Eric Adams: The one to lead NYC
Human services need a seat at the table
COURIER L 22 IFE, OCTOBER 22-28, 2021
EDITORIAL
OP-ED
When Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams
offi cially announced
his candidacy for mayor on
Nov. 19, 2020, New York City
was reeling from the double
calamity of the COVID-19 Pandemic
and a growing number
of related fi scal crises.
Now nearly a year later, the
Democrat is poised to become
New York City’s 110th mayor
— the overwhelming favorite
to win election in this heavily
Democratic city. Although
his main challenger, Republican
Curtis Sliwa, is to be commended
for his work with the
Guardian Angels, he lacks
the experience necessary for
this role at this most critical
moment in our history.
Schneps Media wholeheartedly
endorses Adams as
the right person at the right
time to lead the city to a robust
recovery.
Our endorsement follows
Adams’ Democratic Primary
win in June on a moderate
pro-public safety, pro-business
platform over several far
left progressives.
Adams’ experience in the
NYPD uniquely positions
him to strengthen relations
with the police force and help
this city get back on track to
truly becoming the safest big
city in America.
Adams comes from a life
in service to the public. Born
in Brooklyn and raised in
Queens in a working class
household, where his mother
earned a living as a domestic
worker, Adams received degrees
from the New York City
College of Technology, John
Jay College of Criminal Justice,
and Marist College.
Adams was a member of
the New York City Police Department
for 22 years, retiring
at the rank of Captain.
After four terms in the New
York State Senate representing
Central Brooklyn, Adams
was elected as the 18th
Borough President of Brooklyn,
and is the fi rst African
American man to hold that
position.
As borough president, he
has exercised wisdom on a
number of zoning issues balancing
the needs of the borough
with the desires of the
local community.
Just as importantly, Adams
proved a capable crisis
manager when he put a mattress
on the fl oor at Borough
Hall and worked night and
day during the height of the
pandemic to ensure emergency
medical responders
had the equipment necessary
to do their jobs; the city’s
Medical Examiner’s Offi ce
kept later hours; and refrigerated
trucks were put in Sunset
Park to ease up the logjam
of dead at hospitals and in funeral
homes.
Adams’ rise to the brink of
the mayorship of America’s
biggest city is an inspiration,
and not an accident. He has
worked his way to this moment,
and has the experience
and tools necessary to govern
this challenging city at this
most challenging time.
He is the right person at
the right time to lead New
York City into a new era of
prosperity, while balancing
the budget and the needs of
working class New Yorkers.
We strongly urge voters to
choose Eric Adams as their
next mayor on Nov. 2, with
early voting slated for Oct.
23-31.
BY RODERICK JONES &
GREGORY MORRIS
Right now, 1.6 million New
Yorkers are struggling to put
food on the table for themselves
and their families.
October is Tackling Hunger
Month, and the mission to
nourish everyday New Yorkers
has never been more imperative.
As the pandemic
rages on, the human services
sector is leading the fi ght to
address the most pressing issues,
like food insecurity, that
are facing New Yorkers.
Despite our important
work, we have not always
been treated as essential. To
secure a better future for New
York, the human services sector
must fi nally have a seat at
the table.
Our sector provides myriad
services — food assistance,
housing, senior services,
employment training,
programs for children and
youth, behavioral and mental
health support, and more.
These services address the
biggest crises our City faces,
including housing and homelessness
to the root causes of
crime. A commitment to us is
a pathway to a better City.
When COVID-19 hit New
York City, human service
workers answered the call. We
housed the homeless, delivered
meals to the hungry, became
a lifeline for the elderly,
and educated children—in
person and online. Our direct
engagement with communities
allowed us to respond in
real-time to the dire needs
of New Yorkers. The Stanley
M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center
expanded its community
kitchen and hired youth from
their Culinary Arts training
program to staff it. Together,
Isaacs Center and Goddard
Riverside prepared and delivered
over 1500 meals every
day to vulnerable older adults
and supportive housing residents.
While our work was
praised as invaluable at
the pandemic’s height, New
York’s leaders failed to acknowledge
that value during
budget season. We advocated
at the forefront of 2021 budget
negotiations for adequate
funding. Though needs skyrocketed,
our sector’s funding
remained the same. Our workers
served the City they love
through some of its darkest
days. We want to keep doing
that work. In fact, we want to
expand on it, serve those even
more in need, and provide additional
support as folks get
back on their feet. For generations,
leaders have relied on
us to meet the needs of communities
yet have starved our
organizations of the funding
needed to expand services
and invest in our workforce.
By failing to invest in human
services, our leaders are
overlooking our most important
resource: people. We can
no longer afford to toss these
resources aside. The 120,000
human services employees
who have continued to be
on the frontlines of the pandemic
are 85% people of color
and 66% women. The sector
is the second-lowest paid in
New York City, meaning more
than 60% qualifying for public
assistance. So, when we
say investing in human services
is investing in people,
it’s not just about the people
we serve, it’s about a vast
workforce that represents the
very communities that make
our City great, but have for
too long been left behind.
To meet New York City’s
dire needs, our organizations,
Goddard and the Isaacs
Center, joined forces in an
unique strategic partnership.
“Unique” because it is an alliance
driven by strength—not
by fi scal duress. By collaborating,
we become greater than
the sum of our strengths, and
have a louder voice in advocating
for our communities.
We intend to lift that voice to
achieve budgetary justice for
struggling New Yorkers and
help everyone in our community
to live their best life.
Our sector and workforce
deserve to have a seat at the
table with the next Mayoral
Administration and incoming
City Council for decisions
related to ongoing recovery
effort, including food insecurity,
homelessness, and housing.
Eric Adams appointing
Sheena Wright, a non-profi t
heavyweight, is a positive step
forward. We hope that with
Wright’s infl uence on the Administration,
service workers
are not only called on, but
brought into decision-making
as true partners in tackling
our City’s present recovery
and future ambitions to create
long-term solutions that
solve generational issues.
Right now is a critical moment
for our City – the incoming
Administration has
the opportunity to leverage
the strengths of our dynamic
workforce to lead an equitable
and just recovery. We call
on our leaders to seize this opportunity
and build a better
future for all New Yorkers.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU. Submit letters to: Meaghan McGoldrick, Edi tor, Courier Life, 1 Metro Tech Center North, Brooklyn, NY 11201, or e-mail to editorial@schnepsmedia.com. Please include
your address and tele phone number for so we can con fi rm you sent the letter. We reserve the right to edit all correspondence, which becomes the property of Courier Life.
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