Dinkins Recovering After Pacemaker Is Installed

By Special to the Sun | August 8, 2008

Mayor Dinkins is recovering more quickly than expected after receiving a pacemaker implant yesterday at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to one of his senior advisers.

Mr. Dinkins, who served as New York City's first black mayor between 1990 and 1993, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after feeling winded and fatigued, according to his speechwriter and longtime friend, Peter Johnson Jr.

"He's doing real well, much better than I thought he would be," Mr. Johnson said in an interview yesterday. "I just saw him and he's already up and about in his room."

Mr. Dinkins, 81, hopes to be released by the weekend, according to Mr. Johnson.

The former mayor underwent a series of tests on Wednesday, which prompted the doctors' decision to implant a pacemaker. The surgery was performed yesterday morning and took about an hour, according to Mr. Johnson.

This isn't the first time Mr. Dinkins has had heart problems. In 1995, he underwent a triple-bypass surgery, and he suffered a heart attack in 1985.

Mr. Dinkins is currently a professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.