Mark-Viverito, who recently received the endorsement of four of the country’s leading teachers’ unions, in her bid for the congressional seat, was clear in her message. “Today, I unapologetically, and unequivocally, call on the reverend to drop out of the race in the 15th congressional district for the well being of our community and for the lives of our district,” she said. “And in the 20 days that is left of this campaign, I’m calling my fellow colleagues in this race to do the same.”

 

Mark-Viverito said her reason for calling on Diaz Sr. to suspend his campaign was because, in her view, he is “a Trump apologist, more aligned with Republican values than he is with the 15th congressional district”. She said that aside from the possibility of four more years of a Trump presidency, a similar scenario could occur in the 15th congressional district if Diaz Sr. were to be elected.

 

“This is a man who probably accepted the endorsement of the NYPD union less than two weeks ago, then turned around and had the nerve to stand at a peaceful protest, and a peaceful unity event for George Floyd, here in the Bronx,” she said.

 

Mark-Viverito said that recent events across the borough and the nation have propelled the need for change. During a clean-up and press event on Fordham Road on Jun. 3 following a night of violence and looting, she said she was talking to a couple of Bronx constituents who, unprompted, said they were “devastated and completely offended” to see Diaz Sr. on TV talking about his support for President Donald Trump.

 

She said the constituents in question said there was no way they would support someone who would support Trump, someone who Mark Viverito said destroyed Bronx communities, and democracy and, in her opinion, was as life-threatening to the Bronx community as the pandemic.

 

“The last thing we need in this borough, in this congressional district, is that we have a Trump-supporting republican disguised as a Democrat,” she said. “Rev. Diaz needs to go. He needs to step out of the race. He has no business running in a Democratic primary. None at all.”

 

During her announcement on Twitter, Mark-Viverito also called out Trump directly, referring to what she described as his failed response to climate catastrophes like Hurricane Maria and Irma, his failed response to the coronavirus, to which she attributed thousands of deaths in the Bronx, and his failed response to police brutality, which she said also resulted in too many deaths in the Bronx.

 

“What’s been happening in the last week in the Bronx, and throughout the country has truly been heart-wrenching, and I think that’s an understatement,” she said. “After the night’s protests and demonstrations, what is clear from all of this activity and action is that people are demanding a change.”

 

It’s clear that Mark-Viverito wants to be that change. “There’s been a lot going on, and in the community of the Bronx, it’s even more of a challenge,” she said. “From the effects of COVID, to the recent protests and demonstrations that have followed the murder of George Floyd, there’s a lot that has been thrown at us, at our communities,” she added. She described the recent events collectively as “unprecedented, devastating, overwhelming, confusing, and inspiring all at the same time”.

 

As reported by Norwood News, as of May 19, 2020, Norwood / Olinville (ZIP code 10467) had the second highest number of actual COVID-19 cases in the City (3,179) just behind Corona, Queens which had 4,242 actual cases as of that date.

 

Additionally, ZIP code 10467 ranked 21st out of 177 City ZIP codes for positive COVID-19 cases per capita, according to the City’s health department. This measures the density of infection in a particular ZIP code by measuring the number of positive cases per 100,000 residents.

 

The high numbers have been met with criticism of a failed health policy in the district, and in the borough at large, a failed policy that has disproportionately impacted people of color.

 

Referring again to Diaz Sr., Mark-Viverito said, “He is a member of the Democratic Party in one of the poorest congressional districts in the nation, in a place where the district is largely Black and brown, and he is not a Democrat, but a Republican”.

It’s the Filthy Terrorist Lover @NydiaVelazquez . This PIG supports FALN Terrorists while the victims rot in their graves. Hell will be ready for Oscar Lopez Rivera and all his supporters! @NydiaVelazquez @MMViverito @CarmenYulinCruz @RepJoseSerrano @DarrenSoto @LuisGutierrez

— Bruce S. (@BES33065) June 2, 2020

 

She chided the reverend for “parading” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, around the Bronx among communities which she said were being torn apart by Republican policies. She was also critical of the reverend’s stance on equal rights. “He is anti-choice. He is anti-LGBTQ equality, and that runs completely counter to where we should be as a party, but also where we should be as country,” she said.

 

Norwood News has reached out to the councilman for comment, further to Mark-Viverito’s remarks. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

Mark-Viverito, herself, has had her own brushes with allegations of racial injustice. It was alleged in 2016 that she had pressured an African-American NYCHA manager, and had attempted to replace her. This resulted in an as-yet-undecided lawsuit. We asked Mark-Viverito for a comment on the matter.

 

“I believe very strongly that will get dismissed,” she said. “I’ve always been someone to advocate for my constituents, and when you have constituents that are telling me that they’re coming into our office because they do not have the ability to communicate effectively with the staff at a management office at NYCHA, I’m going to advocate for those constituents”.

 

She added that she never asked, nor ever would use her position to demand someone’s ouster. “That’s an abuse of authority,” she said. “My issue was how is NYCHA going to address the needs of the residents that live in my public housing development that have expressed to me, as their representative, particular concerns. So, the accusations, I believe, will be dismissed [as] baseless, and it’s unfortunate because they’re slandering.”

 

When we interviewed Mark-Viverito earlier last month, it was at the height of calls by private tenants for rent abatement or cancellations, due to economic uncertainties related to the shutdown. We asked her, as a property owner and landlady in New York City, if she had offered rent relief to her own tenants. She replied, “I do have one renter, and he has asked for consideration, and we have spoken about that, yes”.

 

Tenant protection legislation was subsequently passed in New York State on May 28.

Fiercely progressive, Mark-Viverito also has her critics. Further to the publication of a recent article about her being endorsed by four teachers’ unions, earlier this month, one of our readers commented on our Facebook page, underneath the article, saying, “Rev. Diaz will win by a landslide. She helped that terrorist get a pardon from Obama”.

 

In 2017, Mark Viverito campaigned for the release of Oscar López Rivera, a prominently incarcerated member of FALN, a Puerto Rican clandestine, paramilitary organization, active until the early 1980s which advocated for Puerto Rico’s independence. During our initial interview with Mark-Viverito, time did not allow us to cover the topic.

 

However, after the Obama administration announced in 2017 that it would commute the 55-year sentence of López Rivera, who had served 35, the former City Council speaker was quoted in Politico at the time, saying, “It’s been a long road emotionally and personally and I have been very invested in this case, and I visit him, and it’s just personal — it’s overwhelming”.

 

The topic came to light, once again, in recent days on a Twitter thread in the context of a tweet by a federal elected official to the president’s threat to use military action against the Black Lives Matter protestors. In response to the tweet, another user called out Mark-Viverito and other LatinX elected officials for their apparent support for López Rivera.

#RevDiazNeedsToGo#RevDiazPaFuerahttps://t.co/5HJYUXnYaT

— Melissa Mark-Viverito (@MMViverito) June 3, 2020

 

We did ask Mark-Viverito about her views on Puerto Rican independence during a subsequent interview in May. “Look, I have been very clear. I live in New York,” she said. “I have my heart on the island. My mother lives there, so obviously, when I speak, it’s also because of my care, my love for my island, but also because of the immediate impact on my family, so sometimes I feel like I’m speaking on their behalf.”

 

She continued, “But I live here, and I don’t think it’s wrong for me to advocate for one particular status option. I will be clear though. I don’t support statehood for Puerto Rico”.

 

Under the current political framework, Puerto Ricans currently do not have voting rights in U.S. presidential elections, as reported by USA Today. Some say this places the island at a disadvantage, given that it is reliant on U.S. federal assistance, which, arguably, was too slow under the Trump administration in responding to Hurricane Maria, and again, during the recent earthquakes.

 

The island is also subject to a contentious law called the Jones Act which, as explained by the Cato Institute, ensures restrictive fee arrangements are in place pertaining to shipping, docking and transportation. Some experts argue that permanent Jones Act waivers for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and other non-contiguous U.S. territories, the economies of which are disproportionately dependent on waterborne transportation, would mark progress.

 

As reported by Latino Rebels, Puerto Ricans have suffered unprecedented hardship in the last three years, between government corruption scandals, several earthquakes, and, of course, Hurricane Maria. Allegations of sexism, chauvinism and suppression of LGBTQ rights forced former Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Russello to resign in the summer of 2019 amid sustained demonstrations on the island, while other protests took place in the U.S.

 

We asked Mark-Viverito for her views on the current governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced, who replaced Russello. “She’s a disaster,” she said. “First of all, she wasn’t elected by the people. It was by default. She was kind of the next in line and just filled in that spot.”

 

Mark-Viverito said Vázquez Garced is just a continuation of the old regime. “There’s been a lot of corruption under her watch,” she said. “When she was secretary of justice in Puerto Rico, there were a lot of investigations that were not pushed forward, and that were about looking into corruption, and she was asked to look into the issue of gender-based violence, which is horrific.”

 

Mark-Viverito said that the island has historically high rates of femicide, and murder of trans community members, but there is no interest in speaking about it. “She is allowing the fundamentalism in Puerto Rico to kind of run roughshod, basically creating a kind of a theocracy, where policies and legislation is being pushed forward to favor the fundamentalist, which basically is anti-LGBTQ equality, anti-women’s choice,” she said.

 

She added, “So, there’s the issues of corruption as well that continues to be of concern with her, that was there before with the prior governor, so it’s just the same”. Mark-Viverito said that people are tired of it and so is she. “Part of my interest also, with this [congressional] position is to use the platform, as I have done historically, to give voice and shed light on what is happening to Puerto Rico, and be able to push and be an ally to the island as well.”

 

The Democratic, presidential, state and congressional primary elections will take place on Jun. 23.

 

Congressman Ritchie Torres subsequently won the June primary and was subsequently elected to Congress in the 15th congressional district in the November 2020 general election.