Mayor-elect and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer marked Veterans Day by visiting patients and staff at the Manhattan campus of the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, thanking them for their service.
A statement from the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office said both legislators spoke with senior executive personnel, doctors and nurses as part of their walk-through of an in-patient wing at the hospital.
They shared their “gratitude for their care and support of the city’s veteran population,” the statement said.
According to 2019 US Census Bureau data, about 138,000 veterans live in the New York City area.
“Borough President Adams expressed particular appreciation for the opportunity to share his gratitude for service with veterans such as 95-year-old Le Roy Herbert Bunnell, Jr., who served in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II,” the statement said.
“As a former chair of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee in the State Senate, I know all too well the sacrifices and struggles of our service members and their families — all incredible New Yorkers who give so much to our communities,” Adams said.
“Our heroes protected our city and country, and they deserve better than what they’re getting right now,” he added. “We have to go above and beyond to connect them to the services they need that enable them to lead healthy, prosperous lives.”
Adams emphasized that the city should double its efforts to help all its veterans, through the Department of Veterans Services (DVS) and the nonprofit community, “to expand on its mission to connect and empower the veteran community.”
