Erick Salgado Vows Resilience With Hispanic, Russian and Jewish Coalition

It looked like a room full of oppressed citizens seeking resilience. While the issue of gay marriage is a non-issue in this mayoral campaign, a group of rabbis, Orthodox community activists and young students, assembled together at the 'Ahi Ezer' hall in Gravesend, Brooklyn for an event in support of Conservative Democratic mayoral candidate, Rev. Erick Salgado.

The event was hosted by community activist Joseph Hayon, and attended by mayoral hopeful Erick Salgado, Rabbi Nekelbaum, Rabbi Auziel Admony, Rabbi Beni Rachmanov, and Gregory Davidszon, all who addressed the crowd during the evening.

The theme shared by the couple of speeches given by various rabbis were all shared by common defiance against the government's hostility towards freedom of religion.

 

While addressing the issue of gay marriage as an issue of transgression that shouldn't be overlooked or given up the right to protest and be stopped,  Rabbi Nekelbaum spoke about the trend. The idea of  gay marriage, he said, has started to circulate in a way that may ultimately lead in the future to Orthodox Jews trying it out and  indulge in that behavior.

"Therefore we are here to support Mr. Erick Salgado because he's strongly committed to stopping these perversions, the corruption of the minds and these actions," the Rabbi concluded. "For the Almighty there are no long shots or short shots."

"This is not considered a political event. It's a religion issue. It's a religious obligation to be here tonight and support the campaign of Mr. Salgado," said Rabbi Auziel Admony.

Senator Ruben Diaz, who was introduced as the only Democratic Senator that voted against the Same Gender Marriage bill, assailed against the Democratic party, only to request the Jewish community to join him and the Latino community in creating a coalition of left behind's. "We have a unique opportunity to send a message: 'We are tired. We are fed up, and we will take it no more'," Rev. Diaz said.

"If we can get  from the Jewish community 10,000 votes, we, the Hispanic community, will produce the rest. Let's do it, we can do it," he said. Adding to loud applause, "I wasn't born a Jew but I am a Jew."

Pumped up by Senator Diaz's introduction, feeling at home in a friendly crowd, Rev. Erick Salgado flourished in a unusual manner of enthusiasm and delivered a rather revolutionary speech filled with zingers and plausible lines, and less policy oriented.

"I am not afraid of being pushed. I have been pushed all my life, by the way, and I pushed back," said Mr. Salgado. "I was born in the Bronx. When I was 2 years old I was struggling with asthma, and they pushed my to Puerto Rico. But when I graduated from high school I came back because I knew it was meant for me to be in the city for a purpose, and tonight we are closer than ever in achieving that purpose."

"The career politicians" he said referring to his rivals in the Democratic primary, "they say that I have no chance. They look at me, and they laugh. But I am used to it. They push me. They twist my words. They don't like my accent. But my friends, when I finish up fixing the City of New York they are going to love my accent. They are going to try to talk the way I talk."

Not addressing them by the name, Mr. Salgado charged that his opponents, although they are attacking Mayor Bloomberg,  are part of the current system. "They are also elected. They have done nothing for this city. The city does not feel proud of them. That's why the city is not going to choose them and elevate them to a higher level. They are going to choose somebody that has been working for 24 years. Somebody that has  helped other people. They are going to choose somebody from main street and make him mayor," he said

Coming back to seek sympathy, Mr. Salgado didn't shy away from addressing his vulnerabilities. "They can push me. They can say you have no chance. You have no money. You have no name recognition. You can it to the list. But still, If I have the children of God with me I am going to achieve victory," he defiantly argued.

"This is doable. We can do this. If we can get the Latino community to believe I am going to be the next mayor, if we can persuade every single person in the Jewish community to vote for Erick Salgado, in the Russian communities and in the many communities supporting us, we are going to have a mayor that is going to be working for all New Yorkers," he continued.

"Many people are saying they have the Jewish community, And I know, I could feel it through the passion in this room, that after tonight everyone in the Jewish community is going to pay attention to  who his 'Mr. Erick Salgado," he concluded to loud cheers.