Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio joined a 20-block march in Harlem on Monday to demand a $15 minimum wage following a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at which the governor described the civil-rights icon as “a man of action.”
The march concluded an all-day celebration of the slain activist hero’s life at the National Action Network, where Cuomo accepted a “social-justice award” for his executive order requiring the attorney general to investigate civilian deaths at the hands of cops.
The event, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, drew an array of elected officials, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
Although they didn’t share hugs as they did last year, the mayor praised Rev. Sharpton as the present-day embodiment of King.
“Of all the people I’ve known in this extraordinary city, I really don’t know anyone who has invoked Dr. King’s legacy . . . more than Al Sharpton,” de Blasio said.
Cuomo took the stage immediately after the mayor, but the two mostly ignored one another.
“Reverend Dr. King was about one thing and that fact was action,” the governor said. “We tend to think of Dr. King as such a beautiful speaker and a man of words, but more, he was a man of action. He’s a man who would say, ‘Get things done.’ ”
When the speeches ended, politicians and protesters spilled into the streets of Harlem to take part in the march, which was billed as a “continuance of Dr. King’s economic agenda.”
Blocks away, some 1,500 people packed the historic Riverside Church for a star-studded tribute to King. Comedian Chris Rock, “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda took turns reading speeches of the civil-rights era.
Miranda delivered the “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech, which the legendary leader gave at Riverside in 1967.
Rock recited James Baldwin’s “A Letter to My Nephew.”
Events nationwide honored the legacy of King, who was assassinated in 1968.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama participated in community service in the DC area to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley attended a rally in Columbia, SC, while in New York, de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, began the day at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
“Dr. King’s legacy rings our ears,” Hizzoner told the crowd. “It moves our heart. And we’re learning from it. And we’re still acting on it.”
