Yusef Salaam one of the Central Park five, is one of three candidates in a competitive June 27 Democratic primary. Now 49, Salaam is hoping to join the power structure of a city that once worked to put him behind bars.
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“I’ve often said that those who have been close to the pain should have a seat at the table,” Salaam said during an interview at his campaign office. DNA evidence linked another man, a serial rapist, to the attack. The city ultimately agreed in a legal settlement to pay the exonerated men $41 million.“When people look at me and they they know my story, they resonate with it,” said Salaam, the father of 10 children. “But now here we are 34 years later, and I’m able to use that platform that I have and repurpose the pain, help people as we as we climb out of despair.
“No one should go through what my opponent went through, especially as a child. Years later, after he returns to New York, Harlem is in crisis. We don’t have time for a freshman to learn the job, learn the issues and re-learn the community he left behind for Stockbridge, Georgia,” Dickens said, referring to Salaam’s decision to leave the city after his release from prison. He returned to New York in December.
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