A bevy of local Dems have joined Mayor Bill de Blasio in calling for the 2016 Democratic National Convention to be held at the Barclays Center.
U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn B. Maloney, Nydia Velazquez, Yvette Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries have joined the chorus singing Brooklyn’s qualifications as the ideal place for the political-palooza.
“New York City has shown over and over again from the Super Bowl to previous Democratic conventions that we are the biggest and best stage for a big event,” Gillibrand asserted in a statement that asked Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to select the borough of Kings for the king (or queen) making event.
“Not only are Brooklyn residents, and, indeed, New Yorkers as a whole, civically engaged and supportive of the Democatic Party’s core values, but we know how to throw a really great party,” added Maloney.
The Barclays Center is the best option “and other cities should fuhgeddaboutit,” declared Schumer in the release that praised “Brooklyn’s proximity to hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions and its access to the best transportation system in the world.”
The Democratic National Committee invited 16 cities to make bids to host the convention, where thousands of delegates will converge to select the party’s next presidential nominee. Birmingham, Cleveland, Columbus, Philadelphia and Phoenix also submitted bids. New York hosted the first Democratic National Convention in 1868, as well as those of 1924, 1976, 1980 and 1992.
The DNC will announce the location for the convention late this year or early next year.
“All of the cities are excited about their bids,” said Lily Adams, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.
