April 23, 2006

View image of document

Office of the Mayor
CITY OF NEW YORK

Proclamation

WHEREAS: Today, Armenians around the world gather to commemorate the 91st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We remember the innocent victims of this terrible crime, as well as the survivors who have preserved the rich and varied culture of the Armenian people.

WHEREAS: The first victims of the Genocide were the religious, political, and intellectual leaders of Constantinople's Armenian community, who were arrested and murdered on April 24th, 1915. Over the next eight years, nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children were massacred, and hundreds of thousands more were deported from their homeland. Approximately 20,000 Armenian refugees came to New York and found comfort in the small but vitalArmenian community that had existed in the city since the mid-19th century.

WHEREAS: The Knights and Daughters of Vartan will hold their 21st annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Program on April 23rd at Times Square. This event demonstrates that New York's Armenians are still rooted in their heritage, and that they continue to honor the memory of those slain in the Armenian Genocide.

WHEREAS: The tragedy of the Armenian Genocide will never be forgotten -- it's sheer brutality and callousness are too haunting. Our memories are a call to prevent future genocides from occurring. These convictions are the deepest tribute we can pay to those we mourn.

NOW Therefore, I, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, in memory of those who lost their lives in the Armenian Genocide, do hereby proclaim Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 in the City of New York as

"Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day"

[Seal]

[signed]
Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor

In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and caused the seal of the City of New York to be affixed.