Governor Hochul: "That's what I love about this community…Multicultural, so diverse, so fascinating. And that's what we're here to celebrate – a gathering place for people from many different backgrounds to want to learn about the great contributions of the Hispanic community. But also, not just learn about the past, but celebrate with theater and dance and broadcasting to the world the stories of what people are doing."
Hochul: "This is a great day. This is a new beginning. And this is the culmination of a committed group of individuals who made the magic happen right here and right now."
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul broke ground on the new Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute at an event with Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York leadership, community stakeholders and elected officials in West Buffalo. The HHCI will feature a museum, 150-seat performing arts theater, event space, café, media center for radio or television broadcasts, learning center, and more. The three-story, 37,000-square-foot infill development on Niagara and Hudson streets will celebrate the region’s Hispanic arts and culture and serve as a central hub for the West Buffalo community. The groundbreaking coincides with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month which goes from September 15 through October 15 and the 13th anniversary of the founding of the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
You've got to love a guy who quotes the great philosopher, Marv Levy about why we are so happy to be here. So I open with a warm Buenos Dias to all of you. This is the place we all want to be, Marv. This is the place. There's no place else. And this is a testament to the resilient spirit of a group of committed individuals who set out to change the world.
And indeed, it is always a small group that starts out with that idea, that kernel – a belief that something better can happen. Cas Rodriguez, what you did in creating the Hispanic Heritage Council, and I praise all the members who've been working so hard in the trenches at a time when people probably didn't believe this could happen.
But you never gave up faith, you followed the courage of your convictions, and you made us all so proud. This is a proud community. It's a community I know very well. And in fact, you mentioned Lackawanna. Yesterday, late in the day, I was as far away from this place as you can get in our state – out in Long Island, New York, preparing for the hurricane, talking to our National Guard, making sure they're ready to anticipate the flooding damage that we think could happen imminently. But I said, “That hurricane's got to wait, because I'm getting back home. Because I am not going to tell Cas I got stuck in Long Island and did not make this event.”
So I came back. When I arrived, I hadn't been home in a little while, I saw my husband. After dinner that he made – thank you, Bill. Thank you Wegmans, actually, for making dinner. He says, “How about an ice cream cone?” Never say no to ice cream. Where do we go? Fran-Ceil’s. Fran-Ceil’s. So as we drove down Ridge Road last night in search of the perfect ice cream, a place my parents used to go when they lived in the trailer park behind it, we drove past the little church that had been the gathering place of the Puerto Rican community when I was a child.
And I pointed out that building literally last night to Bill, and I said, “That's the place where my parents, who just had emerged from a trailer park, had a small home in Hamburg, had the beginnings of six of our kids, decide they're going to team up with this social activist priest and do something for the children of the migrant farm workers, the Puerto Rican children, who had no activities in the summertime when their parents were out in the fields out in Eaton, or perhaps parents working at the steel plant.”
So my parents – big family, their own struggles, we used to get our clothes at the used clothing stores, we didn't have a lot - but they always told us there's people who have less. There's always someone who has less. And that's the spirit of giving that I was raised in. And my mother, very pregnant with I think number five or six, loaded us all up in a beat up station wagon and said she's going to start a summer camp for those children who need help in Lackawanna.
I was in sixth grade. She put me in charge of the kindergarten class. My sister, who was in first grade, was my assistant. I hope those kids are okay. But I had to learn language. We taught them music and dance in this really run down basement. My mother was going around to local florists, scraping and saying, “Are there any little parts of floral arrangements that we could bring with us so the kids could like glue something on a piece of paper and make it look pretty?”
She brought in volunteers from Saints Peter and Paul Church to help teach singing and dance. And we spent our summers like that. Made a little difference I suppose, but it seared in me the knowledge of just how a few people with a vision to better the lives of others can realize that dream. That is what you did, Cas. That's why we're here. That's why we're here to demonstrate this is a community that matters – matters. It's been overlooked, taken for granted for far too long.
And as the Puerto Rican community gravitated to the West Side of Buffalo, other countries, others – now Puerto Rico is part of our country, I don't mean other countries, Puerto Rico is America – but other countries followed. And we became the melting pot of the world. I'm so proud of that. People have always felt welcome, they didn't know the same language, but we know the next generation will. And when they're educated in our great public schools, they're going to get those good paying jobs. That is the American Dream right outside these doors. That's what I love about this community. I've seen that – that transformation from being one identity to many. Multicultural, so diverse, so fascinating. And that's what we're here to celebrate – a gathering place for people from many different backgrounds to want to learn about the great contributions of the Hispanic community. But also not just learn about the past, but celebrate with theater and dance and broadcasting to the world the stories of what people are doing so your grandson will know the proud story of the struggles, but have an eye toward the future and know that it'll be better because of those who came before and built a place to celebrate this great story.
This neighborhood has been transformed. It is much safer. I will give credit to someone as well who was a United States attorney, my husband. When he took down the gangs that were terrorizing the neighborhoods, people began to come out. We rode our bikes through here. We still do, up and down these streets, at a time before people had been too afraid to come out of their houses because of the shooting in the streets.
I see baby carriages being pushed. I see people from all over the world celebrating different food and talking to each other. This is America right here. This is the nation, the melting pot, that has always been so welcoming to others. And I thank you, the members of the Hispanic Heritage Council, not just for this building, but what you're doing right here right now, by making those in search of the American Dream feel welcome. Right here, there's a place for you and we look forward to making sure that you will join us in living your dreams because we are all better for it.
So, to you and to all the incredible elected officials who are here, and I want to give them some shout outs here because these are my friends. These are my friends.
I want to thank people like our County Executive, Mark Poloncarz, for what he has done. I thank you for courage that will be rewarded, because people are going to make sure that you continue as our County Executive, because we have no choice. You are our leader. You are the leader of this community, Mark Poloncarz.
Our Mayor, who has embraced the diversity of this incredible community, lifting it up, but especially, bringing together a wounded community on the East Side of Buffalo, after what they went through. That will always be part of your legacy. Let's give a round of applause for Mayor Brown.
I have incredible partners from this community in Albany. And they are an important part of why we pieced together over $12 million for this $30 million project. It was just a year ago when I got asked, rather assertively, by Tim Kennedy and Sean Ryan and John Rivera, Assemblymember, “Governor, can you find another $5 million?”
They added money from the Assembly, from the Senate, I thank them for that. NYFA, other organizations, ESD, all places. “Just one more $5 million you can find?” Looking in my pockets. I know they're going to pick my pockets anyhow. I might as well just say yes. So, thank you for your advocacy for the funding for this, to all of you.
And to the other electeds who are here. I know Willie Rosas has traveled here from Dunkirk. Thank you for your many years of leadership here. Councilmember David Rivera. David Rivera, we've worked so closely together. You and Jonathan have really talked about what public service is all about. You've instilled that in your son. And that is also part of why you're such a great friend, a great man, because you brought on the next generation of service. So, thank you, David. Thank you, John, for your family's contributions.
And I brought someone who I said, “This is your new adopted home. Come here a lot because they'll love you.” That is New York Secretary of State, Robert Rodriquez. And I want to thank him. Thank you. You'll hear from him momentarily. We've done a lot together. We served Puerto Rico in the aftermath of hurricanes and earthquakes. We went down there. We came to this community, talked about our efforts, making sure that people knew that we are for this community, and always will be.
With that, I say this is a great day. This is a new beginning. And this is the culmination of a committed group of individuals who made the magic happen right here and right now, and you saw that great victory. So, this is your Super Bowl, Cas. This is your Super Bowl.