HAPPY BIRTHDAY
WALL STREET

March 13, 1653 - March 13, 2004
 

OUR VIRTUAL CELEBRATION

The New York City Birthday Committee is Celebrating the Birth of the most famous street in the world, this year with a new and innovative addition to our activities. We are today inaugurating what will be a growing number of Virtual Celebrations that will honor important dates in New York City's long and illustrious history with on line Tributes that can be enjoyed by anyone with access to the Internet and email anywhere in the world.

This is our way of expanding and enhancing our activities and truly making the Committee New York City's first 21st century organization. This first effort will be some what modest but for the future and other Celebrations we intend to add audio and video and other electronic enhancements, even live broadcasts from "real" events.

That's for later. Today we will begin by Honoring one of the most important events and decisions in New York history when our city still bore its original name New Amsterdam. Soon after the City was founded on February 2, 1653, in one of its first meetings the new Council ( today our City Council ) at its meeting on March 13, 1653, in the presence of the Dutch Director General Peter Stuyvesant, the Council agreed to build a Wall at the northern edge of the small city, at a point that at that time had no distinguishing characteristics.

Shortly afterwards on the very site that marks Wall Street today a Wall was erected river to river, and from that time on, the importance and the fame of Wall Street grew and grew and grew. There is no more famous street on earth today. It symbolizes the financial power of our entire society and its promise for the 21st century.

THE CELEBRATION

In joining us today on Wall Street "virtually" let me introduce myself I am Roland Rogers, president & founder of The New York City Birthday Committee.

Thank you all for coming. As this is a virtual celebration we have permission to take over the entire length of Wall Street today and as you can "see" it is filled with thousands of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world who have joined us to celebrate Wall Street's Birthday.

We have many distinguished guests too many for us to have speak. There are three who will be our Honored Guests. They are State Senator David Paterson, Minority Leader of the New York State Senate, Vincent Viola, chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and author Russell Shorto, whose powerful and ground breaking new book about the city's founding is being published this very week.

Finally we will unveil our new Wall Street Coin to honor the birth of Wall Street, and then, cut the Birthday Cake and enjoy ourselves finishing every bit of it especially since calories are no problem since today we have a "virtual" birthday cake. Eat as much as you want !!

First our Ceremonies.

It is my great pleasure to introduce Senator Paterson who I can proudly say has been the very best friend our efforts have enjoyed. I now personally know why Senator Paterson is a Leader in our State Legislature. He is a public official with both vision and civic pride who understands how important our history is to truly appreciating our city and being good citizens.

Next we are beginning a new Annual Award which the Committee will present each year on the Anniversary of Wall Street. It is our " Hero of Wall Street " Award to be presented to leaders of today who display the same spirit and initiative as did those first "New Yorkers" who were members of the city's first council and who made the decision to build the Wall 351 years ago today.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the first the inaugural recipient of the New York City Birthday Committee " Hero of Wall Street " Award.

Vincent Viola, is the distinguished Chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange who has guided one of our nation's leading commodities exchanges headquartered right here in Lower Manhattan, to unprecedented growth and success as its Chairman and most notably for his Leadership following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Mr. Viola was a very successful trader at Nymex himself before assuming the Chairmanship and he has various business interests beyond the Exchange. He came to business following his graduation from West Point and followed by service to the nation as a U.S. Army Officer.

Mr. Viola is is the recipient of numerous awards most notably having received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Most of all Vinny Viola is greatly respected and admired by his colleagues, as well as associates throughout Wall Street and still in his 40s, he exemplifies the spirit of our city and Wall Street as well as anyone can hope.

It is therefore with great pleasure we name Vincent Viola as our " Hero of Wall Street " and the first recipient of the annual Award to be presented each year on this fate to honor the founding of Wall Street.

CONGRATULATIONS !!

Now before we introduce author Russell Shorto and then cut the cake it's time for another very special moment. The Committee is unveiling its second Commemorative Coin in a series to honor New York City's history.

The first Coin was dedicated to the founding of New York City and it was unveiled on February 2, 2003, at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at Bowling Green, to mark the 350th Anniversary of the city's birth.

That Coin has been very successful and we have every reason to hope the Wall Street Coin will be as well if not even better received. So with no further delay if Senator Paterson and Mr. Viola will join me here on our 'virtual' stage let us officially for the first time unveil the brand new Wall Street 350th Anniversary Coin as we conclude the 350th Anniversary year today and look toward the future........

Made of Pure Silver Recovered underneath the vaults of the World Trade Center after 9/11/2001

To be released for public sale next week

Now it my pleasure to introduce Russell Shorto. Mr. Shorto's contribution to our efforts is invaluable. While he did not write his new book expressly for the New York City Birthday Committee he might as well have !!

His new book published this very week " Island At The Center Of The World " and subtitled ' The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan, The Forgotten Colony that Shaped America " for the first time tells the true and overwhelming story of the founding of the city by the Dutch and its action packed early years leading up to February 2, 1653 and the founding of New Amsterdam, and then today, March 13th the creation of the Wall on Wall Street.

Russell will be happy to speak with all of you and he will have a book signing and make a presentation at the South Street seaport Museum next Thursday, March 18th. Please contact the Museum for details, and to get the book even sooner try Borders Book store on Lower Broadway.

Enough speaking. Finally the moment we have been waiting for. I know I have the Birthday Cake for Wall Street and lots of champagne to toast the world's most famous and its greatest street !!

I want to thank all of you for coming and all our Honored Guests. And please don't forget the new Wall Street Anniversary Coin available right now at the Committee's Website www.nyc350.org or by phone 1-866-NYC-3501. We'll be announcing more events in the coming weeks to celebrate New York City's long and illustrious history, sand look for more of our unique Virtual Celebrations to make it super-easy for all of you to join us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WALL STREET !!

I'm Roland Rogers, president, New York City Birthday Committee. Thank you again for joining us and for those of you who like here is a short video of our Wall Street Birthday last year in 2003.

FOR MORE ON THE HISTORY OF WALL STREET