Editor’s note: ‘Get stuff done’ delivers for Juneteenth

New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivered on Juneteenth this year, making it a paid holiday for all municipal employees for the first time in city history. That was a major step not taken by his predecessor Bill de Blasio, whose administration made Juneteenth a city holiday in June 2020, but without pay before he left office. The explanation? Union negotiations were holding up moving forward with a paid holiday, a de Blasio spokesperson told The City.

It appears Adams’ “Get Stuff Done” approach to government may have come through. “As the second Black mayor of New York City, I know that I stand on the shoulders of countless heroes and sheroes who put their lives on the line to secure a more perfect union,” said Adams when he announced the paid holiday in April. “Now is the time for me to do a small part and recognize one of our nation’s greatest wrongs.”

Adams may be getting criticism for not making progress in other areas, but when it comes to upholding Juneteenth – which is both a state and federal holiday – he’s given the city’s largest workforce the true freedom to celebrate. The mayor proclaimed it was “long overdue.”

“People across the country of all races, nationalities and religions unite on this day to truthfully acknowledge the stain of slavery and celebrate the countless contributions of Black Americans,” the mayor said in a prepared statement. “Holding a mirror to our nation’s past atrocities is never easy, but it is necessary.”