Outside a Harlem subway station, New York City Council candidate Yusef Salaam hurriedly greeted voters streaming out along Malcolm X Boulevard. For some, no introduction was needed. They knew his face, his name and his life story.

But to the unfamiliar, Salaam had only to introduce himself as one of the “Central Park Five,” one of the black or Latino teens, ages 14 to 16, who were wrongly accused, convicted, and imprisoned for the raping and beating a white woman. jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989.

Salaam, now 49, hopes to join the power structure of a city that once worked to put him behind bars.

I have often said that those who have been close to the pain should sit down at the table, Salaam said during an interview at his campaign office.

Salaam is one of three candidates in a competitive Democratic primary Tuesday that will almost certainly decide who will represent the Harlem district after November’s general election. Vote early

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faces off against two seasoned political veterans: New York State Member Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, who previously represented Harlem on the City Council.

Incumbent Democratic Socialist Kristin Richard Jordan dropped out of the race in May after a difficult first term.

Central Park Gate honors men who were wrongly imprisoned for the rape of a jogger in 1989

Now known to some as the Exonerated Five, Salaam and the four others Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise served between five and 12 years in prison for the 1989 rape before a re-examination of the case led to the eviction of their 2002 convictions

DNA evidence linked another man, a serial rapist, to the attack. The city eventually agreed to a legal settlement to pay the acquitted men $41 million.

Salaam, who was arrested at the age of 15, spent nearly seven years behind bars.

When people look at me and 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 can use that platform that I have and again

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target the pain, help people as we climb out of desperation.

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These pain points are numerous in a neighborhood that is among the most entrenched poverty in the city and has the highest rent costs.

Poverty in Central Harlem is about 10 points higher than the citywide rate of 18%, according to data compiled by New York University’s Furman Center. More than a quarter of Harlem residents pay more than half of their income in rent. The district also has one of the highest rates of homelessness for children in the city.

Salaam said he is eager to tackle these crises and more. His detractors say he doesn’t know enough about how local government works to do this.

No one should have to go through what my opponent went through, especially as a child. Years later, after returning to New York, Harlem is in crisis. We don’t have time for a freshman to learn the job, learn the problems, and again

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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. In December he returned to New York.

Co-defendant in Central Park jogger case acquitted

Taylor knows Salaam’s celebrity is an advantage in the race.

I think people will identify with him and the horrific scenario he and his colleagues endured for several years in a prison system that treated him unfairly and unjustly, Taylor said.

But he’s one of a thousand in this town that we know of, Taylor added. “It’s the black reality.

During a recent televised debate, Salaam repeatedly mentioned his arrest, prompting Taylor to exclaim that he too had been arrested: At age 16, he was caught wielding a machete, a charge later dismissed by a judge who gave him a second wanted to give a chance.

We all want affordable housing, we all want safe streets, we all want smarter policing, we all want jobs, we all need education, Salaam said of the candidates’ common goals. What he offers, he said, is a new voice that can speak about his community’s struggles.

I have no record in politics, he admitted. I have a great track record in the 34 year running Central Park jogger business in the fight for freedom, justice and equality.

All three have received significant endorsements. Activist Cornell West has supported Salaam. Dickens has the support of New York Mayor Eric Adams and former New York U.S. Representative Charlie Rangel. Taylor is supported by the town’s carpenters

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union.

Rangel recalled at a campaign rally that Salaam called to let him know he was entering the race. Rangel then joked that Salaam had a foreign name.” Salaam responded pointedly on social media.

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I am a son of Harlem named Yusef Salaam. I went to jail because my name is Yusef Salaam,” he tweeted. “I am proud to be called Yusef Salaam. I was born here, raised here and from here, but even if I wasn’t, we all belong in New York City.

Rangel and Salaam later spoke and settled the matter, according to a spokesman for the Dickens campaign.

Unlikely is an apology from former President Trump, who ran newspaper ads in 1989 before the Central Park Five went on trial with the blaring headline Bring Back the Death Penalty. The ads didn’t specifically name any of the five, but Salaam said the context made it clear.

When asked by a reporter in 2019 if he would ever apologize, Trump said there were people on both sides of the issue.

They admitted their guilt, Trump had said of Central Park Five, referring to what the men said were coerced confessions. Some prosecutors,” Trump added, “think the city should never have settled that case. So leave it at that.

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When Trump was indicted in New York in April on charges of falsifying corporate records, Salaam mocked him with his own social media ad that visually imitated Trumps from long ago.

More than 30 years ago, Donald Trump ran a full-page ad calling for my execution, Salaam tweeted above the ad with the headline: Bring Back Justice & Fairness.”