HARLEM — State Sen. Adriano Espaillat spread his message of “unity” at an event Thursday night to a crowd of black community leaders and politicians.
The event, held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and hosted by the local chapter of the local NAACP and the Transport Workers Union Local 100, was one of the first efforts by the state senator to reach out to Harlem since winning the June 28 Democratic congressional primary.
Espaillat’s primary win was historic in that Harlem has been represented for the past 71 years by two black congressmen, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and the outgoing Charles Rangel.
Espaillat is poised to become the first Dominican-American elected to Congress.
But some in Harlem have expressed worry that they may be neglected by Espaillat.
“Some people were concerned that if Espaillat won he would only focus on the Dominican parts of the district," Manhattan Community Board 10 Chair Brian Benjamin told DNAinfo in a previous article.
Espaillat seized victory in a tight race with the help of voters in Washington Heights and The Bronx, while his opponent Assemblyman Keith Wright won the Harlem parts of the district.
But a number of black leaders at Thursday’s event in Harlem coalesced around Espaillat.
“It doesn’t matter who you work for, who you endorsed before — none of that matters,” Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake, who is black, told the crowd.
“We’re coming here to show love today. I want to say to the next Congressman, ‘We have your back.’”
Other black politicians had a similar message.
State Sen. Bill Perkins, whose district includes Harlem, called him “our friend, our brother.”
Queens Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman said he has been a “fighter for us” and will carry on Rangel’s legacy.
Espaillat, in his speech, told the story of his immigrant background and discovering Harlem as a teenager with his brother.
“We stumbled up to the Apollo and we saw the potential of the city, now I have the opportunity to be your congressman,” he said.
There is a kinship, Espaillat also noted, between the Dominicans on St. Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights and the African Americans on Lenox Avenue in Harlem.
Espaillat, who recounted being stopped and frisked as a teen, and Blake also commented on the recent police-involved shootings of black men, Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Espaillat called for criminal justice reform.
“This level of violence that is been perpetrated is horrendous,” he said. "We must do something to push back on it.”
He also mentioned admiring his predecessors — Powell and Rangel — as a young man.
“I know what [Powell] did and I know what Congressman Rangel did for 45 years,” Espaillat said. “I hope to continue the fight.”
