Latin Kings Controversy
In 1994, Denis entered into a controversial relationship with the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation. While jogging along the FDR Drive, he ran into a group of 500 Latin Kings, and recruited them into his campaign for the State Assembly. Denis and the Latin Kings cleaned up several parks in East Harlem, and attended community board meetings together.
Denis also pledged that, if he won, he would help the Latin Kings to create a community non-profit corporation, a leadership training course, and a construction apprenticeship program to rehabilitate roughly 800 abandoned buildings in East Harlem. Denis maintained that "the Kings are the product of 20 years of neglect...these are the youth that Reagan forgot," but others did not agree. His opponent, the incumbent Assemblyman Angel Del Toro, said "they're gangsters and a threat."
Another early skeptic was Denis's own mother, Sarah Denis. She laid down rules that included no beepers or babies in the office, but she gradually learned to work with them.
Despite this controversy, the New York Times endorsed Denis for the State Assembly that year.
Read more about this topic: Nelson Antonio Denis
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