To the man who attacked my city,

I will never understand why you did what you did on October 31st. I will never be able to grasp the rhyme or reason as to why you decided to get in a truck, and kill 8 innocent people as well as injure at least 11 more. I can not begin to fathom the moral justification you could find to defend your actions, or the beliefs you have that lead you to such horrific choices.

There are no words to describe the distaste I have for the grief you have caused to not only the families who were directly impacted by this tragic event, but to New York City and our nation as a whole. Yet there are still some things you do not know about my city, some things you can never take away.

New Yorkers are resilient, your act of disdain and hatred are not going to break us. We won’t allow it to. There is too much strength in our hearts, too much hope in our eyes, and too much love for our home to let your actions destroy us.

We have persevered through acts of terrorism before and we will surely do it again.

We will join together, arm and arm, and we will stand tall against you and what you have done. You may think you have succeed in your intent to bring us down, but you are wrong. We will come together, and we will grow stronger, because we will not let you win, because you will never win.

You will never be able to take away the love and passion the families have for the loved ones they had lost that day because of you. Their memories and spirit will remain with all of us everyday, and that is something you will never be able to take away.

Although your harsch choices mean they may no longer be here physically, their name will forever be in our prayers. From the bottom of my heart, my thoughts and condolences are with the families and friends who are grieving at this time for the people who are no longer with them.

While I may not be able to give you answers, or explain as to why people do bad things, I do know that you are strong, you will get through this, and we are all standing with you in this time of grief.

My heart breaks for the lives of those that were lost on the streets of New York City. I’m sorry, truly. I’m sorry your lives were cut short all for some meaningless act of terrorism. I am sorry that you will never get to continue chasing your dreams and working for everything you believe in.

I would give anything for all of you to come back here, because you deserve to still be alive and well. You deserve to continue to celebrate your life and everything you have accomplished. You deserved better.

I would also like to apologize to anyone who was injured or a witness in this incident. This isn’t fair. It is not fair that you will have to carry this event around with you for the rest of your life. You should not have to live with the repercussions of someone else’s choices. You should not have to feel like someone took away your safety, and I am sorry.

But I would like to remind you that you have survived.

You prevailed and you are one of the bravest people this world has ever seen. You have made it through the pain and darkness and my prayers will be with you as you continue your journey. I am extremely grateful that you are still here, and you will have a journey to continue.

To all the EMT’s, Police Officers, FireFighters, First Responders and all other emergency staff on site, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for risking your life day in and day out to make the streets as safe as they could be. Thank you for choosing to save the lives of people you don’t even know not only because it’s your job, but because it is something you are passionate about doing. Thank you for being a hero.

I promise you your work does not go unnoticed and you are truly some of the most kind hearted people this world has been graced with. We are all extremely fortunate for the services you provide for us. We all appreciate everything you do for us day in and day out.

Anyone who has been affected directly or indirectly from not only this attack but any other act of terrorism, I want to remind you we are all with you. These acts will not define us.

While there are things in this world we can not explain, this act will not break you, because we will not let it. You are not going through this alone and everyone else will continue to hold our heads high to continue to remind everyone who is going through their struggles just how brave they are.

Finally to the man who attacked my city, while you may think your job is done, and we are all shattered on the ground broken, I would like to remind you, you are wrong. We are here, we are stronger than ever, and we will not back down. Us New Yorkers are resilient and we will continue to rise.

You will never break us.

Sincerely,

New York City