Adams brings his campaign to a Bay Ridge living room

April 22, 2013 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Brooklyn as a whole will not prosper unless everyone has a shot at prosperity, state Sen. Eric Adams told a group of Democratic Party loyalists at a fundraising party thrown by two district leaders in Bay Ridge on Sunday afternoon.

“Brooklyn is being built up. The Barclays is a beautiful arena. But there are still people suffering in this borough. We need to do more to make sure people can get back on their feet,” Adams said.

Adams (D-Crown Heights-Prospect Heights), the front-runner in the race for Brooklyn borough president, was the guest of honor at a party hosted by Kevin Peter Carroll, Democratic district leader of the 64th Assembly District, and Dilia Schack, the party’s district leader of the 46th A.D. Both assembly districts include sections of Bay Ridge.

The election will take place this November.

The gathering on Sunday, which took place at Carroll’s Bay Ridge Parkway home, attracted a large crowd of Democratic Party activists, all of whom pledged to work to make sure Adams succeeds Marty Markowitz at Borough Hall.

Adams related that Markowitz, too, is eager to see him at Borough Hall. “He told me ‘I want you to succeed me.’ He started telling me this six years ago,” Adams said. Markowitz has endorsed Adams’s bid to become borough president. Adams joked that he has “been following Marty around for a long time,” first by being elected to the state senate seat once held by Markowitz, and now by making a run at borough president, the post Markowitz has held for 12 years. Markowitz is term-limited and cannot run for a fourth term.

Adams said he was grateful to Carroll and Schack for hosting a fundraising party for him in Bay Ridge. “Bay Ridge is very important to me. I need Bay Ridge,” he said, adding that he is building support for his campaign in neighborhoods all across Brooklyn.

“We’re going to deliver Bay Ridge on Election Day!” Carroll said.

Adams delivered his remarks in Carroll’s living room. Prior to the state senator’s arrival, guests streamed in and out between the living room and an outdoor patio, where Carroll and Schack had set up trays of chicken wings, mini-quiches, hummus, and dumplings. Carroll also made Sangria and served Mimosas.

Schack chose the menu carefully. “She wanted it to reflect the diversity of Bay Ridge,” Carroll told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (D-Bay Ridge-Coney Island) and Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights) were among the elected officials mingling with guests at the party.

In his remarks, Adams returned again and again to his theme of a fair economy for all. He told a poignant tale of a woman he frequently saw on the street and in a subway station in his district literally counting out nickels in her pocketbook to buy a Metrocard. One day, Adams gave her an unlimited ride Metrocard. The woman reacted as if he had given her all expenses paid vacation to the Bahamas, he said. “None of us is doing well until we’re all doing well,” Adams said.

Adams, a retired police captain, has garnered a slew of endorsements in his bid to become borough president. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, council members Brad Lander (D-Park Slope) and Letitia James (D-Clinton Hill-Fort Greene), Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stinger, Comptroller John Liu, and former comptroller Bill Thompson have all endorsed Adams.

Adams officially announced his bid to become borough president at a rally on the steps of Borough Hall on March 3.

Bay Ridge lawyer John Gangemi, who served as a city councilman-at-large back in the 1970s, has announced that he intends to run against Adams in the Democratic Primary in September.

Carroll said he and other Adams backers are not concerned about Gangemi. “Even though someone from Bay Ridge wants to run against you, you will still win Bay Ridge,” he told Adams.