Nydia Velázquez Hears Calls for Generational Change, Setting Up a Fight on the Left in New York

Rep. Nydia Velázquez knew it was time to retire when Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race.

“What I saw during that election was that so many young people were hungry for a change and that they have a clear-eyed view of the problems we face and how to fix them,” Velázquez, D-N.Y., told The Intercept. “That helped convince me that this was the right time to pass the torch.”

Velázquez, a native of Puerto Rico who has served in Congress for more than 30 years, announced her retirement Thursday, in the early days of what is sure to be a frenzied 2026 midterm season across the country and in several solidly Democratic New York districts. She was not facing a notable primary challenger, unlike her House colleagues Hakeem Jeffries, Ritchie Torres, and Adriano Espaillat: three younger New York congressmen who are all considered firmly in line with the Democratic establishment, and all facing challenges from their left.

“She could be in that seat as long as she wants,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a longtime ally whom Velázquez once described as one of her “children.” “Nydia is at her peak. So that she would go out like that — it’s so Nydia.”

Velázquez is known as something of a den mother for a generation of younger progressive politicians in Brooklyn. She is overwhelmingly popular in her district but made few friends in the local establishment’s clubby machine politics. As Brooklyn’s electorate shifted left over the decades, she built up a formidable stable of protégés in key roles.

“My goal was never to build a machine,” she said. “My goal was to build a bench of strong, independent, progressive public servants who understood who they work for.”

That will likely set up a competitive race to succeed Velázquez in her left-leaning 7th Congressional District, which includes Mamdani’s home base of Astoria, Queens, and solidly progressive Brooklyn neighborhoods like Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Clinton Hill. The district’s progressive profile means it’s poised to become a hot contest for candidates on the left — and may distract from the controversial candidacy of City Council Member Chi Ossé, who’s waging a long-shot challenge against Jeffries that has mired the city’s Democratic Socialists of America in debate.

Velázquez declined to say who, if anyone, she favored to become her replacement.

“I could leave today and know that the district will be in good hands,” she said.

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Velázquez is bowing out at a moment when the “G word” — gerontocracy — can be heard frequently on cable news, and not just on the lips of younger political hopefuls frustrated by an aging party leadership. She joins fellow Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who announced his decision to retire in September and who has already kicked off a wild, 10-way primary fight in his Upper West Side district.

“She told me she wanted to send a message to Democrats across the country that it is time for the next generation,” said City Council Member Lincoln Restler, a protégé. “Still, every elected official I’ve spoken to is just sad that we’re losing this remarkable moral leader.”

Velázquez saw Mamdani’s promise so early in the mayoral race that she was predicting his win well before many of her younger acolytes did, Reynoso told The Intercept.

“Nydia was always like ‘Zohran is the one, and I think he can win,’” Reynoso said.

At Mamdani’s victory celebration on November 4, Velázquez was happy to flaunt her prediction. When one supporter joyfully asked if she could believe it, she replied: “I believed it a year ago.”

Velázquez, 72, was first elected in 1992, unseating a nine-term incumbent in the Democratic primary to become the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress. At the time of her primary victory, the New York Times offered readers a guide to the phonetic pronunciation of her name.

“When Nydia Velázquez was first elected to Congress, it was her against the world,” said Restler. “She took on the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, and the entrenched political power in Brooklyn was entirely against her.”

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In 2010, Restler said, “she told me she felt genuinely lonely in Brooklyn, that she had so few allies that she could count on. Fifteen years later, essentially every single person in local and state elected office across her district is there because of her validation, her legitimization, and her support.”

In the wake of her announcement on Thursday, praise for Velázquez poured in not just from her mentors and close ideological allies, but also from establishment figures closer to the center as well. On X, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the outgoing congresswoman a “trailblazer” — a hint perhaps at the stable of potential left-wing contenders Velázquez has helped take the playing field over the years.