He was the first African-American to hold the position. Dinkins took office at a time of racial discord after the 1989 shooting death of Yusuf Hawkins, a black teenager who was attacked by young people in a predominantly white neighborhood of Brooklyn. Our editors will review what you have submitted and determine if they should review the article. After graduating from high school in 1945, Dinkins tried to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, but was told that the “black quota” had already been met.
He was eventually drafted and served in the Marines. He went to Howard University with the Bill of Rights G, I. He studied mathematics (B, S.). In 1953, Dinkins entered Brooklyn Law School and was introduced to politics when he married Joyce Burrows, the daughter of an assemblyman from the state of New York.
He joined a law firm and became increasingly involved with the Democratic Party. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who broke barriers by being the state's first black woman elected to state office, said that Dinkins' example inspired her throughout her own political career. Early in the newly freed Dinkins administration, Nelson Mandela made New York City his first stop in the United States. Mayor Bill de Blasio praised Dinkins at Hot 97's ERBO on Tuesday morning for creating after-school programs, making the city safer and denouncing the racism that was spreading across the city.
A former member of the New York State Assembly and president of Manhattan County, Dinkins defeated current mayor Ed Koch in the 1989 Democratic primary and then defeated the Republican challenger, former President U. In his inaugural speech, he spoke with love of New York as a “magnificent mosaic of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation, of people whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, passing through Ellis Island or Kennedy Airport or on buses to the Port Authority. Dinkins broke barriers with his 1989 mayoral run, defeating three-term incumbent Ed Koch in the Democratic primary and Republican Rudy Giuliani in the general election by just 47,000 votes, the narrowest electoral margin in New York City history. I extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mayor David Dinkins and to the many New Yorkers who loved and supported him.
Dinkins also hired more police officers and increased taxes as part of his “Safe Streets, Safe City” plan to combat the rising homicide rate in New York City. He continued to be active in New York City politics and hosted a weekly radio program, according to his biography of the city. New York City Police Department officers were called Monday to the former mayor's home, where he is believed to have died of natural causes, the department confirmed to USA TODAY. During Dinkins' tenure, the city's finances were in bad shape due to a recession that cost New York 357,000 private sector jobs in its first three years in office.
It can be felt here, in this room, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who worked in the Dinkins administration and attended the event with the First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray. Elected for a term in the state assembly in 1965, he later served as president of the New York City elections, city clerk, and president of Manhattan County before his successful run for mayor in 1989. During his inauguration speech, he emphasized the need for equality and pledged to be mayor for all New Yorkers. Back in New York with a degree in mathematics, Dinkins married his college sweetheart, Joyce Burrows, in 1953.
