I went to Israel when the missiles were falling there.

The art and culture that is New York, communications, finance, all these things help make up New York. The rest of the country should be happy that we are what we are.

I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.

Today, certain people file for bankruptcy, businesses and individuals, and it no longer has the stigma it once had. Now it's almost considered wise, a way to regroup and come back again.

I love kids and I maintain that they are our future, that we adults owe them the ability to achieve their potential and that we don't own this planet. We hold it in trust for them.

But I make the observation that no one of us would do things exactly alike.

Well, I think I am a very, very lucky person. I'm very fortunate.

But the courts have dismissed the lawsuits against me and Lee Brown.

In 1975 I was among a group of blacks who formed the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.

As a matter of fact, even when I finished law school, I had no notion of public service then.

My mother came here to New York. She and my grandmother were domestics, cooking, cleaning for other people.

Influence can be the worst gun nowadays.

Good manners is the fabric that holds the community together.

It's an hour during the week where you can just slow down.

I do believe in the sanctity of marriage. ...But I don't see that as conflict with being a tolerant person or an understanding person.

The ability to keep your mouth shut is usually a sign of intelligence

It would be nice to not have to prove myself, and for people to know that I'm good and can play a role. Whatever role that is that lets people know that I can play the next role is what I want to do.

Look to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned for the day of deliverance is at hand!

You can have fun with a son, But you got to be a father to a girl.

Music is the ethereal connection between this world and the other.

Guessing isn't knowing.