Northwest Bronx Democrats on 11th CD Primary endorsement

By: Anthony Rivieccio, Founder

11st Council District Facebook moderator Shira Silverman probably says it better than we ever could , when it comes to the startling differences between Riverdale- and the other 6 neighborhoods in the district.

When talking to a local newspaper reporter at The Riverdale Press, about the neighborhoods, dealing with online forums, her response was:

“I think (the forums) are more effective in conjunction with other ways of getting out the vote,” she said. “And I think we really need to work on that. Because Wakefield, Norwood, Bedford Park and Woodlawn just basically don’t have any say in the district.”

Over the course of our existence, knowing the council district boundaries, we felt the best way to attempt representation in Bedford Park & Norwood (20%) was to tag team with candidates, whether they lived in Riverdale (60%) or not. We supported Oliver Koppell in 2009, Cliff Stanton in 2013 and Andrew Cohen in 2017, all while trying to keep a subtle balance in making sure our neighborhoods were represented while understanding our neighborhood will never be considered " 1st" .

But in 2021, we think we are in a lot of trouble.

While interviewing candidates in the 11th Council district during the special election, we looked at three: Marcos Sierra from Norwood, Dan Padernecht from Van Courtlandt Village & Abagil Martin from Riverdale.

With now campaign financing being 8-1 you would believe that all the candidates would have received thousands of dollars!. Many did! You would think they would have spent their campaign money at worst case, in proportion to their district !. All did NOT– at least not at Bedford Park & Norwood.

As we can now see, between these three candidates alone, they spent 1% or less in proportion to their campaign budget. Did you get a mailing? Did they hand you their information on the corner? Have you seen any of their posters or banners? Have you seen any information in your building?

Actually many would say the only one who spent campaign money, in our hood, was candidate Mino Lora. If you were on the merchant strips of: Bedford Park Blvd, Jerome Ave, Gun Hill Road or 204th Bainbridge, you would have thought you were in Mino Lora land! Her signs were everywhere! Her signs are STILL there.

So when Mrs Lora, from Riverdale, decided to do a last minute rally in Norwood, at the heart of Mr Sierra's area, hundreds showed up . It wasn't Senators Biaggi or Rivera who jumped on the Mino Lora bandwagon at the last minute- it was because she Invested into the neighborhood and prepared.

So, who do we support for the 11th CD Primary? Our home!

It's not that we don't like Mrs Lora?We've learned to appreciate her campaign but we do not believe she is familiar with our side of the district. In regards to the candidates mentioned above, we believe while of course they might have more experience , by their campaign budgets, none want to invest in the non Riverdale side of the district.

And for the Riverdale special election now councilman winner, Eric Dinowitz? Not a dime, either!

As a matter of fact Riverdale Press editor in chief , Michael Hinman, deserves praise on how he has written many articles in the last week's indicating how most of the candidates spent at least 70% of their monies OUT SIDE OF THE DISTRICT EVEN OUTSIDE OF THE BRONX! We call it: The Year of The Consultant!.

So what does this all mean?. After 2 decades, Bedford Park & Norwood is in big political " City Council " trouble.

What do we do? Frankly were not sure ourselves!.

Do we start an Anthony Rivieccio write in vote? Do we start a Sheila Sanchez write in vote? For a hot minute we were going to ask Civil Court candidate Yadhira Gonzalez Taylor to be a write in candidate, but she lovingly wants to be a civil court judge!.

So what do we do? To be continued!

Council District 11 includes the Northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Norwood, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, and Woodlawn.

Anthony Rivieccio has been founder of The Northwest Bronx Democrats , a community & political organization since 2003. Their target areas are: Fordham, Kingsbridge , Kingsbridge Heights , Bedford Park, Norwood , Allerton. The current President is Sheila Sanchez .

You can find our Facebook Group page by just going to Facebook search and tying in: "Northwest Bronx Democrats". We feature daily: NYC & Bronx community & political news, activities & events. Our close to 2000 members include several distinguished : activists, NYC agency staff directors, elected and party officials-, including Councilpeople, State Assembly, State Senate & Congressional representatives, and numerous people of interest