Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow dignitaries held New York’s first-ever Unity Summit on Wednesday.

The event, nearly a year after the Buffalo supermarket shootings, was about collaborating by sharing strategies, ideas, perspectives and building awareness.

"When you attack one of us, you're picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers and that is not the fight you want to pick,” said Hochul. “That is the idea behind the hate and bias prevention unit and the purpose of today's summit."

Hochul announced the summit in November 2022 after a wave of hate crimes across the state, which included antisemetic, racist, white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ attacks.

"There's an energy in this room, these are people who are committed to working together, to seeing beyond differences, and we're different and that's great because that's what makes us New York,” added North Shore Hebrew Academy Head of School Jeffrey Kobrin.

"This event right here can be the catalyst, not just here in this region and in this wonderful state of New York, but throughout the country and eventually the rest of the world,” said Bishop Dr. Danilo Archbold Sr., Elmont.

Regional councils for the state's hate and bias unit will start working together in the coming weeks.