In her final State of the City address, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito promised that the city will protect immigrants despite of President Trump's policies, and vowed to cut red tape in the criminal justice system and enhance childhood education.
"Whether you were born in Mott Haven or Mexico, Sunset Park or Syria, Corona or the Caribbean, if you are here, you are a New Yorker," Mark-Viverito said during her address.
Mark-Viverito gave the speech Thursday afternoon at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, three days after Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered his address, which largely focused on the high cost of living in New York.
In her address, Mark-Viverito announced that she is working with district attorneys in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens to get rid of warrants for low-level offenses that have been on the books for more than ten years.
Mark-Viverito also called for access to free birth control for New Yorkers. She said she wants a comprehensive sex education curriculum to be developed for city public school students.
The council speaker also took a very hard line against federal immigration agents, saying she wants even less cooperation between the city and federal immigration authorities.
She talked about passing legislation that would prohibit them, except under very specific circumstances, from getting access to city offices that serve New Yorkers, and keeping immigration authorities away from schools, school records, and students.
"Now, when our resolve to do what is right is being tested, and when history has pressed us into action, this is a time to remember who we are," the council speaker said.
In many ways, she presented the speech as a sharp contrast to what's happening in Washington and the message from Trump's administration.
Even further driving that message home was Trump holding a news conference in Washington while Mark-Viverito gave her speech.
The council speaker is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in November.