Eric Adams Honors Late Mother While Casting Vote For Himself: 'This Is For The Little Guy'
Editor's Note: This post was updated 9:25 p.m. after Adams was projected to win the election
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Projected New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams joined voters casting their ballots Tuesday morning.
As CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer reports, Adams repeatedly wiped away tears after voting for himself for mayor. It was something he had thought about and prepared himself for for decades, something he had hoped to share with his mother, Dorothy. Sadly, she passed away during the primary.
"This is an amazing day," Adams said.
Adams carried a picture of his late mother into his polling place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where he said he cast his vote for himself.
It is a testament to her belief that her son could overcome a life of poverty and become mayor that when poll workers gave him an "I Voted" sticker, he placed it on his mother's picture before putting one on his own lapel.
"I'm not supposed to be standing here, but because I'm standing here, everyday New Yorkers are going to realize that they deserve the right to stand in the city, also. This is for the little guy," Adams said.
Adams, who choked up and had to wipe the tears away several times, said he has a message for New Yorkers.
"We have to believe again. We're walking with our heads down ... COVID has devastated us," he said. "Let's just take the advice from that third-grade-educated woman I call Mommy. You're in a dark place, but it's not a burial. It's a planting. We are going to survive, New York."
He said even if New Yorkers don't vote him in, getting this far means he already won, growing up as a dyslexic child of a single mother, and a man who experienced being arrested and the possibility of being homeless.
He added if elected, he will work for everyone, including blue collar families.
"That is the party. If we abandon blue collar Americans, we're going to lose our party," he said.
Watch John Dias' report --
CBS2's John Dias spoke with voters who said there were a number of issues that brought them to the polls, but the rise in gun violence was number one.
"I don't know why, but it's a lot of that every day, every night, 24/7," one person said.
"We need to be protected, especially our children. So many children and people have died in the community because of gun violence," said Bed-Stuy resident Kateema Boatwright.
Adams said if he wins, he's going to roll up his sleeves and get to work Wednesday morning to start building a government that will rebuild the city, a city for all of us.
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CBS2's John Dias contributed to this report.