Governor Kathy Hochul Attends Armenian Bar Association’s Public Servants Dinner at the Yale Club
Photo by The Empire City Wire
About The Public Servants Dinner
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was among the distinguished guests at this year’s Public Servants Dinner, hosted by the Armenian Bar Association (ABA) at the Yale Club. The Yale Club of New York City is an exclusive private club located in Midtown Manhattan, serving Yale alumni and affiliates with amenities like dining rooms, athletic facilities, guest rooms, and a refined, old-world atmosphere that reflects Ivy League tradition.
The annual gathering hosted by the Armenian Bar Association honors lawyers, judges, law enforcement officers, and government workers who have dedicated their careers to public service. Many attendees are not in fact Armenian, but are also close friends of Armenian members of the association.
Held each April, the event is intentionally timed to coincide with the global commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. For the Armenian Bar Association, this timing is deeply symbolic. The weeklong remembrance is not only about honoring the past but reinforcing the present-day value of public institutions. Just over a century ago, Armenians witnessed the collapse of the very systems designed to protect the public.
Judges, lawyers, and civic leaders were among the first targeted in a wave of state-sponsored violence that left 1.5 million Armenians dead and an ancient civilization nearly erased. In the aftermath, survivors scattered across the globe, forming diasporic communities that carried with them not only memories of loss but a commitment to rebuilding and defending the rule of law.
Photo by The Empire City Wire
This Year’s Honorees
This year’s dinner carried additional resonance. Governor Hochul was recognized for her recent proclamation of April 24, 2025, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the State of New York, formalized by Senate Resolution No. 836. The move was hailed by the ABA and the Armenian-American community as a significant gesture of recognition and solidarity.
Kathy Hochul is the first woman to ever hold the position of Governor in New York State’s history. A Democrat, she stepped into the role in August 2021 following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo and was later elected in her own right in 2022. Before becoming governor, Hochul served as lieutenant governor, and earlier in her career, as a member of Congress representing a district in Western New York—a rare feat for a Democrat in that region at the time.
Also in attendance was Ken Khachigian, former chief speechwriter and senior advisor to President Ronald Reagan. Khachigian delivered a speech that blended personal reflection with political insight, offering a reminder that the pursuit of justice is a calling that spans generations and ideologies.
The Legacy
The evening was more than a ceremonial dinner; it was a statement of resilience and remembrance. In honoring public servants, the Armenian Bar Association reaffirmed its belief that strong institutions and ethical leadership remain the best defense against the kinds of atrocities that once sought to extinguish a people—and the principles they stood for.
