throughout the day, meals eaten on the run, [and] Maghrib prayers offered alone. Often the solidarity and the connection we feel during the month of Ramadan fade as the time passes. And yet what I have seen over the course of this past month across our city has been too powerful and too precious to leave behind.
So let us continue these acts of solidarity, deepening our investments in each other's well-being as we enter the days and months ahead. And I will end with this. This month that has just ended, is my favorite month of the year. Many think of this month solely as a time where we fast from sunup to sundown. And yet for me, and I know for so many of you, it is a month where we also get to reflect on who we are, why it is that we do what we do, and how we're part of a much larger community than just ourselves. And it is that reflection, that solidarity, that I hope we carry forward. So, with all that being said, Eid Mubarak to everyone here. It will now be my honor as your mayor to pray alongside you.
