Message from the Mayor: The Election
Posted on: November 13, 2016 - 10:29pm
Fellow Residents;
The outcome of the national election Tuesday surprised many people, leaving some thrilled with the unexpected pleasure of victory and others, for lack of a better term, bereft. I’ve wrestled with what to say – while Hastings is very much a progressive community, more than a few residents voted for President-elect Trump and they are enjoying the moment as they are entitled to do so. I am a partisan Democrat – there is no secret there – I worked hard for Hillary and was hit hard by the outcome like others were. We can only wish and hope that President-Elect Trump leads our country wisely and with compassion. Americans have always prized common sense and good faith, and we all believe in American values of fairness, justice, and equality.
Hastings is a community that was built on the backs of immigrants and has always striven to tolerate difference and diversity. Nothing has changed in Hastings and while we respect the outcome of the election, we will fight the hateful attitudes that arose during it and seem likely to persist into the new term. Beyond politics, we are all human beings and no one in Hastings, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or immigration status, should ever feel anything other than acceptance and inclusion. This is who we are and we will stand up against the ugliness. It shall not be tolerated here, and it shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere else in this country.
Hastings is also a remarkably engaged community that cares. We have an all-volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Corps, many people involved on issues and in politics, in sports teams and on charity work. If you wish to engage on anything – whether it is to serve in the Fire Department, tutor kids, fight for a cause, encourage diversity – whatever – reach out to me and I would be honored to point you in the right direction. This is who we are – we don’t just talk, we roll up our sleeves and actually do the heavy lifting that makes a community function and thrive. Join us.
To that end, we have two events coming up that deserve your attention and donations. This Saturday, November 19th, we have a concert by Hastings celloist Peter Seidenberg to support the local charity, Hastings Helps the Hungry, which has fed lunches to the hungry in Yonkers for literally decades, all with volunteer labor and donated money to buy the food. It’s at 4PM and suggested donation is $15. And on Tuesday, next week, we have our Project Share Thanksgiving Dinner, a remarkable event that has local volunteers and high school students put a full Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings in front of over 800 homeless people in a festively-decorated Cochran gym at the High School. They still have some more money to raise here, so give because you can and because they need it. Do it here .
We love our country and our community. When we work together, as we do so well here, we thrive.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor
P.S. Congratulations to the High School Boys Varsity soccer team, who won the State Finals tonight, emerging as State champs. We don’t do that often here – and it’s a real big deal. Congrats to this stellar team. They came awfully close last year and brought it home today.