VOICES
Mayor de Blasio is in our School
November 22, 2017
By Yasser Elmeetknany
On November 21, a Town Hall Meeting was held in our School’s gym. There were many important government figures who attended the meeting like the U.S. representative Grace Meng and the state senator Toby Ann Stavisky. However, the main speaker of the evening was Bill de Blasio who was recently re-elected as the Mayor of New York City.
Six students from the FIHS Student Government and three teachers attended the meeting. The meeting covered many issues that New York as a state is facing right now. For example, one person mentioned how unpractical and crowded the subway system became while another attendee asked the Mayor about what New York will do as a response to Trump’s decision about cutting aid.
In particular, this paper asked Mayor de Blasio about what New York as city is going to do to help make the Muslim Community feel safe in this city. Mayor de Blasio’s started with going over the things New York as city has done in the last four years in order to make Muslims feel more safe and accepted. First, he mentioned the shutting down of the surveillance program that was primarily directed against Muslims. Then, he went over the decision of making the Muslims feasts an official vacation in the schools of NYC, like Eid El Adha and Eid El Fitr. Lastly, he ended his answer with a clear statement that New York City was, is and will continue fighting against Islamophobia and hate of all kinds.
As a youth, it’s so important to be engaged in the political process so people in power hear our voice and know what are the issues that youth are concerned about. Most adults don’t understand the teen perspective so it’s important for us to be better engaged. Then, we will can help decide what happens in our society.
Here’s the link of the full video of the meeting