New York leaders, absent Eric Adams, celebrate Sharpton’s 70th

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed the crowd; actor Robert De Niro took a break from Elizabeth Street Garden activism; Gladys Knight even took the midnight train from Georgia (unconfirmed) – all to celebrate Rev. Al Sharpton’s 70th birthday and the work of the National Action Network.

New York elected officials, cultural leaders and activists crowded the auditorium at Jazz at Lincoln Center Monday night for the birthday celebration and Triumph Awards, which honor cultural leaders who have used their platforms for advocacy. This year’s honorees are De Niro, Knight, musician Wynton Marsalis and philanthropist Carolyn “Cookie” Mason.

But conspicuously missing from the crowd was Mayor Eric Adams, whose federal criminal indictment last week has thrown his political future into disarray. Adams, a founding member of NAN, was speaking at the Queens Evening of Faith in Corona at the same time as the event. 

Some attendees on Monday night – which included Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander, Council Member Yusef Salaam and Hazel Dukes – adopted an “out of sight, out of mind” posture toward Adams and the troubles he faces. “National Action Network is a great organization, and Al Sharpton is 70 years old, and we’re celebrating him,” Lander said, when asked if Adams’ indictment has been a topic of conversation through the night. “That is tonight’s focus.”

Sharpton, who last weekend said that Hochul should not be pressured into removing Adams from office, declined to discuss Adams or the indictment in detail at his event. “My comments were not directed at her. My comments were directed on those that want to try to force a process,” he said last night. “I have full confidence that she will do what is right.” Asked whether he had a message for the mayor, Sharpton cracked, “I would say, wish me a happy birthday.”