Senate Resolution No. 2266

BY: Senator PARKER

COMMENDING the NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
upon the occasion of hosting its Juneteenth
Celebration on June 17, 2026

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
pay tribute to those institutions whose commitment to the cultural life
and historical memory of their communities reflects the highest ideals
of civic service and community care; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan upon the occasion of hosting
its Juneteenth Celebration on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, under the theme
"Honoring the Past, Serving the Present, and Inspiring the Future"; and

WHEREAS, Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that
enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom
more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation
and has since become one of the most profound observances in the
American calendar, a day not only of remembrance, but of celebration,
resilience, and the collective reaffirmation that the work of freedom,
though long and unfinished, is worth every generation's most devoted
effort; and

WHEREAS, On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the Juneteenth
National Independence Day Act into law, making June 19th a federal
holiday and affirming the Nation's recognition that the liberation of
enslaved Black Americans is a founding story of American freedom that
deserves to be honored in the fullest and most public way; and

WHEREAS, The theme of this year's celebration, "Honoring the Past,
Serving the Present, and Inspiring the Future," is a call to hold all
three of those imperatives at once: to look honestly and gratefully at
the struggle that brought us here, to show up fully for the communities
we serve today, and to invest with intention in the generations who will
carry this work forward; and

WHEREAS, Juneteenth celebrations are acts of cultural affirmation -
of Black joy, Black history, Black community, and the living legacy of
those who endured the unsurvivable and built something extraordinary on
the other side; and gatherings like this one, hosted by institutions
rooted in the communities they serve, are among the most powerful
expressions of what it means to honor that legacy not in the abstract
but in practice; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is proudly moved to celebrate
Juneteenth alongside the staff, patients, families, and community of NYC
Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, and to affirm that the observance of
this day is not merely a commemoration of the past but a commitment to
the future; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan upon the occasion of hosting

its Juneteenth Celebration on June 17, 2026, and to extend heartfelt
congratulations and deepest appreciation to all who gather in the spirit
of freedom, joy, and community this Juneteenth; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Julian S. John, Chief Executive Officer, and the staff
and community of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, in recognition of
their commitment to honoring the past, serving the present, and
inspiring the future.