{"id":118870,"date":"2020-11-24T07:29:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T04:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/david-dinkins-nycs-first-black-mayor-dead-at-93\/"},"modified":"2020-11-24T07:29:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T04:29:12","slug":"david-dinkins-nycs-first-black-mayor-dead-at-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/david-dinkins-nycs-first-black-mayor-dead-at-93\/","title":{"rendered":"#David Dinkins, NYC\u2019s first black mayor, dead at 93"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#David Dinkins, NYC\u2019s first black mayor, dead at 93<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n David Dinkins, who was elected New York City\u2019s first black mayor in 1989 and famously referred to the nation\u2019s largest metropolis as a \u201cgorgeous mosaic,\u201d died Monday night, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

The former mayor passed away due to natural causes at his Upper East Side home at around 9:30 p.m. He was 93 years old.<\/p>\n

A home health aide had discovered Dinkins was not breathing and called 911, sources said.<\/p>\n

His death comes a little over a month after his wife, Joyce, died at their home. She was 89.<\/p>\n

Dinkins \u2014 who defeated three-term incumbent Ed Koch in the 1989 Democratic primary \u2014 beat Republican Rudy Giuliani that year to become the city\u2019s 106th mayor.<\/p>\n

Giuliani mourned the death of Dinkins on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mayor David Dinkins, and to the many New Yorkers who loved and supported him,\u201d Giuliani wrote on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave a great deal of his life in service to our great City. That service is respected and honored by all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would serve one-term until 1993, when he narrowly lost his re-election bid in a re-match against his GOP foe.<\/p>\n

His turbulent time in office was marked by rampant crime and racial unrest. Despite the turmoil, he led the city with a grace and dignity that was respected even by his political foes and left him an admired figure when his tenure was long over.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid was a historic mayor. He showed that a black candidate can win biracial support in a city-wide race,\u201d said former Gov. David Paterson, who became the first African-American governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a special app<\/a>reciation for him. He tried very hard to be the mayor of all the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinkins led the nation\u2019s largest city two decades before Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid Dinkins was a forerunner to Barack Obama. He was elected saying the same things,\u201d said civil right activist Al Sharpton.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe helped to change the psychology of American politics, making it more inclusive and more progressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Whether residents agreed or disagreed with his liberal politics, Dinkins was loved by many.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe maintained dignity, class and gentlemanly-ness so rare in today\u2019s world,\u201d said Ken Sunshine, who served as Dinkins\u2019 first chief of staff .<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was almost too nice to be mayor of New York,\u201d Sharpton said.<\/p>\n

Born on July 10, 1927 in Trenton, N.J., the young Dinkins and his family moved to Harlem but he returned to Trenton to attend high school.<\/p>\n

He enrolled at Howard University, though his studies were disrupted by World World II.<\/p>\n

He served in the United States Marine Corps before returning to Howard, where he graduated with honors and a bachelor\u2019s degree in mathematics.<\/p>\n

Dinkins married a Howard classmate, Joyce Burrow, and earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1956.<\/p>\n

As Dinkins got more involved in Democratic Party politics in New York City, he would form an alliance with three other up and coming Harlemites \u2014 Charles Rangel, Basil Paterson and Percy Sutton.<\/p>\n

They would later become known as the Gang of Four, the most powerful force in the city\u2019s black political establishment, particularly in Harlem.<\/p>\n

His first big step in politics was winning a seat to the State Assembly, in 1965, where he served one-term.<\/p>\n

The future mayor began making a name for himself. He was credited with helping creating a program that provided state grants to college students from low income families.<\/p>\n

\"Mayor
Mayor David N. Dinkins takes questions on his head board from reporters at city hall, October 1990.<\/span>Arty Pomerantz\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dinkins was appointed president of the city\u2019s Board of Education in 1972. Then-Mayor Abe Beame later tapped Dinkins to serve as deputy mayor. But Dinkins declined the job after embarrassing stories surfaced about unpaid taxes, a debt he later paid off.<\/p>\n

Dinkins was subsequently appointed to the mostly ceremonial post of city clerk.<\/p>\n

When his pal Sutton stepped down as Manhattan borough president in 1977, Dinkins ran for the post \u2014 but lost.<\/p>\n

He would lose again, to Andrew Stein in 1981.<\/p>\n

But the third time was the charm for Dinkins, who was elected borough president in 1985.<\/p>\n

Some longtime associates were surprised when Dinkins sought the mayoralty, describing him as a reluctant warrior.<\/p>\n

For much of his political career, Dinkins never talked about running for mayor, said David Paterson, the son of Dinkins longtime pal Basil Paterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid was super ambitious about becoming borough president. He didn\u2019t have the ambition to become mayor,\u201d Paterson said.<\/p>\n

\"Former
Former NYC Mayor David Dinkins speaks at a CCRB event honoring him.<\/span>Erik Thomas\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDinkins was kind of pushed into the race against Mayor Ed Koch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinkins was a methodical guy who plowed ahead and after prodding from supporters, he sought the prize \u2014 becoming New York City\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n

The year was 1989.<\/p>\n

By that point, Koch had become an unpopular and polarizing figure amid a municipal corruption scandal. And Koch\u2019s forceful personality, prickly humor and blunt speaking style \u2014 once an asset \u2014 had turned into a liability, particularly with minority voters upset about racial strife and police brutality cases.<\/p>\n

During the Democratic primary, Dinkins portrayed himself as a stabilizing force and antidote to the provocative Koch, who he beat by nearly 100,000 votes. He would go on to beat Giuliani 50 percent to 47 percent.<\/p>\n

Dinkins\u2019 mayoralty was a challenging one.<\/p>\n

Crime was a major issue. The city was reeling with more than 2,000 murders a year, a crack epidemic and 1 million New Yorkers on welfare following a recession .<\/p>\n

The Post expressed the anxious mood of the city with a front page headline, \u201cDave, Do Something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinkins did.<\/p>\n

He personally lobbied in Albany \u2014 accompanied by then-Council Speaker Peter Vallone \u2014 and persuaded the state Legislature to approve an income tax surcharge to finance the \u201cSafe Streets, Safe City, Cops and Kids\u201d program. The money was used to hire more cops to work on neighborhood patrols.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeacon was one of the smart projects he worked on,\u201d Paterson said. \u201cIt spawned the idea the charter schools came up with, keep the kids in school later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mayor
Mayor David Dinkins and former Representative Charlie Rangel meet with Nelson Mandela during a visit to NYC, December 1991.<\/span>NYC Mayors Office<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the personal highlights of Dinkins\u2019t tenure was welcoming to New York South African leader Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times even those of us who were his supporters didn\u2019t realize how important Dinkin\u2019s election was. Then he escorted Mandela on stage in Harlem. . . . It was a \u2018wow\u2019 moment,\u201d Paterson said.<\/p>\n

For all the history making of the mayoralty, Dinkins governed a fragile divided city beset with a high crime rate and still recovering from a recession.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest fumble by the Dinkins administration was the belated response to racial rioting in Crown Heights in 1991.<\/p>\n

The disturbances erupted after a station wagon driven by a Hasidic driver struck and killed black 7-year-old Gavin Cato. In retaliation, angry black youths assaulted Jewish residents. Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Hasidic scholar, was stabbed to death.<\/p>\n

A damning state report concluded Dinkins \u201cfailed to act in a timely and decisive manner\u201d and also rapped his Police Commissioner Lee Brown and for \u201cinadequate\u201d supervision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I had challenged police accounts earlier,\u201d Dinkins said at the time. \u201cThe larger lesson is, one has to challenge, cross-examine and question,\u201d he said after the report\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

The report was released just months before his re-election bid, against Giuliani, a mob-busting former US Attorney. Many believe the mishandling of the Crown Heights contributed to Dinkins\u2019 defeat.<\/p>\n

Dinkins was initially elected as a healer. But now his critics \u2014 including rival Giuliani \u2014 said he couldn\u2019t keep the peace and was soft on crime.<\/p>\n

An earlier racially charged controversy had already put Dinkins\u2019 City Hall on hits heels \u2014 a black activists boycott of a Korean-owned grocery store in Brooklyn\u2019s Flatbush section. The protests were spurred by a dispute between a black customer and the grocer .<\/p>\n

Dinkins worked behind the scenes to try to end the boycott, which dragged on for eight months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crown Heights riot and the Korean deli boycott Dinkins handled with less than skill. The state report on the Crown Heights controversy did him in,\u201d said Baruch College professor Doug Muzzio.<\/p>\n

Dinkins\u2019 mayoralty was dogged by another divisive issue \u2014 a growing and serious secessionist movement on Staten Island, the city\u2019s whitest and most conservative borough.<\/p>\n

The ballot question on island secession \u2014 and when it would appear \u2014 was approved by former Gov. Mario Cuomo and the state Legislature over the city\u2019s objection when Koch was mayor.<\/p>\n

\"David
David Dinkins Meets Rudy Giuliani at City Hall, November 1993.<\/span>David Rentas\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Giuliani supporters on Staten Islands fanned the secessionist flames as a campaign strategy to boost turnout for Giuliani.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Staten Island secession referendum didn\u2019t help me. No question about it,\u201d Dinkins told the Post in 2015.<\/p>\n

A bill to enact Staten Island secession died in the state Legislature \u2014 without even a vote \u2014 saying it first needed \u201chome rule\u201d approval from the city.<\/p>\n

By then, Dinkins had been voted out of office and Giuliani was mayor.<\/p>\n

To this day, Dinkins\u2019 supporters are still upset that he didn\u2019t get re-elected, and said racial animosity was a factor in his defeat. Others said he deserved more credit for the reduction in crime, which started with the Safe Streets program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe road to a safer city was begun under Dinkins. That began the long and difficult road to where the city is now,\u201d Sunshine said. \u201cUrban America got better and safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving office, Dinkins joined Columbia University\u2019s School of International and Public Affairs as a professor in public Policy in 1994.<\/p>\n

He also kept engaging in activism, as he was arrested for criminal trespassing as part of a public protest in 1999 against the shooting death of unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo in a hail of 41 bullets fired by four white police officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was selective. But when he weighed in, he had a lot of gravitas,\u201d Sharpton said of Dinkins.\n <\/p><\/div>\n