Photo courtesy of Mino Lora.
The New York Working Families Party (WFP) announced on Friday, Dec. 11, its endorsement of four 2021 New York City Council candidates in the Bronx: Adolfo Abreu for District 14, Mino Lora for District 11, Althea Stevens for District 16, and Marjorie Velázquez for District 13. The party said all four candidates are longtime community leaders, spanning all corners of the Bronx.
Sochie Nnaemeka, state director of the party, said that this year New York City voters demanded bold, progressive candidates up and down the ballot. “As we approach the 2021 elections, we must heed this mandate by electing city council members who are wholly committed to a working people’s agenda,” she said, adding that this meant housing for all, fully funded schools and a justice system focused on reducing the number of incarcerated people.
Adding that the WFP were thrilled to endorse the referenced candidates, Nnaemeka said they had fought for their neighborhoods for years and will keep fighting side by side in City Hall.
The WFP statement went on to say that city government must ensure New York’s COVID-19 recovery protects and supports the many, not the wealthy few. “We know this slate of community leaders will join together to deliver for New York’s working people, immigrants and communities of color. We can’t wait to see them join the growing cohort of WFP champions who are bringing the movement to the halls of power.”
As part of its endorsement process, the WFP said its New York City regional advisory council identifies value-aligned candidates, reviews candidate endorsement questionnaires, and also interviews candidates. The party said the council is made up of WFP-affiliated community groups, labor unions, individual activists, and WFP clubs and chapters who collectively represent thousands of New Yorkers with deep ties to their local communities.
Abreu, a lifelong community activist, is an organizing director with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. As part of his organizing efforts in high school, he helped win the citywide, student Bill of Rights. More recently, Abreu’s campaign said he helped elect some of the Bronx’s most progressive champions in Albany, including State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Gustavo Rivera. Abreu is running to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited City Council Member Fernando Cabrera.
Abreu said he was proud to have the endorsement of WFP. “Their support of a progressive state legislature cleared the path for tenants to win the historic rent laws last year,” he said. “I look forward to co-govern[ing] with the WFP to guarantee a city that delivers for working people.”
Lora, recently profiled by the Norwood News, is the founding director of the People’s Theatre Project and a member of the New York Immigration Coalition’s Leadership Council. She immigrated to New York at age 17 from the Dominican Republican. Lora is running to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited City Council Member Andrew Cohen.
She said she was absolutely humbled to earn the endorsement of WFP. “Like so many of us, WFP understands leadership doesn’t just belong to those in power, but to those closest to the daily grind of this city and the pain it imposes,” Lora said. “I’m committed to the fight for a progressive government that actually aligns with our values, is bold, morally strong, and absolutely unafraid to put people first. In District 11, we deserve to feel, and actually be, represented in City Hall. ¡Pa’lante!”
Photo courtesy of Adolfo Abreu
Stevens is a longtime Bronx community activist, non-profit professional, and advisory member of the NYCHA Tenants’ Association. Her campaign said that District 16 has suffered high COVID-19 death rates, increasing unemployment, and ongoing police brutality and that Stevens is running to increase investment in NYCHA, and move funds from the NYPD to mental health services and public health informed violence prevention programs. She is running to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited City Council Member Vanessa Gibson.
In response to the WFP endorsement, Stevens said, “Being a Black, working class woman, and single mother, the Working Families Party endorsement is sure a meaningful recognition of the campaign I am creating- one of young people, people of color, and those not usually heard in my community.
Velázquez is another lifelong Bronxite and current chair of the Municipal Services Committee Chair of Community Board 10. Her campaign said she is a seasoned community activist who spearheaded an extensive mutual aid group in the Bronx at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. She is running to unseat incumbent City Council Member Mark Gjonaj.
Velázquez said she was thrilled to have the support of WFP which, she said, has long been one of the driving forces for progressive change in New York State, citing the party’s fight for a living wage and paid sick leave for families, as well as pushing the state to lead on climate change. “I’m looking forward to partnering with the WFP to keep the focus on issues that matter most to working families and the essential workers who have New York running through this pandemic,” she said.
Among other candidates across the city, WFP had previously endorsed Amanda Farías for District 18 in The Bronx. Farías is another lifelong Bronxite and nonprofit director who is running for the seat being vacated by Council Member Rubén Díaz Sr. The district spans the Bronx River, Castle Hill, Clason Point, Crotona Park, Harding Park, Parkchester, Soundview, and parts of Crotona Park East, Ferry Point, Hunts Point, West Farms, West Tremont, and Zerega in the Bronx.
WFP said that, this election cycle, over 294,000 New Yorkers cast their ballots on the WFP line, protecting the party’s ballot amid the tripled ballot threshold.
They said the party’s resounding success in the general election came after WFP-backed candidates won 33 contested State legislative primaries across the state, including three new WFP challengers who unseated Democratic incumbents i.e. Jessica González-Rojas, Marcela Mitaynes, and Amanda Septimo; 13 new WFP candidates who won in open Democratic primaries, including Demond Meeks, Khaleel Anderson, and Jabari Brisport; and 17 WFP incumbents, including Yuh-Line Niou, Diana Richardson, and Julia Salazar who, they said, won against challenges from the right.
“Together, these victories signal continued growth of the party and of New York’s progressive movement,” the party said.
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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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