Hazel N. Dukes, NAACP New York president, dies at 92

Hazel N. Dukes, a trailblazing civil rights activist and longtime Long Islander, died Saturday at her home in Manhattan, according to the NAACP New York State Conference. She was 92.

Dukes spent decades combating racial inequities. She pushed for equal voting rights during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and was a prominent force in addressing housing discrimination in Roslyn, where she once lived. For decades, she led the NAACP New York State Conference and was a powerful voice on both local and national issues such as police brutality and education inequality.

"Hazel Dukes was a legend who fought for justice every day, and her legacy will live on," state Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a statement on X Saturday.

Dukes, the daughter of a railroad porter and the granddaughter of a Baptist minister, grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. There, she saw Black people turned away from white-only restrooms and water fountains. Her neighbor was none other than Rosa Parks, Newsday has reported.

A move to Long Island

She moved to Roslyn in her early 20s. As a young woman, she was denied an apartment in a Roslyn Heights apartment complex. She later won a lawsuit against the owners, Newsday reported. 

“I integrated that complex,” Dukes said in an interview with Newsday last year.

Dukes was arrested numerous times for protests. She once threw herself on the floor of a Nassau County office because she felt she was being discriminated against, Newsday reported in 1987. “I was staging a lay-in,” Dukes said at the time. “Sitting just wasn’t going to cut it.”

Marge Rogatz, of Port Washington, became friends with Dukes when she moved to Long Island in the 1950s. The two remained close for decades and served shoulder-to-shoulder as advocates for equality on Long Island, she said during a phone interview Saturday afternoon.

Now 97, Rogatz recalled attending the March on Washington with Dukes in 1963 and working alongside her to educate the community on issues ranging from education to housing and health. Rogatz and Dukes were among the leaders of the Roslyn Committee for Civil Rights, which, among other efforts, called for equal housing opportunities in the Roslyn area.  

"Hazel was a dynamic, unusual leader who really did well relating to people at all levels," Rogatz said. "Whatever the issue was, Hazel was there." 

Known by those close to her as a fiery advocate dedicated to her work, Dukes was a Democratic powerhouse in local and national politics, serving as a key voice for Black voters.

She was integral in electing the first Black member of the Roslyn school board and Long Island's first Black state representative, Assemb. Barbara Patton.

Dukes was elected president of the national NAACP in 1989, a position she held for two years.

She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Adelphi University in Garden City and did postgraduate work at Queens College, according to a biography on the New York City Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice website. The City University of New York Law School at Queens College in 1990 awarded her an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Local leaders honored Dukes in 2023, renaming a street near the Roslyn Heights apartment complex that she helped integrate to “Dr. Hazel Dukes Way."

Although by then she had moved to Manhattan, she said at the ceremony, “This is home."

'Warrior for social and racial justice'

Leaders from across Long Island and the state paid tribute to Dukes on Saturday.

Dukes, who had advocated for funding for the Hempstead school district, “was more than a civil-rights leader; she was the heart and soul of our community," Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. said in a statement.

“Her courage to confront injustice and her dedication to uplifting others have left an indelible mark on Hempstead and all of Long Island,” he said. “Her legacy is a beacon, guiding us toward a more just and equitable society.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, in a release, said he had ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff starting Monday "as a memorial to a great leader."

Flags were ordered to be lowered to half-staff in New York City as well, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Dukes was a “dear friend and mentor,” serving as “an unwavering presence” in his life, Adams said in a statement.

“I will remember Ma Dukes for her remarkable ability to bring people together,” he said. “Whether in times of crisis or celebration, she could fill a room with her commanding presence yet make everyone feel heard and valued.”

And Saturday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the flag honor would be statewide. "The leadership, courage and bravery of Hazel Dukes transformed New York for the better,” Hochul said.

Dukes served as the head of New York City's Off-Track Betting Corp. in the early 1990s, a role that spurred controversy. Newsday reported Dukes pleaded guilty in 1997 to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree attempted grand larceny for stealing $13,200 from an employee whose finances she managed. She denied wrongdoing, telling reporters, "I did not make a mistake . . . My lawyer and I wanted to have some closure on this."

She continued her activism afterward, cementing a legacy that friends and colleagues say was steeped in a willingness to confront issues that affected the Black community.

The NAACP New York State Conference said in a statement that Dukes “dedicated more than seven decades advocating for racial diversity, equity, inclusion and long-lasting social change.”

“Into her 90s, she remained on the frontlines, whether protesting police brutality or pushing for better health care in underserved neighborhoods,” said the statement.

'She gave everything'

At a meeting of the organization at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale Saturday, members met to discuss plans ahead of a trip to Albany to advocate for the group’s legislative priorities.

Tracey Edwards, the organization's Long Island regional director, said she had struggled with whether to continue the regularly scheduled meeting amid news of Dukes’ passing.

Ultimately, she decided, “She would have my behind if I did not have this meeting.”

Edwards said Long Island “meant a lot to her” and that Dukes continued to go to church in Roslyn Heights, even after she moved to the city.

“She gave everything to this community,” Edwards said. “It is an immeasurable loss, a personal loss.”

L. Joy Williams, who will replace Dukes as president of the NAACP New York State Conference, said continuing the work of the organization “is what Miss Dukes would want us to do.”

Williams said education was important to Dukes, who focused on issues in New York that later extended to the national scale.

“It’s a testament to how you start local,” Williams said.

Chris Alexander, the organization's executive director, said Dukes recruited him into the group and encouraged him into a leadership role.

“It’s rare that you have somebody that is able to do as much as she did in such a full life,” Alexander said.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a post on X, called Dukes “a great pioneer and warrior for social and racial justice… America has lost one of the greats.”

And former Vice President Kamala Harris said on X: "I speak often of the heroes upon whose broad shoulders we stand. Dr. Hazel Dukes was one of those heroes."

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio presented the key to the city to Dukes in 2020, and she became the first layperson in the United States to administer the oath of office to a governor when she swore in Hochul in 2023.

She is survived by her son, Ronald Dukes, and daughter-in-law, Janet Dukes.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ