Ritchie Torres couldn’t hold it in any longer. All night long, the lean, composed 25-year-old 15th District City Council candidate had listened to Joel R. Rivera – the other Joel Rivera – bash him and his fellow candidates throughout a forum at the Bronx Library Center for not showing up to rallies.

Rivera had just delivered his closing statement, ending with extended quotes he read from Martin Luther King Jr. and then John F. Kennedy Jr. Torres found it a little much.

“JFK for 15th Council District,” he deadpanned.

Rivera, a stocky man with exquisitely slicked-back hair, pencil-thin goatee and pin-striped blue suit, did his best not to react.

The two sparred earlier in the night and the combative Rivera had obviously touched a nerve.

Afterward, the wonky, policy-heavy Torres lamented the lack of substantive dialogue at the debate, saying his fellow candidates often stuck to rhetoric, rather than ideas. While not naming names, Torres, the youngest candidate in the race, said some candidates resorted to juvenile tactics.

“There were a few adults in the room and I was one of them,” he said.

Later, Rivera wouldn’t apologize.

“If I seemed a little aggressive and agitated, it’s because I am,” Rivera said. “I get frustrated hearing the same old lines from these guys.”

The forum on Monday night, July 22, which was co-sponsored by the Mary Mitchell Center, Bronx Health Reach and the League of Conservation Voters, was centered around the theme of sustainability. Many questions concerned health and the environment, but they veered off into topics ranging from jobs to public safety to development.

For the most part, the candidates agreed, although each tried to add on their own take. For the most part, aside from the digs thrown out by Rivera, the mood was friendly.

Really, in this wild and wide-open race, it was a chance to get to know and see some of the candidates in action.

Looking only slightly uncomfortable at almost nine months pregnant, Raquel Batista, the former housing and immigration rights activist, somehow managed to hang in there for the full two hours. She talked strongly about the need and power of mentorship programs for Bronx youth.

The other woman in the race, Cynthia Thompkins, the president of the 46th Precinct Community Council, fit in her unique biography: raised in Pittsburgh, Atlanta roots, became a cop, retired, business owner in Hawaii, New York law degree, Bronxite since 2009, Legal Aid Society lawyer. She spoke eloquently about empowerment, dinging on her tagline – “Poverty to Prosperity” – on several occasions.

Albert Alvarez, the chief of staff for Joel Rivera (the Councilman, not the candidate), drilled home his 45 years of living and working in the district and his record as Rivera’s right-hand man.

And Kenny Agosto, a kind-hearted district leader and aide to State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, had so much to say, he went over his time limit during almost every answer. At the end of the debate, Agosto, who has openly struggled with his weight and says he’s lost 32 pounds on the campaign trail, stood up and let it all hang out during his impassioned closing statement. He was still sweating 15 minutes after the forum ended.

“I just wanted to show everyone how passionate I am,” he said.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the July 25-Aug. 21 print edition of the Norwood News.

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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.