By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER MANHATTAN — Days before the Democratic primary, former Mayor David Dinkins told uptown voters they should support Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat in the 31st State Senate District race because he looks like them.
Espaillat is running to replace state Sen. Eric Schneiderman, who is white and running for state Attorney General. Dinkins said voters should choose the Dominican-American assemblyman to preserve the ethnic diversity of the city.
“I grew up in Harlem where we taught that New York City is a melting pot," said Dinkins, who now lives on the Upper East Side, according to the New York Observer. "Well I don't agree with that. I have always said that we are a gorgeous mosaic. We have as many separate ethnic identities as the United Nations. That's why we have a parade about every hour and a half."
"But it is important, it is so very important, particularly for the people of this district who vote on Tuesday to recognize how important it is to understand that the city is changing," he went on to say, the Observer reported. "Most people in the city are going to look more like us than others and that's just a fact. It is not a bad thing. It is frankly a good thing.”
Espaillat’s main competition in the race is Mark Levine, a white, Jewish resident of Washington Heights, who has touted his marriage to a Puerto Rican woman and ability to speak three languages, Spanish, Hebrew and English.
The press conference announcing the endorsement came on the first day of Rosh Hashana.
Neither Levine's nor Espaillat's campaign immediately returned calls for comment.
Washingtn Heights resident Miosotis Muñoz and Upper West Sider Anna Lewis are also in the running.
