Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park Five, was wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for rape as a teen. Now 49, Salaam is hoping to join the power structure of a city that once worked to put him behind bars.
NEW YORK — Outside a Harlem subway station, Yusef Salaam, a candidate for New York City Council, hurriedly greeted voters streaming out along Malcolm X Boulevard. For some, no introductions were necessary. They knew his face, his name and his life story.
Salaam is one of three candidates in a competitive June 27 Democratic primary almost certain to decide who will represent a Harlem district unlikely to elect a Republican in November’s general election. With early voting already begun, he faces two seasoned political veterans: New York Assembly members Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, who previously represented Harlem on the City Council.
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 fourth of Harlem’s residents pay more than half of their income on rent. And the district has some of the city’s highest rates of homelessness for children.
During a recent debate televised by Spectrum News, Salaam repeatedly mentioned his arrest, prompting Taylor to exclaim that he, too, had been arrested: At age 16, he was caught carrying a machete — a charge later dismissed by a judge willing to give him a second chance.
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Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of 'Central Park Five' is running for officeSome consider Yusef Salaam a folk hero as a member of the “Central Park Five,” the group of teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago
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Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of 'Central Park Five' is running for officeSome consider Yusef Salaam a folk hero as a member of the “Central Park Five,” the group of teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago.
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Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of 'Central Park Five' is running for officeSome consider Yusef Salaam a folk hero as a member of the “Central Park Five,” the group of teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago.
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Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of ‘Central Park Five’ is running for officeNow known to some as the “Exonerated Five,” Yusef 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 reexamination of the case led to their convictions being vacated in 2002.
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Once wrongly imprisoned for notorious rape, member of 'Central Park Five' is running for officeSome consider Yusef Salaam a folk hero as a member of the “Central Park Five,” the group of teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago
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Member Of 'Central Park Five' Now Running For New York City CouncilPolitical candidate Yusef Salaam was one of five teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago.
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