Today, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams pitched Brooklyn as the site for the 2016 Democratic National Convention to delegates attending the Democratic Eastern States Conference. At a gathering in Midtown Manhattan, he highlighted key factors that make the city’s bid stand out, focusing particularly on Brooklyn’s symbolic significance as the largest Democratic county in the nation, its cultural and economic renaissance as well as its embrace of diversity, noted by many to be an important element of the party’s future.

“Delegates, I spent 22 years of my life wearing a bulletproof vest as a member of the New York City Police Department, standing on the street corner protecting children, families and visitors of this city,” said Borough President Adams. “I saw the evolution of a city that came into its own, that’s representative of not only what America looked like but what America needs to look like. The Democratic Party understood it long ago. Helen Keller said the only thing that’s worse than not having sight is having sight but no vision. This party saw the vision; it knew that we must be diversified. Brooklyn represents that; 47 percent of Brooklynites speak a language other than English at home. Hosting the convention here is saying we are a welcome mat, that we are not living with the Republican philosophy of being exclusionary, but inclusionary. We are the big tent.”

Borough President Adams also cited the accommodations that New York City has to offer, including over 100,000 hotel rooms which will be available by the end of 2014, the transportation network that can easily move delegates and guests, including a superior shuttle service, as well as the local experience in hosting major events, such as the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, Super Bowl XLVIII and next year’s NBA All-Star Weekend, which will be split between Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center.

The conference was also attended by Public Advocate Letitia James and former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who currently serves as vice president for borough promotion and engagement for NYC and Company.

(YWN Desk – NYC)