The following story was first published on June 26, 2022, by Norwood News ahead of the June 2022 Democratic Primary for Assembly District 81, when Jessica Altagracia Woolford ran, ultimately unsuccessfully, in that primary race against incumbent assemblyman, Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81). Altagracia Woolford is currently running for office in the upcoming general election on Nov. 8 on the Working Families Party ticket, once again, in Assembly District 81. 

 

Growing up in Kingsbridge, Jessica Altagracia Woolford is a community organizer who previously worked for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office, and campaigned for former U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, during her 2016 presidential campaign.

 

She says politics is not binary, that she doesn’t run on slogans, and that voters across New York State have more in common than people might think. The candidate says her priority is putting Bronxites first, and if elected, she said this will be straightforward because she will not be beholden to any corporate interests.

 

We asked the first-time challenger, who is also a mother, what her top-three campaign issues are. “We’ve talked to thousands of voters over the past few months, people that I’ve known growing up, but also getting to know a lot more folks across the 81st district in a number of different neighborhoods,” she said, before adding that what she hears incessantly are concerns over housing and affordability.

 

“There are a lot of people, myself included, who are stressed about the rising costs of living, how inflation is impacting us and obviously, some of these issues, they’re global crises. But people in The Bronx, and here in the 81st district, they’re really feeling that very acutely,” she said.

 

“They’re having a hard time making their dollars really go a distance, people are worried about evictions, and so, something that I learned too, before I launched my campaign, was just how severe the hunger crisis is in our community,” she said, adding that since New York City is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, it has the resources to ensure people are fed, housed, and have affordable healthcare.

 

“Those are my top three issues; it’s all about housing, it’s hunger, and it’s healthcare. Unfortunately, there are elected officials who have distanced themselves from what it means to have to stretch every dollar to buy milk for your kids, formula for your baby, but also to be able to find nutritious produce, to care for yourself if you’re an elder, to make sure that the options available are also culturally competent if you are observant, and you need Kosher and you need halal food,” she said, highlighting that the demographics of the district have changed over the last 28 years to become more Black and brown.

 

“On the legislative end, my priorities in Albany would be to pass ‘Good Cause Eviction’,” Altagracia Woolford said, referring to a bill introduced at State level in 2021, which, if passed, would prohibit landlords from ending a tenancy with market-rate tenants without good cause, except in cases of lease violations like failure to pay rent or other infractions.

 

“We got so close and it’s so heartbreaking,” Altagracia Woolford said. “I talked to a lot of activists and folks who have gone up to Albany. It was like their part-time job, and to think that we’ve got Democrats in charge at all levels, but yet we’re not delivering on those core values that make Democrats who they should be.” [Altagracia Woolford is currently running on the Working Families Party ticket in the upcoming general election on Nov. 8.]

 

We asked Altagracia-Woolford if she had been in government, how she would she have addressed those issues. She alleged that in the 28 years that incumbent assemblyman, Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81), has been the local assembly member in the Northwest Bronx, he hasn’t prioritized equity, and that legislators should be made to understand what “Good Cause” could mean for hard-hit communities like Kingsbridge, Norwood, and Wakefield.

 

She added that she was intentional about connecting with residents by talking about these issues with the local press which she said was vital to the process. “This is where you get your trust in us from, because it’s closest to your neighborhoods,” she said. The candidate also highlighted the value of community and media roundtables, which she said were effective in explaining why Good Cause legislation was needed, along with the need to build public renewables. “They’re [residents] so disenchanted with what’s possible with government, that there’s such a lack of imagination,” she said.

 

She added that it was important for voters to know that as one of nine candidates backed by the Working Families Party [now the Working Families Party nominee for A.D. 81 in the general election], as a collective block of progressive candidates, they would have a mandate “to fight for working folks,” not only in The Bronx, but across The State. She added that the housing crisis was not unique to New York City and that she saw opportunities for alliances with upstate legislators on both housing and on the expansion of the “Nourish New York” program.

 

Launched amid the pandemic, the $147 million State program helps New Yorkers who are food insecure access the nourishment they need, while providing a market for New York farmers to sell their products.

 

Altagracia Woolford said she was also excited to see what could be achieved locally together with progressive legislator, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33), and if elected, Jonathan Soto. [Soto ran against, and was ultimately defeated by, incumbent assemblyman, Michael Benedetto, in A.D. 82 in the June 2022 Democratic primary.] “A few years ago, we got the IDC out in the Senate,” Altagracia Woolford said. “We need now to finish the job in the assembly, because so many of these big, transformative pieces of legislation, they passed in the senate over and over again, and then they died in the assembly.”

 

As reported, the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a former group of now disbanded Democrats who had historically and typically voted with Republicans, blocking various pieces of progressive legislation. Altagracia Woolford continued, “They [bills] die in the assembly because folks are taking money from corporations. Jeff [Dinowitz] has taken almost $180,000 in the past few years from corporate PACs, from real estate developers. Even in the last few days, he’s taken money from Johnson and Johnson, and from the real estate PAC.”

 

The candidate alleged Dinowitz and others say they care about particular issues, but following the dollars, she said they are in direct conflict with how to deliver on such services. A review of the assemblyman’s campaign contributions since 1994, as of June 25, 2022, shows he had received $1,287,354 in total contributions. Since the beginning of 2021, during the lead-up to the June 2022 primary, he had received a total of $207,982 in campaign contributions.

 

This was made up of $84,182 from 176 individuals. The largest individual donations were for individual amounts of $4,700 and came respectively from David C. Rich from Maplewood, NJ; Richard Wills from Brooklyn; Inna Wills from Brooklyn; Asef Nagizade from Staten Island; Aynur Nagizade from Staten Island; and Neal C. Garelik from The Bronx. The donors’ professions were not listed. The smallest donations were for amounts of $10.

 

In terms of donations received since the beginning of 2021 that were listed as non-individual contributions, these totaled $123,800 and came from 135 different entities. The largest of these was for $9,400 from the Law PAC of New York. Lesser amounts were for $4,700, received respectively from the New York Hotel Trades Council Committee and from the New York State Democratic Committee. Smaller amounts of $100 were received respectively from Strategic Services Inc. and Padernacht Law PC, run by former Bronx Community Board 8 chair, Dan Padernacht, who also ran last year in the District 11 City Council District race, against the assemblyman’s son, now Councilman Eric Dinowitz.

 

Included in the $100 to $4,700 donation range were donations from Comcast & NBC Universal, health insurance and auditing firms, sub-contracting firms, various professional associations related to beer, banking, law firms, car dealers, and several trade unions representing fire fighters, EMTs, nurses, transport workers, mechanics, plumbers, along with some florists and steamfitters. Johnson & Johnson donated $250, and Pfizer donated $500 on two separate occasions.

 

We put it to Altagracia Woolford that when we questioned the assemblyman about his campaign contributions, he told us he itemized them and alleged that she, on the other hand, did not. The candidate appeared amused by Dinowitz’s response, saying, “The comparison that a nearly 30-year incumbent taking that scale of money from corporate PACs, questioning the small-dollar donors that we didn’t itemize, you know?”

 

She continued, “To be clear, we follow the law, we follow all the rules with all of our filings, and I don’t take corporate money, I don’t take money from Pfizer, I don’t take money from the real estate industry.” She then referenced her previous links with the Democratic Party and her work on the Clinton election campaign, and added, “These are who my friends are, people that I’ve worked with, that I organized with, here in New York, and across the country, but we can look at who his friends are and they’re corporations.” [Altagracia Woolford is currently running on the Working Families Party ticket in the upcoming general election on Nov. 8.]

 

Altagracia Woolford had raised $108,590 as of June 26 [2022]. The largest donations were for amounts of $4,700, and these came from the Courage to Change PAC, affiliated with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), who has endorsed the Working Families Party candidate, as previously reported, from David Roush of Manhattan, and from State Sen. Gustavo Rivera. The smallest donations were for amounts of $1.

 

There were some in-kind contributions, including one valued at $150 from a corporation called Onkar Enterprises Inc., another valued at $1,500 from Henry Cardenas in Chicago, another for $405 from Ivet Contreras, a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez, and three others totaling $1,830 from D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of New York, based at Bronx Terminal Market.

 

We asked Altagracia Woolford why she believes she will succeed in unseating Dinowitz, who has held his seat since 1994, this year when other candidates have failed in the past. “I have fought really hard for my optimism in politics,” she said, adding that there was a lack of trust in government, that New Yorkers were burnt out from the nastiness of politics, and how she aims to bring more care and humanity to the process. She said she was also used to working in tough environments, citing her work at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union at a time when she said, “attacks from the right” were “relentless.”

 

“We have lost good paying union jobs here in our district,” she said. “I grew up across the street from the Stella D’oro factory that used to be on 238 and Broadway, and not only do I remember the incredible smell of cookies, but I’ve talked to so many people whose families worked there, and were able to make family-sustaining wages, dignified wages. They worked good hours, but they also had good union benefits.”

 

She said since Stella D’oro left, all residents see is overdevelopment in the district, with “big box corporate stores,” which eventually rotate out because she said they can’t afford the rent. “And then what happens is, all of these people lose their jobs, the jobs that they really needed, because they were struggling with the cost of childcare, they were struggling with the cost of rent,” she said. “We lost so many of these small mom and pop shops, we’ve lost these good jobs that have helped generations of families in Kingsbridge, and it’s the same case across every neighborhood.”

 

Referring to later-in-life housing options for seniors like the candidate’s 84-year-old grandmother who lived in a 4th-floor walk-up, Altagracia Woolford said, “We don’t have good options for where she could live that’s affordable and dignified, in the neighborhood that she’s lived in for about 50 years.” She added, “When I talk about my grandmother being a home health aide and all of the work that she’s done for years taking care of people, and then not having that same care reciprocated, that resonates with people, because that’s their story too.”

 

In terms of her appeal as a candidate, she said, “I think it’s that compassion and that understanding…that I see care as a superpower, I see care as vital to the work of service, and people have not seen that enough from the assembly member.” She said people were starving, alone, and isolated at the height of the pandemic, and scared of being evicted.

 

“I rolled up my sleeves, and I started a mutual aid effort to feed people, and then from there, we expanded to do community programming for the families of Broadway Family Plaza,” Altagracia Woolford said, referring to a program that houses 83 families, with priority offered to those who have roots in, or close to, Bronx Community Board 8. “We did emergency relief work to make sure that moms had formula when they came. We took the kids to Wave Hill and we tried to invest in the joy and the comfort and the dignity of people, and that’s really exciting for folks to see, because it’s something new and it’s something fresh.”

 

She later referenced a negative mailer campaign that had been circulating [prior to the June 2022 Democratic primary] from a Trump-supporting PAC, attacking her [then] candidacy and, she said, “attempting to portray her as a reckless and dangerous socialist.” She added, “Not only was this disgusting and horrible, but it begs the question, ‘Why do people like this want Jeff in office?’ Why am I being attacked by Trump supporters who are supporting Dinowitz? But I let that roll off my shoulders because there’s so much bigger work that needs to be done, which is just literally caring for people.”

 

There had also been some evidence of negative ad campaigns, targeting the assemblyman. We asked Altagracia Woolford for comment on these as a follow-up to our interview. We did not receive an immediate response. Altagracia highlighted [ahead of the June 2022 Democratic Primary] that she was a life-long Democrat and [ran] in the June 2022 Democratic primary as a type of “independent” Democratic candidate, in the sense that she said she had no ties to any particular Democratic club. [Altagracia Woolford is currently running on the Working Families Party ticket in the upcoming general election on Nov. 8.]

 

“The Ben Franklin Club has been calling the shots on a lot of these local decisions,” she said at the time. Referencing again the need to follow the money, she added, “The fact that Dinowitz has taken tens of thousands of dollars from developers, from the Real Estate board, but also from real estate lobbyists, shows you that when it comes down to you making a choice between who is going to protect those small businesses and your local economies, and the developer who wants to build another hideous structure, and what follows…big box corporate stores. They’re going to win because they’re the ones who are calling the shots.”

 

Norwood News carried out a search [before the June 2022 Democratic Primary] of the assemblyman’s campaign filings, using the words “real estate” and “REBNY” [Real Estate Board of New York]. They generated no results. We reached out to Dinowitz’s campaign on June 26, for comment on the allegation that he has close ties to the real estate industry. Matt Rey, a campaign spokesperson for the assemblyman, responded, saying, “Jessica has run nothing but a campaign based on lies and mudslinging, all fueled by out-of-state donors. The voters of the North Bronx will not be fooled.”

 

We put it to Altagracia Woolford that the assemblyman has advocated for his reelection based on what he said he has achieved on the legislative front in terms of housing, vaccines, the environment, the fact that he supports the New York Health Act, and on the fact that he is opposed to defunding the police, which, he says, is in line with what constituents want, given the prevalence of gun violence in New York City.

 

“I do hear public safety is a huge concern,” said Altagracia Woolford, who has also received the backing of environmental and other  community led groups. “I hear a lot from elders of color, in particular, that they want to see police in their communities and I respect that, and I believe, as an assembly member, it’s important to build ties across different communities.”

 

She added that, ultimately, public safety doesn’t exist if people don’t have permanent, “dignified” housing, if schools aren’t fully funded, if people can’t afford health care. “These are the basics that make communities whole and make communities safer,” she said. When asked if she was in favor of defunding the police, she said no, that she didn’t run on slogans, but she did expect police accountability.

 

On Dinowitz’s record as an assemblyman, Altagracia Woolford said, “If he was doing such a good job, then I don’t understand how, in our district, over half of renters are rent-burdened, that people are struggling.” She added, “We didn’t pass the bill on public renewables, we didn’t close the voluntary intoxication loophole, and he’s the chair of the codes committee.” The voluntary intoxication loophole bill would provide the same legal protection to victims of rape who may become voluntarily intoxicated as it does to victims of rape who become involuntarily intoxicated (where their drinks may be spiked).

 

She was also critical of limitations on the scope of recent relief efforts for small businesses amid the pandemic. “When the restaurant resiliency grant money came through, and the State touted all of these funds – a number of immigrant-owned businesses did not have the support that they needed to get through that grant process,” she said, citing the problem of language barriers among others.

 

“I can tell you the bureaucratic process is really challenging,” she said. “You need advocates in offices, like the assembly member’s district office, who can help small businesses navigate the red tape, but also have some compassion for the small businesses that are really struggling and need support.”

 

She added that public safety should also include the health of the small business community, making sure that they have what they need to thrive and that small business owners feel safe when they close up at night.

 

We asked the candidate for her thoughts on the latest State budget. She said she was encouraged to hear the governor talk about how much she cared about language access, given the different constituents from different ethnic backgrounds across District 81, and added that she believes in the creation of a dedicated office which would address “real language, equity and accessibility.”

 

She added, “I was disappointed to see that the $600 million tax subsidy went to the Buffalo Bills stadium, as opposed to housing access voucher program funding, you know, childcare subsidies. I think all subsidies should be available to people regardless of immigration status. So, I was disappointed about that, because we do have a large number of undocumented New Yorkers who are struggling to make ends meet, and you shouldn’t delineate by status, whether or not somebody is worthy of care or services or not. So those are some of the shortfalls for me, but I do feel like there were a lot of really important steps taken forward.”

 

In reference to civil liberties and in the context of Pride Month, Altagracia said she has compassion for Black, Trans youth who she said have told her they are encouraged to see someone like her run for office. The candidate grew up Catholic and said she had to navigate the pushback she received in identifying as a queer Latina woman. “We’re going to demonstrate leadership [in New York]. We’re going to be that sanctuary, not only for folks who are seeking abortion care, but also for people who are just seeking gender-affirming care across the board, because it’s really scary to think that the world is changing. But we do have the power to present a vision of joy, of equity, of compassion, and dignity,” she said.

 

In conclusion, Altagracia said, “That’s why I’m so convinced and compelled that [election day] is going to be a great day for me, because it’s going to be a great day for our community because people really do want change.”

 

Assembly District 81 includes some or all of the neighborhoods of Norwood, Kingsbridge, Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge Heights, Riverdale, Fieldston, North Riverdale, Marble Hill, Woodlawn and Wakefield. Unlike congressional and State Senate districts, assembly districts were not affected by the latest State redistricting process in May 2022. New York State assembly district lines will be redrawn before the primary elections in 2024, according to a court ruling dated June 10, as reported.

 

Election Day is on Nov. 8. Early voting continues through Nov. 6. Check your polling site before going to vote.