Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams Joins The Race For Mayor
BROOKLYN, NY — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer and state senator, has officially announced his bid for New York City mayor.
In a series of videos released this week, Adams made his long-speculated campaign to replace Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021 official, drawing on his personal experiences and career as a way to bring New Yorkers out of the "dark place" brought on by the coronavirus and growing violence.
"Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you're not buried, you're just planted," Adams says in one video. "The question is what are we going to do with the fruits of our harvest. I say it's time to grow."
Adams, 60, began his career as a police officer before entering government as a state senator in 2006. He has held the job of Brooklyn Borough President since 2013, the first Black person to hold the office.
On his campaign website, Adams says his time in public office included initiatives to protect tenants and workers, improve public safety, advance human rights, including marriage equality, grow the local economy, reduce inequality and improve public safety.
Today, I'm sharing my story like I’ve never told it before:It starts right here in NYC, growing up poor & on the brink of eviction. Then at 15, I was the victim of police brutality -- but instead of accepting things as they were, I was determined to change them. pic.twitter.com/Y4GyCNxIdD
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) November 18, 2020
The Brownsville-native has drawn on his personal experiences both with police and on the force in his most recent efforts to curb a surge in gun violence in the borough. Those experiences also emerged as a focus in his mayoral campaign.
"Some people talk about police brutality, I want to tell you how it is to live through it," Adams says, describing a time when he was arrested with his brother and beaten by police when he was 15 years old.
"That was a dark place — my life could have gone a different way full of bitterness — but I had people who loved me and a determination to change things," he continues.
Adams joins Brooklyn Council Member Carlos Menchaca, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and former de Blasio aid Maya Wiley in the race for mayor. He so far is the only City Council member to launch a bid for the citywide office. Council Speaker Corey Johnson dropped out of the mayoral race last month.
This article originally appeared on the Bed-Stuy Patch
