Recently elected Democratic district leaders for the 81st assembly district, Abigail Martin and Ramdat Singh, announced the formation of the Unity Democratic Club at a launch event held at The Bronx Public eatery on West 231st Street in Kingsbridge Heights on Oct. 3. The formation of the new club was announced at a regularly-scheduled meeting of the Bronx Unity Coalition, when all in attendance were invited to join the new club.

 

The Bronx Unity Coalition have organized different events in the past, often in the Kingsbridge neighborhood and some in conjunction with Northwest Bronx Indivisible. The coalition describe themselves as a grassroots alliance of voters, dedicated to transparency and accountability in Bronx politics.

 

Martin, who was a candidate in the 2021 District 11 City Council race, ultimately won by now incumbent, Councilman Eric Dinowitz, and Singh campaigned together for the same slate of candidates before the June 2022 primary, along with others including newly-elected State committee woman, Morgan Evers, as reported.

 

During the campaign, the three said they worked on “expanding the organizing efforts of grassroots activists in their assembly district,” and said this led to the creation of the formal Unity Democratic Party Club with the aim of engaging with other like-minded Democrats in the northwest Bronx.

 

“Throughout our campaign, voters told us that they wanted a Democratic Club where they felt welcome,” said Martin and Singh. “The Unity Democratic Club is a response to that need. We are excited to create a Democratic space in our corner of The Bronx that welcomes everyone, and builds community through civic engagement.”

 

According to the founders, the Unity Democratic Club is founded on the values of inclusivity, transparency, diversity, and accessibility. “Its mission is to recruit, engage and empower the electorate throughout the electoral process by promoting local civic engagement and understanding of the process, increasing voter turnout, and demonstrating the transparency of issues and processes of The Bronx Democratic Party,” the founders said.

 

The founders added that the new club will recruit and support candidates who are aligned with the club’s values and who are committed to bringing positive change to the communities of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn.

 

The Unity Democrats will be led by acting president, Betsey Knapp of Riverdale, and acting vice president, Danielle Guggenheim, of Norwood. Local community activist, Knapp, co-founded the existing Northwest Bronx Indivisible group and has worked on many campaigns in the district.

 

Guggenheim is a public school teacher and serves on the board of the James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center and The Bronx Zoo teacher advisory council. Both are founding members of the Bronx Unity Coalition, which was formed in November 2021 by local grassroot activists interested in bringing new leadership to The Bronx.

 

Of the new party, Knapp said, “Promoting the Democratic Party, supporting candidates to run for office, and developing and bringing new leadership to The Bronx has long been a passion of mine, and work that I’ve been involved with.” She added, “The Unity Democratic Club is the next stage of our work. I am honored to serve as acting president of a Democratic club that is committed to be the voice of its membership.”

 

The inclusion of a Norwood representative in a leadership role in the new club should be welcomed by Norwoodites and by other nearby residents of Assembly District 81, given that some have long believed that the center of political power in District 81 (and in City Council District 11) has, for too long, been disproportionately rooted in the more affluent, northwestern part of the district, in Riverdale, a point highlighted during prior debates by former candidate for District 11 City Council, Carlton Berkley in 2021.

 

For her part, Guggenheim said the the new club was ushering in a post-COVID reconstruction of The Bronx. “The Bronx Unity Coalition identified gaps in current practices of engaging and educating the community, and increasing residence participation and local policymaking across all of the northwest Bronx neighborhoods.”

 

The new club is one of several in the North Bronx, including the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, long associated with what some see as the “Bronx Democratic Machine.” Despite its name, which alludes to reform, presumably from an old way of doing things, the roughly 400-member strong club includes some legacy politicians, some of whom have been tainted by their past membership of the now disbanded Independent Democratic Convention (IDC), a group which worked with Republicans in the State legislature, even when Democrats first held a majority, blocking progressive legislation.

 

The club drew specific criticism in 2019 and again in 2020/2021 when it was alleged it had not followed proper bylaws amid the pandemic in endorsing then-District 11 City Council candidate and now councilman, Eric Dinowitz, son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81), both of whom are club members. The club denies the allegations.

 

Meanwhile, local political organization, the Northwest Bronx Democrats, comprising around 1,800 followers, according to its Facebook page, from Bedford Park, Norwood and beyond, has endorsed, and continues to endorse a mix of both Democratic and Republican candidates, and counts among its members some “Blue Dog Democrats.”

 

The group most recently backed Republican/Conservative candidate, Phyllis “Tiz” Nastasio, over Democrat, John Zaccaro Jr., in the upcoming A.D. 80 race on Nov. 8. In the past, the group has endorsed Republican, Gene DeFrancis, leader of the Allerton Merchants Association and a former marine, who confirmed he attended a Proud Boys rally in Washington D.C. in December 2020, one month before the January 6th insurrection.

 

Founded in 2019, there is also the Northwest Bronx Democrats for Change group, comprising 565 followers, according to its Facebook page, which has a strong following in University Heights / Fordham Manor, and which has successfully canvassed for the likes of Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), District 15 City Council Member Oswald Feliz, and most recently, Democratic candidate for Assembly District 78, George Alvarez.

 

Founded in 2019, the Louella Hatch Democratic Club [LHDC] is a borough-wide club, organized, according to its website, “to offer a political home to all residents of the borough of the Bronx, and to promote local civic engagement, encourage youth engagement in the Democratic process, nurture potential leadership, reinforce value in human and civil rights, communication, equality & integrity in the Democratic process, shape public discourse about the political process, instill ethics and shared purpose in members, encourage and support candidates who share and represent LHDC’s Democratic values.”

 

For Guggenheim, meanwhile, the new Unity Democratic Club is about understanding equity. “We understand equity is central, and equity does not happen by default,” she said. “It must have a real plan of action: access, resources, and equitable practices. The Unity Democratic Club will continue this work and I am proud to be a founding member.”

 

Editor’s Note: The print version of this story in our latest edition states that the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club is based in Riverdale, when in fact, it is based in Kingsbridge. We apologize for this error.