David Dinkins, who made history as New York City’s first Black mayor, died of natural causes at his home on Monday. He was 93.
Dinkins’ death comes just weeks after his wife, Joyce, passed away in October at age 89.
Dinkins’ only one term as mayor was doomed by a high murder rate, high unemployment, AIDS and crack epidemics, and a riot in Brooklyn that was sparked when a 7-year-old Black boy was run over by a car in the motorcade of an Orthodox Jewish religious leader.
In his inaugural speech, Dinkins described New York as a “gorgeous mosaic of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation, of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago, coming through Ellis Island or Kennedy Airport or on buses bound for the Port Authority.”
After losing a close mayoral race to Rudy Giuliani in 1993, a bitter Dinkins blamed racial prejudice: “I think it was just racism, pure and simple.”
Known for his passion for the sport of tennis, one of Dinkins’ last acts in 1993 was to sign a 99-year lease with the United States Tennis Association to build a tennis complex on city land in Queens. The deal guaranteed that the U.S. Open would be based in New York City for decades.
Dinkins is survived by his son, David Jr., daughter, Donna and two grandchildren.
