Queens remembers Mayor David Dinkins

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David Dinkins delivered his first speech as mayor of New York City on Jan. 2, 1990. Photo by Frankie Ziths/AP File

David Dinkins delivered his first speech as mayor of New York City on Jan. 2, 1990. Photo by Frankie Ziths/AP File

By David Brand

David Dinkins, New York City’s first and so far only Black mayor, died Monday night at age 93. 

Upon learning of his death, leaders, elected officials and everyday residents of Queens remembered a man regarded as a gentleman, a pioneer and, in the words of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, “a political giant.”

“A great tree has fallen,” Borough President-elect Donovan Richards tweeted Tuesday. “RIP to one of the humblest, genuine and kindest public servants on earth. You will always be our mayor.”

Sen. James Sanders, Jr. said Dinkins paved the way for him and other Black elected officials.

“As New York City’s first and only African-American Mayor, he was a trailblazer who worked diligently to unify the city during a time of much racial strife, violence and economic inequality, yet he does not get the accolades he truly deserves,” Sander said. “I, and others, stand on his shoulders.”

Dinkins served as Manhattan borough president and in the state assembly prior to winning the race for mayor in 1989. His tenure lasted a single term before he narrowly lost to Rudolph Giuiani, his opponent four years earlier, in 1993.

His time in office is often remembered for high crime rates, a racist police uprising and days of anti-Semitic violence in Crown Heights following the killing of a 7-year-old Black boy by a driver transporting a Lubavitch leader.

Nevertheless, crime dropped each year of Dinkins’ mayoralty, he hired more police officers and he sought to unite various racial and ethnic groups into a “gorgeous mosaic” representing all of New York City.

One of Dinkins’ most lasting accomplishments was a Queens land use deal completed at the tail end of his tenure. Dinkins, a lifelong tennis fan, signed an agreement with the United States Tennis Association that gave the organization a 99-year lease on city-owned land in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. 

The agreement ensured the U.S. Open would remain in Queens, and that New York City would continue to receive a cut of the tournament proceeds while having access to the tennis center for community events.

”If there is anyone responsible for saving the US Open for New York when others thought it was a bad deal for New York City, it is Mayor Dinkins,” said City Comptroller Bill Thompson at an event in 2008. “It was really a great deal for New York.”

“The US Open brings more money to New York City than the total that the Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Rangers bring to New York,” he added.

Dinkins later served for 12 years on the USTA’s board of directors.

“Mayor Dinkins was an exemplary professional and public servant and someone who believed deeply in the goodness of New Yorkers,” said State Sen. Leroy Comrie. “Mayor Dinkins was a trailblazer and statesman, and he will be missed.”