Dozens of South Bronx and East Harlem residents turned out on April 26 for a spirited forum among the candidates vying for the City Council District 8 seat, soon to be vacated by the term-limited Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala.
The district of over 180,000 residents will choose from a crowded field of candidates for the June Democratic primary: Clarisa Alayeto, chair of Community Board 1; Elsie Encarnacion, Ayala’s current chief of staff; Wilfredo Lopez, a nonprofit attorney; Raymond Santana, one of the exonerated Central Park Five; and Nicholas Reyes, a State Committee Member for the 68th Assembly District and Bronx nonprofit staffer.
All the forum questions came from community members and local organizations, including South Bronx Unite, Guns Down Life Up and New York Communities for Change. The event was held at M.S. 224/I.S. 343 in the South Bronx.
While the conversation, moderated by BronxNet’s Gary Axelbank, covered timely topics such as environmental health, the opioid crisis, public school funding and the concentration of shelters in the South Bronx, concerns over Lopez’s campaign finances continually surfaced.
Lopez, who has been the subject of recent reporting regarding his campaign’s ties to Wall Street mogul Michael Jenkins, faced repeated heckling, with some attendees calling him a “sellout” and a “puppet.” Jenkins is the sole contributor to the political action committee Ending Homelessness & Building a Better NYC (EHBB), which backs Lopez. Records show Jenkins made the PAC’s only two donations — totaling $1.6 million — in November and April.
EHBB states that it advocates for issues such as improving safety in public housing, expanding Section 8 vouchers, offering free full-day pre-K and childcare, and easing voter access. The PAC also says it aims to support candidates “who will fight for our fair share of resources to ensure all New Yorkers can afford to thrive in their city.”
Criticism of Lopez intensified as the forum delved into the city’s most pressing issues. When Axelbank asked the candidates how they would address New York’s affordable housing crisis, Lopez began outlining his plan to create 15,000 new homes — prompting an audience member to interrupt with shouts of, “For who?” and “Puppet! You’ve got a millionaire behind you!”
After a question from South Bronx NYCHA tenant associations on how to improve conditions at the properties, Reyes said the city should “find streams of revenue” that can funnel into NYCHA similar to how congestion pricing funnels money to the MTA, and said to Lopez, “Who’s giving you money, brother?”
Santana attacked Lopez several times, saying, “I don’t have a super PAC behind me. I don’t have $1.6 million behind me. We’re doing this grassroots for the people.” His 400,000-follower Instagram account includes at least three posts targeting Lopez.
Reporting has raised questions about why Jenkins, who reportedly lives in Manhattan, is funneling such large donations towards the CD8 race, although his PAC is also backing Democratic candidates elsewhere in the city, including Yusuf Salaam (another one of the Exonerated Five), Christopher Marte and Erycka Montoya.
While PACs are prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns and each of the District 8 candidates is backed by at least one PAC, one with such a large sole donor is unusual.
Records show that EHBB has spent about $145,000 mainly on mailers, web ads, totes and t-shirts on Lopez’s behalf and that his campaign received individual donations of $1,050 each from Jenkins and Tomas Ramos, president and founder of the Bronx nonprofit Oyate Group, listed as CEO of the PAC.
In a phone call with the Bronx Times on April 28, Lopez said PACs are “independent for a reason” and that campaigns have no control over their actions.
Lopez said those who portray him as a Wall Street candidate are wrong, adding he’s still raising funds, having not yet reached the maximum allowed. “If I was bought and sold by Wall Street, I wouldn’t be raising money, $10, $15, $20 at a time. I would’ve been done months ago,” he said.
Lopez said he does not accept donations from people and entities, such as real estate firms, who have current business interests within the district, even though he said other candidates have done so. As for the criticism, it comes with the territory, he said, adding that a few attendees said their view of him became more favorable after hearing his ideas. “I’ll go to any forum, I’ll talk to anybody, and if I’m attacked, so be it.”
Tackling the issues
The heckling during the forum eventually lessened, and candidates discussed major citywide issues, including mayoral control of public schools, quality of life concerns, the opioid crisis, homelessness and negligent landlords.
They also addressed concerns that disproportionately affect the Bronx, such as environmental justice and public health. The Bronx has been called the state’s unhealthiest county for its high rates of diabetes, asthma and obesity and relatively short life expectancy.
To improve both public health and the environment, several candidates spoke to the need for increased tree canopy and public green spaces, which Reyes said have been neglected by local development interests. “We are so pro-development in this neighborhood that we don’t care about our green spaces.”
Lopez called for residents in asthma hotspots to receive free air filtration systems until a larger solution can be reached. Alayeto pointed to other public health concerns that often fly under the radar in the Bronx, such as colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and Santana called for better ventilation of school buildings.
As a district uniquely split between two boroughs, the candidates addressed the perceived disparity between the South Bronx and East Harlem sides of the district, with the belief that the Bronx gets fewer resources.
Lopez said that if elected, he would publish his daily schedule for transparency and easier constituent access. Alayeto said that her Bronx loyalty would ensure even distribution and called for the council office to be in “a more centralized location.”
Reyes said he would evenly split his time between the South Bronx and East Harlem, and Encarnacion said that the focus should be on equity, not necessarily equality, and that Ayala, her boss, has permanent offices in both neighborhoods.
Audience reactions
The Bronx Times spoke with a few attendees after the forum, including Gonzalo Duran, vice chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party and candidate for NYC Public Advocate.
Duran said he came in search of common ground issues and that he thought CD8 candidates put on “a good debate.” He also acknowledged that any conservatives, if elected, would need to work with their more liberal counterparts, and he said he saw a lot of potential agreement on issues discussed at the forum.
Anthony Rullan, who has lived at NYCHA’s Moore Houses for 61 years, said he wished the candidates had spoken more about public safety. In NYCHA buildings, “We’re supposed to [have police presence], but they don’t do nothing,” he said.
Angel Vega said he has lived in the South Bronx nearly 50 years and is disillusioned with the political process. He attended the forum “to see how they lie to my community,” he said.
Vega said he lives two blocks from Ayala’s office but has never seen her when he came to talk about drug sales, prostitution, homelessness and other problems in the neighborhood. But he became convinced that Alayeto is “the best option for this community” and said he plans to vote for her in June.
South Bronx resident Melissa Barber told the Bronx Times that she was pleased with the strong turnout but worried about the many people who were not in the room.
“We have to do a lot more outreach” to contact the most vulnerable “unvoiced” people who are often left out of the political conversation, she said.
The citywide Democratic primary, which covers all 51 council districts, mayor, public advocate and comptroller, will be held June 24.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
