Harlem School Renamed For Late Political Strategist Bill Lynch

HARLEM, NY — Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local officials gathered outside a Harlem school on Thursday to rename it after one of the neighborhood's foremost political figures: Bill Lynch, the so-called "rumpled genius" best known for managing David Dinkin's victorious 1989 campaign for mayor.

P.S. 368 Hamilton Heights School, a pre-K-through-5th-Grade school on West 147th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, will now be known as the William "Bill" Lynch School after the late strategist, who died in 2013 from complications of kidney disease.

While the renaming had been planned for years, the timing was arguably suspicious: Lynch's daughter, Stacy, is one of 12 Democrats on the ballot in next week's City Council primary election in District 7, which includes the school.

"Really fantastic timing for Stacy Lynch," tweeted City & State reporter Jeff Coltin. "And by fantastic I mean it appears to be a glaringly political move, so audacious I almost respect it."

Bob Liff, a spokesperson for Lynch's campaign, said that "people will make what they will" about political motives behind the event.

"The important thing is to keep the focus on Bill Lynch and what he meant to the city," Liff said.

"Go out to the people"

De Blasio worked alongside Bill Lynch on Dinkins' campaign and counted him as a mentor. Stacy Lynch later served as Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in de Blasio's administration, and the mayor campaigned for her earlier this month, Coltin reported.

Thrilled to be at the renaming of PS 368, the new Bill Lynch School! Bill played such a vital role in our city for so long and this honor is so well-deserved. Congrats to all who made this happen, the Dinkins family, the Lynch family, @NYCMayor, and my fellow elected officials! pic.twitter.com/zBPFaL8D6y
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) June 17, 2021

Those in attendance Thursday included Stacy Lynch and Lynch's son William Lynch III, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton, First Lady Chirlane McCray, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Councilmember Mark Levine and State Sen. Robert Jackson.

In a speech, de Blasio remembered Lynch as a believer in democracy who would command his staffers to "go out to the people."

Lynch moved to Harlem in the 1960s, first managing Diane Lacey Winley's successful 1975 campaign for district leader in Central Harlem, the Amsterdam News reported. He was a longtime resident of Hamilton Heights.