New York Democratic Rep Nydia Velázquez announces retirement after 34 years in office

New York Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez announced her retirement after 34 years in office.

“For more than three decades, I have had the privilege of a lifetime serving the people of New York City in the United States Congress,” Velázquez said in a statement on Thursday, The Hill news outlet reported.

“After much reflection, I have decided that this will be my last term in Congress. This was not an easy decision, but I believe that the time is right for me to move on and for a new generation of leaders to step forward,” she added.

Velázquez, 72, began her congressional career in 1993. She became the House’s first elected Puerto Rican woman when elected in 1992.

“I grew up in a small town of sugar cane fields in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. My family did not have much. Nine children in a wooden house,” Velázquez continued in her statement.

“Politics in Washington felt a world away. If you had told that little girl she would one day be the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, she would never have believed it.”

Velázquez represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.