MIDTOWN — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders returned to his native New York Thursday night to deliver a speech to supporters urging them to continue pushing for his "revolution."
The Vermont senator, who grew up in Midwood, took the stage around 7 p.m. at The Town Hall in Times Square to deliver a speech his campaign is calling "Where We Go From Here."
"This political revolution is not about Bernie Sanders...it is about you and millions of other people," said Sanders. "What the political revolution means is that you are the revolutionaries. And that is what this campaign has shown."
He went on to thank his supporters and continue his push for major campaign issues like income inequality and the living wage, citing the success of the trade union movement in New York that sprung out of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 as a precedent for bringing about change.
"Real change never happens from the top on down. It happens from the bottom on up," he said.
Sanders also went on to call for campaign reforms as well as changes within the Democratic party, saying his representatives are pushing a progressive platform in party meetings.
"We are just getting started."
► WATCH: Bernie Sanders Speaks to Supporters in Midtown
The line before the candidate's speech stretched down the block as people who'd RSVP'd for tickets tried to get into the speech.
Hundreds of @BernieSanders supports line up to hear him speak in the Theater District. @DNAinfo pic.twitter.com/zsj6gUB5jA
— Ben Fractenberg (@fractenberg) June 23, 2016
Sanders has not yet conceded the Democratic race to presumptive nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who crossed the line of 2,383 delegates needed with 2,811 pledged and superdelegates.
Sanders stands at 1,879 pledged and superdelegates with no further primary elections on the calendar.
Individual members of Sanders' supporter base have been trying to decide how to vote in the the general election.
Jakar Morgan, 24, said he hoped Sanders decides to run as an independent, and he wouldn't consider voting for Clinton or Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
"No, one's a crook, one's a liar," he said.
Jakar Morgan and Barbara Younger wait outside of Sen. Bernie Sanders' speech at The Town Hall on June 23, 2016. (DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg)
But Dan Korff-Korn said the senator "should endorse the fight against Trump as the greater evil that needs to be conquered."
Earlier this month Sanders met with President Barack Obama and promised to work closely with Clinton to ensure that Trump will not take the White House in November.
Barbara Younger, 52, said she thought a speech Trump delivered Wednesday in which he attacked Clinton's character and qualifications was "bats--t crazy."
"It was legit crazy talk," she said. "It was irrational double speak."
The Republican National Convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 18 to 21.
A few days later the Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28.
Sanders will complete his two-day New York swing in Syracuse where he will hold a rally to support congressional candidate Eric Kingston on Friday.
