There was no suspense. Eric Adams, an African-American, former police officer and anti-racist trade unionist, was elected mayor of New York, US channels CBS and NBC showed Tuesday evening, based on preliminary results.
The elected 61-year-old Democrat largely defeated his Republican rival Curtis Sliwa, 67, as expected, according to initial results released by the city’s elections office, he won 70% of the vote against about 23% for his opponent, in a city classified on the left but where the economic and social inequalities between different communities are extremely marked.
He becomes the second black mayor in the history of the American economic and cultural capital.
An “inspiring” journey
This victory is a consecration for Eric Adams, a poor child from Brooklyn, who flirted with delinquency at a young age before spending 22 years in the police force where he set up an anti-racist union. He then became a local elected representative of the State and the City of New York, stepping stone towards the town hall.
“It was time. I believe that workers now have a voice, ”said Jakwan Rivers, black American president of a neighborhood association and friend of the new mayor. The latter presented himself during the campaign as the defender of the middle and popular classes, but also as a close friend of the business community of New York, the global financial lung. Unpopular, the outgoing Bill de Blasio is considering, according to the American media, to embark on the race for the post of governor left vacant by Andrew Cuomo.