Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music 40th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Earlier today, Governor Hochul delivered remarks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music 40th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you, Tamara and thank you everyone here for joining us in this celebration of a rightful king. Dr. King represented justice, the King that I know represented hope of a better future. The King that we know, showed us a path forward. The King that we know stood up and rejected the status quo and said, we will continue the March for Civil Rights and Justice for as long as it takes.

What a difference from the self-appointed king we have in the United States of America today? Oh yeah, I'm not happy. One year ago during this celebration, we talked about the legacy of Dr. King and what it means to our lives today and how we're lifting families up - those in poverty, those in prison, those who seek justice, and what that means back in 2025. One year later, the threats that we have seen coming out of Washington - again, a self-appointed king fly in the face of everything that Dr. Martin Luther King ever stood for and shed blood for.

We will not accept that in America in 2026, we'll stand up and fight. We'll march forward, we'll say enough is enough. And my heart breaks over the knowledge that in Minnesota, a six-year-old woke up with a mom and went to bed an orphan in America. And what is continuing, and I honor those who stand up in that city, and the Governor and the Mayor. But let me tell you about New York State because we have been at the beginning of so many critical movements. The Civil Rights Movement, now there's other historians will say otherwise, but I'm from Buffalo, and I'm going to lay claims that it started in Buffalo. Because the Niagara Frontier movement was the precursor to the NAACP, and it started up there as they were crossing.

Crossing individuals who had fled from the south across the border from Buffalo into Canada for freedom, and that's where it began. The Women's Rights Movement, the LGBTQ+ movement all started here in the State of New York. So what is our responsibility as New Yorkers in this moment? Well as your Governor, I will tell you this. If we are going to be defending our rights against ICE agents, and I'm going to give you two things I announced in my State of the State just a couple days ago because I want everybody to know this. I will get passed through this legislature, a private right of action. So if ICE agents come and take away your constitutional rights and work outside the scope of their law - you'll be able to take them to court and seek justice here in the State of New York.

Because everybody deserves - everybody deserves their rights in this country. Secondly, there used to be sensitive locations where ICE was not allowed to go. Donald Trump said, "No, we can go anywhere we want." Here in the State of New York, you'll not go into a school. You'll not go into a church. You'll not go into a house of worship. You'll not go into a daycare center. You'll not go to a courthouse. You'll not go to a hospital. You'll stay away unless you have an order signed by a judge that you're in pursuit of someone who committed a crime, not the civil offense of simply coming here and searching for a better life like my grandparents did coming from Ireland as very poor teenagers - and so many of us came from that universe, that world.

And New York will always stand strong. We still have the Statue of Liberty in our harbor. And we're going to make sure that that flame never is extinguished under the king that we have in Washington right now. So, Dr. King, we will not let you down as you look upon us and people decades, generations, a hundred years from now, look back and say, did they stand up in that time when their democracy was on the line and civil rights were being trampled on - did they stand up for each other the way Dr. King taught us? And my friends, the resounding answer must be yes. We did stand up, we marched on and we honored the name of Dr. King.

Thank you very much everybody. God bless you, thank you. Thank you.

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