Morano on Dorothy Day and John Hudson Dilgen street co-namings
Council Member Morano honors Dorothy Day, whose image hangs in City Hall, and John Hudson Dilgen, a young man with epidermolysis bullosa who dedicated his life to giving hope. He reflects on their shared grace and compassion as Staten Islanders a century apart.
Thank you, Majority Leader.
I know I don't often spend much time talking about street namings, especially on a day when we're considering so many important pieces of legislation, but I hope you'll indulge me for just a moment,
because today's package, Intro 859A, includes two street namings that mean an extraordinary amount to me and to the community that I represent.
One honors Dorothy Day, a woman whose compassion, faith, and commitment to serving others changed countless lives.
It's fitting that her image hangs here in City Hall, overlooking the staircase that so many of us walk each day.
It's a quiet reminder that public service is ultimately about serving others.
And the other honors a young man gone far too soon, John Hudson Dilgen, a remarkable young man who lived with an unimaginable pain because of epidermolysis bullosa, yet never allowed his condition to define him.
Instead, he dedicated his life to giving hope to others, advancing research, and showing all of us what courage and resilience truly look like.
These two Staten Islanders lived a century apart, and they led very different lives, but they shared something profound.
They made our borough, our city, and our world better simply by the way they lived.
If sainthood is ultimately for the church to decide, I can certainly say that in the eyes of so many Staten Islanders, these are two people whose lives reflected extraordinary grace, compassion, and selflessness.
I want to sincerely thank all of my colleagues for supporting these street namings and helping make sure their legacies will live on for generations to come.
Long after we're all gone, New Yorkers will pass these signs, ask who these people were, and learn their stories, and that's a powerful thing.
Today, we're forever memorializing not just names, but lives of service, compassion, courage, and hope.
It's a privilege to have played a small part in that, and I'm deeply grateful to all of you for making that possible.
Thank you.
Councilor Mealy, followed by Aviles.