Quinnetta Younge
Rudolph W. Giuliani’s 2001 State of the City Speech
Mayor Giuliani delivers his City of the State address of 2001 at City Hall on January 8 th. He
began his speech by thanking the administration and commissioners that work alongside of him
and of course the city council. He starts his speech with by apologizing for the rescheduling and
briefly explained why. Mayor Giuliani explained that he was attended the funeral of two city
employees, one a firefighter and the other a sanitation worker, both of which he felt deserved
recognition. Mayor Giuliani asked his audience to join him in a moment of the two fallen city
employees. Giuliani uses an example of Times Square to display that it takes a collective effort
to make noticeable change and a collective effort to keep such change. Therefore everyone,
and every worker matters.
Mayor Giuliani arranged his speech strategically to show the growth of New York City during
his time in office. He starts by focusing on previous City of state speeches .He discusses his
previous plans that he that were mention in other City of state speeches, then declared if his
efforts were successfully or unsuccessfully. This arrangement not only shows the growth of NYC
that he ignited as mayor but it also makes his audience aware of the work that still needs to be
done.
The Mayor touched on a variety of issues in which NYC faced when he first took office but more
importantly what has changed. Here are some of the many accomplishments that were
mentioned in his speech. The mayor spoke firmly about the budget being balanced and taxes
being lowered. He spoke about block granting which has improved but in the same token,
funding which still needs to be assessed. He spoke proudly about the creation of ACS, the
administration of children services, a city agency made to protect our city’s children. He
boasted about the creation of a separate budget for New York City schools. He spoke about the
countless educational programs that have been created for the children of the city, and the
reforms within city’s higher educational system CUNY. One of his biggest concerns in the past
was the safety of fellow New Yorkers. Therefore, he planned to make great changes in his
previous speeches regarding law enforcement and school safety. Although he gives numbers to
show that there has been a significant decrease in the crimes happening weekly in NYC, he
proclaimed that he would continue working diligently to make New Yorkers feel safe and let
outsiders know that NYC is a safe to be as well.
After revealing all his accomplishments, Mayor Giuliani explained that he plans to do so much
more in the upcoming year. He had various goals for NYC. He planned to build DNA laboratories
that would help keep criminals of the streets of NYC. He also planned to put up more cameras
around the city, specifically housing development where the people are eager to feel safe. He
also planned to make several changes in the way NYC deals with emergencies. He planned to
place audio deliberators in all city buildings that would better assist individuals who are not
qualified to respond to emergencies. He also discussed the importance of filtering calls that are
not emergencies with the use of a 311-911 system. In this speech Mayor Giuliani revealed a
range of aspirations for NYC, and planned to accomplish them all similar to the ones from his
previous speeches that he made a reality that he made a reality.
2) Mayor Giuliani served as a mayor of NYC from 1994 to 2001. Therefore this was his final City
of the state speech. He made great strides during his career as mayor, in regards to safety and
children. He became Mayor at a very difficult time for New York, when the effects of the crack
epidemic effects were still very vivid. Not only did Mayor Giuliani have to clean up the streets,
he had to rebuild the communities and this is why he believed so strongly in the power of law
enforcement, education and protective services for children. According t the New York Times
article “Drop in Homicide rate Linked to Crack’s decline” reported a study that suggests close
link crack and homicide. (Butterfield,1) Therefore New York City, being a city where drug traffic
was very prevalent became a city that many people feared. Mayor Giuliani made a point to
change this preconceived motion of NYC. He had a goal to change NYC into a place where
people felt safe, tourist, residents and children.
3) This speech was given at City Hall by Mayor Giuliani. It was nothing special about its location,
being that it was at a place where most mayors have given their City Hall speech before him.
4) I found it very interesting that Mayor Giuliani apparently used a power point for this speech.
He used pictures to make particular points, for example the cleanup by sanitation workers, and
he made his speech more of a dialogue. He spoke with select people from the audience and he
even had someone showcase how the new audio defibrillator would work to show how
beneficial it would be to untrained individuals during emergencies. Regardless of the informal
tactics in his speech, he was heavily accepted by his audience and by the press most people
were confident in his work because they seen him accomplish so much already. There were a
few concern about Giuliani working alongside the state to better accomplish some of his goals.
Mayor Giuliani’s Housing Plan for example stirred up a bit of a discussion. The New York Times
Article” Giuliani’s Housing plan” states that the mayor’s plan to spend only $600 million on
affordable housing over a four year span is not enough. Scott Stringer, the writer of this opinion
article states “the city, state and private sector must work together to make the tough political
choices needed to ensure that commitments to create and preserve affordable housing are
met.” (Stringer,1)
5) There is no speech writer for this speech.
6) As I stated in a previous question, Mayor Giuliani’s speech was extremely informal. He used
personal example and visual examples such as photo’s and volunteers to steer his audience into
believing that his causes were important. This speech was not arranged in a way where further
explanation was needed for any of his plans for NYC. His speech very simple and very straight
to the point.
7) In the very beginning if the speech Mayor Giuliani mentions a few important people that he
wanted to thank for their help. Those people included the Deputy Mayors, the Commissioners,
Speaker Vallone and the City Council. Two main places that he mentioned in his speech were
Times Square and the Mets stadium.
8) “We are going to turn the City over, better, not worse than we found it.”
9) Defibrillator
Work cited
Stringer, S. (2001,January 15). Guiliani’s Housing Plan. The New York Times, p.1
Butterfield, Fox. “Drop in Homicide.” The New York Times 27 Oct. 1997. P.1