Jessica Ramos bid for NYC mayor amid Eric Adams corruption allegations
NEW YORK - New York State Senator Jessica Ramos (D-Queens) announced her bid to unseat NYC Mayor Eric Adams last week, in what she calls a "love letter to the city."
In an interview with Good Day New York, she addressed the growing distrust in city leadership amid growing calls for Adams to step down.
There are believed to be at least four federal investigations targeting the mayor and his top aides. This includes the investigation that prompted the former NYPD police commissioner Edward Caban to resign last week.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 22: Jessica Ramos joins SAG-AFTRA members as they maintain picket lines in front of HBO/Amazon during the National Union Solidarity Day on August 22, 2023 in New York City. Members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA (Writers Guild of Am
Though questions have surfaced about the timing of her announcement, Ramos insists that her decision was months in the making and unrelated to the recent controversies.
The Queens native who takes pride in not having a driver’s license and riding the subway daily, says she's connected with the pulse of the city.
Her platform focuses on improving basic services such as garbage collection, school funding, and tackling prostitution and human trafficking, especially in her own district in Queens.
As the only woman currently in the race, Ramos emphasized her unique qualifications with the aim of differentiating herself from other candidates, including Comptroller Brad Lander, who has also expressed interest in the mayoral race.
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Over the years, Lander has been critical of Adams' administration especially amid the ongoing migrant crisis. He tells FOX 5 NY that "money is being wasted," and that "it's time."
Jessica Ramos on mayors de Blasio, Adams
Ramos says she plans to focus on affordable housing, cleaning up the city, and being a hands-on leader who, unlike Adams or his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, prioritizes the daily struggles of New Yorkers.
Ramos, who worked under former mayor Bill de Blasio, said she thought he did "a lot of good things" like universal pre-K, but that he also did things she felt didn't help New Yorkers, "like mornings at the gym." "I think that left a sour taste in people's mouth," she said.
"We're early risers. We have to go make money. That's what New Yorkers do," Ramos explained.
She went on to say that Adams has the opposite problem, citing his engagement with nightlife in the city.
"Mayor Adams--enjoying exclusive nightclubs at night. I don't have that luxury. I have to check homework and go to bed," Ramos said. "That's what I think. The work ethic of the mayor should."
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 7: New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends the annual Labor Day Parade on September 7, 2024 in midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. The FBI continued to seize the phones and make house raids of several top officia
Ramos on migrants
Ramos is a first-generation American who says she feels a deep sense of responsibility in bridging the gap between immigrant and non-immigrant communities as her mother crossed the Mexican border by herself at 24, and her father was arrested in a workplace immigration raid in the early 1980s and spent days held in a detention center.
Most recently, Jessica served as Director of Latino Media for the City of New York.
"I feel like people's trust in our government institutions is eroding, and it's unfair to us who pay taxes," she said.
Ramos on sex trafficking in Queens neighborhood
When asked about prostitution and human trafficking in her neighborhood over the past few months, Ramos said the issue had been going on for "years."
"It feels terrible as a woman to see how women are being exploited by human traffickers," she said.
When asked how she planned to tackle the issue and whether she'd move to decriminalize prostitution, she explained that the mayor could not legally put into effect those changes.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2021/06/04: State Senator Jessica Ramos speaks as U. S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, U. S. Representatives Grace Meng, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others advocate for money to upgrade Obstetrical facility at Elmhurst hospita
"What I would want to do as mayor, is to make sure that we're giving the NYPD the support they need in order to go after these human traffickers," she explained.
Ramos says that when Adams visited her district regarding the issue, he used the visit as a "photo opportunity."
"The mayor was in my district a few months ago closing brothels for a photo op. No one was arrested and [or] investigated," she said.
Ramos as the only woman in the race
When asked what she brought to the table that the other candidates didn't, Ramos responded by saying that she was the only woman in the race.
"I bring a certain perspective-- trying to raise a family here…the second is, I'm the only candidate that's actually worked at City Hall," she added.
She says New Yorkers expect someone who "hustles as hard as they do" and who "talks to them straight."
With just nine months left until the Democratic primary, Ramos says she plans to travel across the five boroughs to meet New Yorkers and share her vision for the city's future.