Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined members of the Bronx Bangladeshi Muslim community at different Iftar gatherings, daily, fast-breaking meals and gatherings held at nightfall, during the holy month of Ramadan until the festival of Eid al-Fitr falls and Ramadan ends.

Gibson and some members of her team delighted a group of about 75 to 80 Muslim leaders from the Northwest Bronx, which included members of the Norwood Bengali community and INCA Relief, on Wednesday, March 29, when they joined the community at Curry & Kebab, located at 3111 Bainbridge Avenue, for an Iftar gathering. The venue is just around the corner from the North Bronx Islamic Center. Also in attendance was Alina Dowe from the mayor’s office.

Mohammed N. Mujumder, who presided over the event, said, “So, today at the invitation of the Bangladeshi community of North Bronx and with the invitation of Monjour Choudhury, board member of Bronx Community Board 7, Vanessa Gibson came for the first time to the North Bronx area to attend the Iftar dinner with the Muslim community. We, as a community, feel very proud that the borough president came in, greeted us and she especially greeted me, and appreciated what I have been doing as a foundation, what other people are doing, so that was very, very good,” he said.

Moments before the major was introduced, one unidentified male speaker thanked him, “for his continued support for the well-being of the Muslim community in our city.” The speaker added, “Mayor Adams has been a true leader, a friend and an advocate for the Muslim community.” The speaker mentioned that the mayor had held a roundtable with top officials from the NYPD to ensure public safety before the start of Ramadan and had also provided a space at City Hall where Muslims could pray each Friday.

The mayor then asked the crowd, “Why aren’t we in the streets fighting this gun violence? That is what your faith calls you to do. We are seeing a large number of people who are dealing with homelessness. You have your brothers and your sisters coming from the continent of Africa who are Muslims, and don’t have a place to stay. Where are our Muslim brothers and sisters helping them?”

Later, the major, who has been both praised and critiqued by New Yorkers for expressing what he sees as the importance of religion in people’s lives, later moved to the topic of democracy and civic duty. “And then, you have to vote!” he said. “We should have a million Muslims registered to vote! Because when you vote, you empower yourself, you no longer have to wait on others to serve you. You have those who represent you serve you.”

The 110^th mayor later presented special mayoral citations to four Bronx mosques for the work their members carry out in the community, including one to the North Bronx Islamic Center in Norwood.

One of the organizers of the event, community activist Shamim Miah, said after the event, “The people of our community [were] very happy. They really appreciated the mayor’s visit.” He added that it was the first time that a New York City mayor had attended an Iftar gathering. While the mayor did have to leave to attend other events in Manhattan and Queens on the same evening, Miah said Adams vowed to sit down with local Bangladeshi Muslim leaders to discuss local issues at a later point.

In closing, Adams told the crowd, “As you break fast, let’s also break the things that’s destroying our community. I cannot thank you enough for your support, and I said I was going to be with you when I ran for office, and I’m here with you now that I’m in office, and that is the kind of leader you wanted.”