Harlem's Inez Dickens Faces Challenge From Housing Advocate

HARLEM, NY — It's election season in Harlem, and one longtime lawmaker is facing her most competitive re-election race in years.

Inez Dickens has represented the 70th District in Central and West Harlem since 2017, after spending the previous decade in the City Council. The 72-year-old lawmaker is a prominent figure in the neighborhood, as part of a political family with deep roots in Harlem.

But after winning her last three primary elections uncontested, Dickens is facing two challengers in the June Democratic primary: housing advocate Delsenia Glover and progressive activist Cherish Patton.

Glover, too, is a known presence in Harlem: a lifelong neighborhood resident, she is a member of Community Board 10 and until recently served as the Deputy Public Advocate for Housing Equity under Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

"What we need in this seat is a person who is absolutely looking out for the people in this district," Glover told Patch.

Glover, who declined to give her age, said she is challenging Dickens in part because of the incumbent's lukewarm stance on tenant protection. In 2019, Dickens — who is herself a landlord — blasted the set of pro-tenant laws passed by Albany Democrats a few weeks earlier, telling constituents that they would hurt "small minority property owners." (Dickens ultimately missed the vote on the bills, but said she would have voted against them.)

Speaking to Patch on Thursday, Dickens said she was "not against tenant protection," but argued that such laws needed to be balanced against the interests of small landlords. Dickens said she is proud of her record in Albany, describing herself as a skilled negotiator.

"I’ve done a very good job of navigating, negotiating," Dickens said. "I still feel I have a lot to offer the community."

Also at issue in the race is the good cause eviction bill pushed by some Democrats in the state legislature, which would limit annual rent increases and prevent landlords from evicting tenants without proving some fault. Glover is a vocal supporter, but Dickens told Patch that she will oppose the bill unless it is amended to exclude owners of buildings that house 15 families or fewer.

"We were not abusive as owners. The people know who we are," Dickens said of her own property-owning family. "Not everybody is bad. There's got to be some equitability here."

Dickens and Glover also both pointed to the recent rise in gun violence as an area of concern. Glover said she would focus on prevention, by working to stem homelessness and improve schools. Dickens, meanwhile, touted her new bill that would make it a felony to smear another person with bodily fluids — proposed in response to an incident in the Bronx last week in which a man allegedly smeared human feces on a woman.

Last year, Dickens emerged as a vocal defender of embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo, questioning the motives of the women who accused him of sexual harassment.

Fundraising gap

Through January, Dickens had about $61,384 in campaign money on hand, compared to Glover's $13,927. (Patton has not reported any fundraising.)

Dickens's donors include former Congressman Charlie Rangel, who contributed a combined $3,000 since August; and Khary Lazarre White, founder of the nonprofit Brotherhood Sister Sol, who has given $250.

Contributors to Glover, meanwhile, include the Rev. Calvin Butts and Community Board 10 Chair Cicely Harris, who have donated $500 and $100, respectively. This month, Glover was endorsed by the Working Families Party, and also has the support of the Harlem-based advocacy group Community Voices Heard Action and a number of tenant leaders.

Patton, a 19-year-old college student and alumna of the Harlem School for the Arts, aims to follow in the footsteps of her friend, the new Harlem Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan. Patton's campaign did not respond to an interview request.

New York's 2022 primary elections will be held on June 28. Follow Harlem Patch for continuing coverage of neighborhood races.