Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Observes the 200th Anniversary of the Erie Canal

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul marked the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original Erie Canal in New York City with the arrival of the Buffalo Maritime Center's Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief. The boat is a replica of the original vessel Governor DeWitt Clinton traveled on from Buffalo to New York City in 1825. The current voyage began September 24 in Buffalo. The Seneca Chief made 28 stops along the Erie Canal and Hudson River before ending its journey at Pier 26 at Hudson River Park in New York City on October 26.

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:

Well, thank you. Thank you. DeWitt, I'm going to give you some free advice here given your family genealogy. You want to run for office? You're in the wrong state. We have a lot of room here in New York, so mom and dad, I'm thinking college over here, kind of get used to it, okay? Okay. We can help with internships. Okay. Lieutenant Governor? Why not? Let's get started. Let's get started.

Really, how impressive. Let's give another round of applause to DeWitt. You can say it's easy to say five times. Two hundred years ago, great-great-great-great-great grandfather stood right here. I mean, this is incredible. And, of course, the water was poured from Lake Erie into the New York Harbor.

But before I get started, I wanted to say you also heard from Brian Stratton. Brian Stratton has been the steward of the Erie Canal for 14 and a half years. He has lived this, he has breathed this. Brian, I've been wearing the swag you gave me years ago. I mean, he's all about the swag, but his passion runs so deep, as deep as this harbor. Because he believes in the story and the history, but also in the future. So we are in a far better place - position for this third century because of your tireless efforts. Let's give another round applause to our Canal Director, Brian Stratton.

Also you'll be hearing from John Montague. I got to know John back when I was in lower offices in Buffalo and he had this vision talking about building this replica of the Seneca Chief. He had a lot of people believe in him as well. And this is an extraordinary story, and you would not know this, but I started watching the building of this, was it 2020? 2020, all the way through spring of 2024, because it's literally five minutes from my house. So when I wanted to take a walk or ride my bike, I was always peeking in the windows of the building where it was literally opened up to the public to share in this experience. This was not done in some warehouse somewhere. It was intentionally done on the Erie Canal Harbor Canal site, so the public could share in this experience as well. So to the 200 craftspeople and dedicated volunteers, I tip my hat to all of you as well. You made the magic happen. Let's give round applause to John Montague, the Buffalo Maritime Center.

I'm hearing from Brian Trzeciak, Executive Director, who is going to explain how the water happens. Melissa Parker Leonard, our Indigenous historian, is going to help give her perspective, which is really important to us. Thank you for being here, Melissa, and members of my administration, Commissioner and CEO of Empire State Development, Hope Knight has joined us. RuthAnne Visnauskas has joined us, Homes and Community Renewal. Our Secretary of State, Walter Mosley. Lily Fan, the head of our State Liquor Authority, in case you want to have a drink. To my friends in government and also the co-chair of the Erie of the Bicentennial Celebration Commission. Your very first gentleman, my husband, Bill Hochul. So he went to a lot of meetings and brought home a lot of ideas.

You cannot understate the significance of what occurred 200 years ago. It changed the course of history for our nation, not just this city and this state. And to have the opportunity to welcome this replica here is really incredible. And Governor Clinton himself was the captain. I could have been captain too, just so you know. My team wouldn't let me take 33 days off of my other job. We have other things like government shutdowns I have to deal with. And by the way, speaking of government shutdown, Brian worked really hard to have the West Point ban replicating the experience of when it happened 200 years ago, but the government shutdown would not allow that to happen. So maybe a hundred years from now, they'll figure out how to keep government open. Just an aside.

But when you think about it, DeWitt mentions the criticism that do what Clinton had for doing this right. Even the President trashed him. Now I understand what that's all about too. It kind of goes on today. But President Jefferson called it a little short of madness, which I think was pretty extreme back then. I mean, that sounds pretty mild today. Can you imagine what he did then talked about on social media today? You'd have to plug your ears. It'd be pretty rough, but then the longest canal in the entire country was only 27 miles. This is 363 miles - how ambitious, how audacious do we even dream this? And I always talk about this when I call upon New Yorkers to live this history. This is part of our DNA and even for people who live in New Jersey. It's part of your DNA as well. But this is our story. So when people say something is too big or too hard, or too daunting. No. You look back and say, "But what did we do 200 years ago?" We had that spirit. We had that ability to say we can find an answer, and we always did. That's what defines New Yorkers, and I'm so proud of that.

Now you heard a little bit about - I'm not a stranger to the Erie Canal. I traveled over 500 miles, which is why I was able to take a pass from some of this journey because I went to every town. I didn't have a lot of fanfare. Bill and I would go through locks sometimes 12 or 13 hour days, just the two of us. Thirty-two locks, tornado warnings. I'm not making this up. Hail came down - all kinds of weather. So that's one of the reasons I'm so tough. I can handle that. But going through the canals, when the wind is blowing, if you've been in this and your job, because your husband is steering, your job is to be on the front of the boat making sure that I don't get blown over, but that the boat doesn't crash into the walls and the rope is going - the rope is really slimy, by the way. It's slipping and slipping. And I drop the pole in the water and we're spinning around. It's like a little PTSD from some of them, but what an adventure.

And not only did we do the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, we also did the Champlain of the Champlain. We went to the Cayuga Oswego or the Cayuga Seneca Canal and planned on doing the Oswego Canal - had some delays this summer, but I'm going to get there. So I will have at some point traveled further than your great-great-grandfather. Okay. But I'm not quite there.

This gave rise to companies like M&T Bank. I want to thank M&T Bank that started back then, and Key Bank and American Express and Wells Fargo. And it was not just a driver of economic power, but it was a way that people could get together. I mean, you wonder why in 1848, Seneca Falls became the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement because people could travel to this remote part of our state because of this connection. So it wasn't just the flow of water and commerce, it was the flow of ideas that found their way to these parts of New York State where others had not been able to travel. So the Women's Rights Movement - the Underground Railroad, was served by the canal as well, and it expired such ideas that still exist today.

So today it brings drinking water, irrigates, farmland, hydroelectric power, $7 billion in economic activity every year. Tourism and the bikers along there. Brian, you've done this. The bicyclists, the kayakers - I've kayaked on there - the boaters, and even just want to have a picnic. The little communities along this canal, I think for a long time they were overlooked, but they needed their jewels in the rough. And we've invested the money into them over a series of years and they're just shining now. So I really encourage people to take the journey. Even if you don't have a boat, find a way to some of these charming little places. They're so steeped in history. The architecture is still there, the stories are still there. The people are friendly.

I would want to say, I'm going to continue investing in this under my watch. We've had over $140 million invested annually - New York State Power Authority. Thank all of our representatives and the Power Authority. Also budgeting an additional $50 million a year, the last two years for rehabilitation repair. We're going to protect this under our watch.

I also want to take this moment to remember some of the impacts the canal had on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Long before the creation of New York State, the Indigenous people were here, they thrived, and many of them lost their lands during the construction of the canals. So it's important as we celebrate this milestone, this bicentennial birthday. It's important we don't forget the impact on the communities. And so we're going to be talking about that as well.

In spirit of that remembrance, the Seneca Chief Crew has been planting eastern white pines, it stops along the canal. And these are the traditional peace symbols of the Haudenosaunee. And our promise is to honor that past. And I want to thank the crew. The store will take the water you gathered along the stops and to nourish the final eastern white pine planting. So there's a lot of symbolism here today, which is important.

So again, the Erie Canal is more about than just creating a faster way to get to markets 200 years ago. It's about connecting communities, connecting people, and bringing together New Yorkers and others across hundreds of miles and hundreds of years.

I congratulate everyone who's been part of this story, keeping the story alive, passing on to the next generation. And I'm really proud to be Governor at this moment in history to stand on the shoulders of another governor who is one of the greatest visionaries our state has ever seen.

So with that, we'll continue those ambitions, that boldness, that audacity, because that's how I like to live life. And so there'll be no stopping us as we go forward with an optimistic sense of the future, because that's what they had to have when they came up with this vision over two centuries ago.

With that, let me introduce Dr. Montague, the Director Emeritas, Buffalo Maritime Center. Thank you everybody for joining this special occasion today.

Contact the Governor's Press Office