Governor & Mayor Join Business, Labor & Community Leaders to Launch Campaign to Inspire Optimism and Civic Action

Campaign Celebrates What Makes NYC Great and Empowers New Yorkers to Show Their Love by Getting Involved

Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, business, labor, and civic leaders from across the five boroughs today launched “We ❤ NYC”, a campaign to showcase the city’s strengths and mobilize New Yorkers to make sure this remains the greatest city in the world. The citywide campaign will kick off with a celebration of New Yorkers who are making a difference — the “doers” — and will feature opportunities for civic engagement that everyone can contribute to. New Yorkers can get engaged at welovenyc.nyc.

“From its iconic views and vibrant arts and culture to its thriving businesses and world-class cuisine, New York City represents some of the best that our state has to offer,” Governor Hochul said. “This We ❤ NYC campaign will help to capture that energy and preserve the city’s spirit by encouraging New Yorkers of every background to come together, get involved, and make a positive change in their community.”

“This city overcame the darkest days of the pandemic because of the selfless work of everyday New Yorkers, and if each of us gives just one hour a week in an act of service, the result will be transformative,” said Mayor Adams. “That is why I am proud to announce the launch of ‘We ❤ NYC,’ in partnership with Governor Hochul and the Partnership for New York City. The ‘We ❤ NYC’ campaign asks everyone who loves the greatest city in the world to show it by lending a helping hand and spreading that love to every block across all five boroughs.”

The themes of the campaign focus on what New Yorkers can do to support the post-pandemic resurgence of the city and its neighborhoods. The campaign will establish partnerships with public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to reaffirm that New York City is the safest, cleanest, and most exciting place to live and work. Planned activations in the first eight weeks of the campaign include:

• Earth Week (week of April 17) kick off with NYC Parks of an ambitious expansion of support for the parks that will seek to engage a record number of New Yorkers in over 1 million hours of service to care for their parks. The “green theme” will be marked by co-branding with the Broadway production of Wicked.
• Community cleanups across the five boroughs in partnership with the NYC Department of Sanitation.
• Public engagement to vote for your favorite MTA Music Under New York performer in partnership with Shutterstock.
• Neighborhood business promotions in partnership with the NYC Department of Small Business Services, including the opportunity to “Shop Black” and participation in a competition to select the best menu items offered by New York City restaurants and caterers.
• A campaign to Spread the Love through volunteer programs to help those in need, led by NYC Service and the nonprofit New York Cares.

The We ❤ NYC campaign is led by marketing executive Maryam Banikarim, Andrew Lerner, and their team at MaryamB, working with the ad agency Founders, Grain Group, and Graham Clifford. Support is being provided from a variety of contributing partners here.

The We ❤ NYC mark is a trademarked adaptation of Milton Glaser’s design for the “I ❤ NY” campaign that launched in 1977. Both marks are owned by New York State’s Department of Economic Development, which made the adaptation available at no charge.

Today’s news conference was produced by The Broadway League with support of the Times Square Alliance. It featured a performance by Anna Uzele, a star of the upcoming Broadway musical “New York, New York,” which features the iconic title song written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Also performing at the launch event was Lucky Chops, a brass ensemble that is part of the MTA Music Under New York program.

The day will end with a lighting ceremony with the Empire State Building that will shine its world-famous spire in a heartbeat red, with a red We ❤ NYC heart in its mast.

A full list of supporters, and community and labor partners can be found here.

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