The challenge of representing multiple diverse communities across District 11 was evident during the televised debate between the five candidates running in the March 23^rd District 11 special election, which aired on BronxNet on Feb. 2. Each is seeking to replace former Councilman Andrew Cohen, who was elected as a judge to the Bronx Supreme Court in November 2020 and resigned as a council member on Dec. 31, cutting short his final year in office.

 

The 90-minute debate was co-moderated by Michael Hinman, editor of The Riverdale Press, and Sonyi Lopez, BronxNet producer, host and reporter, with a few, additional pre-recorded questions from the CD 11 Voters’ Forum, Lehman College and the Norwood News. An additional 30 minutes were dedicated to concerns raised by Lehman College students during a Q&A session to assess the candidates’ views on issues like food insecurity, job opportunities after graduation, and the rising costs of a college education, among others.

 

Responses from the five candidates – Carlton Berkley, Eric Dinowitz, Jessica Haller, Mino Lora, and Daniel Padernacht were kept short and concise due to the rapid-fire questioning and time management skills of the moderators. Notable in the responses were the differing perspectives of the candidates based on the zip codes and communities represented.

 

Berkley, a retired New York City detective, questioned whether the needs of District 11 were being driven by the wealthier residents on the western boundary, namely Riverdale, as opposed to those living in Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield and Woodlawn Heights. The need to address ever-increasing housing and rental costs for low and medium-income Bronxites was just one of the debate themes, and within District 11, there are different wealth disparities existing between a number of the affected communities. Poverty rates recorded in the latest City Planning community district profiles for Community Board 7 and 8, even before the pandemic hit, found there was a clear, wealth disparity among, at least, these two.

 

In CB8, which includes Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill (MN), North Riverdale, Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, 15.8 percent of residents lived in poverty. Meanwhile, the poverty rate in CB7, which includes Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights, and University Heights, was almost double, at 27.4 percent. Given the economic downturn since last March, those rates are likely higher now.

 

In response to a question by a Lehman student about prioritizing the interests of such a diverse district, if elected, Berkley, who lives in Wakefield, said, “We have to share. I’m going to look and see who needs a little bit more, as opposed to who has a lot.” He added, “We’re in this all together.”

 

Staying on the topic of poverty, some candidates questioned why certain neighborhoods, like Wakefield and Norwood, have homeless shelters already located within them or have more planned, while others don’t have any. Padernacht, lawyer and CB8 Traffic & Transportation Committee chair, who lives in Kingsbridge, urged a re-imagining of how the city deals with the homeless population.

 

He proposed a group home approach where smaller numbers of people live together with access to supportive services. “We really need a new approach to it,” he said. “I think that by doing the smaller group home concept we can also put some shelters in Fieldston as well, for more group homes, and actually go throughout the entire district.”

 

Dinowitz, teacher and male district leader for the 81^st Assembly District, and perhaps the candidate with the most name recognition, his father being Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz who represents the same district, has received some heat for, apparently, having an unfair advantage in the race, and for being part of the so-called “Bronx Democratic Political Machine.”

 

The district leader said that there were some issues on which he disagrees with his father, and added that, ultimately, it would be up to voters to decide if he, as an individual, had enough of a track record within the community to prove himself worthy of their vote. Referencing his position as a teacher, Dinowitz downplayed the impact of his father’s name recognition. “When I’m in the classroom as a public-school teacher, I’m Mr. Dinowitz. My students don’t care who my father is,” he said.

 

Equity in education is indeed another pressing issue in a district that includes some of the most exclusive private schools in the country, many of which are college preparatory schools, located in Riverdale. According to pre-pandemic, educational level data obtained from the City’s community district profiles, 16.6 percent of residents in CB7 aged 25 and over have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. In stark contrast, within CB8, that number jumps to 40.3 percent. In the context of the discussion on education, Berkley commended the younger Dinowitz for his work with special education students.

 

Lora is a theater educator who started a nonprofit with $400 in 2009, and now has an operating budget of $1 million. In terms of assessing students’ educational progress, she stressed the importance of trusting teachers more than high stakes testing. “Teachers know how to differentiate the learning for their students,” she said. She pledged to focus on downsizing classrooms and to ensure investment in on-going assessments and holistic assessments in order to track students’ learning and growth.

 

Meanwhile, in a later discussion, Haller, a tech entrepreneur and environmentalist, said the disparities in environmental justice have affected certain communities more than others in District 11, a topic previously covered by the Norwood News as part of our Bronx Connections series, together with WFUV and BronxNet.

 

“Here in the Bronx, we should not be surprised that communities living around infrastructures, highways, Hunts Point, garbage transfer stations, bus depots are dying at a higher rate,” she said. “It’s historic environmental racism.” To alleviate this, Haller sees opportunities within the district to expand bus lanes, especially with regard to east-west routes in the borough.

 

Social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, Abigail Martin, and male district leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced in January 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. Martin announced on Jan. 15 that she had raised $39,360 from 445 contributors in the first five months of her campaign, 163 of which were from contributors in District 11 more than double the number required by the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to qualify for its matching funds program. Kevin Pazmino has also recently joined the race.

 

Candidates are required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the special election. 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 during prior weeks 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.

 

When Martin and Sierra dropped out of the special election race, and Lora fell ill, Norwood News reached out to both the governor’s and the mayor’s offices a number of times on whether any consideration had been given to waiving the signature requirements completely, and since District 15 candidates are also required to gather the signatures for the March special election. We did not receive a response. Haller recently announced, after the virtual debate was recorded, that she too had contracted the virus.

 

In terms of the latest campaign contribution filings (excluding refunds), according to the CFB, Jessica Haller now leads in contributions with $77,821, followed by Eric Dinowitz with $65,156, Dan Padernacht with $39,986, Mino Lora with $32,667, and Carlton Berkley with $7,705. For the District 11 special election, the most recent disclosure period ran from “beginning of fundraising” to January 11, 2021. There was no information available for Kevin Pazmino on campaign contribution filings with the CFB. We understand Pazmino announced his candidacy on Jan. 18.

 

The Bronx Democratic Party also recently 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.

 

The debate will be rebroadcast on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m., and on Sunday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. and at 9 p.m. You can also watch it online here.

 

NW Bronx Indivisible and Riverdale Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture will be hosting a further virtual debate among District 11 candidates on Sunday, Feb. 7, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. To register, go to: http://bit.ly35iv8Dn.

 

The District 11 special election will be held on March 23. The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is now accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and 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

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.