Photo by David Greene
District 14 City Council candidate and long-time community organizer, Adolfo Abreu, last month, held another of several pop-up rental clinics he’s been hosting in the district in recent months. On Friday, April 30, ahead of the extension of the eviction moratorium by state legislators, Abreu set up shop at the corner of University Avenue and West Tremont Avenue in University Heights and offered residents information on how to force landlords to make needed repairs, as well as how to prevent eviction.
Last month, Norwood News reported on Abreu’s involvement in a rally held at 2770-2780 Kingsbridge Terrace in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood, where tenants were protesting conditions in the building, including a broken elevator and a roach and rodent infestation.
Last month, Abreu received another boost to his campaign with the endorsement of Progressive Women of New York who ranked him as their first choice candidate in the District 14 race. Meanwhile, they gave their second choice, in the same race, to Pierina Sanchez.
On May 1, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who represents the 33rd senatorial district in the Bronx, also announced his endorsement of Abreu as his first choice candidate and Sanchez as his second. “Bold, transformative leadership is long overdue in the 14th City Council District,” Rivera said at the time. “Since an early age, Adolfo has proven to be a dedicated grassroots organizer and a bonafide champion for the people of the Bronx.”
Rivera continued, “I am confident that he will bring thousands of his neighbors’ voices with him to the City Council and will continue to be a steadfast partner in delivering for our borough.” Meanwhile, the senator said Sanchez’s extensive experience in public service and progressive values made her a natural leader. “Both of these candidates have deep ties to our community and would be transformative as leaders for this district,” he said.
Reacting to the endorsement, Abreu, a longtime member of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), said, “I’m so grateful to be State Senator Gustavo Rivera’s first choice for City Council in District 14. Senator Rivera has fought to make quality residential and public housing and universal healthcare a reality and to reign in the ills of the criminal justice system.”
He added, “I saw first hand his passion and commitment to Bronx residents when I served as his field director in 2016. Together, we overcame the real estate interests that tried to block his reelection. He has continued to model true partnership with tenant and community organizations in Senate District 33. I look forward to governing together to build a Bronx where every person can thrive.”
In addition to a number of other prior endorsements, such as from the NY Working Families Party, Abreu also received the backing earlier this year of Samelys López, a community activist and former candidate in the 2020 15th congressional district race, an election ultimately won by Rep. Ritchie Torres. López, who candidature was profiled at the time by Norwood News, and who was a relative newcomer in the race, surprised some when she won about 13 percent of the vote in the primary election.
She announced in February 2021 that she was endorsing the full slate of City Council candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of American (DSA) in the upcoming June primaries, which includes Abreu in District 14. López has endorsed Dianne Morales for mayor, who is currently addressing concerns raised by some members of her campaign team regarding mistreatment, as reported by The New York Times.
Other DSA-backed candidates include Tiffany Cabán (District 22 in Queens), Jaslin Kaur (District 23 in Queens), Michael Hollingsworth (District 35 in Brooklyn), Alexa Avilés (District 38 in Brooklyn), and Brandon West (District 39 in Brooklyn). “These candidates are rooted in their communities and are committed to radical, transformative change from the grassroots level on up,” López said.
“I am proud to support DSA for The City’s slate of City Council candidates because all are committed to building a people-powered socialist movement in the heart of our capitalist system here in NYC,” said Samelys López. “They have experienced firsthand the failings of our local institutions and are driven to enact solutions that place people over profits. When we get them elected, our city will be closer to becoming a city for all working class New Yorkers.”
Bill Reisman and Jad Joseph, electoral working group co-chairs of the Bronx/Upper Manhattan branch of the DSA said they were thrilled to continue organizing alongside López as they grow a working class movement throughout New York City, and specifically in the Bronx through Abreu’s campaign.
“Samelys has been a tireless advocate for people dealing with housing insecurity, supporting a homes guarantee while other politicians sided with developers,” they said. “As a housing organizer, Adolfo shares these values. We look forward to continuing this important work of her congressional campaign through Adolfo‘s City Council campaign.” López’s campaign added that New York City is grappling with the crises of racial capitalism, police violence and destruction of the social safety net, and that it is time to elect socialist candidates at the local level.
Norwood News previously profiled Abreu’s candidature in the District 14 City Council race, along with Sanchez‘s. Both are considered strong frontrunners. Sanchez currently leads in terms of campaign contributions with $86,305, followed by Abreu with $69,333, Fernando Aquino with $50,645, Yudelka Tapia with $39,894, Haile Rivera with $31,981 and Socrates Solano with $9,207. The seat is currently held by Councilman Fernando Cabrera who is in his final term and is currently running for the position of Bronx borough president.
Voters should mark their calendars with the following important dates.
June Primary Election Important Calendar Dates
- Friday, May 28: voter registration deadline
- Saturday, June 12: early voting begins
- Tuesday, June 15: absentee ballot request deadline
- Sunday, June 20: early voting ends
- Tuesday, June 22: Election Day. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
To vote in the June 22 Primary Election, voters must be registered to vote by May 28. We are just two weeks out from the voter registration deadline. Register to vote here.
Early voting for the election begins on June 12, less than a month away. There are 22 early voting sites throughout the Bronx and finding out which one is yours is simple. Visit find my poll site to find your early voting and election day poll site, and view a sample ballot. Check the hours and location of your poll site before you participate in early voting.
All registered voters can request an absentee ballot be mailed to them if they wish to vote by mail. The deadline to request a mailed ballot online, by email, fax, or by mail is Tuesday, June 15, 2021. You can submit your ballot request online or mail a paper request form to the New York City Board of Elections. Note the application request must be postmarked by June 15.
The deadline to mail or drop off your actual, completed, absentee ballot at any BOE office or at a poll site is June 22, Election Day. The completed ballot must be postmarked on this date.
Those voters in City Council Districts 11 and 15 who voted in the recent special elections on March 23 will be familiar with the new method of voting in New York City called ranked choice voting. For any voter who is not, note that New York City will use ranked choice voting in the upcoming primary elections on June 22, the first primary elections in the City to use this relatively new methodology.
Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank up to 5 candidates in order of preference, including a write-in, instead of choosing just one candidate. Voters may still vote for just one candidate, if that is their wish, in which case they should rank their preferred candidate first (as opposed to second, third, fourth or fifth).
Those who wish to rank other candidates in addition to their first choice may do so.
Learn more about ranked choice voting by clicking on this link.
To learn more about which candidates are competing in the citywide and Bronx races, please refer to our earlier story published last month which contains the list of candidates who made it on to the ballot in each applicable race.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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Interesting how some of these candidates all of a sudden pop up caring about this community. I have lived here for over 40 years and have only heard of their existence until now. This is the normal of Bronx politicians and those aspiring to be. We need to look at where have they been 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago. WHERE? WHERE? WHERE?
He has been working as a Community Organizer for the past 15 years.