Eric Adams, in his first campaign ad since winning the Democratic primary for mayor, touts his working-class upbringing by a mother who worked three jobs, vowing to fund education for young children and affordable housing if elected to lead City Hall.
In the 30-second ad titled “Mom,” released a month before the November general election, the Brooklyn borough president featured his mother, Dorothy Adams — a house cleaner and cook who died in March at age 83.
“My mom cleaned houses, worked three jobs, to give us a better life, in a city that too often fails families like ours,” says Adams in the TV spot.
Adams — who was born in Brooklyn’s Brownsville and raised in South Jamaica, Queens — said if elected he would “fight” to ensure all Big Apple residents have “a safe and secure future.”
“We have to invest in early childhood education, universal childcare, and affordable housing. That’s how we really make a difference, because it shouldn’t matter who you are or where you live,” he said. “We all have a right for a safe and secure future. That’s what I would fight for as mayor.”
The ad will hit the airwaves in the five boroughs at some point this week, according to Adams’ campaign.
Adams is the heavy favorite in the Nov. 2 election, when he faces Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Sliwa has boasted of his own street cred and outsider status while campaigning against Adams, a former NYPD captain.
“The choice is somebody up in the suites like an Eric Adams — a professional politician — or somebody down in the streets and subways — that’s Curtis Sliwa,” Sliwa said in in an ad released last week. “I’ve got the touch with the common man and common woman.”
Adams has raised far more campaign cash than Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder and media personality.
Fundraising figures released Friday by the city Campaign Finance Board showed that Adams raised $2.4 million for his campaign between Aug. 24 and Sept. 27, and ended the reporting period with about $7.7 million. Sliwa, for his part, raised $200,000 during the same time period, and has just $1.2 million in his campaign coffers.
