Letitia James sworn in as first woman of color elected to citywide office
The new year marked the start of a new era in New York politics, with Letitia James becoming the first woman of color elected to citywide office.
James officially took office on Wednesday after being sworn in during her inauguration.
“We live in a gilded age of inequality where decrepit homeless shelters and housing developments stand in the neglected shadow of gleaming multimillion-dollar condos,” she said.
Standing at the podium with a 12-year-old girl who was profiled in a recent New York Times series on homelessness, Ms. James said that the city’s policies had left many people voiceless. Those policies, she said, “must give way to a government that works for them—that speaks for them—that cares more about a child going hungry than a new stadium or a new tax credit for a luxury development.”
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During her speech, James spoke of inequality in the city, and her plans to restore balance to the city. On Friday, Ms. James and other elected officials and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit seeking to undo 42 school co-locations that the city’s Panel for Education Policy approved during the Bloomberg administration.
Congratulations to Ms. James for making history as the city’s first woman of color to be elected to citywide office.