June 8, 2021
New York, NY
On Sunday, May 30 and June 6, 2021, UNITED SIKHS, in partnership with the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara in Queens, New York, hosted a community “Meet and Greet” with current New York City Mayoral candidates spoke to community members about their aspirations to become the next Mayor of New York City. So far Andrew Yang and Maya Wiley have joined UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara and mayoral candidate Art Chang is expected next Sunday, June 13, 2021 at the Sikh Center of New York. UNITED SIKHS and other community partners expect to hold other events to ensure communities of color are included in post-pandemic planning and VOTE.
“Unemployment, housing issues must be addressed so these communities can recover quickly from the effects of the pandemic and begin to thrive again.”
“There has never been a more critical time for the Sikh, Asian-American and other minority communities and UNITED SIKHS will continue to engage candidates in discussions about community social and economic needs,” stated Gurpreet Singh, UNITED SIKHS’ Chief Operations Officer. “Pressing issues like hate crimes, COVID-19 education and community-wide vaccination, as well as services to address unemployment, housing issues and debt are needed for minority communities must be addressed so these communities can recover quickly from the effects of the pandemic and begin to thrive again,” he stated.
“What the Sikh and other minority communities in New York also need right now is true commitment to ensuring diverse communities have a seat at the table at all levels of City government. This is important to secure the support and funding for the services these communities need to recover from this never-before-seen economic shutdown. The next Mayor must also include in the agenda a plan to abate the increase in hate crimes and implement community policing recommendations,” stated Wanda Sanchez Day, UNITED SIKHS National Legal Director.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang visited with UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh community in South Richmond Hill.
On May 30th, the Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang visited with UNITED SIKHS at the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara and recognized the extraordinary work UNITED SIKHS has been up to in the City. At the gurdwara, he stated that while Asian-Americans make up 15% of the New York City population, Asian-American community organizations only receive 1.5% of the City’s spending budget. He stated he agreed with vaccination and that the charitable work to eradicate poverty and material deprivation in the Sikh community should be emulated at the highest levels. He stated he will be the “anti-poverty Mayor” who will address poverty in NYC’s communities. He later issued a statement on Twitter thanking the Gurdwara Sikh Cultural Society and UNITED SIKHS “for all you do for New York.”
UNITED SIKHS volunteers, Gurpreet Singh, Chief Operations Officer, and Inderjeet Singh, Community Relations Officer, greeted Maya Wiley at the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara Langar
On June 6th, the Sikh Cultural Society Gurdwara and UNITED SIKHS greeted Maya Wiley. Ms. Wiley is hoping to make history by becoming the first woman elected Mayor of New York City. On her visit she was accompanied by New York State Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson (NY-D, Dist. 31) and members of her campaign staff. She spoke about how she plans to ensure New York City is a place where everyone can live with dignity and respect. She stated that if she becomes Mayor, her priorities include helping communities have better access to healthcare and ensuring community groups are involved in healthcare outreach. She also spoke at length about the plight of NYC taxi drivers and that she would support the Taxi Workers Alliance and plans to ensure drivers are at the center of any relief the City can offer.
During her visit, Mr. Gurpreet Singh asked Ms. Wiley whether she would hire or appoint any Sikhs as advisors or heads of agencies. Ms. Wiley answered that she wanted an administration that “looks like the City of New York” and would ensure that there were members of the Sikh community in her administration. She added, “I’m not just going to stop at senior level because one of the things we have to do is create a pipeline for our young people into government and that is incredibly important to also have the leadership ladder over time.”
Community members also asked Ms. Wiley whether under her administration New York City would change its approach to community policing. She responded, “we don’t have community policing community-wide and police-department wide. We have a unit that does community policing, but we need the entire police department to be doing community policing.” She emphasized the need to invest in community and community-based organizations, “because we know that communities are safe when community based organizations and leaders are able to take care of the needs of the community and be those partners for the police department.”
The issue of India’s Farmers’ protest also came up during Ms. Wiley’s visit and she stated that she supports India’s farmers’ right to protest and to protect their livelihood. Ms. Wiley said, “It is critically important that we support our farmers, including in India. 800 million farmers rely on farming to make a living and that is something that must be protected.”
UNITED SIKHS invited NYC Mayoral Candidates to reach out to the Sikh Community
UNITED SIKHS extends best wishes to the Honorable New York State Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson and to the Mayoral candidates who visited the Sikh community in these past few weeks. We look forward to greeting additional candidates from now until Election Day on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
Staff and volunteers take this opportunity to remind everyone to get out and VOTE! in the Primary Elections on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
Please register and VOTE! in upcoming General Election on
Tuesday, November 2, 2021!
Your VOTE! Counts!
See UNITED SIKHS Voter Information here.
If you need assistance to register to VOTE, please contact us at contact@unitedsikhs.org.
UNITED SIKHS
By: Eva Landeo, Media and Development Coordinator
#UnitedSikhs
