In the comic book universe, Gotham City and Metropolis are safeguarded by masked superheroes, superpowers, but in real life, New York City, on which these fictional cities are based, is under the charge of its 110th mayor, Eric L. Adams. An unlikely superhero, he has taken on all monsters— be it Covid-19, crime, inequality, financial downturns, racism and other evils that imperil a big city. He has brought New York back from the brink.
Adams, 62, has battled adversity; he and five siblings were brought up by a single mother who cleaned homes to make a living. From having battled dyslexia to making it to the dean’s list, Adams has seen both sides of life, and managed to transform outcomes.
Arrested and beaten as a teenager, he went on to combat injustice by joining the police force and rose to the rank of captain. As a founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, he worked on changing the system from within. Adams later became a state senator and was the first person of colour to chair the senate’s homeland security committee. In 2013, he was elected president of the Brooklyn borough, and while working to bring diverse groups together, public policy and good government became his mantra.
Adams is all about taking creative action to solve problems. When he temporarily went blind in one eye and was told he had type 2 diabetes, he took radical action, transforming his diet and losing 35 pounds.
It is said that when Adams was growing up in Jamaica, Queens, he would often carry a plastic bag of belongings with him for he never knew if he may be returning to an eviction notice on their home.
As mayor-elect, one of his first acts was to nominate five deputy mayors—all of them women, and two of them of Asian heritage (Meera Joshi is his deputy mayor for operations).
Esta historia es de la edición April 30, 2023 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 30, 2023 de THE WEEK India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
