Author Archives: Azriel Relph

Going Green Might Not Go Far Enough

Posted by Azriel Relph

Congressman Jose E. Serrano is keeping his green streak alive.

Via Verde - from Jonathan Rose Companies
Via Verde - from Jonathan Rose Companies

Last week, Serrano spoke at the groundbreaking for a new  “green building” that is coming to the South Bronx.  Dubbed Via Verde, the 222-unit apartment complex will rise in a 1.5-acre vacant lot in Melrose.  Solar panels, green roofs and rainwater retention systems in this LEED-certified building will work around a sprawling garden for residents.  Best of all, according to the website of architects, Jonathon Rose Companies, 151 of the rental units will be reserved for low-income families.

“This is truly a turning point in how we will build affordable housing in our neighborhoods,” said Serrano at the groundbreaking.

Sounds like the kind of project that residents of such an economically and environmentally spurned part of the city would be doing backflips over.

But the news reminded me of a scene I witnessed in Serrano’s district in November.

I was pressed in the back of an unusually crowded Housing and Land Use Committee meeting for Bronx Community Board 2, in their Hunts Point office.  The room was packed, because residents of a notoriously neglected building were coming together to speak out about their deplorable conditions and have their say about the selection of a new landlord.  But, that’s another story, (feel free to read my version of it here).  Before the board got to the issue of slumlords, there was a presentation for a new development in the neighborhood.  A coalition of architects and a local non-profit presented plans for a new construction on the corner of Westchester and Intervale Avenues, using recycled materials, a green roof and bamboo floors.  And again, best of all, 110 units of affordable housing would be in this proposed LEED-certified construction.

The architects and advocates sought a letter of approval from the community board for their idea.  I thought to myself; “This is exactly what the neighborhood needs.  Green and affordable?  The board will love it.”

I thought wrong.  The board declined to offer a letter of support for the plan.

“We understand what the city considers ‘affordable,’” said one committee member, putting air quotes around the word. “That’s not what this community considers affordable.”

At issue was how “affordable” is defined.  Developers are rewarded for affordable offerings via tax abatements and subsidies from the city.  To qualify, developers use the city’s metrics for affordability – offer a unit to someone making a certain percentage under Area Median Income and you get a corresponding subsidy.

But Area Median Income is calculated using citywide data.  The Upper East Side and The South Bronx are counted together for income, and are given the same standard for affordability.  The current median income at a citywide level, according to the New York Department of Housing and Urban Development, is almost $70,000 for a family of three (the average family size in the South Bronx is 3.11 people per household).  Based on the 2000 census, the median income for Bronx Community Board 2 was $15,000 a year – almost a third of the citywide number.

In a development like the Banana Kelly project in Hunts Point, which opened more than a year ago, affordable units are reserved for people making no more than 60 percent of New York City median income. That means an individual could make no more than $29,760 a year to get into the building.  Not a hard feat, considering that most people in the neighborhood make half that.

The fears expressed at the crowded community board meeting, were that nice new green and shiny buildings like this – while noble in intent – would be more likely to fill up with middle income people from other neighborhoods, further squeezing out people from a neighborhood where the word “gentrification” is uttered with looks over the shoulder for the boogeyman.

The developers of Via Verde do not have the income band breakdowns for affordable units listed on their webpage yet.   They should.  These kinds of developments could be a watershed for turning life around for the community, or one that rolls right over residents.  Affordable housing measures were introduced by the city and are used by developers with noble intent.  But good intentions aren’t good enough.  Via Verde may well fill up with people who have spent their whole lives in the area and could really use a hand, but it may not.  Congressman Serrano lent the new development his endorsement last week, now it is his responsibility to make sure this building does what it is intended to do.  Green roofs are fine and dandy, but it is who gets to live under them that matters.

Serrano in the Strike Zone

Posted by Azriel Relph

Congressman Jose E. Serrano played some Big League politics over the last week.

Serrano lead off with speed – as does any decent batting order – running the Wildlife Conservation Society’s 5k Run at the Bronx Zoo.  The event helped raise money for endangered species.

Next up on his agenda, during hearings on financial regulation Serrano, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on financial services, repeated his opinion on Wall Street whining.  Some leaders, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, think that heavy regulation will make firms leave, and cost the city untold tax revenue.  Serrano said that financial firms were an important part of New York City, but that their concerns should not trump those of everyday citizens – like his South Bronx constituents.

“There will always be a need for Wall Street, wherever Wall Street may be situated,” he said. “But this is where they want to be, and what they bring to New York should not be the excuse we use to let them get away with what they did before.”

On deck for the Congressman in the three-hole was a house bill that would allow Puerto Ricans to reevaluate their status vís a vís the United States.  Serrano, who was born in Puerto Rico himself, authored the bill.

The bill would ask Puerto Ricans if they are happy with the status quo, and if not, allow them to vote on statehood, independence, “free association” or staying the way things are. But his longtime teammate, Rep. Nydia Velasquez, broke with him on this bill, saying it was designed to push Puerto Ricans to vote for statehood. But Serrano claims no preference and says that the current status, as a territory –which he says is a euphemism for a colony – is the only one he doesn’t like.

“Today’s vote was a strong display on the part of the U.S. Congress that we would like to hear the opinions of the Puerto Rican people on status, while laying out a process that does not favor one option or another,” said Serrano after the bill passed on Thursday.

And batting cleanup was his effort to fight the recent Arizona immigration law.  Passed last week, the law would require immigrants in the state to carry documents on them at all times – or be subject to arrest.  Serrano is among many leaders who believe the law will lead to profiling.  After all, what does an immigrant look like?  How will a police officer know of someone – oh, let’s say a Latino – who says they are not an immigrant and do not have such papers is lying?

“Whether a player is foreign born, or just of an ethnicity that could be targeted by this unconstitutional law, everyone should be scared of a law that empowers law enforcement to arrest people based on looks,” he said.

Serrano pitched the idea of moving the 2011 Major League Baseball All Star Game out of Arizona in a letter to MLB commissioner Bud Selig.  Serrano said that the league should pay attention to the matter, because 27% of its players are foreign born.

“MLB has a very loud megaphone,” said Serrano, “and their rejection of Arizona’s action would be an important demonstration to Arizona that we do not tolerate such displays of intolerance in our nation.

The idea is not without precedent either.  In the 1990s, the National Football League rescinded an agreement to hold the Superbowl in Phoenix, following protests from players upset that the state still would not recognize Martin Luther King ‘s birthday as a holiday.

Serrano – who’s 16th Congressional District includes Yankee Stadium – is not new to mixing baseball and politics.  In 2005, at the hearings on steroid use in baseball, Serrano addressed the speakers – which included Sammy Sosa, and the estranged “bash brothers” Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco:

“For me, baseball is not a game. It’s a passion,” he said.  “Without this game, this country is in deep trouble.”

Espada's Bloodletting of the Bronx is Par for the Course – But Not for Serrano

Posted by Azriel Relph

Anyone following New York politics this week knows that the news was in the Bronx.

Not to be outdone by Charlie Rangel or David Paterson, State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., made the front page of city dailies all week as the latest New York Democrat to be accused of misusing his power for personal gain.

This should not come as a surprise to followers of this blog, as we noted Espada’s predisposition for misconduct in the February post about the Bronx Democratic Family Tree.  At issue is how Espada spent $14 million in funds funneled from taxpayers through his Soundview Health Clinic on sushi and trips to Puerto Rico.  His trouble’s culminated in a civil suit brought on by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and a raid on the health clinic’s offices this week.

Deseree Pilgrim-Hunter, a community organizer in the South Bronx is campaigning for Espada’s seat in Albany.  Espada is a popular figure in the area, but his legal troubles should make it easier for Pilgrim-Hunter to win.  In 2007, Jose E. Serrano honored Pilgrim-Hunter’s leadership at a Black History Month event.

Crookedness from civic leaders is nothing new in the South Bronx.  It is a tradition that goes back to the late Ramon Velez, a former City Councilman who’s Hunts Point Multi Service Center provided much-needed health and social services to poor residents in the 1970s.  Meanwhile Velez used it as a front to funnel federal dollars into dummy corporations he set up.  These days, Espada is joined by the Arroyos – a mother and daughter Assemblywoman and City Councilwoman duo.  They are under investigation for using their South Bronx Community Corporation as a slush fund with the classic Bronx pol business model.

But not every leader north of 125th Street is a criminal.

Jose E. Serrano appears to have some of the cleanest hands in the Bronx.  The Congressman has lived in the area since he was seven years old – so he must have grown up around the same culture of corruption.  Yet, for some reason – perhaps the fact that he really is dedicated to making the Bronx better for his constituents – Jose E. Serrano has not opened up a non-profit of his own to exploit.  In 2007, Serrano honored Pilgrim-Hunter’s leadership at a Black History Month event.

Serrano's next move: President? Judge? Second Base?

Posted by Azriel Relph
Serrano at the hearing. From The Congressman's website.
Serrano at the hearing. From The Congressman's website.

Congressman Jose E. Serrano had a flyer displaying a “42” on it as he chaired a hearing on budget requests for the Supreme Court last week. He was honoring the 63rd anniversary of when Jackie Robinson first donned the number for the Brooklyn Dodgers and opened the door for minorities to play in the major league.

As the hearing progressed and his questions to Justice Clarence Thomas took a turn from the budget requests to banter, it looked like he might also have had the numbers 45 and 112 on his mind; As in the 45th President of the United States and the 112th Justice of the Supreme Court.

Serrano asked Justice Thomas when the court would make a decision on whether someone born on the island of Puerto Rico – like say, the Congressman himself – could run for president.

Since the island is a territory of the United States, its people are full U.S. citizens.  The Constitution says only a “natural born citizen” may occupy the White House.  Most legal scholars say that Puerto Ricans fit the bill, but there is some debate. Opportunists on the left and right have used the ambiguous language to challenge the eligibility of candidates.  Whacko anti-Obama “Birthers” have no monopoly, as there were challenges to whether John McCain – who was born in the U.S.-run Panama Canal Zone – could be president in 2008.

Thomas laughed and said that the Court was “evading that one.”  But also said that there was no such requirement for a Supreme Court Justice to be born in the United States.

“So you haven’t answered the one about whether I can serve as President, but you answer this one,” said Serrano.

Perhaps while waiting for a ruling on whether he can run for President, Serrano would like to join his friend Justice Sonia Sotomayor – a Bronx-born fellow Puerto Rican – on the nation’s highest court.  The exchange with Thomas came after the judge said that he did not think that nominees for the upcoming vacancy on the court necessarily need a judicial background.

“I’m glad to hear that you don’t think there has to be a judge on the Court,” said Serrano, “because I’m not a judge; I’ve never been a judge.”

So what are the odds that the ten-term Congressman would actually seek a job in one of the other branches of government?  Outdated conversations about citizenship aside, it is hard to imagine a Latino from New York City turning any red states blue, (The West Wing’s fictitious first Hispanic President, Matt Santos, had the good political fortune of being a Texan).  As one of the most liberal members of Congress, it is unlikely that Republicans would allow him to be nominated to the court.  Not to mention, the man has one of the safest seats in Congress.  He is continually re-elected by over 90% of his constituents and rarely faces a challenger.

No, it seems more likely that Serrano will take up pro baseball and top Jackie Robinson’s 137 career home runs than he will try to move to the Executive or Judicial branches.  His baseball hero broke down traditional barriers to open up the game to the best players regardless of race, and 63 years later Serrano is just trying to do the same in the U.S. government.

Serrano and the Mustache Caucus

Posted by Azriel Relph
The Mustache of New York's 16th Congressional District
The Mustache of New York's 16th Congressional District

A Tea Party activist yelled at Jose E. Serrano and called him “an elitist pig with a cutesy haircut” while in Washington for the Health Care Reform vote last month.

Making fun of congressional coiffures takes partisan debate to a nasty level, but perhaps there is something to be said about how House members choose to trim and how they vote.

Serrano could be mistaken on the street for Tom Selleck. He has sported his thick brown mustache since he was 17 years old, and has stated that he has no intention of shaving it. He wears it well, and it could be a simple fashion statement. Or perhaps his upper lip hair is the badge of membership to a little known voting bloc:

The Mustache Caucus.

There are 30 mustaches in the United States House of Representatives.

In New York, Eliot Engel and Charles Rangel join Serrano in mustachedom. Georgia also has three Congressmen with staches – making the two states tied for first in the ranks of the whiskered.

Out of the 30 mustaches, only two belong to Republicans, (Denny Rehberg of Montana’s salt and pepper Hungarian mustache and Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland’s thin white English lip hair).

In their careers, these mustaches have voted together 87.86% of the time, and the 27 Democratic mustaches have a 93.86% history of voting together, (Eni Faleomavaega, the representative of American Soma, cannot cast votes with his graying walrus-style whiskers).

There are some Beltway heavy hitters in the Mustache Caucus. Henry Waxman – whose chevron mustache balances out his smooth dome – chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. John Lewis’s young mustache was beaten by police in Selma Alabama and spoke alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D.C. during the 1960s before sitting on the Ways and Means Committee.

11 other Congressmen have beards or goatees. They are also mostly Democrats, but their less-committal facial hair choices do not bind them together into a bloc as strong as the mustaches.

Serrano is well known as a solid Democratic voter – voting along party lines 93.99% of the time – and he is part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He has rocked his facial hair for 50 years now, and is clearly a senior member of the Mustache Caucus.

Keep an eye on those whiskers.

List of other mustachioed Congressmen:

Sanford D. Bishop Jr. – Georgia 2nd D,

G.K. Butterfield – North Carolina 1st D,

Andre Carson – Indiana 7th D,

Travis Childers – Mississippi 1st D ,

Roscoe Bartlett – Maryland 6th  R  ,

Wm. Lacy Clay – Missouri 1st D ,

Emanuel Cleaver, II – Missouri 5th D ,

James E. Clyburn – South Carolina 6th  D ,

Gerald E. Connolly – Virginia 11th D ,

Henry A. Waxman – California 30th  D ,

John Conyers, Jr. – Michigan 14th  D ,

Elijah E. Cummings – Maryland 7th  D ,

Eliot L. Engel – New York 17th D ,

Eni Faleomavaega – American Samoa D ,

Chaka Fattah – Pennsylvania 2nd D ,

Raul Grijalva – Arizona 7th D ,

Phil Hare – Illinois 17th  D ,

John Lewis – Georgia 5th D ,

George Miller – California 7th D ,

Ed Pastor – Arizona 4th D ,

Donald Payne – New Jersey 10th  D ,

Charles Rangel – New York 15th D ,

Denny Rehberg – Montana R ,

Ciro Rodriguez – Texas 23rd D ,

John T. Salazar – Colorado 3rd  D ,

David Scott – Georgia 3rd D ,

Bobby Scott – Virginia 3rd  D ,

Vic Snyder – Arkansas 2nd  D ,

Harry Teague – Mexico 2nd D

Serrano Puts the Uninsured In Front of the Undocumented

Posted by Azriel Relph

José E Serrano changed his stance and voted in favor of the Health Care reform bill last week, in what appears to be a win for his constituents, and perhaps the Congressman himself.

Serrano initially opposed the bill because of language that would prevent undocumented immigrants from getting coverage.  On Thursday, along with the rest of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, he announced his new position, and on Sunday he helped pass the bill.  With an immigration bill on the horizon, Serrano has another opportunity to help the undocumented.  With a constituency in extremely poor health, he might not have gotten another chance to help the uninsured.

Serrano explained why he changed his mind:  “I can vote for this bill with this provision in it for two reasons,” he said in a press release. “First, without victory on this bill, immigration reform will not move forward. Secondly, when we do immigration reform, people who were excluded from health reform will become documented and later citizens, and therefore will no longer be excluded.”

Estimating how many undocumented immigrants live in any area poses obvious challenges, (a problem the 2010 Census is supposed to ease), but the number is assumed to be extremely high in Serrano’s district.  At first glance, it might seem sensible for Serrano to de-prioritize these residents since they cannot vote.  But voters do not live in vacuums; an undocumented resident is likely the parent, sibling, employee, friend or neighbor of a voter.  And it is probably not hard for Serrano – who was born in Puerto Rico – to imagine how different his life might have been if he had been born a hundred miles away in the Dominican Republic.

But the decision to put off the fight for undocumented immigrants does make sense when looking at the health of the South Bronx.  Asthma is one of the biggest health problems in an area known for high traffic and heavy industry.  The levels lead the nation, with one in four elementary school students afflicted. Few residents do not have a preexisting condition of some kind.  The community boards are constantly asking for more and expanded health care centers – but the money is hard to find.  According to Serrano’s website, over 86,000 uninsured South Bronx residents would get coverage thanks to the bill.  The 65,000 people in the area on Medicaid would see improved coverage.  Thousands of small businesses, (the kind with 50 or fewer employees), would get tax breaks to offer employees coverage.  Millions of dollars would go to over 70 community health centers.

Serrano explained that his yes vote was for the health of his constituents.  “I have fought long and hard to ensure that they are able to lead healthy lives—whether it is working to clean the air that they breath or fighting for parks and open space for people to exercise and relax or even pushing for healthier food options. But voting in favor of this health reform bill is the biggest step we can take to ensure that Bronx residents live healthier lives.”

As much as it made sense for him to fight for coverage for the undocumented, ultimately it made even more sense for Serrano to vote for the bill.  His constituents needed the help, and will likely reward him for it with their continued support.  With health care finally taken care of, immigration reform should come up on the agenda soon, and Serrano will have another chance to help the undocumented.

Serrano's Wars

Posted by Azriel Relph
The NYOFCo plant on the shore of the East River.
The NYOFCo plant on the shore of the East River.

This week, Jose E. Serrano declared victory in a long-and-hard fought war just days after declaring that another war was a lost cause.

Serrano supported Dennis Kucinich’s resolution for withdrawal from the nine year-old war in Afghanistan in the House on Wednesday.  The resolution failed in a 356 to 65 vote.

By Friday, Serrano declared victory in a 18 year-old battle against an odorous fertilizer plant in the South Bronx.

On Wednesday, the Department of Environmental Protection announced that it would terminate its contract with The New York Organic Fertilizer Company (NYOFCo).

NYOFCo started operating on the Hunts Point waterfront in 1992.  Sewage from throughout the city is brought on barges to the plant, where human refuse is turned into fertilizer pellets. Recycling our worst bits of waste into products that can be sold and used to grow crops seems like a great program. But locals think the whole operation stinks.

The red-and-white-striped smokestack of the plant looms over the southern part of the neighborhood as if a giant Cat in the Hat had left behind his signature headwear. At one of the neighborhood’s few green spaces, the new Baretto Point Park, children play in the shadow of the plant.  But it’s been more than an eyesore.  The plant emits a noxious odor, that one resident described as smelling like “old garbage, burned rubber and pestilence” to The Hunts Point Express. The smells have driven residents indoors, leaving the park empty on days when the wind doesn’t blow odors away.  People have repeatedly reported getting sick from the smells.

Community groups rallied together to fight the plant for years, and Serrano has been a big supporter of their cause, speaking against renewing the plant’s permits. Resident’s sued NYOFCo in 2008, and in 2009 the state also sued the company.  Until now the biggest victories were a state smell inspector and promises of tougher regulations on the odors.

The long hard fight has produced positive outcomes beyond the goal of shutting the plant down, according to Serrano.

“The remarkable thing about the years-long fight against NYOFCo is that it became the tool that our community used to organize itself,” said Serrano in a press release Friday. “The coalitions that formed in this campaign have gone on to fight on behalf of other pressing environmental causes – of which there are far too many in our borough – and have won many of those fights.”

Serrano wrapped up his remarks with more language of a triumphant warrior: “I look forward to more victories like this one, but today’s is particularly sweet.”

So Serrano knows that a long arduous fight can be won, and is worth the wait.  Yet, his remarks on Afghanistan make it seem like he has lost his faith in the fighting spirit.

“Nine years later, I believe that Congress has the duty to reevaluate America’s involvement in a war that seems to have bogged down with very few signs of success,” said Serrano when he addressed the House floor Wednesday.

“We seem unable to eradicate the Taliban enemy—they scatter before our troops into lawless regions, and then return once our troops leave,” he continued. “This is a costly war without an end in sight.”

Serrano initially supported the war, but says that the goals have changed, and that victory is not in sight.

But what if he had adopted the same attitude halfway through the fight against the foul smelling plant?  The persistence of Serrano and residents made the South Bronx a better place for children to grow up.  Similar persistence may or may not eventually make Afghanistan a better place for children to grow up as well – and thus make the entire world safer.

The measure was certain to fail, and any Congressman’s decision to support it was clearly more political than practical. However Serrano and residents of his embattled district, should know not to give up when the going gets tough.

Serrano Goes Postal

Posted by Azriel Relph

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays this Congressman from getting funding for his favorite causes.

In December, Jose E. Serrano introduced a bill to the House that would benefit both civil servants and the environment – two camps he’s been known to fight for.  If passed, HR 4399, the American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act, (or “e-Drive” bill), would provide up to $2 billion to create a fleet of over 20,000 electric vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service Fleet.

The bill would fund about 14,000 vehicles that use different types of electric and hybrid technologies in an initial phase.  The second phase would produce an additional 10,000 of the type of vehicle that proves to be the most cost and energy efficient.  Part of the bill includes a “Vehicle to Grid” plan, where excess power in the grid during off-peak times could be stored in the batteries of idle vehicles. When energy demand rises, it could be put back into the grid and purchased by energy wholesalers – allowing the Postal Service to make money off of the trucks.

The U.S. Postal Service announced last week that it was on track to lose $238 billion over the next decade, due to a decrease in usage.  It is even considering eliminating its Saturday service to makeup for the shortfall.  There are over 200,000 postal delivery trucks on the road right now, getting about ten miles per gallon, and most are due for replacement.  There are currently 30 electric vehicles delivering the mail in the Bronx.

As chairman of the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, Serrano oversees the funding of the Postal Service.

A spokesperson for Serrano said this was currently his most important project.  This should come as no surprise.

Serrano is well known as an environmental advocate. In the heavily polluted 16th Congressional District in the South Bronx, he has helped fund the cleanup of the Bronx River for several years – where beavers and fish are starting to replace old tires and rusted shopping carts.  In the late 1990’s he filed a complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency over the air quality in the area, where heavy traffic and heavy industry just happen to share space with some of the nation’s highest asthma rates.  On national issues he is just as green, and his voting record in the House for 2009 earned him a 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

Perhaps less well known is Serrano’s commitment to the U.S. Postal Service.  In 2007, he fought and won against a proposal to shut down the Bronx Postal Distribution Center and have its services consolidated with the Manhattan center.  Last year, he fought against the closing of seven Bronx post offices.  He has also fought against the reduction of service from six to five days.  In 2008 he even sponsored a commemorative stamp for one of his favorite crooners, The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra.

Why all the love for the Cliff Clavins of America?  A look at Serrano’s top campaign contributions for 2009-2010 gives a few hints.  The National Rural Letter Carriers Association gave $3,500 in the eleventh spot, the American Postal Workers Union gave $4000 in seventh, and tied in second place were the National Association of Postmasters and the National Association of Letter Carriers at $5,000 each.  His number one contribution however, was $11,000 from accounting, consulting and financial services firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.  And what does Deloitte do? One project is consulting the Postal Service on “green” initiatives.

If you have questions about the e-Drive bill, you can contact Congressman Serrano through his website.  Although he’d probably prefer it if you mailed him a letter.

The Bronx Democratic Family Tree

Posted by Azriel Relph

The Clintons and Kennedys may be the most well known Democratic dynasties, but the Bronx has plenty of its own.

Last week I wrote about José E. Serrano’s efforts to raise money for the Bronx Zoo to do cleanup at the Bronx River.  I noted that his son, New York State Senator José M. Serrano is Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation – and an advocate for the zoo.  That wasn’t to suggest that the Congressman was acting out of nepotism, (he’s got as good of a voting record as you can get on environmental issues).  But in the Bronx it’s always worth considering, because here, politics is a family affair.

Let’s see what other family ties we can find in the Bronx Democratic Party.

José Rivera is a good place to start.  This Democratic Party Boss represents the Kingsbridge Heights and surrounding areas of the Bronx in the New York State Assembly.  He joined the Assembly in 1982 but in 1987 he left to represent a similar slice of the Bronx – the 15th Council District – on the City Council.  That seat went to his son, Joel Rivera, when he returned to the State Assembly in 2000.  But Rivera isn’t lacking for family in the Assembly.  In 2004 his daughter Naomi Rivera was elected to the Assembly to represent the Norwood and Pelham areas of the Bronx.  (Note: Assemblyman Peter Rivera of the Bronx is related to these three Riveras only by party and borough).

At 36 years old, the newish Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr., is a rising star in the party. He started his political career in 1996 in the New York State Assembly, representing the Soundview section of the Bronx.  His father, Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr., joined the New York State Senate in 2002 to represent the South Bronx, after a year on the City Council.  The Borough President has brothers in the NYPD and New York City Housing Authority as well.

New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. is part of the Bronx family, (though it took an investigation by the Bronx District Attorney to get him to spend any time at his residence in the borough).  His brother, Jose Espada, once ran for the State Assembly, but District Leader was the highest office he ever got.   Senator Espada’s son, Pedro G. Espada, on the other hand, had a brief career on the State Senate in the late 1990s.  Last year, after a stint as a City Councilman and a few years working for his father’s controversial Soundview Healthcare Network, the younger Espada got a plush $120 thousand job as Senate Deputy Director for Intergovernmental Relations.  However, he had to quit after a week, when accusations arose that he was hired as favor to his father for returning to the Democratic Party.

The Bronx Rouge’s Gallery – er Family Tree – wouldn’t be complete without the Arroyos.  Carmen E. Arroyo has been serving the 84th Assembly District for the Bronx since 1994.  In 2005 her daughter, Maria del Carmen Arroyo, was elected to represent Pedro G. Espada’s old 17th City Council District in the Bronx.  Last summer, Richard Izquierdo Arroyo – the Assemblywoman’s grandson, and nephew of the City Councilwoman – was charged this summer with embezzling over $200 thousand from a nonprofit, SBCC Management Corporation, that he managed.  Among the charges are that the nonprofit was used as a slush fund for such activities as buying plane tickets to Puerto Rico for the three Arroyos.

And it’s not over yet.  This week former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’s son, Carlos Gonzalez, said he is raising money to run for office in the Bronx.  The Elder Gonzalez recently withdrew a guilty plea he had offered in another Bronx slush fund case. Depending on what office his is thinking of running for though, he’d be running against either Pedro Espada or Jose Rivera, according to The Daily News. Either way, he’ll be challenging not just a candidate, but also a well-entrenched political family.

“Follow the money,” was the suggestion that Deep Throat gave Woodward and Bernstein for their investigative reporting in Washington D.C.  In the Bronx, he might have said, “Follow the family tree.”

Serrano Bails Out Bronx Beaver

Posted by Azriel Relph

Wall Street got $700 billion.   Detroit got $17 billion.  In December a little part of the Bronx got its own bailout, thanks to José E. Serrano.

The recession has hit the animal kingdom hard; last year Governor Paterson cut more than half of state aid to zoos, from $9 million to $4 million.  The Bronx Zoo even launched a campaign with videos featuring animals getting laid off.

Bronx Park and the 265-acre zoo within it, stand out from the dense housing and rundown industrial zones in the 16th Congressional District, like an emerald in a pile of coal.

The Bronx River – which creates the Eastern boundary of Serrano’s district – feeds from the East River near the Rikers Island jail, up past the scrap metal yards of Hunts Point, under the Bruckner and Cross Bronx Expressways, until it reaches the 110 year-old zoo.  A recent effort aimed at cleaning the polluted river – led by the Bronx River Alliance – has been successful thanks to Serrano’s skill at bringing money into his district. Three years ago biologists from the zoo discovered that a beaver had returned to the river after a 200-year absence, (the critters were once so abundant that they are a part of the city’s flag).  The biologists saw fit to name the beaver José, after their representative in Congress.

So it should be no surprise that Serrano used his earmarking skills to get $1 million in federal funds for the Wildlife Conservation Society, who runs the zoo.  The funds came in December in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill – H.R. 3288 – and are to be used for restoration on the Bronx River.

But Serrano probably didn’t just secure the funds out of a feeling of kinship towards his dam-building namesake.  There are other incentives.

First of all, the zoo really is a huge job provider in his district.  Unlike places like the Hunts Point Food Market, where most of the business owners and workers live in other areas, many of the zoo’s employees live in the Bronx.   The Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium have a combined staff of 990 full-time and 600 part-time employees according to the Wildlife Conservation Society .  New York State Senator José M. Serrano, (son of the Congressman), says that 38% of the zoo’s full-time staff, and 80% of its part-time staff live in the Bronx.

So that is $1 million for jobs at one of the few places that attracts visitors to the Bronx, (the other being Yankee Stadium).  The jobs will go towards restoration of a river whose health is tied to the reputation of the human José and the life of the rodent José.  Out of work residents, tourists, environmentalists and beavers all made happy.  Seems like an easy move for Serrano.

Secondly, it probably doesn’t hurt that his son, the State Senator, is also Chair of the Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee – and has been vocal for funding for the zoo.

So maybe big José was lending little José a hand to boost his political clout in the Borough.  Or perhaps he was helping furry José increase his property value in the river.  Or maybe he was just trying to get a little money into the poorest Congressional District in the country.