The art and culture that is New York, communications, finance, all these things help make up New York. The rest of the country should be happy that we are what we are.

Some of us claim that New York City is the capital of the country, indeed the capital of the world. Now, that may be a bit much for those who don't come from New York, but clearly we are an important city for reasons of our cultural advantages.

I love kids and I maintain that they are our future, that we adults owe them the ability to achieve their potential and that we don't own this planet. We hold it in trust for them.

I went downtown as a lawyer and then I worked in a liquor store at night, as I had done all through law school. And so when I got to the point where I could give up the night job, I joined the political club.

In 1975 I was among a group of blacks who formed the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.

Well, I was about six or seven, and my mother and father separated.

The art and culture that is New York, communications, finance, all these things help make up New York. The rest of the country should be happy that we are what we are.