Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani Celebrate Major Affordable Housing Milestones in East New York

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Gotham Organization, the Christian Cultural Center (CCC) and Monadnock Development today celebrated two major milestones at Innovative Urban Village, an affordable housing development on CCC's campus in East New York, Brooklyn. Leaders cut the ribbon on the project's first phase, delivering 385 permanently affordable homes, and marked the topping out of the next phase, which will add 453 affordable homes and a child care facility. Together these two phases will bring over 830 affordable homes to East New York. Under Governor Hochul's leadership, New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) has created or preserved more than 12,000 affordable homes in Brooklyn. Innovative Urban Village continues this effort and is part of the Governor's $25 billion five-year Housing Plan, which is on track to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide.

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 will post photos of the event here.

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

This is indeed the day the Lord has made. Because especially after hearing the angelic voices of the choir, I closed my eyes and felt like I was in heaven already. But God, I'm not quite ready. So let me stay here. I've got more work to do. It is a day I've been looking forward to.

Some say every day is a great day in Brooklyn. I don't dispute that. But today is extra special. And I do want to acknowledge some people. Bill Wilkins - yes go orange. We do bleed orange, but you've been a great partner to help get this going - the Local Development Corporation of East New York. You never gave up believing in this community, and others have followed your lead and your passion. I want to thank you and give you a special round of applause to Bill Wilkins.

What can you say about Reverend Bernard, who has become the spiritual advisor to so many people in the political space? The advice he dispenses with such humility, but also a keenness and insight that I take to heart, especially when he says everything's going to be okay. And it's that calm demeanor that just inspires me to follow him. When he came to me when I first became Governor, and we had talked about as Lieutenant Governor, his vision was to create a village within a city. What a powerful idea to try and bring a community closer. And community has the word unity in it. And you saw the great potential to give people in this wonderful neighborhood hope, and I thank you for that. Thank you for leading your flock, but also leading all of us to God's path to serve others. Let's give another round of applause to Reverend Bernard.

Another great partner of mine in affordability, Mayor Mamdani. I want to thank you for helping me work with you to build more housing in this city. Because working together, instead of Albany fighting with New York City. News headline: Albany is not fighting with New York City. We are aligned in our shared goal to bring affordability through housing. Mayor Mamdani, thank you very much.

And we have a powerful voice in Washington DC standing up to the dark forces that want to stop money coming for nutrition, education and housing. Thank God Brooklyn has Hakeem Jeffries as our - soon to be, I'm going to say it - soon to be Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Our Borough President, our elected leaders, and all the development partners, the true believers, I just want to say what this means. It is historic. We're not just cutting the ribbon on a beautiful building, we're answering the prayers of hundreds of New Yorkers. A prayer for a place to call their home that is worthy of the hard-working men and women. I was up in one of the apartments, and I said, "Yes, this is what we're talking about." You have the finest materials, the light coming in, the windows open, the beautiful kitchen. It was exactly what was intended. And you made it happen. You made it happen.

And, last summer I stood here as we broke ground, and just trying to visualize what this community would look like once this is completed. And this is phase one. This is the first phase of phase one. Which I know means more money from the state is going to be asked of. You had me at hello, okay?

And I want RuthAnne Visnauskas to get some credit here as well. Because she is the one who gets me to hello so I can say yes to all of you, okay?

As I quoted you, last time I quoted what you said, Reverend Bernard. You said, "Choices have generational consequences." And that's why we made the choice to build this grand vision for New York's future. A place where generations can live and flourish. And I'm proud to support this first phase with $190 million in state funding. Because that is money invested in the hard-working people of this community who no longer have to look at their bank accounts and say, "Am I going to pay the rent? Or am I going to be able to go shopping and pay my utility bills?"

People that know that the rents are too damn high. I'm not the first one to say it, but it is true. And it's not gotten better because this city and the state has not had the ambition to go where those have not gone before. It takes guts to do projects like this. And overcoming opposition that is so embedded in the DNA of so many neighborhoods. That is what we have to chip away and break down. Otherwise, so many people are being denied the right to have a safe roof over their heads, a place they can raise their kids. A place to live the American dream right here in New York. And that is why I feel so strongly about this.

When your parents start married life in a trailer park on the other side of the tracks, you know what it means to be looked down on. And people thinking you're worthless because of where you live and where you come from. That is why this means so much to me personally. When New Yorkers cannot afford to live in this great state, we are all diminished. We're diminished by their loss. They go somewhere else. They raise their children elsewhere. And we're not the state that we can be. And that's why I am flipping the script.

This project, with 385 permanently affordable homes, 94 of those are reserved for households for people who have been struggling with homelessness. People that don't even know what it feels like to have a secure place, and maybe they need additional support services. People who have spent time in shelters or have gone from couch to couch just saying, "Why can't I have what others have?" That's what today's about, to be able to walk through a doorway and say three beautiful words, "I am home. I am home."

And I have been blessed in the position of Governor to go all the way from hardest hit neighborhoods of Buffalo to right here in Brooklyn and literally hand the keys to people and watch them open the door and cry in my arms because they never thought this day would happen. That's why we do what we do. It is a gift to be able to offer this to people. But all those who made this happen, I just want to say how grateful I am.

And the name of this, Inspiration Lane, let this be an inspiration to those, to other developers and other leaders and faith leaders and communities to say, "It's just too hard." It is not too hard, because this is God's will. We have faith leaders step up and say, "This is living God's word on Earth. It is giving people what they deserve." And that's why this is only the beginning. I'm just getting warmed up.

I plan to build so much more. "Build, baby, build, baby, build," that is our slogan in the State of New York, and we're going to get it done because of God's support, having our backs, finding the path, but leaders like Reverend Bernard and all the partners in this community for saying, "yes, our time has come because we matter."

We have dignity. Our people deserve the best in life, and that is what they're getting with this beautiful, masterful place. Thank you very much.