Adams was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on September 1, 1960. His mother, Dorothy Mae Adams-Streeter, worked double shifts as a housecleaner and had received only a third-grade education. His father was a butcher who

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Adams served as an officer in the New York City Transit Police and in the New York City Police Department(NYPD) for 22 years. He has described his wanting to serve as a reaction to the abuse he suffered by NYPD in his youth and separately stated that he

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In the 1990s, Adams began to eye a political career, with the ultimate goal to become the Mayor of New York City. He spoke to William Lynch Jr., who was an advisor to Mayor David Dinkins, about a political career. Lynch encouraged Adams to first obtain a bachelor's

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In 2006, Adams ran for the New York State Senate. He was elected and served four terms until 2013, when he was elected Brooklyn Borough

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Adams had long been mulling a run for New York mayor, and on November 17, 2020, he announced his candidacy for Mayor of New York City in the 2021 election. He was a top fund-raiser among Democrats in the race, second only to Raymond McGuirein

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Mayoral transition
In August 2021, Adams named Sheena Wright, CEO of United Way of New York Cityas chair of his transition team. In November, Adams named

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On November 5, 2013, Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough Presidentwith 90.8 percent of the vote, more than any other candidate for borough president in New York City that year. In 2017, he was elected with 83.0 percent of the vote. In both of his campaigns, he was

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