Monday was his final day on the job after leading New York City's response to the COVID-19 pandemic since August of 2020.
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In an interview with Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter, the outgoing commissioner reflected on the toll the pandemic has taken on all of us.
"The stress and the grief and the trauma that everyone has gone through in their own ways so it's hard not to get emotional when you think about all those effects and the loss that so many people have experienced," Dr. Chokshi said.
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Dr. Chokshi also posted a farewell message on Twitter.
"I'd like to invoke a saying that I love: 'It's better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness,'" he said. "We have lived through a time filled with so many dark days, and so much suffering. But public health, and the healing professions broadly, offered light during COVID. This wasn't just about tests, medicines or vaccines, but speaking to New Yorkers' fears, anxieties and uncertainties -- and offering a roadmap for navigating them, even when solutions were imperfect."
You can watch Bill Ritter's entire interview with Dr. Chokshi on this weekend's edition of "Up Close."
Dr. Ashwin Vasanwill take over as the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner after previously serving as Adams' Senior Advisor for Public Health.
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