[applause] >> thank you, and thank you for joining us at the site of the national park service in new york and one to have the great treasures of new york city. let me first introduce jonathan soffer. he grew up in albany, had the wisdom to move to manhattan to attend columbia. [laughter] he joined the broadway democrats in 1977. certain things may be forgiven. he got his doctorate from columbia and now teaches history at nyu polytechnic institute. i realized not long ago if we