Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Marches in the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade

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

Thank you very much. Happy New Year, everyone. I'm so happy to be here. When I see this crowd, it says to me one thing, that New York is as strong as the tiger. We are tough, courageous, resilient, and we always fight back. That's what this parade symbolizes. We were here just before the pandemic and yes, it took us down and it was very difficult for many of our communities, our businesses.

I walked these streets, and this was a ghost town for too long. We came here with Steven and others, but we are back. And I also want to say that the State of New York, my administration, is committed to one program I believe is going to make a huge difference here. We're putting $10 million toward helping mental health and social services for this community to help people rise up, rise up and deal with all the challenges.

We will continue to fight back against every form of hate as it rears its ugly head. We have your backs, and we stand with the Asian community, 1.6 million strong here in the State of New York.

We are so powerful. Let us roar like the tiger as we continue to fight our way back, claw our way back, because we are New York! Happy New Year!