Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams called on unvaccinated police and firefighters Saturday to get a jab and get back to work, but declined to say whether outgoing Mayor de Blasio should pull the plug on mandating a COVID-19 vaccine for city workers.
“I would encourage my police, the firefighters – we have taken an oath,” Adams, a former policeman, told reporters after attending a voting rally at Q NYC downtown. “And we know that New Yorkers are the first.”
With dozens of fire companies temporarily out of service Saturday due to a massive staff shortage, Adams called on all unvaccinated city workers to push their unions to reach an agreement with City Council.
However, the retired police captain and current president of the Brooklyn District declined to say whether he would continue the mandate if elected mayor.
“What I don’t want to do is increase the tension that already exists in our city,” Adams said during a radio interview with WINS-AM earlier on Saturday. “We have one mayor, and it is his responsibility to have everyone cross that finish line. And I will not disrupt that process before Election Day.”
While appearing on The Q, Adams was joined by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other high-ranking Democrats as he tried to rally LQTBQ New Yorkers to support his candidacy.
“We will ensure that our community will consider the mental health crisis affecting the LGTBQ community,” he said. “Your story is my story. Ours is the same. It doesn’t matter if you are an African American picking cotton and you can’t wear the clothes the cotton is made of; you are the same story.”
A day after he broke his elbow when he was hit by a taxi, Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa was in good shape on Saturday and back during the campaign trail — welcoming voters in Manhattan and Queens and visiting some firefighters and police.
“I have to tell you, I’m like a cat that has nine lives,” famous cat-loving Sliwa said while wearing a sling on his left arm.
Unlike Adams, Sliwa said he would rescind the vaccine mandate if he was elected mayor, adding that he plans to gather outside an event in Staten Island on Sunday that Governor Hochhol is expected to attend in an effort to get her to revoke de Blasio.
“This mayor. . . “He wants to crush lives and put all citizens at risk because of the general insecurity,” Saliwa said.
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