Good afternoon. Thank you so much for being here. It is my honor to welcome you to this 40th annual Crime Victims Candlelight Vigil.

40 years. It is a beautiful thing. This year’s theme is “Kinship, Connection and Healing.” So that’s 40 years of kinship, of healing, of connection, of family, of fellowship. And I know, having joined the last few years, this is a date I circle on my calendar to come together with this group and have the whole spectrum of emotions together collectively. So I’m looking forward to today’s program.

Let me start by acknowledging all of the folks who are part of this phenomenal collaboration. That starts first with the voice you heard, Reverend William Critzman. We are privileged as always to be back here at and the West End Collegiate Church. I told him before, when someone asked me where I was going, I said to the most welcoming place I know. And I think that his words set the tone for that. So we thank you for again hosting.

And I want to thank my partners – I think we’ll hear from a couple of them by video – the leaders of the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, and also our partner the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

In Manhattan – I know I saw her she’s standing right there – Mildred [Sylvie], I want to thank you and your team for all of your work. And Beverly Gilchrist, and our Survivor Services Bureau, and Early Engagement Case Support Unit, for all that you do every day but in particular in connection with this event.

The Crime Victim’s Vigil Committee, the Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims – I see Laura Fernandez, I see Michael Polenberg – I thank them specifically.

And now, I guess I’ll ask this rhetorically: who’s been here all 40 years? Anyone? I know! There’s one person who’s been here for 40 years – if there’s more than one, stop me, let me know – but I know there’s one person who’s been here and it’s the godmother of this vigil. If you’re able I think it would be great if we could stand to our feet and give a rousing round of applause to Susan Xenarios.

Reverend Critzman used the word “stalwart” I told him I was going to steal it but I’m giving you attribution, Reverend.

So, a few housekeeping notes, and then I do want to saw a few substantive words.

We have translation services, we have Spanish, and Mandarin interpreters on-site, American Sign Language (ASL) remote, you can see them on either of the screens up front.

And then we have, for anyone who needs it, assistance here on site where people who are wearing name tags. If you need a moment to connect with someone, they are here, again, wearing name tags, and we encourage anyone who at any point in the service needs that to avail themselves of it.

So, 40 years is special, and I will add to it that in my office it’s 50 years our anniversary for our Survivor Services Bureau, which was initially called our Witness Aid Services Unit.

So thinking about that span of time, the rights and the resources have expanded to survivors significantly in that time. Victims have gained the right to testify at sentencing and parole hearings. Victim compensation has steadily expanded – both in terms of the amounts and the eligible expenses. Special protections were established for child witnesses. The VINE notification system was created. The right to free counseling has been extended, and many many more expansions. We know we have a lot more to go, to do, but when we think about the last 40 years and the last 50 years, those results are a byproduct of all the hard work of people in this room. So, more to do, but today as we pause and reflect on really decades of service, we can think about what folks in this room have collectively done.

I would say in Manhattan we are particularly proud to have connected even more in the last couple of years. I met a couple of members of our survivors network, and we have a survivors advisory group that several of you are on, and that has been so crucial as we expand our work, really really doubling in size our footprint, our advocates, our counselors. It’s so much a part of what we do integral to public safety.

In particular, and I’m moved every year at the voices of survivors that I hear here and then throughout the year in connection to our work. Those voices—poignant, profound, prophetic—are the centerpiece of the work we do every day. And I love every part of this ceremony—from the music to the speeches, the invocation, the benediction—but the centerpiece is those narratives that we will hear, and we will take them with us throughout the year all of us who are doing this work day in and day out, and I salute all of you.

So, the work will continue after today of course, but today is a day to pause and reflect, to soak up the 40 years of remembrances, of reflections, of healing, of love, and of all the power that’s in this room. So, we’re going to have a great day. Welcome, and God bless you.

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