Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the UJA October 7th commemoration.

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:

Thank you. Thank you Michael and congratulations on your new role as UJA CEO. I also want to acknowledge Tali, who's now your new CEO here at this magnificent place that I've come to many times to host convenings and gatherings and to have a conversation about the current state of affairs for the Jewish people of New York, but also what the future holds. Mark Treyger, CEO of JCRC, I've spent many, many hours talking to Mark about our responsibilities as a State. Eric Goldstein, your former CEO, who was on an incredible journey with me that I'll reference, but I'll never forget the experience of that travel at this time three years ago and all to all the elected officials who are here.

It's hard to fathom that three years have already passed. It seems like yesterday. Three years since so many lives were shattered. Shattered so deeply that I'm not sure how they can be completely rebuilt again. It was nothing other than the deadliest day of violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Even using words like terrorist attack or massacre really failed to communicate the horror of that day.

I'll never forget walking through the Nova exhibition when it came through New York - watching the graphic footage from the festival and hearing the the testimonies of sexual assault survivors and hugging them as only a mom would. I'll never also forget the rows of unclaimed shoes - shoes that will never be claimed or worn again because their owners were taken hostage or killed that day. But it's also been three years of the Jewish people coming together to grieve, to heal, to honor their dead, to rebuild and as Michael would say, "To dance again." Your strength, your ability to find light in the darkness is an inspiration to all of us and truly an inspiration to me on literally a daily basis - because as Governor of a State with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel - I take any attack on the Jewish people personally. Whether it's here in New York, in Israel or anywhere else in the world.

Even before October 7th, we in New York were seeing the warning signs of antisemitism that was on the rise. In fact, weeks before that horrific day, I convened Jewish leaders from all over at the Center for Jewish History to discuss concrete actions that New York could take and what we were doing to combat the scourge of antisemitism. In fact that day, just a few weeks before October 7th in 2023, I rolled out a New York State strategy to counter antisemitism. Indeed, we are the first state in America to do that and then a short time later, the unimaginable happened. Some of you know the story and some were on the journey with me but the second I heard the news and I've been talking to Eric and others who was trying to reach and others I could not reach that day, I was trying to find out about their well-being, knowing that they are over in Israel. I knew I had to go to Israel immediately, as soon as possible because I had to stand with the Israeli people but also to see and bear witness - to share their grief on their soil. So as soon as my security team could clear the trip and I was anxious every day I kept saying, "Is this the day I can go?" We waited a few days afterward, I was on that plane.

In fact, I was landing as President Biden was taking off. I met with families who had been displaced from their obliterated homes as they sat Shiva for friends and family and members lost. They were going to a makeshift shelter and seeing the calendar of all the people who were sitting Shiva and the names of the loved ones on that - it was enormous. I sat with the families of hostages, I held people, I cried. I talked to one man who told me that he had been in California to welcome his new grandchild, his first grandchild ever into the world and his wife desperately wanted to go - but she was sick so his son stayed behind to take care of his mother. They were found with the son on top of his mother on the ground, butchered. He was trying to protect his Mom, never met the grandbaby.

I also met the Prime Minister and others in leadership and I gave them photos of people who I represented back in New York, the family - a picture of Omer Neutra. Omer, a beautiful young man. I said, "I need to find them, I need them to come home. I have to bring them home." We later learned that despite so much time waiting and his parents holding out hope and believing that the worst could not have possibly happened to their son, it turned out he was lost on that very first day. I was also the first elected official to show up at a place that is ingrained in my memory. Kfar Aza - I was walking into a nightmare - death hung heavy in the air - I saw so much. But I also was touched by the enduring strength and the compassion of the people of Israel. A resiliency that never ceased to amaze me. Some of you know the story, some of you traveled with me. You know that when I landed, I found out that my father had passed and literally the night before we left for leaving from JFK at 11:30 at night and I had to make a decision.

So my father still thought of me as his little girl, and I didn't want to worry him. Now, this is a man who for his 80th birthday, wanted to go to Israel. My Irish Catholic dad, all he wanted to do was go to Israel - that was a few years earlier. But I was trying to decide, do I make dad worry about going over there because the whole world was watching this place that was on fire? Maybe I just wait a few days and tell him what I did afterward, but something told me to pick up the phone and call dad and said, "Dad, I'm going to Israel, I got to be there." He said, "Dolly, I'm so damn proud of you, but keep your goddamn head down." That was my dad - but when we learned about the passing, and he literally had been in great health. His doctor said you're going to outlive all of us and he had a brain hemorrhage during the night - shocking. My staff had a return ticket for me as soon as I touched down, I said, "I'm not going anywhere."

I can't bring back an 87 year old man. It's not unexpected that someone of that age passes, although it was so sudden. But, I have to be here because I have to give some comfort on behalf of everyone in New York - it's my job. But I also have to see the experience so I could come back and share what I saw firsthand in the State of New York and what shocked me so much was that word had gotten out about the passing of my father. So I go to Israel to comfort people. I go to the wall, I send a message, I'm hugging everybody - it's what I do. People are coming up to me on the street and elsewhere to comfort me, despite the heavy burden of grief that was shared by every single person living there. It was an experience I'll never forget. The capacity of love and boundless love and the unspeakable spirit or the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people, was a testament to thousands of years of having to be so strong and resilient and endure and overcome and it was on display.

I will say this, when I came back from Israel after seeing these horrible sights, I thought there'd be more of an outpouring of compassion. It's very human, right? We're empathetic, caring people. I didn't see that in return for this pain. We see a spike, a rise, an increase in antisemitism after this. Vile graffiti on Jewish schools and acts of violence. I was at Central Synagogue, just a block away from my office in Midtown a few weeks after Shabbat services were interrupted by a violent intruder. I went there right afterward - instead of cowering and anxious and looking around, all concerned that there could be another such violation of the sanctity of this sacred place. Everybody was there singing, they're joyful, they're dancing again. You don't understand what that means to someone like myself to witness that. Their doors were open, they refused to be deterred. And I knew my job as Governor was to stand up, speak out, say that there can be no hate like this in the State of New York.

We're built as a place of love. A place you come to when you're hated elsewhere, you're oppressed elsewhere, you're not allowed to practice your religion elsewhere, you come to New York - it's who we are. That Statue of Liberty beckons all of us with love and a torch to show us the way. So as I stand before you today know this, my solidarity with the Jewish people will never, ever waver. And I don't say solidarity just as a vague promise. I'm going to continue using my powers as Governor to make the changes we need while you worship, while you study, while you gather. And I'll continue funding security measures until the day we don't need them anymore and I pray that day come soon. I hate walking into a synagogue that feels like it's a military zone. Armed guards out front but I will continue paying for the cameras and the security to give parents comforted at a Yeshiva that their child would be safe where people gathering on a Friday or Saturday know they're safe. We announced more money - we've announced over $200 million since I became Governor. I'd rather give that to the Met Council to feed people that need food right. But I'll keep it going, it's a huge increase I won't stop there. I also realized no one should feel threatened or violated or harassed, or have to listen to vile words against them when they're going into a place of worship, so we fought hard. I had to take this on to get this passed by the legislature - a buffer zone. It seems like a simple request. Nothing simple but I insisted that we're not leaving, we're not finishing the budget, we're not saying we're done until I get a 50 foot buffer zone is part of New York state law.

And I thank UJA and other organizations for the powerful advocacy behind this. And now we'll have those buffers but I hope they never become necessary, because I want people to love this place again. I want people to have that spirit that is so joyful, not pained, not anxious, not worried. We're in a museum that's a monument to survival. I've walked through here countless times. It elevates the unspeakable resiliency, the unbelievable resiliency, the unbreakable bond we have. And I think you know this from me, I am forever changed from being there in the days after October 7th. Changed for the better. I feel more strength flowing through my veins, I know what I must do. Now there's a reason I'm here at this time. Because I must be the voice of people who are just looking for someone to understand the experience, the harassment. And I pray that no one ever has to go through this experience again for eternity. Because it was inhumane, it was brutal.

But as we leave here tonight and I'm sorry if I brought you to a sadder place, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to say to you - I wanted to make you feel better - a little happier. Not today, not today. Say, I remember those we lost, the families that waited such a long time and came to my office over and over and the calls we made and the advocacy - just praying that the news would be good. Some came home, some came home. And the phrase 'Never Again' was always associated with another event in history - that no one ever thought could be surpassed and we pray it never is. But on that day, October 7th, the world changed and people realized the vulnerability. But in that moment know this - the Governor of New York will stand up, will speak out, will defend and do everything I can to protect every single Jewish New Yorker because I am the mom of a big family. I've got 20 million people in my family and you're an important part of it. I will do everything I can to make you and your families feel safe.

God bless you.