The New York City Council unanimously voted Bronx Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito as the next Council Speaker, with the entire Bronx Council caucus backing the South Bronx councilwoman. Her ascension was sealed the moment Viverito’s lead contender, Brooklyn Councilman Dan Garodnick, conceded before the Council.
The vote is historic–she is the first Latino to be voted Speaker, succeeding term-limited Speaker and Councilwoman Christine Quinn. She is now poised to lead a body that will likely line itself with Mayor deBlasio, who’s championed a progressive agenda. As usual, behind-the-scenes dealmaking was in play in the days leading up to the vote, with Brooklyn county leaders breaking way from Queens and the Bronx, who initially supported Garodnick. Brooklyn party boss Frank Seddio reportedly secured plum committee chairmanships for his Brooklyn pols in exchange for defecting from the Bronx/Queens alliance.
Viverito’s rise is now considered an early win for deBlasio, who’s liberal policies are in line with Viverito’s ultra-liberal stance. With overwhelming support for Viverito, the vote is illustrative of the Council’s liberal stance altogether.
“You all have a friend and ally in the Speaker’s Office,” said Viverito, addressing her colleagues before the floor.
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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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I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. The Bronx Machine sabotaged the will of its constituency by following the defect in character of its leaders. This is clearly not representative of the Bronxites who voted them into office, it is now time to consider a change of the guard and the change is NOW, particularly, while there is yet time to save face. ” The Revolution will not be televised.” Que Viva DeBlasio & Viverito! Que Viva la Gente!