NYC mayor honors Asian American leaders

By Shirley Ng

New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week hosted his first outdoor event of the year at Gracie Mansion with the second annual Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPI) celebration.

Part of the night included Mayor Adams honoring several Asian Americans for their distinguished work in the community: Janey Cuaycong , President of the Philippine Nurses Association of New York (PNANY); Anu Sehgal of The Culture Tree; Young Hwan Kim of Merchants’ Prosperity Association; Benjamin Chou of the FDNY Phoenix Society; Mohommad Khan, President of the Cityline Ozone Park Civilian Patrol; and Deputy Inspector Chungyoon Huh, Commanding Officer at the NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan South Investigations.

Cultural performers entertained the over 800 guests that included elected officials, community leaders and members of his administration.

NYC is experiencing a migrant crisis with resources stretched thin. Other parts of New York are not welcoming the migrants, but Mayor Adams referred to them that night as “new arrivals.”

“They are here for the American dream and NYC should be there for them,” he said.

Mayor Adams spoke proudly of his diverse administration and commissioners.

“We want the government to look like you,” he said.

There are 12,000 city jobs that need to be filled and Mayor Adams implored his guests to encourage the people in their communities to apply so that the administration would continue to “look like the people of the city.”

Mayor Adams is on a plant-based diet and his menu reflected his healthy selections. Meat and potato types may scoff at that, but it wasn’t bad at all. The made-on-the-demand crepes were the most popular food, evident by the long line of guests wanting to satisfy their sweet tooths.