Adams, Bragg win NYC election amid historic era of Black leadership
NEW YORK » When New Yorkers this week chose Eric Adams as their next mayor and Alvin Bragg as the next Manhattan district attorney, they elevated two more Black men into high office at a time when the city and state are being led by a historic number of Black leaders.
It’s a moment African American officials say has been a long time coming, made possible by an earlier generation of trailblazers who broke barriers in the face of immense bias and carried the burden of being the first.
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, one of a record seven Black people now representing New York in Congress, said the new mayor and prosecutor will be “transformational figures.”
“The emergence of individuals like Eric Adams and Alvin Bragg follow in a long tradition of leaders who emerge from the fiery furnace of the Black experience in New York City, particularly in some of our toughest neighborhoods, to become public servants committed to doing a great deal of good for everyone,” said Jeffries.
Nearly 28 years after David Dinkins ended his single term as New York’s first Black mayor, the halls of power in the city and state are packed with Black leaders from the city or its suburbs, including three of the state’s most powerful politicians: Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Letitia James, the state’s first Black attorney general, who is now running for governor.
A majority of the city’s borough presidents are now Black, as well as several top prosecutors, including both of its appointed U.S. attorneys, and its elected public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who is considering a gubernatorial run.
The change has happened even as the number of Black people living in New York City has declined, falling by 4.5% since 2010 while the city’s overall population grew.
According to the 2020 census, 20% of New Yorkers are Black, 31% are nonHispanic white, 28% are Hispanic and around 16% are Asian.