A New Year

Living in New York City and being Jewish, I get to observe a number of New Years. The Jewish New Year in the fall is probably the most significant for me, as I go to synagogue and think about ways I could live my life better. We also get to experience the lunar New Year that the Chinese observe each winter as well. But a year has passed on the calendar, and the last one presented many challenges to many of us.

Many still look for work. Business is just reviving and we work and hope to keep that revival on-going. Many are still left out of the revival, which threatens the long-term health of our economy and our city and nation. I was honored to attend the inauguration of the new City Comptroller and Public Advocate yesterday and the swearing-in of the Mayor for his third term. Each pledged to fight for all New Yorkers.

We live in a City of haves and have-nots and sometimes the distinction is extreme. Certainly people are responsible for their lives but often as a City and a nation, we fail to give those with less the chance to do more. And so many in the World suffer. I read yesterday in the New York Times about the closing of a dialysis unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where many illegal immigrants were receiving care, now forced to sever family ties and receive substandard treatment, already resulting in some deaths. As a new year begins, we must renew our efforts to make this City, Nation and the World a place where people have to struggle less to enjoy the basics of life. Whether it means volunteering as a soup kitchen, donating money, doing political work to change the system. We are all responsible for each other. And in the New Year, let's renew our commitment to help each other. And be truthful and honest in our dealings.

Let's work to keep our world and City safe and peaceful and to prosper together. A good 2010.