Longtime Harlem lawmaker Inez Dickens to retire as candidates angle to replace her

Assemblywoman Inez Dickens, a Democrat and longtime fixture in Harlem politics, said Monday that she intends to retire, capping a political career that included a stint in the leadership of the New York City Council.

Last year, Dickens sought a return to the Council, but came up short in a primary election campaign against Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five” who went on to win the general election. Dickens will retire when her term concludes at the end of the year, said her spokeswoman Tyquana Rivers.

Dickens, a daughter of the trailblazing Assemblyman Lloyd Dickens, has served in the Assembly since 2017. Previously, she held a Council seat in Harlem for more than a decade. On the Council, she spent four years as majority whip and four years as assistant deputy majority leader.

“It has been a humbling journey to work as a servant leader in city and state government,” Dickens, 74, said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to continuing to work on the issues that are near and dear to my heart.”

Dickens has helped pave the way for the creation of a new 400,000-square-foot mixed-use complex on 125th St. set to include a civil rights museum and 170 affordable housing units, according to a statement released by her spokeswoman. Rivers said Dickens plans to continue to work to combat the city’s housing crisis after she leaves office.

“She’s a legend,” former Rep. Charles Rangel, Harlem’s voice in Congress for decades, said of Dickens. “And she has a long history of producing for the community.”

Rangel said by phone that he expects Dickens’ “voice will continue to be heard in the community that she has served so well.”

Dickens, a moderate Democrat, may have grown somewhat uncomfortable with the Assembly’s leftward drift. She strongly opposes so-called good-cause eviction — far-reaching anti-eviction legislation — putting her at odds with Albany progressives. And her work as a landlord sometimes drew scrutiny from her left. Evictions reportedly carried out by Dickens’ family management company were a point of contention in last year’s Council race.

Her exit opens up a race for the Assembly’s 70th District, which stretches from the northern edge of Central Park up through central Harlem to 145th St.

Rangel said that he has heard from several people who are considering runs. At least three candidates have publicly launched campaigns.

Joshua Clennon, a 31-year-old affordable-housing activist who has served as treasurer of the local community board, has been running for the seat since September. In a phone call Monday, he described Dickens as a “pillar in our community.”

Also already in the campaign fray: Maria Ordoñez, a progressive organizer; and Shana Harmongoff, a seniors’ and mental health advocate.

Ordoñez, a 24-year-old who said she is running to “stop gentrification” and “fight for the people,” expressed appreciation for Dickens’ service, but said that it was “about time” that she stepped aside for a younger generation.

Harmongoff, 41, had more effusive praise for the outgoing assemblywoman, calling her the “Queen of Harlem” and saying that she has “done a phenomenal job.”

A fourth candidate who appears to have his eye on the seat is Jordan Wright, son of Keith Wright, the chairman of the Manhattan Democratic Party. City & State reported last week that a fundraising effort had been launched for the younger Wright to make a run at Dickens’ seat.

A “Wright for New York” campaign committee was registered last Thursday, according to state Board of Elections records.

Wright, who is Salaam’s chief of staff, said by text Monday that he cares “a great deal about the future of Harlem” but that his thoughts were focused on Dickens and the “years of service she and her family have committed to the village we call home.”

He wrote that he would reach a decision on his run “soon.”