“I’ll never forget my first love” - NYC Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams Celebrates Victory in Primary with HTC
On Thursday, July 15th our Union proudly welcomed NYC Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams to our headquarters to celebrate his victory in the 2021 Democratic primary.
Nearly 200 HTC members who volunteered for Adams and other union-backed candidates this spring filled the room with resounding cheers as Adams and HTC President Rich Maroko entered the room and kicked off the event. President Maroko started by thanking the members in attendance and acknowledging the remarkable energy they put behind advancing Eric Adams, a pro-worker leader, in the race for NYC Mayor. “Together with hundreds of other member volunteers you collectively made over 30,000 phone calls, knocked on over 10,000 doors and spent countless hours handing out leaflets,” President Maroko noted.
Our members made the difference in such a significant election year. “In a race this important and this tight, every single vote counts,” said President Maroko. “And because of all of you, the right candidate is now the Democratic candidate for mayor.”
Soon our Union President opened the floor to Eric Adams, whose riveting speech began by comparing our Union to his first love, Linda Perkins, “I’ll never forget my first,” said Adams. “You’re my first major union endorsement, I’ll never forget my first love. I cannot say thank you enough, I love you for that.”
He also shared the personal and emotional story of his late mother, Dorothy Adams, who raised six children on her own and cleaned houses for a living,. “Mom would come inside and [her clients] would just ignore her presence. she was invisible to them.” Adams went on to describe how his mother saved for years to buy a home in a safer neighborhood. When she went to the bank to close on her new home, the attorney for the bank was a man whose house she would clean. After the closing, she went to his house to clean as she normally did. “When mother finished cleaning,” Adams recalled, “he fired her. He said ‘How dare you think you can buy a house. Who do you think you are?’”
Seeing how his mother struggled but, ultimately persevered, inspired Adams to live a life she would be proud of. “Mother was a grinder, she never gave up,” he described. ,“She always knew that one day, if she instilled the right principles in her children, they would not only do well for themselves but they would come back and help people who are living the life that they lived.”
The same tenacity Adams recognized in his mother, he sees in our Union, “I thank you for your commitment, I thank you for being in the midst of a city that is often overlooking you.”
“I thank you for the strength that you’ve shown,” Adams continued. “This mighty, mighty Union. You have shown the power of coalescing. You have shown the power of coming together.”
He later went to Twitter and reiterated his gratitude:
“To every @HTC member who knocked on doors, made calls, and supported our campaign: This victory belongs to you. You were the changemakers in this race, and I couldn’t be more proud to fight alongside you for the equitable recovery our hospitality workers deserve.”
Our Union is very proud to endorse Eric Adams for New York City Mayor in the General Election, happening on November 2nd.
“There is no question in my mind that Eric Adams is going to help bring back our economies and our industries,” President Maroko said at the event. “He’s going to do everything he can to make sure that every New Yorker is treated fairly and with dignity and respect.”
