It’s Personal, Not Policy, for Harlem Voter

Arthur Rena McDowell, 78, spent primary day seated outside The Laundry Room on West 116th Street, a poster of City Council candidate Cordell Cleare taped prominently to her walker. “I’m the auntie and grandma of this block,” she said, sharing the bench with Gerald Thigpen, 46, one of a succession of neighbors who joined her for conversation between spin cycles.

McDowell, who says she has been active in politics since the civil rights movement, arrived at the polls as they opened to vote for Cleare in District 9’s six-way race for City Council. It’s an endorsement she has made for personal reasons. “I was in a bus accident, and she was there for me,” McDowell said, detailing Cleare’s efforts to coordinate government assistance on her behalf.

Thigpen, a Harlem native and a registered Republican (guns and welfare are his issues), suggested that addressing rising rents would factor in his decision-making, were he voting. McDowell shrugged. “I own four units on this block, so I don’t worry too much about that,” she said with a laugh.