State committeewoman for Assembly District 78, Rachel Bradshaw, Fordham Hill Co-op board secretary, and candidate in the upcoming Democratic City Council primary election for District 14, joined a group of supporters on Saturday, May 27, as she took her campaign to unseat the incumbent, Council Member Pierina Sanchez who has held the seat since 2022, to the streets of Fordham Manor.

 

District 14 broadly encompasses some or all of the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham Manor, Fordham Heights, Bedford Park, University Heights, Mt. Hope and Morris Heights. It is bordered to the south by the Cross Bronx Expressway.

 

Bradshaw’s supporters included Ali Perez, Manhattan City Council candidate for District 10, Francisco Spies, who told Norwood News he plans to run for office in the 78th Assembly District next year having previously run unsuccessfully in 2020, Darney K Rivers of the group, “I AM MY COMMUNITY,” and former New York State Assemblyman for District 78 José Rivera. Dion Powell, a former Conservative senatorial candidate for State Senate District 32, has also told Norwood News he supports Bradshaw.

 

The latter was recently awarded an honorary degree by Lehman College, as reported, and was ousted last year from his long-held seat by now Assemblyman George Alvarez (A.D. 78). Rivera was busy videotaping the rally as others greeted voters along West Fordham Road and Jerome Avenue’s busy business strip.

 

Bradshaw, who is also a board member on the board of the largest private Co-op in New York City, located in the Fordham Manor section, told Norwood News on the day, “This public rally here is to really just kind of call out the noise disturbances, to call out the crime, to call out the garbage, to call out our failing public schools in the area; that’s what this is really about.”

A flier, which did not mention Bradshaw’s name, or anyone else’s, was shared with Norwood News by the candidate ahead of the event and was billed as a “public rally.” The flier indicated that demonstrators would begin at Fordham Road and Jerome Avenue and march to Burnside Avenue.

 

The candidate continued, “This district has been under-represented for so long and even if you look at our progress in comparison to the overall borough, if you take, for instance, our high school graduation rate, we’re graduating at 66 percent, which is lower than the borough level.” Bradshaw said the figure cited was taken from 2018 Bronx Community Board 5 Health Profile. Bronx Community Board 5 covers some or all of the neighborhoods of Fordham, Morris Heights, Mount Hope, and University Heights, according to nyc.gov.

 

According to nysed.gov, the graduation rate for School District 10 which encompasses the northern part of City Council District 14, the four-year graduation rate for 2020-2021 was 84 percent, versus the Bronx as a whole at 77 percent. District 10 begins around 180th street and continues north to the northernmost tip of the county bordering Westchester. A full list of schools in District 10 can be found here.

 

South of School District 10 is School District 9, which broadly covers the western part of the borough from 161st Street to 180th Street. A full list of schools in District 9 can be found here. School District 9 falls into the lower part of City Council District 14, which broadly encompasses the area from 180th Street to the Cross Bronx Expressway and is broadly bordered to the west by the Major Deegan Expressway and to the east by the Grand Concourse. School District 9 has a graduation rate for 2020-2021 of 77 percent.

It should be noted that the school with the highest graduation rate in New York City is Bronx High School of Science, which falls into School District 10, with around 99 percent of students graduating. Bradshaw continued, “In the financial district in Manhattan, they’re graduating [at] over 90 percent.” According to nysed.gov, School District 2, which, on the east side of Manhattan covers the area south of 97th Street [excluding the Lower East Side] and on the west side, covers the area south of 59th Street, the 4-year graduation rate for 2020-21 was 83 percent.

 

Bradshaw went on to say that the area that encompasses University Heights also has the most 311 noise complaints in the city. We reached out to City officials to check this and have not received an immediate response. According to a January 2022 article by soundproofcow.com, based on 311 noise complaint data, Hamilton Heights in Manhattan was the noisiest neighborhood in New York City. The Bronx was found to be the second noisiest borough after Manhattan, and Bedford Park and Fordham Manor, the noisiest neighborhoods in The Bronx.

 

Of Bradshaw’s candidacy, Spies later told Norwood News, “I just want you to know that I’m endorsing her. She’s a great candidate. She works pretty hard. She will take this job seriously and she’s going to be great for the constituents. They need someone who cares, not a political figure just heading downtown and taking orders and not making the right decisions for the community. I trust that she will work really hard.”

 

For his part, Rivers said of Bradshaw, “It is time for a change, so we are here to support Rachel Bradshaw to make this change. Once she is elected, we will hold her accountable to make the changes she ran on.”

Meanwhile, in a direct attack on her rival, Bradshaw gave a laundry list of problems in the district which she said included crime, noise, garbage and failing public schools. “Basically, we don’t feel safe coming out of our homes. We don’t feel safe having our children playing in the park. We’re not comfortable with sending our children to the local public schools, because we don’t feel like it’s going to serve them.”

 

She mentioned the “affordable housing crisis,” and how Sanchez was on the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings. Bradshaw and others had previously voiced their opposition to a planned supportive housing project in University Heights. The candidate went on to say, “What’s very important to my platform is I want African Americans and Latinos in this community to have actual equity.” She added that she also wants to see more programs with a path to homeownership.

 

Bradshaw alleged members of the Fordham Hill Owners Corporation tried to meet with Sanchez on several occasions regarding a proposed bill the candidate alleged would have banned background checks for potential co-op buyers. She alleged that she helped get the bill shelved, and that had it passed, it would have allowed individuals on a sex offender registry in another state to go undetected [upon moving to New York].

 

Bradshaw also alleged the Fordham Hill group received “no response” from Sanchez on the topic. The candidate had previously attended a rally at City Hall opposing the referenced Fair Chance For Housing Act bill [Intro 632], as reported. She also alleged Sanchez’s office was open from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. “How can you be serving the working class when you have such short business hours?” Bradshaw asked.

 

When contacted for comment, The Sanchez Campaign team said the councilwoman’s office was available to constituents via phone, email, social media, and via a website. The team said the office had responded both by phone and email regarding Intro 632 with Bradshaw in copy. They said residents were educated about the bill’s hearing process and were encouraged to testify on Dec. 8, 2022, and some did so. The campaign said residents were also encouraged to contact the bill’s sponsor, and to share their concerns with neighbors at community spaces, including at community board meetings and neighborhood advisory board meetings.

The Sanchez Campaign team said residents were also invited to share suggested changes and amendments to the legislation, and were advised that Sanchez would be briefed on their concerns and would amplify them to the speaker and bill sponsor at City Council. The team said no specific amendment suggestions were received.

 

Regarding Intro 632, the team said stable housing was key to safe communities, an opinion they said, shared by 62,000 New Yorkers via the NYC Speaks survey. They added that growing research indicated that housing, particularly supportive housing, for formerly incarcerated persons reduced recidivism, made neighborhoods safer, promoted family reunification, and was more humane and cost-effective than re-incarceration.

 

The Sanchez Campaign team said despite these findings, many New Yorkers remained locked out of this option because of prior incarceration records. They highlighted that 80 percent of those with a conviction record are Black and Latinx and added that racial disparities in the criminal legal system are so severe that in 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidelines on housing policy to prevent violations to federal fair housing laws. The campaign said the referenced Fair Chance Housing Act (Intro 632) is fundamentally racial justice and civil rights policy.

 

As reported, following the settlement of a discrimination case regarding the delivery of housing ads last year, Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, Inc., was required to change its ad delivery system to prevent discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

 

The Sanchez Campaign Team said following the December hearing where they said copious testimony was heard, Int. 632 is currently supported by 31 members, and some amendments are being considered. They said Sanchez remains committed to bringing community concerns to the attention of the Int. 632 bill sponsor and speaker, including any changes to exclusions which are presently being contemplated. They said the bill can be called up for a vote at any time at the discretion of the speaker.

 

The campaign added that presently, any offender on a sex offender registry in another state is required to register in NYS within 10 days of moving. Norwood News had reason to call the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services recently on this very topic, and were informed that for the lowest level sex offenders, including those who come from out of state, while they are registered with New York State, the lowest level sex offenders’ names are not displayed or publicly searchable on the online State Sex Offender Registry, unlike higher level sex offenders. We were informed that if a member of the public calls to make an inquiry, however, they can still receive information about any sex offenders [low level or high level] on the registry.

 

In reference to the councilwoman’s office hours, the Sanchez Campaign Team said the office is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and has served over 4,500 constituents during the first 18 months of the councilwoman’s tenure. They said according to the City Council’s database, this is among the highest citywide. They said walk-ins are welcome on Monday through Thursday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and other hours are available to constituents via appointment.

They said that both the councilwoman and her staff attend evening and weekend events, including community board meetings, NYPD precinct council meetings, tenant association meetings, NYC Department of Education parent meetings, community days, and more that often extend to 10 p.m. on weeknights and full days on the weekends.

 

They said, additionally, the council member has hosted numerous block parties and festivals and that Sanchez was proudly leading a community-first process to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory, engaging 4,300 individuals via over 70 outreach events, including public workshops, focus groups, town halls, virtual sessions and more.

 

Bradshaw is supported in her council run by fellow Fordham Hill Co-op board member who is also the board president and CEO, Myrna Calderon. Calderon, a longtime member of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), having served on various committees, has not been reappointed as a board member by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson for the upcoming year which starts in September.

 

Bradshaw took to social media following the news, communicated at the end of May, and alleges that Calderon’s ousting is a consequence of her public support for Bradshaw over Sanchez, who has been endorsed by the Bronx Democratic Party, in the upcoming primary. Norwood News reached out to both the borough president’s office and the Sanchez Campaign Team for comment. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

As reported, at a recent Bronx CB7 Land Use committee meeting on May 16, Calderon took aim at some Adams administration officials who gave a presentation on the mayor’s latest push for a carbon neutral city under the “City of Yes” Plan. “Unlike a lot of people in City Planning, at the community boards, and on city council, I actually have a degree in science,” the community board member said.

 

Calderon continued, “I know a lot of this stuff that they’re doing, supposedly to try to help the environment, is actually hurting the environment. Most of this is based on junk science; there’s a lot of scientists that are against all of these mandates.”

 

Calderon is also a member of the “Noise Task Force,” the former vice president of Community School Board 9 and the founding member of Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Education Committee.

Meanwhile, Bradshaw’s supporters are planning to hold a press conference next week “to call out the Bronx Democratic Party for ganging up on City Council Candidate (District 14) and State Committeemember of the 78 AD Rachel Bradshaw. This [alleged ganging up] is being done to ensure the incumbent current Councilmember Pierina Sanchez remains in office. I AM MY COMMUNITY INC and fellow community leaders will speak out against the aggression displayed by the Bronx Democratic Party. This is contrary to their public-facing platform of supporting people of color and the disenfranchised.”

 

Back at Bradshaw’s rally, the announced march on the event flier to East Burnside Avenue did not take place. When asked about it, Bradshaw explained, “No, we’re not marching, we’re just literally going to speak here.” Norwood News spoke on the day with Carmen, a 30-year-old resident of Kingsbridge who was walking past Bradshaw’s rally. She said she was unfamiliar with either candidate in the District 14 race.

 

Asked what she saw as some of the main problems affecting the community, Carmen replied, “It’s the smoke shops; there’s too many of them. There’s no order and a lot of the businesses that were well established are gone. Now, all we have is fly-by-nights.” She continued, “Those e-bikes are driving everybody crazy. Nobody’s following the rules of the road. Even bicycles, even the Citibikes are on the sidewalks. Oh, and a lot of these car washes. Yesterday, I was walking my dog. I counted from Fordham to Burnside, six of them.”

Earlier this year, on Feb. 21, Bradshaw submitted an op-ed to Norwood News on her candidacy. We explained that, as a nonprofit, we are precluded from publishing op-eds on behalf of elected officials or political candidates (or from accepting ads). Instead, we offered Bradshaw the option of a sit-down interview in order to write a profile piece on her candidacy, as we did for Sanchez, Adolfo Abreu and many other City Council candidates who ran for office in 2021. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

In conclusion, Bradshaw said of the incumbent, “Sanchez is sleeping at the wheel. She’s not serving her constituents. We’re suffering from significant quality-of-life issues here, and basically for the past two years, our City Council representation has been sleeping at the wheel. We’ve had no representation.”

 

Early voting commenced on Saturday, June 17 and as of close of polls on that date, 983 Bronxites had voted.

 

For more recent election coverage, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

 

Early voting takes place from June 17 to Sunday, June 25. Click here to find your early voting site and hours. Request an absentee ballot in person by Monday, June 26. To find your borough Board of Elections office, click here.

 

Polls are open on Primary Election Day, Tuesday, June 27, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Click here to find your Election Day poll site. Return your absentee ballot by mail (postmark required) or drop it off at a poll site by Tuesday, June 27.

 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional community roles filled by Myrna Calderon over the years, as well as her role on the Fordham Hill Co-op board.