Bravo to Rep. Jerry Nadler, the dean of New York’s House delegation, for opting to not seek re-election next year because, as he puts it, Democrats need a “generational change.”

They absolutely do — especially in the House, where they have roughly twice as many 70-plus members as the GOP and aging members have been caught on camera nodding off at hearings.

Not to mention how three Dem reps dying in office this year alone left vacancies that hobbled Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ efforts to frustrate the Trump agenda.

All this, after party leaders either ignored or outright missed then-President Joe Biden’s failing condition until far too late.

“Watching the Biden thing really said something,” Nadler, 78, told The New York Times.

He’s doing his party another service by allowing plenty of time for vigorous competition for his seat.

Ironically, Nadler himself first made it to the House as the party machine’s pick because Rep. Ted Weiss died (at 64) right before the September 1992 primary.

Yet Weiss had served a “mere” eight terms in Congress; Nadler will have done 17 by the time he steps down. 

It’s a great gift that (on average) we’re all aging more slowly even as we live longer — but that’s helped the Democratic Party (especially) lose touch with its own voters.

Let’s see if Nadler’s bold move encourages the rest of the Democratic Party’s House gerontocracy to make room for new blood. (It might help if Dems finally followed the GOP in limiting the terms for committee chairs.)

Yes, retirements risk opening the door to more radical candidates from the party’s AOC-Mamdani wing — but trying to hang on too long only feeds the demand for drastic change.

Nadler’s replacement will have to earn the seat in what’s likely a brutal competition of Manhattan pols, ensuring that the party not only gets fresh blood, but a newly proven talent.