Philoxenia And Calls For Service Dominate Gounardes’ Inauguration

BAY RIDGE — Just off a contentious race against a longtime incumbent, Gounardes took the ceremonial oath for office on Sunday and called for unity and action from his constituents.

Nearly a thousand people came out to Ft. Hamilton High School to witness the swearing-in of the 33-year-old who defeated eight-term Republican incumbent Marty Golden with 1,271 votes last November in a race that seemed to polarize the district.

“We are plagued by a strain of incivility and ached by a frayed sense of community,” Gounardes said pointing to the divisiveness on the national climate or through local Facebook groups which he said, “threatens to tear apart the bonds of humanity that unite us.”

Gounardes called for a politics of philoxenia—the Greek word for “love of strangers,” to stave off the “disunity, discord and division.”

As a testament on inclusivity, the New York Lotus Light Association performed a lion dance, an homage to the district’s growing Chinese-American population. Freedom Dabka Group drew a roaring applause with their dabka dance.

Along with flipping a traditionally Republican district, Gounardes, a Democrat became one of 14 members to turn New York State’s Republican Senate to a Democratic majority. New Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins, State Attorney General Letitia James, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer were there to cheer on the freshman state senator.

“There’s no one who deserves more to have this office than Andrew,” said Schumer whose former staffer is now the legislative director for Gounardes. “Andrew, it’s a great day for you because you got in the old fashioned way and you’ve earned it.”

Gounardes called on the district to commit to acts of service. He announced a new initiative, the “Our Three for Community,” where the senator challenged residents of the 22nd senatorial district to commit to three acts of service each week.

Encouraging the community to “rebuild the bonds of trust,” with the hopes of resulting in 780,000 acts of kindness a year if just five percent of the district’s 300,000 plus residents participate.

“Leadership requires the active participation of us all,” Gounardes. “It is no longer a task laid before me but rather a task laid before all of us, together, as one.”

Golden preceded former Councilman and State Sen. Vincent Gentile, who was the last Democratic state senator in more than a decade. Gentile performed the ceremonial swearing-in as Gounardes was surrounded by his parents and siblings.

Gounardes ended his speech with thanking the audience in eight different languages, ” S’euharisto, Gracias, XieXie, Grazie, Spasibah, Tov Toe Dah, Door tze, Shoukran,” he said.

The 22nd New York Senate district includes Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Marine Park, Bensonhurst, Gerritsen Park, Bath Beach, Homecrest, Marine Park and Manhattan Beach and parts of Boro Park, Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend.