Nydia velazquez Congress New York retirement reelection.

New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez — a trailblazer known by the nickname “La Luchadora,” or the fighter — announced that she will retire next year after more than three decades in Congress. Velázquez, 72, is the second long-serving New York Democrat to say she’ll step aside after Rep. Jerry Nadler, 78, announced in September that he’d exit at the end of his current term. Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress, said in a statement Thursday that representing the people of New York City has been the “privilege of a lifetime.” Her retirement clears the way for a competitive primary in her deep blue district, which covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens.