2013 Brooklyn Borough President – General Election

Age: 53
Occupation: Member, NYS Senate
Education: NYC Technical College and John Jay School of Criminal Justice (BA); Marist College (MPA)

Eric Adams has been a member of the New York State Senate since 2007, and was previously a police officer for the New York Police Department. He has been an active community member, having co-founded 100 Black Men in Law Enforcement Who Care. He is running for Brooklyn Borough President because he believes that given the limited powers of the office, “the person makes the office,” and he has the energy and ability to use its powers effectively. If elected, he would focus on financial literacy, conducting studies to recommend policies that will ensure that Brooklyn residents – particularly those below the poverty line – are educated about their finances so that they are better able to save money and avoid foreclosure and credit card debt. Adams would also focus on healthy food for schools and the general public, partnering with farms in Upstate New York, creating roof-top gardens, and mapping “food deserts.” Regarding job creation, he would seek to create incubators for growing industries like 3D printing, and local artisan food production. On government reform, Adams supports all of Citizens Union’s agenda, and he specifically would seek to open up his office through online transparency of office’s schedule as well as discretionary funds. He believes, however, that nonprofits are too dependent on discretionary funds, and supports action by the city to ensure that they are more self-dependent and able to raise their own funds outside of government. Regarding community boards, Adams supports term limits and standardization, and would look at models such as Manhattan Borough President Stringer’s reforms. In ensuring that community boards have the tools they need, he would partner with the City University of New York (CUNY) to bring in volunteer students to educate community boards about land use, health, and other issues, believing that it would have reciprocal benefits for students. Citizens Union believes that Adams will be energetic voice for the borough of Brooklyn, and has a good grasp of government reform issues that will enable him to manage the office effectively and transparently.