Walking down 125th Street the day after taking a commanding lead in the race for a City Council seat in Central Harlem, Yusef Salaam couldn’t make it half a block without someone congratulating him on his likely victory.
Voter after voter who greeted Mr. Salaam on Wednesday said they recognized him as one of the five Black and Latino men exonerated in 2002 in the rape and assault of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989.
“I think this election is largely about change,” Mr. Salaam, 49, said.
The other candidate in the race was Al Taylor, 65, also an assemblyman serving his sixth year in the State Legislature.
In both Harlem and East New York, voters went from supporting self-described socialists to backing moderate Democrats.
Persons:
Yusef Salaam couldn’t, Mr, Salaam, “, Inez Dickens, Eric Adams, Al Taylor, Charles Barron, Inez Barron
Organizations:
Council, United Federation of Teachers
Locations:
Central Harlem, Central Park, Harlem, Brooklyn, East New York