In Espaillat's Backyard, White Voters Want Rangel Out

Adriano Espaillat beamed as he held court with reporters outside of PS 98. The Dominican-born state senator had just cast his ballot, proudly holding the paper up for photographers to see, an election day tradition, Espaillat explained, "Just something I always do. I wanted everyone to know I voted for myself." 

And so began Espaillat's quest to topple the longtime incumbent congressman, Charles Rangel, in Inwood, his "backyard," the northernmost sliver of the island of Manhattan; a cozy neighborhood of gorgeous pre-war apartment buildings and homes nestled at the foot of the expansive Inwood Hill Park, the largest remaining forest land in the borough. 

As Espaillat espoused his message of change in front of the elementary school, as the "grandson and son of immigrants," from the Dominican Republic and well-versed in the issues important to this district—housing, income inequality, immigration—a woman poked her head out of her apartment window across from the elementary school, shouting to Espaillat in Spanish. Evidently, it was a message of support, as the senator nodded in approval and waved. 

It is not the Hispanic voters in this neighborhood that Espaillat needs on his side in order to take down Rangel, however. Inwood is an increasingly diverse neighborhood, with 42 percent of the neighborhood Hispanic or Latino and 24 percent African-American, according to the most recent Census data. But the neighborhood's Hungarian and Irish roots still hold strong, as the majority of the district is still white.

Political pundits concluded that Espaillat, who enjoys widespread support among Hispanics in the district, would need the support of these white voters to make up for Rangel's popularity with black voters. Judging by on-the-ground conversations in Inwood, white residents seem to be trending towards Espaillat, if not always for the most sound reasons. 

Gail Addiss, a 64-year old architect—she was the head architect for the NYPD under former mayor David Dinkins—and longtime Inwood resident, greeted voters and media members on the corner up the street from PS 98 handing out Espaillat campaign literature. She remembers driving around the neighborhood "literally dodging bullets," when it was one of the highest crime areas in Manhattan and had only one police precinct. Addiss said she appreciates that Espaillat has given the neighborhood a much-needed political voice that, she believes, was lost under Rangel. 

"I think Adriano would be great in Washington. Charles Rangel is ineffective, we need someone in there representing us," Addis said. "For 40 years that Charles Rangel was in power, he didn’t do anything for our neighborhood." 

Adjacent to Inwood Hill, several blocks away from the elementary school, an older white couple conversed with a younger woman carrying a baby. The older woman, Bev, is a lactation consultant, and the younger woman was one of her clients. Bev and her husband, Barry, a retiree, wore stickers indicating they had just voted, while the younger woman was on her way to do so. Barry, an Inwood resident since 1986, said he voted for Espaillat because he was put off by the scandals that engulfed Rangel over the last several years, including his 2010 House censure for ethics violations.

"As much as I admire Rangel, in recent years some of his behavior has been troubling and some of the things that have happened have been troubling," Barry said. "I’ve just come to feel that I’d like someone new. I know a little bit about Espaillat and his policies and I thought now is the time." 

Walking up the street along the park, another older couple walks by, significantly older than Bev and Barry. They seem wary of being asked questions on the street and decline to give their names, but not before the man, a retired transit worker, gives his two cents on why he decided to vote for Espaillat. 

"I’m voting for him because Charlie Rangel has been in there for 20 years, he hasn’t done anything, he doesn’t pay any taxes, he’s not a regular citizen. The only thing he wants is the colored vote. He can have all the colored vote. I’m white, I’m not prejudiced."

"I think he’s anti-white personally," his wife, a small pale, white-haired woman chimes in. "There is a lot of [anti-whites], I hate to say it but there is. We get accused of being prejudiced, I think it’s the other way around."

The racial under- and overtones can hardly be ignored based on this conversation, but suffice it to say that of the handful of white voters that City & State spoke with in the district, this old-world view of ethnic politics was hardly prevalent. 

In fact, for many of the younger white voters interviewed, their calculus as to whom to vote for was a matter of seeing the writing on the wall. Rangel barely held on to his seat in his last face-off against Espaillat in 2012, so for younger voters like Brian and Kate, a forensic psychologist and finance director at New York University, respectively, they see today as an opportunity to finish what Espaillat started two years ago.

"The fact that he almost beat him last time is enough for me," Brian said.