City & State spoke with former Rep. Charles Rangel on Aug. 5, 2024, for a profile of Keith Wright , the Manhattan Democratic Party boss and son of Judge Bruce Wright, who was one of Rangel’s mentors. Rangel, from his apartment in Harlem, spoke for 40 minutes about Wright, whom he groomed to succeed him in Congress, only to see him lose to Adriano Espaillat in 2016.

After Rangel died on May 26 at age 94, City & State went back to the transcript of last year’s interview, where he discussed how he first came into politics and became one of the “Gang of Four,” along with David Dinkins, Basil Paterson and Percy Sutton. Rangel also detailed his relationship with Wright and his views on the shift of political power from Harlem to Brooklyn. This interview has been edited for length and clarity

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