We love New York. I think that much is probably pretty clear by now. We live and work here. Our surroundings inspire most of what we do. We are proud of New York City's unique place in the list of great global cities and the role it has played in the worlds of art, literature, music, sports and more. It’s incredible that New York City exists within an hour of both incredible beaches and majestic mountains. I am personally proud of New York’s place in and amongst the region called the Northeast. It’s my favorite place in the world.

With that in mind, we are proud to wear a symbol of New York proudly in the form of the rose logo. Since 1955, the rose has been the New York state flower, and rightly so. The rose has been a symbol of many things historically, including war, power, and politics, but the primary association we make with roses today is love.

The rose is one of the oldest symbols there are. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, was often pictured adorned with roses. Her Roman counterpart Venus was also often symbolized with a rose. With the rise of Christianity, the rose came to be a stand-in for the Virgin Mary. Later in medieval England, the rose became a symbol of power during the War of the Roses. The houses of York and Lancaster both were represented by different colored roses, white and red, and after the war the symbolism remained upheld by the Tudors who combined the two colors of roses into their own crest.

Like the rose, New York City has a long and complicated history. While our city today may still have a reputation for being rough and unwelcoming to outsiders, you don’t have to look too far to find the sense of community that New Yorkers have leaned on for so long. When you live and work here, you see your neighbors on a regular basis. When any moment calls for mourning, celebration, or just standing in solidarity, we’re out in the streets together. When you love New York, this city can show love back. That’s what the New York rose means to us.