Bronx born, Staten Island resident, Erick Salgado officially announced that he is a candidate in the Democratic Primary for Mayor of New York City, Thursday afternoon.

Standing on the steps of City Hall, Salgado told his assembled supporters, representing New York City’s diverse communities, “This great City is Broken” and vowed that he would, “Work together with them to repair this City and make it work for all of us. I will work for all the boroughs. I will work for all the cultures. I will work for all the races. I will work for all New Yorkers.”

“For me it’s an honor and privilege to be part of the coalition of Hispanics, Jews, Russians, Poles and African Americans who support Erick Salgado for Mayor. I’m concerned with the needs and suffering of every community in the City,” stated State Senator Ruben Diaz.

Salgado noted that when he was working in the community immediately after Super Storm Sandy he witnessed, on several occasions, New Yorkers rummaging through garbage bins for food, at the same time that the Mayor was planning to hold the New York City Marathon. “This shows a disconnect between City Hall and the people of this City,” Salgado said. “Over two decades of working in New York City’s communities has provided me with a firsthand understanding of what New Yorkers go through each and every day. I know New York City’s communities and I know the people who live in them. The residents of this City deserve nothing less.”

“We must deal with the realities of this City. Hundreds of thousands of our neighbors are living in the shadows without documentation. The Mayor has had the power to issue a New York City ID Card, but no move has been made in that direction. I will change this,”Salgado stated.

“As Mayor Giuliani stated, ‘The reality is that they are here and they will remain here.’ Providing undocumented New Yorkers with identification will make New York City safer and also result in more residents being counted in the next Census and New York City receiving additional federal revenue.” Salgado said.

Salgado vowed to improve the effectiveness of the Police Department by restoring its ranks to previous levels and making sure that every officer is properly trained, sensitive to the unique concerns and customs of our City’s ethnic and religious communities and provided with state-of-the-art crime fighting equipment. He also said that he would eliminate quotas, including summonses because, “The City cannot continue to look at our communities as ATM’s.”
Referring to his experience as a businessman, Salgado explained that, “Creating more jobs is critical to this City’s viability in the future. We can put more New Yorkers to work by reducing the bureaucratic burdens placed on businesses to let them thrive, expand and hire more employees. I know the obstacles City Hall places in the way of business success from running my own businesses. I am committed to removing those obstacles. A healthy business environment means a more positive employment environment and also more revenue for the City’s coffers,” Salgado said.

Salgado admitted that our education system can’t be fixed all at once, but stated that, “We can begin to improve our educational system by empowering parents to become more involved with their children’s education and including a grade from them in every teacher’s performance evaluation. He also revealed that he would conduct a comprehensive audit of the Department of Education to determine which programs are successful and disseminate that information to teachers so they may use them if they believe their students would benefit.”

“I will be the Mayor for all the people. We must harness the economic engine that is Manhattan and lift up our poorest neighborhoods in all the boroughs. Manhattan cannot be healthy when the Bronx is not healthy. Manhattan cannot be healthy when, my own borough, Staten Island is not healthy. Manhattan cannot be healthy when our most populous borough, Brooklyn, is not healthy. Manhattan cannot be healthy when Queens is not healthy. Our City must live up to its true potential. Attention must be paid to every neighborhood in every borough for the benefit of every New Yorker.

Salgado, a conservative Democrat who will be the only Latino in the Democratic Primary, lives in Westerleigh, Staten Island, with his wife Sonia and their six children.

(YWN Desk – NYC)