From the desk of David Dinkins: A tour of the former mayor's office

“I sit here and I look at these pictures and I reminisce,” former New York City Mayor David Dinkins said, gesturing to the photos, degrees and memorabilia crowding the walls of his office at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. On the floor are more boxes, filled with pictures that will soon replace the framed degrees. “I don’t need those,” he said. – Jeff Coltin

“Thanks to (Deputy Mayor) Bill Lynch, we got Nelson Mandela to come here. … Oh, what a man. He stayed at Gracie Mansion and I was concerned whether or not the bed in the small suite was sufficiently long, and it was. It wasn’t until two years later at the Democratic National Convention here in New York, I took Al Gore and Bill Clinton to meet Nelson Mandela, who had come back to town. There were a lot of photographs taken. I looked at the pictures later and realized that Bill Clinton was taller than Nelson Mandela. And the reason I thought the bed might not be long enough is in my mind he was 10 feet tall.”

“See this white fellow in the middle here? His name is David Goodman. He’s the brother of Andrew Goodman, who was Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, who were killed in Mississippi (during Freedom Summer, 1964). His mother, who’s gone now, she formed the Andrew Goodman Foundation, and I serve on that board with David. He’s a good guy.”

“Harry (Belafonte) was the master of ceremonies at the inauguration. He and I were born the same year, except he was born in March and I’m in July. But I married him to his current wife, Pam. I’m a nuptialator!”

“In 1945 I was still in high school, going to graduate in May or June and turn 18 in July. Once you turn 18, you had to register for the draft, and once you registered, they put you wherever they wanted. The only way to get the branch of service you chose was to enlist. … The reason I wanted to be in the Marine Corps was I figured if you were well-trained you’d increase your chances of surviving. Because people you knew were dying. This was not like Vietnam. Everybody was going to war. The war ended while I was in boot camp. And the drill instructor came in and said, ‘Get down on your knees and thank God the war is over. Now get up, nothing’s changed.’ And nothing had changed, it was just as tough as it was before.”

“(During the Crown Heights riots) I was accused of holding back the police and permitting blacks to attack Jews. That was not true. It was particularly painful to me because I saw myself as a friend of the Jewish community and Israel. And I point to a few things that happened before. Percy Sutton and I formed a group called BASIC, Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee, when it wasn’t too popular to do. I stood alone at Madison Square Garden and denounced Minister (Louis) Farrakhan because he described the Jewish religion as a gutter religion or some language like that. By myself, no big press conference, just me.”

“One of my guest lecturers, George Daniels, who’s a federal judge, and who was my counsel, he came here and was speaking to the class and he read that statement. He said, ‘Who do you think said that?’ People guessing, Bratton, all kinds of names. He said, ‘No, it was the PBA president.’ He had that framed and gave it to me. There is an awareness by the leadership of the PBA that it is important that there be a relationship between the community and the police.”

“I’m a Dodger fan. As you leave, you’ll see a photograph of Jackie Robinson stealing home against Yogi Berra in the World Series. The ump called him safe, Yogi says he was out. But you hadn’t been to a ballgame till you’ve seen Jackie Robinson steal home from third. He would challenge the pitcher, then break for the plate and slide in under the throw. Beautiful!” (Photos by Andrew Kist)