David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkinsis an American politician who served as the 106th Mayor of New York City, from 1990 to 1993. He was the first and, to date, only African American to hold that office...
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth10 July 1927
CityTrenton, NJ
israel support black
In 1975 I was among a group of blacks who formed the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.
thinking lucky wells
Well, I think I am a very, very lucky person. I'm very fortunate.
want being-the-best mayors
You can be anything you want to be. You can be a street sweeper, if you want. Just be the best blasted street sweeper you can be . . . And, you know you can be mayor.
fall israel missiles
I went to Israel when the missiles were falling there.
jobs giving-up school
I went downtown as a lawyer and then I worked in a liquor store at night, as I had done all through law school. And so when I got to the point where I could give up the night job, I joined the political club.
jobs school law
I finished law school in '56, but I was working two jobs.
fun children real
Children are amazing, and while I go to places like Princeton and Harvard and Yale, and of course I teach at Columbia, NYU, and that's nice and I love students, but the most fun of all are the real little ones, the young ones.
observation
But I make the observation that no one of us would do things exactly alike.
brown court lawsuit
But the courts have dismissed the lawsuits against me and Lee Brown.
school law matter
As a matter of fact, even when I finished law school, I had no notion of public service then.
children people mets
And I tell people I'm in charge of children, children I haven't even met yet.
children youth program
I love children, and most of my involvement now has to do with children or youth programs.
wise people today
Today, certain people file for bankruptcy, businesses and individuals, and it no longer has the stigma it once had. Now it's almost considered wise, a way to regroup and come back again.
new-york hard-work cities
. . .little has changed in our New York neighborhoods except the faces, the names, and the languages spoken. The same decent values of hard work and accomplishment and service to city and nation still exist.