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In the latest twist in the upcoming Democratic primary race for State Senate District 33, just two days before early voting kicked off on Aug. 13, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) alleged that State Sen. Gustavo Rivera does not live in State Senate District 33, the district which the senator currently represents, and for which he is currently campaigning to represent as redrawn Senate District 33.

 

All redrawn districts will become effective on Jan. 1, 2023.

 

In his weekly newsletter, “Dinowitz Digest,” sent to constituents of Assembly District 81, in relation to the upcoming State Senate primary elections, Dinowitz writes, “District 33 (covering Norwood and Riverdale, among other parts of The Bronx), there is no incumbent in this race.”

The assemblyman goes on to say, “The candidates are State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who does not live in this district, and Miguelina Camilo, who does live in this district.” The assemblyman has endorsed Camilo in the District 33 race.

 

In reference to the assemblyman’s first point about there being no incumbent in the race, technically this is true because both candidates are running in redrawn District 33.

 

However, it does not provide the full context. Under the current Senate District 33, 50 percent of which Rivera says he currently represents, are some or all of the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham Heights, University Heights, Fordham Manor, Mt. Hope, Belmont, Tremont, Van Nest, Crotona Park, Claremont, Morris Park, Kingsbridge and Kingsbridge Heights.

Meanwhile, according to the final redrawn map by a court-appointed special master, redrawn District 33 encompasses some or all of many of the same neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham Heights, University Heights, Fordham Manor, Mt. Hope, Belmont, Tremont and Van Nest, in addition to the newly acquired neighborhoods of Norwood, Spuyten Duyvil, Fieldston, Riverdale, Woodlawn Cemetery and Van Cortlandt Park.

 

During a recent debate hosted by Schneps Media on July 25, Rivera explained that he has represented District 33 for the last 11 years. He added, “But the district lines, as we talked about before, will change a little bit. It will include about 50 percent of the district that I currently represent, and if you count some of the neighborhoods that made their way back to the district, like Tracy Towers [in Bedford Park], Scott Towers [also in Bedford Park], Norwood as well, it will be a district about 70 percent of which I’ve represented probably for over the last decade.”

Appointed as senator of District 33 in 2010, Rivera was making reference to the fact that he had already gone through at least one other redistricting process following the 2010 census, prior to the latest one which followed the 2020 census, and as such, would be reacquiring some neighborhoods which he had previously served prior to the 2010 census reshuffle.

 

Sharing the address which Norwood News has on file for the senator, 2432 Grand Concourse, where the senator’s regular copy of the Norwood News is sent, we contacted Rivera’s campaign for comment on his residency in light of the assemblyman stating he did not live in District 33.

 

During the conversation, we mentioned that we entered 2432 Grand Concourse into the CUNY mapping tool provided by the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center and that it displayed in District 33, both before and after redistricting. A representative from the senator’s campaign confirmed that we were correct and that Rivera did live in District 33.

 

Norwood News also reached out to the assemblyman’s office, and asked why he was seemingly spreading misinformation about Rivera’s residence not being in District 33, while using his official New York Assembly email address, and given that Rivera had publicly confirmed that he has lived in the same rent-stabilized apartment for 22 years, and had confirmed to us that he lived in District 33.

 

A representative for Dinowitz responded, saying, “It’s not misinformation. Numerous media outlets have confirmed that State Sen. Rivera currently lives in the redrawn District 31.” The representative shared the links to which he was referring with Norwood News.

 

While Rivera did make reference to District 31 in the debate hosted by Schneps media on July 25 as being a possible race he might have entered at one point during the lengthy redistricting discussions, in the end, he said he chose not to run in District 31, which is represented by State Sen. Robert Jackson.

 

Norwood News also contacted CUNY Center for Urban Research at The Graduate Center / CUNY to check if perhaps there was a glitch with the mapping tool we had used to check the senator’s residence.

 

Steven Romalewski, director of the CUNY Mapping Service at CUNY confirmed the accuracy of the mapping tool vis-à-vis the senator’s address, 2432 Grand Concourse.

 

An indicator for that address, 2432 Grand Concourse, which we shared with the senator’s team in the context of our inquiry about his residence, is displayed in the attached screenshots on both the former map for District 33, and on the redrawn map for District 33.

 

Rivera’s campaign team said they would follow-up with a separate comment in response to Dinowitz’s statements about him allegedly not living in District 33. On Aug. 12, the senator’s campaign released a general statement on what was referred to as “Trump-style lies,” allegedly coming from the Camilo campaign.

 

“Enough of the Trump-style lies from machine hack, Miguelina Camilo, and her corporate backers, including Jeff Dinowitz,” the statement read. “The people of The Bronx deserve better than his, nasty, negative, campaign coordination with right-wing PACs and tactics. We hope that Assemblyman Dinowitz wouldn’t knowingly use his official assemblyman newsletter and platform to spread disinformation or influence votes in a primary, as that is an egregious violation of ethics.”

 

The statement continued, “But the fact is that Sen. Rivera has lived in and represented The Bronx for over a decade and currently represents over 60 percent of the new district – this is not news. His opponent lived in New Jersey until very recently, making her potentially ineligible for the office she’s running for.”

 

Norwood News contacted Camilo’s campaign about this allegation by the Rivera campaign regarding her own residence and a campaign representative referred us to a public response they had previously shared on the matter.

 

 

Rivera’s campaign had also said in the Aug. 12th statement that the fact that his opponent’s campaign was allegedly willing to use “right-wing tactics and messengers” to win a Democratic primary said everything voters needed to know about her campaign. “There’s no question Sen. Gustavo Rivera has been a consistent, progressive voice for working families of The Bronx. He has repeatedly stood up to the Bronx machine, and its most corrupt operators as well as the corporate, right-wing interests who benefit when politicians are bought and sold,” the statement continued.

 

The senator’s campaign team added that his opponent had consistently failed to denounce “the influx of right-wing spending on her behalf, choosing to hide behind the real estate PACs and charter schools funding her Bronx machine-installed campaign instead of defending the record she claims to have on the issues that matter to all of us.”

Norwood News reached out to Rivera’s campaign for more specifics on what was referred to as “Trump-style lies” but did not receive an immediate response.

 

Meanwhile, the senator’s campaign said Rivera has stood up for working families, championing labor rights and universal healthcare for every New Yorker, while fighting to keep schools open, safe, and fully funded.

 

The Rivera campaign also said that when it came to who was really from The Bronx, and who was for The Bronx, voters could count on Rivera, who they described as the labor organizer, teacher, and state senator who has been endorsed by unions, elected officials like Congressmembers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velazquez, and Jamaal Bowman, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and groups like the Working Families Party.

 

The statement concluded, “We ask [the] Miguelina Camillo to stop this negative campaigning and denounce the lies. You cannot count on the candidate from New Jersey, who is being propped up by the corrupt Bronx machine and shady right-wing PACs to know The Bronx. You can’t count on her to represent us in Albany.”

 

Norwood News also contacted Camilo’s campaign for a general comment on the latest overall statement by the Rivera campaign on her candidacy. We were provided with a statement which read, “Miguelina, unlike her opponent, has never paid for negative campaign materials and has been a reliable and truthful figure. Gustavo has sent misleading campaign ads out, has included pictures of people who have endorsed and support Miguelina in official campaign materials, and at every turn, has sought to make this race about anything but the issues.”

 

The Camilo campaign also alleged Rivera claimed support of both 32BJ, DC37, and of his colleague Jose Serrano. “As an elected official, Mr. Rivera should hold himself to a higher standard, and the voters should not stand to be lied to by a sitting elected official,” a Camilo campaign official said. 

The statement continued, “To compare a first generation immigrant who is running to represent her home in New York to a criminal wanna-be-dictator is not only offensive to Miguelina, but also minimizes the crimes of Donald Trump. We must take the threat of the rising right-wing seriously, and comparing Democrats who are fighting for their communities to the extreme far-right only creates a more divided nation.”

 

In reference to specific groups that may have backed her candidacy, Camilo’s campaign said that the senator should know that any political campaign cannot coordinate with outside groups, and that if he wished to dispute the facts which were being presented, he should take that up with the individuals and organizations which were offending him.

 

“We are unaware of any factual inaccuracies in the materials Mr. Rivera is referencing, but we would be glad to hear him publicly denounce his previous statements on defunding the police or his use of dangerous and incendiary language in reference to Israel,” the Camilo campaign statement read.  

 

The statement concluded, “I am disappointed that my opponent has chosen to so viciously and baselessly attack me. I believe that New Yorkers are tired of voting against something, but are excited to vote for a future they believe in. My campaign has been centered on the issues which matter most to our communities, and as a State senator, I want to build up our small businesses, keep our streets safe, and to provide the best education for our children.”

 

It ended, “When I started this journey as a first time candidate, running to replace Alessandra Biaggi in the Senate, it was because I saw all the ways that I could build a better New York and I believe that with the support of my neighbors we will be able to deliver on the promises I have made.”

 

Norwood News contacted the Rivera campaign once again for further comment on the latest statements made by the Camilo campaign. A representative responded, saying, “Sen. Rivera’s record on education, housing justice, healthcare, and the other issues that matter to Bronx voters is clear, despite what Ms. Camilo and her right-wing backers are spending to tell you. We have called on her to denounce these right-wing attacks and the PAC money being spent on her behalf, which is the ethical thing to do. She has not. She can continue running this kind of campaign, but we will choose to stick with the facts.”

 

Camilo’s campaign later shared screenshots of campaign donations that were filed from Rivera’s home address, which was a different address to the one we had on file for the senator, and the one we had queried with his team in the context of our inquiry about his residency. In fact, the address shared by Camilo’s campaign [which we are not disclosing] is the senator’s home address. The 2432 Grand Concourse address is his constituency office address.

 

Both the senator’s home address and his constituency office address are currently in District 33. However, his home address will fall under redrawn District 31 on Jan. 1, 2023. There is nothing illegal about this during a redistricting year. It just means the senator will need to move into the newly redrawn District 33, should he win the race.

 

In the meantime, we have also spoken with Dinowitz directly about the statement included in his constituency newsletter. The assemblyman said his statement was in reference to the redrawn District 33, and that nothing in his newsletter was politically motivated and that he has supported the senator in the past.

 

He said he was merely informing his constituents about the current situation regarding the upcoming election. He also added, in reference to the campaign, “I would just say that virtually every elected official who covers part of his [Rivera’s] district is supporting his opponent, and the answer is that he just doesn’t work well with others. He’s uncollaborative, and when you’re a legislator, you have to be able to work with colleagues if you want to accomplish anything. He just can’t seem to do that.”

 

Early voting began on Aug. 13 and runs to Aug. 21. The last day to apply in person for an absentee ballot for the primary is Aug. 22. Election Day is Aug. 23 and polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The last day to postmark a primary election ballot is Aug. 23, the last day to deliver a primary ballot in person to your county board or any poll site in your county by close of polls is Aug. 23, the last day a primary election ballot can be received by the county board is Aug. 30.

 

Your poll site may have changed. Check your voting card before you go to vote.