Good morning and welcome to today's New York City Council vote for the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations.

At this time, please silence all electronic devices, and no one may approach Day S at any time.

Chair, we are ready to begin with the President.

Good morning again.

Proposed intro number four nine six A, sponsored by me in relations to a study and report on the potential installation of works of art structures to acknowledge the draft riots of eighteen sixty-three and resolution number three seventy-one, sponsored by Councilmember Yusuf Salam, which would declare August 6th annually as Fat Man Scoop recognition day in the city of New York and celebrating the signature style that he brought to every musical collaboration and his amazing energy that he also brought to every audience.

As I'd uh like to start uh by making some brief remarks on my bill proposed intro number four nine six A.

New York cannot tell its full story while leaving the racist violence of the draft riots of eighteen sixty-three unmarked and its victims unremembered.

In July of eighteen sixty-three, mobs of civilians participated in destructive and a and violent series of riots throughout the city.

The riots were instigated by and among other things, the institution of the first federal military draft in U.S.

history.

Long simmering racial tensions and the belief by some working class northerners that the abolition of slavery would cause emancipated former slaves to come north, compete for jobs, and cause economic upheaval.

While the rioters destroyed draft offices, commercial establishments, and private homes, the rioters primarily targeted what primarily targeted the city's African American community.

For four days, the mob terrorized the city's African American population, beating and murdering innocent civilians and destroying their property.

The official death toll was a hundred and nineteen.

By many historians' estimate, there might have been even more people killed.

Passing proposed intro four nine six A is important is an important step toward confronting that history.

The bill would bring together community voices, historians, and experts to determine how public art can honor those who suffered, educate future generations, and ensure that truth has a permanent place in our city.

I asked for my colleagues' support to pass this bill so we can build a city that remembers courageously, reckons honestly, and moves forward together.

Councilmember Stevens.

Okay.

We can hear you loud and clear.

Thank you so much.

No problem.

Thank you.

Okay, thanks.

Perfect.

Perfect.

Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

William, Dr.

Williams.

I like to say that.

You know, there are resolutions that come before this body that are procedural.

And then there are ones that feel very, very personal.

This one is very, very, very personal.

Isaac Freeman the third, better known as Fat Man Scoop, was a child of Harlem, born in Manhattan, raised right here in the very community that I'm honored to represent.

He graduated from Cardinal Hayes, attended New York Institute of Technology, and then gave the world something that no degree could have ever taught him.

That voice, that energy, that unmistakable ability to make the room full of strangers feel like one.

He built a career that crossed every genre, house, RB, hip hop, EMD, pop.

It didn't matter.

Wherever Isaac went, the energy followed.

A Grammy, a decade on hot ninety-seven, collaborations with Missy Elliott, Sierra, Mariah Carey Timberland, Snoop, and so many more.

And through it all, he never lost that Harlem that is in him.

He was also my friend.

And I want this body to understand what that meant.

When I was inaugurated as the councilman for the ninth district, Isaac didn't have to be there.

But he pulled up.

He put on a show that made the day something that everyone in that room will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

That was Isaac Friedman.

He gave you everything every time without being asked.

And we lost him on August 30th, 2024.

Fifty-six years old.

On a stage, doing exactly what he was put here on earth to do.

August 6th is his birthday.

And this resolution says that that inner that every every single August 6th, this city of New York will stop and remember him.

Not just what he did for music, but what he did for the city, what he did for Harlem, and what he meant to the people who loved him.

And so I asked my colleagues to honor Isaac Freeman III today and vote aye on resolution 371.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Salam.

And I was at your inauguration, and he did put on a show.

And so with that, uh finally, I would like to thank my staff and the committee staff who worked on preparing for today, including Alejandro, Regina, and Carolina.

And with that, the clerk is here, and we are ready for the vote.

Thank you.

Good morning.

William Martin Committee Clerk, roll call vote committee on cultural affairs, libraries, and international relations.

Items are coupled.

Chair Williams.

I vote aye.

Lewis.

Aye on all, and congratulations.

Hudson.

Aye.

Oh, say.

I vote aye.

Stevens.

Aye.

Thank you.

Ung.

Maloney.

Aye.

With a vote of seven in the affirmative, zero with a negative, no abstentions.

Both items have been approved by the committee.

Madam Chair, that is a full committee.

Thank you.