NEW YORK — Andrew Yang was endorsed Monday by the Captains Endowment Association, the NYPD union that once represented Eric Adams, his chief rival in the race for mayor.
What You Need To Know
- Yang earns nods from NYPD Captains Endowment Association and Asian-American Police Executive Council
- Eric Adams is a former member of the captains union
- Adams said he never asked for the group's endorsement
- Yang would not say whether he'd accept the endorsements of other police unions
Yang told NY1 the union’s support sends a strong message about Adams.
“The officers that worked with him for years are endorsing me for mayor,” Yang said in an interview. “The people that know Eric best know that we need different leadership, we need someone who’s going to be honest both with the people of New York and the captains and officers.”
Adams, who was on the police force for two decades, is a retired NYPD captain. He said he didn’t ask for his former union’s endorsement.
His campaign spokesman Evan Thies said: “Eric disagrees with this union because they once referred to George Floyd’s death as a game in which they were ‘political pawns’ – a disturbing and disgusting position that Andrew Yang apparently agrees with.”
At the endorsement event in City Hall Park, Captains Endowment Association President Chris Monahan denied that his union rejected Adams because he was a reformist during and after his time with the NYPD.
Monahan would not say how much of his union supported Adams, the race’s front-runner, or comment on the candidate-vetting process.
Monahan says he believes “policing needs to change,” adding of Yang: “I think we need a new mayor with a new fresh look and new ideas.”
He noted that he disagreed with Yang on requirements that new officers live within New York City, but said their conversations were constructive.
Yang, a former presidential candidate, was endorsed at the same event by the Asian-American Police Executive Council, or AAPEX.
The candidate says he wants an “anti-violence and community safety unit of plainclothes police officers who will go in the neighborhoods and get the guns out.”
Asked how it would be different from the disbanded anti-crime unit or how it differs from Adams’s proposal to reconstitute that unit as an anti-gun unit, Yang said it would “evolve on past practices.”
Yang would not say if he would accept the endorsements of other police unions, including the rank-and-file Police Benevolent Association.
------
Did you know you can now watch, read and stay informed with NY1 wherever and whenever you want? Get the new Spectrum News app here.
------
Looking for an easy way to learn about the issues affecting New York City?
Listen to our "Off Topic/On Politics" podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | RSS