Pol Who Killed Harlem Project Could Face Primary Challenge

Assembly member Inez Dickens, who represented Harlem on the City Council from 2006 to 2016, is considering challenging incumbent Kristin Richardson Jordan for her old seat in next year’s Democratic primary, the New York Post reported

Dickens moved on to the 70th state Assembly district in 2017 after serving the maximum two consecutive terms on the City Council, but told the Post she’s heard complaints from constituents about Richardson Jordan, who narrowly defeated Dickens’ successor, Bill Perkins, in last year’s primary.

In Dickens’ telling, constituents “don’t believe in” self-policing policies advocated by Richardson Jordan, who identifies as a socialist and police abolitionist, and have been calling on Dickens to return to the Council.

“They are not down with that in Harlem,” Dickens told the Post. “She’s not representing the views of the majority of the community.”

Richardson Jordan isn’t backing down, telling the Post she looks forward to “continuing to put forth a new vision to persevere Harlem and letting the people decide who best represents their interests.”

Dickens’ main gripe with Richardson Jordan is the latter’s support for reducing the NYPD’s presence in her district, but Dickens also said she had fielded complaints about Richardson Jordan’s opposition to developer Bruce Teitelbaum’s project at West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, One45, which would have delivered 917 apartments to the neighborhood.

Teitelbaum attempted to win Richardson Jordan over by offering to set aside half of the project’s units as affordable, but the Council member — whose support for the project would likely have been the determining factor in its approval — never got on board. Teitelbaum now says he plans to put a truck depot on the site instead.

“People thought I could have negotiated the deal and gotten more for the community,” Dickens said.

Richardson Jordan countered that working-class Harlemites have been subject to “mass displacement” in the 16 years that Dickens has represented the community in the Council and Assembly.

“The old way of doing things hasn’t worked,” Richardson Jordan said.

City Council members typically serve four-year terms, but because of the city’s redistricting process, Richardson Jordan will be up for reelection next year. A primary challenge could shine a spotlight on the few major decisions she’s made during her brief time on the Council.

Dickens had her own real estate-related controversies in her two terms on the Council. In 2014, tenants at buildings she co-owned held a rent strike due to a lack of heat and hot water in their properties. Before that, Dickens racked up at least $265,000 in building fines for dangerous or unsanitary conditions at another building co-owned with her sister.