Joyce Dinkins, Former NYC First Lady And Harlem Native, Dies

HARLEM, NY — Joyce Dinkins, a daughter of a prominent Harlem political family who rose to prominence herself when her husband, David, became the 106th Mayor of New York City, died Sunday at the age of 89, officials said Monday.

Raised in the neighborhood, Dinkins's father was was Daniel L. Burrows, a Harlem Democratic leader who became one of the first Black people to serve in the State Assembly. She met David, a New Jersey native, while they were both attending Howard University, where she graduated in 1953 with a degree in Sociology.

They married that year, and her father's ties supported her husband's political rise, according to the New York Daily News.

While her husband served as Manhattan Borough President in the late 1980s, Dinkins was working in the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. When he was elected mayor in 1989, Dinkins gave up her job to serve as First Lady of New York City, where she placed an emphasis on children, including literacy and access to the arts, the Associated Press reported.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who worked in City Hall during the Dinkins Administration, said Monday that Dinkins was "such a strong and good woman, so dignified in everything she did," adding that she "she played a huge role" in her husband's mayoralty.

We lost a great woman, Mrs. Joyce Dinkins. She was a quiet but strong committed woman who made us sit up w/ pride. She will be missed and always remembered. I talked w/ Mayor Dinkins to salute her Spirit, May she rest in Power. Our First Lady forever! pic.twitter.com/GeWYR40nR8
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) October 12, 2020

Others who paid tribute to Dinkins on Monday included Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who wrote on Twitter that "she spent her time as its First Lady with grace & purpose," and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called her "a quiet but strong committed woman who made us sit up [with] pride."

She is survived by her husband as well as two children and two grandchildren.