This morning, First Lady Chirlane McCray spoke to the “Women’s Power Breakfast” at Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Convention. This afternoon, Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered an hour-long speech marking his 100th day in office. See if you can match the quotation with the spouse:
- “Just a few days ago, I was reading a noted work of literature, The Very Hungry Caterpillar … to a pre-k class in Ridgewood, Queens … One 4-year-old boy had a vocabulary word he wanted to share … He says, proudly, ‘Metamorphosis!’ If that’s what pre-k does, I want a lot more pre-k!”
- “I visited a model pre-k in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a few days ago. When it was time to read a story to the whole class, [a 4-year-old girl] plops herself down in the front of the circle and leans forward and looks into my eyes with great seriousness, and says, ‘I’m paying attention! I’m engaged!’ I was so tickled with her. Her vocabulary was bigger than she was.”
- “Martin Luther King said, ‘We are bound together in a single garment of destiny.’ Well, this is our moment. This is our opportunity.”
- “Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Let us have faith that right makes might.’ That is the spirit we bring to this endeavor.”
- “This administration is a product of movement politics … It’s a movement of people who share a vision … who believe in our city’s progressive traditions … We believe we are at our best when everyone gets a shot at fulfilling our dreams.”
- “Do you realize that … of all the senior appointments [in the administration], more than half of them are women? And it’s an impressive diversity of women.”
That Bill and Chirlane are in this together has been clear for a very long time. But today’s speechifying doubleheader was a reminder of just how much they think alike, and that McCray’s substantive importance to de Blasio’s agenda has been underappreciated, even as she’s taken on increasing prominence — including heading the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York and taping a 311 hold message pitching pre-k. “Chirlane was deeply involved in staffing,” an administration insider says. “Particularly the senior appointments, and particularly making sure it’s a diverse group.”
Now, as the administration shifts to its next set of goals, “the person who I think and dream with,” in de Blasio’s words, will stay highly involved, both offering internal advice and spreading the mayor’s message. “I hope that this is just the beginning of a very long conversation,” McCray told the audience this morning. “At least eight years!”
[Answers: 1. de Blasio; 2. McCray; 3. McCray; 4. de Blasio; 5. de Blasio; 6. McCray]
