I agree. It's a brilliant piece of oratory, and fits entirely within the character of the populist mayor (surely modeled in part on LaGuardia) and the film. It's a crisis: personal for the child's family, criminal because of the bad cops, and political for obvious reasons. To have the mayor step in to try to address and resolve these issues by giving a speech, which is what politicians do after all, makes perfect sense.
I mean, Guiliani, a much less gifted speaker than Al (needless to say!) made his reputation in the days following 9/11, in large part by actual leadership of course, but in some measure by showing up and giving speeches. Was he accused of political grandstanding? Sure. Was he? Of course. But I'd say that he also provided emotional comfort and a focus point for the city. Likewise, as noted above, Al's speech shows genuine empathy and an insight into the positive aspects of his character and career.
Finally, Al's speech is a eulogy. It's supposed to be cathartic. All in all, it's really a perfect excuse for an OTT moment, and Al is (of course) up to the challenge!
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