35th District City Council Member Laurie Cumbo, seen during a summer push to win her current seat on city council. (Photo by The Nabe)
35th District City Council Member Laurie Cumbo will hold an inauguration party at the this Sunday at 3 p.m.
Brian Cunningham, Cumbo’s chief of staff, described the council member as “really upbeat” about advocating for a progressive agenda.
“[Cumbo’s] very optimistic about how the city looks like now,” Cunningham said, referring to a political scene that includes newly elected civic leaders such as City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer will administer a symbolic oath of office — Cumbo was already sworn in at City Hall — and then the councilmember, who founded The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Fort Greene in 1999 and won election in September, will speak to the crowd.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate and former 35th District Council Member Letitia James, and Comptroller Scott Stringer will also attend the event.
Cunningham said that Cumbo selected the location in the Ingersoll Houses because it was the site of her first campaign debate, and because she values public and affordable housing.
Celina Lynch, who said she has lived in the Ingersoll Houses for thirty years and serves as a board member at Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, a local nonprofit, said she appreciates Cumbo’s choice.
“Many of the residents, we always felt neglected by politicians,” said Lynch, who also works for the New York City Housing Authority. “She’s connecting from the beginning.”
Catherine Smith, another longtime resident of Ingersoll and FUREE member, also likes the party location.
“I feel like they get to know the people,” Smith said of politicians who visit her community.
Smith and Lynch hope that Cumbo will help create jobs for local residents. Lynch specifically mentioned the need for jobs for the aging and elderly.
“People forget that,” she said.
Cunningham said that Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and State Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley will also attend the party, and that a “very limited” amount of food and drink will be available.
Locals who wish to attend Sunday’s event may RSVP on council member Cumbo’s Facebook page, or by calling her office at . Space in the Ingersoll Community Center is limited and over three hundred people have already committed to attend, so act quickly to get your spot.
