Last night Borough President Scott Stringer hosted his 4th Annual Iftar Dinner. This event, which drew 150 people, brought together Muslims and non-Muslims from around New York City to say evening prayers, break the Ramadan fast, and honor individuals and organizations. 

The event also included many speeches on the meaning and importance of Ramadan. The Borough President gave a keynote speech about the important contributions from Muslim New Yorkers to our City’s richly diverse community.

“The politics of divisiveness has no place in New York,” said Borough President Stringer. “Here, more than 100 mosques exist alongside some 6,000 churches and 1,000 synagogues. We enjoy the most open society in the world and the bounty of millions of immigrants, many of whom are Muslim, who enrich our city in ways both large and small.”

After this speech, the Borough President awarded the evening’s honorees with proclamations. The individuals recognized were:

• Rachel Cooper, who as the Asia Society’s Director of Cultural Programs and Performing Arts has contributed significantly to New Yorkers’ understanding of Asian and Asian-American arts and culture;
• Zeyba Rahman, an arts advisor and curator who is the artistic adviser for public programming for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia galleries;
• Yusef Ramelize, a graphic designer and the project director of www.homelessforoneweek.com, who goes homeless for one week each year and posts video blogs and interviews on his website to raise awareness, and fundraises for the Food Bank for New York City;
• Sakeenah, a not-for-profit, independent educational foundation that serves the needs of multi-denominational communities;
• The Turkish Cultural Center of New York, a non-profit that brings together people of Turkish and non-Turkish origin to foster cross-cultural awareness.

All photos by Chase Guttman