CWA Native 1180 President Gloria Middleton, left, was honored with a Quotation from NYC Mayor Eric L. Adams, throughout a reception to honor Ladies’s Historical past Month, on Thursday, March 27, 2025 at Gracie Mansion.
Photograph by Tangerine Clarke
Final Thursday, NYC Mayor Eric L. Adams honored CWA Native 1180 President and Nationwide Govt Board Member Gloria Middleton with a Quotation throughout a Ladies’s Historical past Month reception within the grand ballroom of Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s East facet.
Middleton, named one of many 50 Outstanding Ladies who’re bettering New York, was known as a pioneer labor chief whom Mayor Adams mentioned has proven unwavering dedication to employees’ rights, civil rights, and gender fairness.
The commendation learn, “Middleton was the primary African American and the primary lady to ever function president of CWA Native 1180.” It continued, “WWhereas my administration is dedicated to chartering new waters to create a extra equitable society within the 5 boroughs and past. We do that by uplifting ladies and eradicating the obstacles which have unjustly blocked their collective development throughout this significant month as we pay tribute to the glass ceiling breakers who eradicated the way in which.”
Mayor Adams mentioned, “We additionally shine a highlight on those that construct upon this legacy. Right now I’m proud to applaud Gloria Middleton for her efforts, her dedication, her dedication, and her important workforce that she constructed a robust group of union members to push us ahead in a wholesome means. Thanks, Eric Adams, mayor of town of New York,” states the Quotation.
He prolonged “Comfortable Ladies Her Story Month” to the packed room of ladies professionals, together with an all-women regulation enforcement squad of NYPD and Correction Officers. He spoke of all the ladies who made him a hit.
“I all the time replicate after I discuss in regards to the basis of why I’m endeared to not solely the ladies of this administration however of town, of outstanding names. I take into consideration the ladies from Church of Christ that I grew up attending in South Jamaica Queens,” mentioned the politician who spoke of his mom Sandra who ensured meals was on the desk, the left-over from church capabilities.
“I’m a part of the lads who get it proper membership as a result of regardless of who you’re, don’t take a look at my success. Take a look at the ladies who nurtured me whilst I suffered with undiagnosed dyslexia; they had been telling me don’t fear about it. They’d keep up late at evening and tutor me and converse with me. Typically, we outline ourselves by our levels, the accolades, and the success we now have in our tutorial achievements with out realizing there are those that made us who we’re.”
“They could have a third-grade schooling, however they gave me the schooling wanted to outlive. These ladies gave me half of what they needed to transfer me ahead. I’m not mayor as a result of I went to John Jay School and Marist School. I’m mayor as a result of I had good old school loving, commonsense, God-fearing ladies in my life who prayed for me throughout probably the most troublesome instances of my journey,” mentioned Mayor Adams.
“I really feel their presence daily. A lot of them have transitioned, however I really feel this spirit at each flip in each nook and each journey that I’m on, and that’s what the resiliency comes from, and that’s what Ladies’s Historical past Month comes from,“ mentioned the politician.
Mayor Adams mentioned he paid ladies 14% larger than males when he was Brooklyn Borough President, including, “I’m making an attempt to deposit and pay again the mortgage by depositing to the social financial institution of life as a result of I need to pay again the Fairness that girls have given to me all through my life. I can by no means pay all of it again in a single lifetime, however I’m beginning the down funds with each motion I soak up authorities. Historical past goes to be form to me when folks notice there has by no means been a mayor that stopped the betrayal of ladies within the metropolis, the way in which I’ve with this administration that I’ve surrounded myself with.“
“We’re going to proceed to take action from the law enforcement officials to the correction officers to those that are in different areas of the career, all that we now have finished for all ethnicities. There’s a unifying side to this: if we get it proper with ladies, we’ll get it proper in our metropolis, and it could cascade all through our total nation. Let’s grow to be 50 percenters like these ladies who gave us 50% of what they should our metropolis. I thanks for coming right here at the moment uplifting and celebrating her story in an actual means,“ mentioned Mayor Adams.
Middleton credited her father, a longshoreman, and her mom with paving the way in which for her success and thanked Mayor Adams for the distinction at Gracie Mansion.
NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tish, the second lady to be appointed to this place, mentioned, “I wish to begin by thanking Mayor Adams for his dedication to empowering the ladies of New York Metropolis. I need everybody to remember the fact that there have been 110 mayors of this nice metropolis, however just one has appointed a girl as police commissioner, and Mayor Adams has finished it twice, so I wish to thank him for the chance he’s given me to steer the best Police Division on the planet.“
“Right now isn’t nearly honoring the historical past. It’s about making it and standing tall in it. I see a bunch of ladies who embody that spirit who’re writing new chapters and making certain that progress doesn’t cease with them. The change makers, the coverage shapers, the barrier Breakers, and, in fact, the Path Blazers, highly effective ladies who refuse to be underestimated as a result of the journey right here hasn’t been straightforward. Historical past didn’t pave a path for ladies. It dared us to forge one. That’s precisely what we did with each step,“ mentioned Tish.
Including, “We shattered ceilings, and we defied expectations refusing to decrease ourselves simply to earn visibility and thru all of it we confirmed up, with willpower to face the challenges forward and to steer the place wanted as a result of when ladies lead, we lead with readability and conviction, we lead with braveness, and as your police commissioner, I’ll proceed to face with you to combat for you and to work to make sure that each lady whether or not she’s strolling a beat elevating a household or working a metropolis company, is aware of that her voice issues in New York Metropolis we’re not simply a part of historical past we’re those writing it, thanks very a lot and joyful ladies’s historical past month,” mentioned Police Commissioner Tish.
Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs, Tiffany Rasberry, expressed gratitude to Eric L Adams for “the privilege to be surrounded by so many phenomenal ladies as we rejoice the achievements of ladies, replicate on our progress towards gender fairness, and acknowledge the crucial work of the UN Fee on the standing of ladies.“
“I wish to prolong my gratitude to the New York Metropolis mayor’s workplace of Fairness and racial justice for internet hosting this occasion and for all their ongoing management in advancing justice and alternative for all this yr that marks the numerous milestone, 50 years of NY city’s dedication to advancing gender fairness for the Adams administration, mentioned Rasberry.
Sideya Sherman, Chief Commissioner of the Mayor’s Workplace of Fairness and Racial Justice, mentioned, “Fairness is love and motion, and her staff is targeted on making certain ladies and all New Yorkers profit from all that our metropolis has to supply. I’m right here as a result of there was a technology of ladies earlier than who noticed a brighter future for me.“
“Let’s transfer ahead with unity and objective, honoring all of those that got here earlier than us and being dedicated to constructing a brighter future for the subsequent technology of ladies. Thanks a lot, and joyful Girl’s Historical past Month,“ mentioned Sherman.
Different audio system who celebrated Ladies’s Historical past Month and hailed trailblazers like Shirley Chisholm and Hazel Nell Dukes included Camille Joseph Varlack, the deputy mayor for administration; Donna Wright Bauer, the Deputy Govt for Strategic Studying and Capability Constructing on the NYC Fee for Gender Fairness; and the brand new government director of NYC Her Future.
