DAVID Dinkins, the first Black mayor of New York City, has died at the age of 93.
The mayor, who famously referred to New York as a "gorgeous mosaic," passed away in his Upper East Side home at around 9:30 PM Monday night.
Dinkins was the first and only mayor of New York, beating three-term incumbent Ed Koch in the 1989 Democratic primary.
He then went on to beat Republican Rudy Giuliani in the general election to become New York's 106th mayor.
However, he only served one term in office, losing reelection against Giuliani in 1993.
Dinkins' tenure in office was marked with crime and racial unrest.
However, throughout the turmoil, Dinkins was able to lead the city and even bring the U.S. Open to Queens in a major economic boost to the city.
"David was a historic mayor. He showed that a black candidate can win biracial support in a city-wide race," said former New York Governor David Peterson, who was the first Black governor of New York.
"There’s a special appreciation for him. He tried very hard to be the mayor of all the people," he continued.
"David Dinkins was a forerunner to Barack Obama," Al Sharpton said. "He was elected saying the same things."
"He helped to change the psychology of American politics, making it more inclusive and more progressive," Sharpton said of Dinkins. "He was almost too nice to be mayor of New York."
Despite a heavy race-based race run by Giuliani during his reelection, Dinkins was well known as a member of the "Gang of Four," a group of four Black men from Harlem hoping to make the city a better place.
The other three members included Charles Rangel, Basil Paterson and Percy Sutton. Only Rangel is still alive.
Dinkins' first chief of staff, Ken Sunshine, recalled his former boss as a loving man.
"He maintained dignity, class and gentlemanly-ness so rare in today’s world," Sunshine said.
Dinkins was born on July 10, 1927 in Trenton, New Jersey, before he and his family moved to Harlem. He then enrolled at Howard University, but the start of World War II saw his service in the US Marine Corps.
He then returned to Howard and graduated with honors and a degree in mathematics, before he went onto marry his Howard classmate, Joyce Burrow, and earn his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1956.
From there, he won election to the State Assembly in 1965. Although he served one term, he was able to create a program that provided state grants to college students from low-income households.
After losing a few other elections, Dinkins finally became borough president of Manhattan in 1985, making no mention of running for mayor.
"David was super ambitious about becoming borough president. He didn’t have the ambition to become mayor," said Paterson, whose father Basil Peterson was a close friend of Dinkins. "Dinkins was kind of pushed into the race against Mayor Ed Koch."
When he finally did run and then win, he inherited a rather violent city suffering over 2,000 murders a year. But Dinkins was determined to leave the city in a better condition and went to work.
He brought the U.S. Open to Queens in a strong economic boost to the city that at the time, brought in more money alone than all of the city's other sports teams combined.
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He created a number of economic programs and even elongated school hours while allowing for greater educational opportunities for children.
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In the end, Sunshine said, Dinkins truly served his city.
"The road to a safer city was begun under Dinkins. That began the long and difficult road to where the city is now," Sunshine said. "Urban America got better and safer."
