Photo by Miriam Quiñones
Mino Lora, candidate in the District 11 City Council race, stepped up the intensity of her campaign in the Norwood section of the Bronx in the final days of the campaign before the District 11 special election on March 23. On Friday, March 19, campaign surrogates were seen handing out pink flyers on Lora’s behalf at the 206th Street subway exit on Bainbridge Avenue, as well as in Williamsbridge Oval Park, and on Sunday, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera and State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, both of whom have previously endorsed Lora’s candidacy, joined her in Norwood for a campaign rally.
Also present on Sunday was Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the NY Working Families Party, a group which has also already endorsed Lora. Nnaemeka, along with the elected officials, spoke at the rally in the presence of some other representatives from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 1101 union. Ahead of the formal speeches, a 5-car caravan, complete with campaign posters and balloons, drove down Bainbridge Avenue amid some fanfare, before arriving in front of the colorful 207th Street mural inscribed with the words “Norwood” and “The Bronx,” which was sponsored by Former District 11 City Councilman Andrew Cohen.
In her speech, Nnaemeka, said that Lora’s opponents were spending tens of thousands of dollars every day trying to defeat Lora, presumably in reference to so-called “independent spenders,” since there is a cap on the contribution amounts allowed from donors under the public matching funds program. Independent spenders, on the other hand, are organizations or persons that pay out money to produce or distribute campaign materials for a specific candidate’s political campaign, without coordinating with or seeking approval from that particular candidate.
One such group, Voters of NYC, Inc., comprises donors, Adam Flatto, CEO of The Georgetown Company, Rosewood Realty Group Inc., Michael Stillman [no occupation provided] and WLZ Properties Inc. Voters of NYC, Inc. is organized by Jeffrey Leb, founder of Capitol Consulting. According to its website, “Capitol Consulting specializes in three fields: zoning and land use issues, budgetary matters, and legislative issues. Voters of NYC, Inc, whose name is somewhat disingenuous given the few entities behind it, has spent $49,050 and $6,429 respectively on ads for fellow District 11 City Council candidates, Eric Dinowitz, a teacher, district leader, and son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Dan Padernacht, a lawyer and chair of Bronx Community Board 8 Traffic & Transportation committee.
Referring to Lora, Nnaemeka said, “We have a leader here who represents and knows our interests, who is an immigrant, who is a working mother, who is a mother of public-school children, who understands the ways in which our communities, and our space is left behind with the interests of the few [inaudible] the interests of the many.” She added, “And we need someone accountable to speak for us and fight for us, and not just in this district, but who will lead the full [city] council forward. The Bronx can lead. The Bronx is leading.”
Nnaemeka went on to describe the momentum that was building among working people, which she said was attracting New Yorkers from all across the city and all across the state. “Feel the power of the people when we out-organize, when we work together, when we put forward visionary leaders,” she said. “So, let’s do it. We’ve got a lot of doors to knock on, a lot of people to talk to and deliver the [inaudible] to working people once and for all.”
Meanwhile, during his remarks, Rivera drew comparisons with his own senatorial election campaign in 2016. In reference to Council Member Fernando Cabrera, Rivera said the councilman ran against Rivera for the second time in 2016, after Rivera had beaten him once in 2014, and he wondered why he ran against him again, a second time. “He did that because some of the same knuckleheads who have now come out of the woodwork to go against this fine woman [Lora] right here, they actually poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the 33rd [senatorial] district [2016 race],” Rivera said.
He continued, “Alice Walton, whose money comes from the Walmart family, and for my union brothers and sisters, the money comes from the blood, sweat and tears of workers, not only in the United States, but all across the world, these are the same people who thought maybe we’ll drop a couple of $100,000 into the Bronx to see if we can get rid of this guy who stands up for working people.”
Rivera said the same people were coming back “from under the same rocks,” and were again pouring money into the 11th city council district to try to prevent Lora from getting elected. “And let me tell you, we can certainly define ourselves by who our friends are, and Mino is a wonderful woman by herself, and then look at the beautiful friends that she has,” he said.
Revving up the 20 or so volunteers who were present at the rally to campaign on behalf of Lora, and making a hand gesture to indicate a small amount, the senator added, “Every conversation you will have today is the most important conversation you’re going to have today, because this race is going to be so close that it’s going to be won by these many votes.”
Rivera went on to say that the the ranked choice voting process was important, acknowledging that residents might say to Lora’s volunteers that they want to vote for a particular candidate who they know from the neighborhood, and who they have supported all their lives. He said that was fine, but encouraged them to urge voters to think about their second choice vote. “Make sure the folks you speak to, if they’re not going to be supportive of her [Lora] as number one, they can vote her as number two,” he said. “Make sure that you do that. you communicate that over and over again, and together, we’re going to get it, we’re going to do it, and we’re going to make sure that this person [Lora] is in the council in just a few days.”
For her part, Biaggi emphasized to volunteers how important elections were. “Every single inch matters, okay? Every single inch because these kinds of elections, when you have all of this money from different special interests, every single inch matters,” she said. “In 2018, when we defeated IDC [Independent Democratic Caucus], what we learned was that there is nothing more powerful, nothing, not any amount of money, that is more powerful than the people.”
The IDC, led by former Bronx State Sen. Jeff Klein, was a group of eight New York State senators who were elected to office as Democrats but who formed a coalition with Republicans, blocking most progressive legislation in New York State for over seven years. As reported by The New York Times, in the Sept. 13, 2018 Democratic primary, after an unprecedented grassroots campaign, six IDC senators, including Klein, were defeated by progressive challengers backed by the group, No IDC NY, including Biaggi, now representing New York’s 34th senatorial district, and who succeeded Klein.
Biaggi continued, “Nothing is more powerful than the people – the professional interests of REBNY [Real Estate Board of New York] and Greater New York Health, and the PBA [Police Benevolent Association] who spent collectively millions of dollars, who had $200,000 to $3 million more and we still beat them by ten points.” She added, “That is the power of the people and on Tuesday, we are going to do that again.”
Photo by Miriam Quiñones
Biaggi then called for an end to the so-called, “machine” politics of the Democratic Party, an end to special interests determining the fate of the Bronx, and in another presumed reference to Eric Dinowitz, an end to nepotism. Norwood News previously reported on how a number of elected officials have already contributed to Dinowitz’s campaign, and though he is the district leader for the 81st assembly district in his own right, how it is plausible that he may not have received that support from senior elected officials had it not been for his father’s connections, a point raised by other candidates during different campaign debates.
As also reported by the Norwood News, the Democratic male district leader was also under the microscope earlier this year, when the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club endorsed him, despite (refuted) allegations by other candidates, that the voting process by the club had not been carried out in line with club by-laws.
Dinowitz’s campaign has already shot back at his critics saying, “While other candidates may be focused on mudslinging, Eric Dinowitz is focused on helping working families and seniors recover. Eric supported efforts to elect a Democratic majority in the State Senate and make Andrea Stewart-Cousins the majority leader, a position where she continues to lead our state forward, and Eric supported ranked choice voting and numerous reforms to make voting easier.”
Fellow District 11 City Council candidate, Jessica Haller, a tech entrepreneur and environmentalist, said in a previous press release that Biaggi allegedly responded to the claims by Dinowitz that he helped elect a Democratic majority in the New York State Senate, by calling such a statement a “blatant lie.” Norwood News reached out to Biaggi’s office to corroborate if this quote is indeed attributable to her. We did not receive an immediate response. We also reached out to Dinowitz’s campaign for comment on Biaggi’s alleged comment.
Dinowitz said, “My campaign’s statement referred to my work proudly volunteering as a Democratic district leader and with the United Federation of Teachers to support Democrats, from Gustavo Rivera in 2010 to Shelley Mayer and Todd Kaminsky in special elections, and to James Skoufis, Anna Kaplan and other Democrats in 2018, the latter three being red-to-blue flips where we beat Republicans in competitive districts.”
He added, “That is unequivocally how I invested my passion and energy in 2018, and I embrace the new voices that emerged that year. I am proud of the broad progressive coalition of support my campaign has built, and I’m laser focused on the Northwest Bronx’s recovery.”
Meanwhile, referring to Lora’s character, Biaggi went on to say, “I think that there is no better person to make sure that when they get to the council, that they have truth and integrity and honesty and a fearlessness, because we do need fearless leaders who are not going to take their orders or commands from the machine, than Mino Lora.”
The senator went on to explain to volunteers how to respond to voters who might ask them why they should give their first or second choice vote to Lora. “The reality is because we are rebuilding New York City in its greatest moment of need, and if you love New York, then you have to make sure that you take that love, and you transform it into a vote for somebody who also has that love,” she said.
“And make sure that the people who represent us actually are thinking about each and every single one of us, and the future of our city, because what we have in front of us is no small task,” she said, adding that rebuilding the City after COVID would mean making sure that there would be meaningful partnerships between the City and State, which she said would be possible if Lora were elected.
At the rally, Robert Press, a reporter in attendance, challenged two elected officials, questioning if they too had not accepted PAC money as part of their own election campaigns but, the senators allegedly said they were not taking questions that day. Norwood News reached out to the offices of both senators for comment.
Maura Curtin, a spokesperson for the Biaggi campaign, later told us, “Senator Biaggi does not accept corporate PAC money from special interests that do not align with her values. Of course groups like Tenants PAC, Streets PAC, Sunrise and Unions donate to progressive campaigns, which isn’t the same as billionaires funding campaigns to further their own agendas.” She added, “In the case of the CD11 race, the special interest money appears to be tied to big developers and the real estate industry.”
Lora, founder and executive director of the People’s Theater Project, then addressed those gathered, thanking her campaign staff, and interspersing her speech with occasional phrases in Spanish, as is her tendency as a native Spanish speaker. She said she was filled with gratitude and (in Spanish) said she was super humbled at actually seeing everyone come together. “Yes, this is about us, yes, this is our Bronx, and the Bronx should be leading, and will be leading in our recovery,” she said. “We say enough of being treated like second-class citizens, we say enough of tenants being last at the seat of the table, being underfunded.”
Lora said people deserved healthcare as a human right, housing as a human right, and excellent education for every single student. “This is not radical. This is just normal,” she said. “This is New York City, and this is what we stand for.” She went on to describe her time campaigning as being a whirlwind. “It’s been exhausting. It’s been amazing,” she said, before thanking her campaign team and manager, Ben.
“We’re going to every single block, because every voice matters,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what language you speak, where you come from, or where you were born. We are the Bronx, all of us together, and I was told that running for office is crazy, and is not normal. I was also told to wait my turn, that it’s not my turn, that the district is not ready for a woman of color, is not ready for a Latina quite yet but I didn’t listen.”
Amid cheers and applause, she continued, “And here we are ready to fight in City Hall, and ready to turn the tide because we can do this together. We’ve done this before, together as a coalition, and we’re going to continue to do it, make sure that we are putting people first, when we’re making legislation, when we’re making budget decisions, and as we move forward, we are dictating what recovery looks like, and how we put people before special interests. They don’t want us to win. They’re scared of us. They’re scared of democracy. They’re afraid of democracy.” She then added in Spanish, “But on top of that, as we say: enough already, enough of that!”
As reported by the Norwood News, in addition to endorsing Lora, Biaggi has also previously equally endorsed Haller, having collaborated with her previously on local issues. According to Haller’s campaign, Haller previously provided Biaggi’s campaign with an environmental policy platform which, reportedly, played a role in helping to topple the IDC in 2018.
Meanwhile, Rivera, announced a series of ranked endorsements in recent weeks, and among them, in the District 11 race, he endorsed Lora as his first choice candidate, and Haller as his second.
Photo by Miriam Quiñones
As reported by the Norwood News, Lora, who was previously profiled by the Norwood News, is, according to her campaign, building broad community support, and has a fully-staffed campaign and team of volunteers who said she is vying to win the special election to become District 11’s first Latina City Councilwoman, a district in which there is a substantial Hispanic community, though less so compared to others in the Bronx.
Lora has also been endorsed by the labor union, UNITE HERE Local 100, local organizing groups, Downtown Women for Change and Progressive Women of New York, Run for Something, CWA Local 1101, Jewish Vote, and NYIC Action, Citizen Action of New York, and No IDC NY, Zephyr Teachout, an American attorney, author, political candidate, and associate professor of law at Fordham University, Spanish language newspaper, El Diario, and the Latino Victory Fund, and Brooklyn Councilman for District 39, Brad Lander.
Among other candidates across the city, including Bronx candidate in the District 14 City Council race, Adolfo Abreu, as reported by the Norwood News, Lora also picked up the endorsement of City Councilman and Deputy Leader Jimmy Van Bramer on Jan. 26, and has also been ranked as a second-choice candidate, behind June primary candidate, Abigail Martin, by NYC Kids PAC.
The special election candidates were required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot on March 23. As reported by the Norwood News, that minimum had been 450 signatures until Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Jan. 7 that he was reducing it to 315.
Some candidates had raised concerns about the impact of the signature collection process on people’s health, and had called for for the minimum signature requirement to be waived amid fears of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus through mass person-to-person contact. Haller and Lora each announced at separate stages that they had previously contracted the virus.
Meanwhile, social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, Abigail Martin, and male district leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced previously that they had dropped out of the March special election, citing health related risks linked to the coronavirus, but said they still plan to participate in the June primary.
A Board of Elections public hearing was held on Feb. 4 to assess which candidates had collated the required number of signatures needed to proceed. Besides Lora, Dinowitz and Haller, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotpedia, there are three other candidates in the District 11 special election race. These are retired NYPD detective, Carlton Berkley, Dan Padernacht, lawyer and Community Board 8 Traffic & Transportation chair, and freelance filmmaker, Kevin Pazmino.
In terms of the latest campaign contribution filings in the special election race, according to the New York City CFB, Haller leads with $83,207, followed by Dinowitz with $76,390, Padernacht with $43,371, Lora with $31,819, and Berkley with $11,326. There was no information available for Pazmino on campaign contribution filings with the CFB, and he has previously said he is not accepting cash donations.
In accordance with the matching funds program, each dollar raised between $10 and $175 from New York City residents, is matched 8 times, using public funds. For the special election, the maximum payout from the matching funds program is $142,500, and spending is capped at $190,000.
The nonpartisan special election in District 11 was called by the mayor on Jan. 4 to find a replacement for Cohen, who was elected as a judge to the Bronx Supreme Court in November and resigned from his City Council seat on Dec. 31.
BronxNet aired the first of a series of debates between the District 11 City Council candidates on Feb. 2, and that debate can be viewed online here. The Norwood News later provided a brief recap of the debate. Northwest Bronx Indivisible and Riverdale Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture hosted a further virtual debate among the candidates on Feb. 7. That debate can be viewed here.
Another debate was hosted by the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition in conjunction with LAAL, a nonprofit supporting Bengali women in the Norwood section of the Bronx on Feb. 10. That debate can be viewed here. A further debate hosted by City Limits was held on Feb. 14. That debate can be viewed here. A Woodlawn Candidate’s Forum was held on Feb. 15, moderated by BronxNet’s Gary Axelbank. That forum can be viewed here.
A City Council Town Hall, presented by the SAR High School EPG Club, based in Riverdale in the Northwest Bronx, was held on Feb. 17 and can be viewed here. A further District 11 City Council candidates’ forum was held on Feb. 22, hosted by the Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association. This can be viewed here.
Photo by Síle Moloney
Riverdale Nature Preservancy has also hosted a virtual conversation with the District 11 special election candidates. Those conversations can be viewed in two parts, here and here. A second BronxNet debate was hosted by BronxTalk host, Gary Axelbank, and aired on Monday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on Optimum channel 67, and Fios channel 2133. That debate can be viewed here.
The District 11 race is one of the first two elections in the Bronx which will incorporate the new method of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), the other being District 15. RCV is a voting method whereby voters can, but are not obliged to, rank up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of choosing just one, and irrespective of the number of candidates on the ballot. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, that candidate is the winner. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, then counting will continue in rounds. At the end of each round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated.
If a voter ranked the eliminated candidate first, then the next highest ranked candidate on the voter’s ballot will be taken into account in the next round of counting. The process continues as such until there are two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins. For official information on ranked choice voting, go to the NYC Campaign Finance Board FAQ page or the New York City Board of Elections website.
The Bronx Democratic Party hosted an informational session on Ranked Choice Voting which can be viewed here in conjunction with the group, Rank the Vote NYC. Norwood News checked with the City’s Campaign Finance Board about the expertise of Rank the Vote NYC and were advised that the group is a reputable source on the topic and is a voter education campaign that is run by Common Cause NY.
Important dates relating to the March 23 special elections for District 11 [and District 15] are outlined below.
Image courtesy of the New York City Board of Elections
The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail. Further information can be found here or by calling the Bronx Board of Elections at (718) 299-9017 and selecting Ext. 1875. Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Early Voting Period is from March 13, 2021 to March 21, 2021. Voters must vote at their assigned early voting site.
Early Voting Hours
| Saturday | March 13, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | March 14, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Monday | March 15, 2021 | 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM |
| Tuesday | March 16, 2021 | 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM |
| Wednesday | March 17, 2021 | 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM |
| Thursday | March 18, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM |
| Friday | March 19, 2021 | 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM |
| Saturday | March 20, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | March 21, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
Find your poll site and view a sample ballot here: https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.
District 11 includes Kingsbridge, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, Riverdale, Woodlawn Heights and part of Bedford Park. Whoever wins the March 23 special, nonpartisan election will serve until Dec. 31, 2021. Future representation in the District beyond that point will likely be determined via a June 2021 primary and a November 2021 general election.
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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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