The day of our rally was a great day; one of the best. Our big event finally happened, the rally at City Hall. All our efforts and dreams were poured into this rally pot. Tension and static were in the air; for it was the day we would bring it to Bloomberg. We began the march at the Brooklyn Bridge (Brooklyn side, home sweet home). We were accompanied by few of my friends from Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment, plus students from Freedom Academy High School, Edward R. Murrow High School and ACORN Community High School, the phenomenal Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band and the powerful T.A. staff.

Nervous at first as always, I quickly found my resolve with the sight of the huge, uniformed marching band at our backs, and a few words of encouragement from Michael, Farah, Jessie, and the rest of the T.A. staff. Like every hero, I needed my sword, and that I found in the amplification power of the megaphone. I love that thing and it was hard to give up. With a little prep we were ready to ship off. Once on the bridge I was excited, once the band started playing my blood started to pump. Thanks to my creative peers, we began to chant all the way to Manhattan. We caught a massive amount of attention. It was great.

Once we reached City Hall, the law said we had to quiet down, so the band had to stop and I had to give up the megaphone: It was speech time. We got passed security and set up, with a pack of our peers on the steps of City Hall, costumed in our summer's tree suits and carrying banners we'd made the night before. Once all was ready, it was time. I was confident, I had to be, I was the opener and I had to introduce City Council Member Leticia James. I spoke loud and with power. That was the best part, me speaking to the crowd. The rest of the rally was good. Leticia James's speech was phenomenal, and when she dumped those postcards in the mailbox we had built, calling out to the mayor for a car-free park with each stack, I couldn't help but laugh. Michael and Farah were wonderful and without them the rally wouldn't have been the same.

Overall, I was proud and happy. I spoke at city hall and I have been working hard all summer long. It paid off, but there is still more. I had a wonderful experience, met extraordinary people, did incredible things, and wore a tree costume. Not many young people get to do what I got done this summer, and I was one of four, and we four were the first. Although the rally was a big part of the campaign, it's not the finale. There is still a ton of work to be done, and although my contract is over, I will always be a Prospect Park Youth Advocate and I will continue fighting for a car free park until we win. So keep supporting our cause until the mayor listens to our rallying cry.