Dear Editor,
I laud the action taken by a delegation of Indo Caribbean New Yorkers from Queen, led by Ashook Ramsaran and Richard David, to serenade the outgoing Speaker of the City Council Adrienne Adams. The Speaker is deserving of recognition of her work. The delegation of community advocates are from greater District 28 comprising of Guyanese and Trinidadians. They met and serenaded the outgoing New York City Council Speaker at her district office in South Ozone Park to express the Indo Caribbean community’s appreciation for her representation of the community and the district for the past eight years as its Council Member.
Speaker Adams’ term expires on December 31, 2025 through term limit – a maximum of two four years terms. She has been speaker for more than two years. She is married to a Guyanese. She ran in the Democratic Mayoral primary and was defeated by newly elected Mayor Zoran Mamdani by a landslide.
Her district 28 (of 51 that makes up the Council) is among the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the city and in the country with one of the largest Guyanese and Indo Caribbean concentrations in USA. In addition to Indo Caribbeans in Greater Richmond Hill, Ozone, and Jamaica, the district also has a significant number of Afro Guyanese and other Caribbean people, including thousands of Trinidadians and Punjabis. Ms Adams has been responsible for piloting a number of bills relating to street renaming in honor of Guyanese, Trinis and community naming. She also piloted bills naming Little Guyana, Little Trinidad, Little Punjab. etc. Tyrel Hankerson, who is currently the Chief of Staff of Speaker Adams was elected last November to succeed her from January 1 for a four year term. Several Guyanese and Punjabis ran for the seat against Adams and Hankerson and were handily defeated.
Speaker Adams was presented with an award. She is saluted for representing the most diverse and the first women-majority Council in New York City history as the first-ever African American Speaker. Elected to the City Council in November 2017, she is also the first woman to represent City Council District 28, which encompasses the Queens neighborhoods of Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, and South Ozone Park. The concentration of Indo-Caribbean population in District 28 is the highest in New York City, often referred to as “Little Guyana” and “Little Trinidad”, monikers coined by Vassan Ramracha, Baytoram Ramharack, and this writer, Vishnu Bisram.
The idea of serenading Speaker Adams was discussed by Ashok Ramsaran and this writer for some time. He prepared the honor. The ceremony itself was organized by prominent District Leader Richard David (an Indo Guyanese) and Ashook Ramsaran (a Berbician), Queens’ civic leader and president of Indian Diaspora Council. Ramsaran was former President of GOPIO. He has been responsible for preparing applications for streets co-naming. Ramsaran was honored by the Council and the state some time ago for his community work. The City Council honored several other prominent Guyanese and Trinis, including this writer, for their advocacy of community interests.
After the presentation of a bouquet of flowers by Indo Trinidadian Dr Nicole Bissessar and a plaque of appreciation by the delegation, members expressed gratitude to Speaker Adams for her support of many significant projects benefiting the community. These included the opening of the South Ozone Park office, several street naming including Little Guyana Avenue, Little Trinidad, and funding for many charitable causes. Of particular note was Speaker Adams making it possible for the District 28 community west of the Van Wyck, where Indo Caribbeans predominate, to become more visible and recognized.
Speaker Adams graciously stated that it was her honor and privilege to represent the community and acknowledged the support of many civic, religious, community, and political leaders who enabled her to make progress on behalf of those she represented.
Yours since,
Vishnu Bisram
