Page 25 - NYLS Magazine • 2014 • Vol. 33, No. 1

CitYLaw HoStS a CoNveRSatioN

witH FoRMeR NYC MaYoR

DaviD DiNkiNS

By Ruth Singleton

“She taught us that it matters greatly how you use the King’s

English,” said Mayor Dinkins. “It matters to me how one says things.
It really does. I’m peculiar like that, I guess..he press would

frequently make fun of me about my manner of speech, particularly
saying ‘ought not.’ hey hated that.”

Mayor Dinkins went on to speak about his decision to become
a lawyer rather than a math major ater inding math to be very

diicult: “Meaning no disrespect to you barristers, but you don’t
need to be too smart to be a lawyer.” he audience laughed. He then

added,” I did not say that some lawyers are not smart.”

Turning to his term as mayor, Dinkins discussed his Safe Streets, Safe
Cities initiative, which increased the number of police oicers on

foot patrol and resulted in a sharp downturn in the crime rate. He
gave a lot of credit to his Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Milton

Mollen, who previously served as the Presiding Justice of New York’s
Appellate Division, Second Department. “Without Milton Mollen,

it wouldn’t have happened.”

he former mayor noted that when he entered oice, “Crime was

high, about 2,000 murders a year..Crime did in fact go down as
early as 1991 and continued to go down.”

On a more mournful note, he spoke about the 1991 Crown Heights

Oriot, which broke out when the motorcade of Rabbi Menachem
n September 27, 2013, the Center for New York City Law Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic
hosted a CityLaw Breakfast conversation among former
sect, accidentally struck and killed 7-year-old Gavin Cato, the
New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Dean Anthony
son of Guyanese immigrants. Anger among members of the black
W. Crowell, and Professor Ross Sandler, the Director of the Center.
community against the Orthodox Jewish community led to violence,
Mayor Dinkins had just published A Mayor’s Life: Governing New and an Orthodox Jewish man, Yankel Rosenbaum, was killed. Mayor
York’s Gorgeous Mosaic,
and the discussion focused on his book.
Dinkins called the incident “painful, diicult to write about, but
obviously very necessary.”
In his opening remarks, Dean Crowell mentioned that during the

time he served as counselor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, he Finally, he spoke about the mayoral election, which at the time of the
oversaw the Department of Records and helped Mayor Dinkins conversation was a few weeks away. He said he had supported Bill

complete his archives: “I learned a tremendous amount about his homas, who withdrew, averting a run-of, ater garnering 26 percent
administration through that process.”
in the Democratic primary. Mayor Dinkins noted that Bill de Blasio,

who he was pretty sure would be the next mayor, once worked in
Leonard Riggio, the CEO of Barnes & Noble, introduced the former his administration, as did de Blasio’s future wife, Chirlane McCray.
mayor, observing, “From my point of view, the mayor did not get
“hey met at City Hall.”
his due for all the good he accomplishment, especially with respect
to the historic reduction in crime. Crime under David Dinkins’
About Mr. de Blasio, who is indeed now mayor, he said, “I hope that
administration dropped faster than under Giuliani’s administration, he will surround himself with good people, people of conscience
which followed...For these reasons and more, many of his friends and
who really care about our city. He’s a good person, and I think he
family, including me, encouraged him to write this book.”
will do ine.”

At the beginning of the discussion, Professor Sandler asked Mayor Following the conversation, Professor Sandler presented the former
Dinkins about Alice Jackson Houston, who taught his freshman English mayor with Professor Emeritus James Simon’s book on Franklin Delano

course at Howard University and was an inluential igure in his life.
Roosevelt. Mayor Dinkins then signed copies of his own book. •

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