Jose Rivera

At the Bronx Democratic County Dinner on June 24, for the first time, checks for the annual event should be made out to “Friends of Assemblyman Jose Rivera," not to the county organization. (Rivera is also the county leader).  read more »

With Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becoming governor on Monday, the responsibilities and powers of his old job—most notably, the responsibility of becoming governor should the office become vacant—will fall onto the lap of the man who will surely be working to block his agenda: Republican Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Now, there may be a move afoot to change that.  read more »

Here's Bronx Democratic chairman Jose Rivera endorsing Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz for Public Advocate, an office Dinowitz is not seeking.

"I want you print that," Rivera tells reporter/videographer John DeSio.  read more »

City Clerk nominee Hector Diaz is testifying right now in the City Council Rules Committee hearing, and this is easily the most well-attended committee meeting I recall (although I've missed a few).

Among the onlookers in the house is Bronx Democratic Leader Jose Rivera, who got himself a front-row seat by sitting next to Liz in the reporter's section.  read more »

Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Vito Lopez is declaring that Brooklyn, as a political powerhouse, has returned.

He attributes the rebirth to a series of small recent victories.

First, Lopez managed to block--or at least delay--the confirmation of city clerk appointee Hector Diaz of the Bronx. He and a coalition also blocked the appointment of another Bronx official up for appointment as a commissioner of the Board of Elections. Lastly, three judges from Brooklyn were appointed to the bench by Eliot Spitzer.

When I spoke to him on the phone, Lopez told me, “The whole theme of what I tried to do in my two years is ‘Brooklyn is Back,’ and we’re really proud that. People, after years of not respecting our political credibility, people are respecting it, and we are the first to be called on these key positions.”

More after the jump.  read more »

Here’s Bronx County Democratic Leader Jose Rivera talking about his effort to elect the city’s first Hispanic mayor. Despite today's announcement, he's optimistic.  read more »

Here's a clip of the ever-outspoken Bronx Democratic County Leader Jose Rivera, who isn't happy with Michael Bloomberg's opposition to the governor's plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

Rivera called the mayor “a confused, young, old man. He’s looking for a legacy" and “he’s been looking for another job. I don’t know if he’s going to get it simply denying people the right to have a license.”

I just got off the phone with Assemblyman Jose Rivera, the Democratic County Leader of the Bronx about Eliot Spitzer's three-tier driver's license proposal. Rivera seems generally happy with it, but says that more on the congressional level needs to be done.

"I support Eliot Spitzer’s effort to provide driver’s licenses as a form of ID, while in this city, and this state," he said. "Listen, this is a tough fight. It’s not an easy one. I don’t want to be on the side of 'either my way or the highway.' I don’t think that’s where Spitzer is at."

He continued: "I think we should take this and continue to fight. We were not at this place two years ago with Pataki. They wanted no kind of licenses.

"If we’re able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people who lost their licenses, we should work with what we have."

Last month, the Democratic County Leader in the Bronx invited Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards to attend a June 8 forum at which the "Puerto Rican and Latino electorate" could be "informed of the policies set forth by the Democratic Party and its candidates."

Today, organizers announced the Hillary will be attending the event -- but in her capacity as the junior Senator from New York, not as a presidential candidate.

That's because the event is not a presidential forum, but rather, a "community forum," according to Frankie Miranda, vice president of external affairs for the Hispanic Federation, Inc., an umbrella organization of social service organizations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. He said that his group was asked to host the event by Rivera and had not invited any presidential candidates.

"It is not a debate or presidential platform," he just told me. "We also invited Senator Schumer and Senator Menendez [of New Jersey] because of their work in the immigration field."

So, what about those letters to Obama and Edwards?

"Maybe early in the process, I'm I'm not sure--but our involvement in this is as a community forum."

UPDATE: A campaign spokesman reminded me that Clinton’s schedule on Friday is tentative because there may be votes taken in the Senate that day.   read more »

Today, Bronx Democratic leader Jose Rivera -- one of the notable remaining Hillary '08 holdouts in New York -- sent a letter to Clinton and her two main rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, inviting them to a candidate forum on June 8 event in the borough.

"As you well know, the ever increasing and energized Puerto Rican and Latino population is ready and prepared to be a partner with the Democratic Party on the road back to the White House. However, to do this the Puerto Rican and Latino electorate must be informed of the policies set forth by the Democratic Party and its candidates," Rivera wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to the Observer.  read more »

Assemblyman Vito Lopez of Brooklyn isn't the only Democratic county leader in the city looking to meet with Senator Barack Obama. Above is a letter that the Bronx Democratic leader, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, sent to Obama inviting him to speak in the Bronx last year.

Obama never showed, but Rivera is still uncommitted in the presidential race, I'm told.

But the invitation indicates an unusual willingness to engage in explicitly political acivities with Hillary Clinton's biggest rival for the Democartic nomination in 2008.

From the letter:  read more »

In case the warmer weather had you confused about what’s appropriate to wear around City Hall, here is today’s memorandum from the City Council to “all New York City Council Central Staff Employees” reminding them that even on casual Fridays dress code, “this is still a place of business.”

No jeans, hats, team jerseys, t-shirts, flip-flops, etc. The reader who forwarded this to me noted that under these rules, “Jose Rivera wouldn't be welcome at City Hall with his ‘The Bronx’ hat.”  read more »

Shortly after he was singled out for having one of the lowest attendance rates in the City Council, I happened to catch Larry Seabrook on his way to the National Action Network dinner at the Sheraton last night.

In the video after the jump, he's joined by Jose Rivera, the Bronx County leader. (Or, as he described himself, Seabrook's "street lawyer.")  read more »

Here's Assemblyman and Bronx Democratic leader Jose Rivera on Eliot Spitzer, and on the mistakes he thinks the new governor may have made during the budget process.

"He got elected to govern with this legislative body," he said, "not with you guys and the editorial writers."

-- Azi Paybarah

Gabe Pressman explores whether Eliot Spitzer is a tough guy or a bully.

Ben tells the story of his eventful day.

Bronx Democratic Chariman Jose Rivera wants to hold a forum to decide whom to endorse, Hillary or Barack.

A City Council candidate running in Brooklyn is promising that if elected, she'll make sure every high school graduate will go on to college. But, she says, "I'm not promising Harvard..."

Eliot Spitzer and the WFP seem to be parting ways over the issue of health care spending.

Diane Ravitch responds to the NY Post, which has a low opinion of parent complaints about schools.

Andrew Cuomo is suing a student loan company in California.

And pictured above is Mathieu Eugene, a candidate for City Council again.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer and the independent screening panel are making "a mockery" of the comptroller selection process, Assemblyman Jose Rivera just told me.

"If we pick someone that Spitzer wants, what happens to the constitution of the state of New York? I become a rubber stamp. Nobody elected me to be a rubber stamp. And if we chose our own guy, somebody will write we made a mockery out of this.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

-- Azi Paybarah

Last night, I was up at a a panel about blogging panel on 8th street in Park Slope, just a few blocks from Margarita Lopez-Torres, which means one more chance to revisit the story about the that check she was supposed to have received from the Bronx Democratic Party.

So here we go.

The $1,000 contribution from the Bronx Democrats to Lopez-Torres, an insurgent candidate in Brooklyn, is part of the not-so-subtle rivalry between the county leaders in those boroughs: Jose Rivera in the Bronx, Vito Lopez in Brooklyn, and their aides who say there is no rivalry.

Lopez's people swear - and I believe them - that they didn't know anything about the check and that they're not part of any inter-borough rivalry. They point to the fact that the check was never listed as an expense by the Bronx Democrats.

Bronx sources close to Rivera say the truth, which is a little embarrassing, is that the check number and date line up perfectly with other checks written at the time. Which means it wasn't written just to fool some blogger like me but rather, to actually help out a candidate they liked. Bronx sources say a person fundraising for Lopez-Torres contacted Rivera - who they proudly say is cheap - asked for the check.

This, and Brian McLaughlin's contribution scheme shows how difficult it can be to follow the money to the real story sometimes.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a rare glimpse at the usually invisible inter-borough jockeying between two Democratic machines:

It's a check from the Bronx Democratic machine to the campaign of Margarita Lopez Torres, an insurgent Brooklyn surrogate court candidate who has been a huge thorn in the side of the Brooklyn Democratic machine.

Torres not only won the seat and beat the machine, but she led the lawsuit in which Judge John Gleeson wrested control of judicial politics away from county leaders by declaring all judicial conventions unconstitutional [pdf].

The back story here is the rivalry between the two county leaders and colleagues in the Assembly: Vito Lopez in Brooklyn and Jose Rivera in the Bronx, each of whom is jockeying to be the go-to ally of Queens organization.

And there's a personal angle: Lopez donated money to his friend who ran for Assembly against Rivera's daughter, Naomi.  read more »

One final, bizarre note -- and the reason this move was below the radar for so long: the check was never cashed.

UPDATE: The Lopez-Torres campaign and Bronx County officials agree the check was never delivered to the campaign, but disagree on whether the campaign knew the check existed. More on Monday. -- Azi Paybarah

I caught up with the Bronx Democratic County Organization's chairman and amateur videographer Jose Rivera at the Columbus Day parade in the Bronx yesterday.

He reminded me and a few parade-watchers at one point that "Columbus did not do it by himself. He needed Queen Isabella and her treasury."

Sensing a metaphor, I asked him about some other people who got some career help from a powerful patron: his children, City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera and Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera.

"They have to state their case, and go and run and get votes," he said. "They're very feisty, outspoken. They do work for it on their own."

I asked him who was the better politician.

He didn't answer directly, but said Naomi "is more like me. She's spunky. She's feisty." Joel, he noted "is more of a gentleman."

More Rivera here.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Ben has an interesting item about the Bronx Democratic County Chairman, Jose Rivera, angling for the job of City Clerk.

In the world of patronage, it's a pretty highly coveted job. Low profile, high pay, no trips to Albany, and lots of access to all things political. For Rivera, who is also an Assemblyman, it makes sense. Sort of.

"It's just not a reality," said one of Rivera's confidents, Ululy Martinez. "It's not even a denial. He's not interested in it. His interest is in 2009."

That's where this story gets really interesting: Rivera wants to fill the job with someone who might run against his son, City Councilman Joel Rivera for state senate, should Senator Efrain Gonzalez go to jail on corruption. If Joel wins that seat, then has a safe place from which to run for Borough president in 2009

That's what I'm hearing.

-- Azi Paybarah

Below is the full text of the letter Assemblyman Jose Rivera sent to Mark Green, which starts with the subtle line :

"Clearly you have learned nothing from the divisive and negative race you ran in 2001 against Fernando Ferrer which cost the New York City Democrats the mayor's office."

It ends with this equally emphatic kicker:

"The sad truth is, you run as a Democrat in name, but you once again do the dirty work for the Republicans."

Tomorrow, according to a source in City Hall, Rivera will endorse Cuomo in the Bronx, according to a source in City Hall.  read more »

The timing hardly seems like a coincidence.

-- Azi Paybarah

Okay, so maybe not everybody is rooting for Hillary.

For example, outside her fundraiser at Crobar last night, there were by my count, 9 antiwar protesters from the ever fashionable group CodePink.

There may be more.

The Stonewall Democratic Club, who seem to like asking their guests about gay marriage, is having their monthly meeting tonight. Hillary is not one of the invited guests, but AG candidate Denise O'Donnell and political strategist Jerry Skurnik are (so is Bronx Democratic Leader Jose Rivera, but the group says he hasn't confirmed yet). [grammar and name corrected. It is just one of those mornings.]

Coming one day after Alan van Capelle's criticism of Hillary's position on gay marriage, the meeting should fun. [spelling corrected]

--Azi Paybarah

41 Million Tourists Can’t Be Wrong    read more »

41 Million Tourists Can’t Be WrongWhen speaking of New York’s status as a world-class city, ther  read more »

Nice timing, this.

Just days after Bronx boss Jose Rivera gets into the papers with theories about Jewish conspiracy, the invitations arrive for a September 18 event by the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education.  read more »

One honoree: Jose Rivera.

Here, belatedly, is the grad-school thesis that's causing all that trouble for Bronx Democratic Chairman Jose Rivera. The controversial stuff begins on page 17.

And with that, The Politicker is taking the afternoon off. See you on Monday.  read more »

UPDATE: At the request of the author, Lani Perlman, I've taken down her piece.

The Times had it about right this morning on Freddy's retreat to a Rose Garden strategy, which seems to be serving him pretty well for the primary.

One note: It's a heavily, though not exclusively, Hispanic-inflected Rose Garden strategy, an unannounced return to his base. Recent events include a trip to Puerto Rico and walks in the home districts of Sara Gonzalez, Jose Rivera, Peter Rivera, and Jose Peralta.  read more »

But Freddy must read the Times! Tomorrow, expect a "major policy initiative" at the CUNY Grad Center.

We hear Queens leader Tom Manton is backing Giff.

Queens is the strongest county party in town, and while Freddy has made some inroads there lately, this is a real win for Miller. The Queens move also blows out of the water a particularly tempting (to us!) conspiracy theory that had been circulating around Manton, Freddy, Bronx leader Jose Rivera, Joe Crowley, and Hiram Monserate.  read more »

Oh well.

We've been watching and wondering for months as Freddy's home borough simmers. The relationship between County Leader Jose Rivera and his predecessor, Roberto Ramirez -- Freddy's top advisor -- is one of the great mysteries of city politics. And the feuds among the clans around them -- Diazes and Arroyos and Espadas, not to mention Riveras -- are Shakespearean.

It had to explode under Freddy at some point, and when he appeared to switch sides on the Amadou Diallo shooting and criticize the prosecution, he tossed the first match, because Bronx D.A. Bob Johnson seems to have taken Freddy's remark personally.

Johnson must have been pretty angry today when he sent out a statement defending his indictments. Raising eyebrows all over town, he concluded with a veiled reference to Freddy's changing position on the death penalty and, as we read it, to a 1997 incident Freddy would probably prefer to forget, when the then-Borough President called the police shooting of Kevin Cedeno an "execution," then backed off.

"While I consider Mr. Ferrer to be a friend, who also was an excellent Borough President, my recollection is that this is not the first time that he has changed his position on a significant case or criminal justice issue," Johnson's statement says.  read more »

Wow.

Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries, from a screenplay by Jose Rivera, is based on the books The  read more »

Reviving one of the most controversial proposals of the Giuliani years, the Bloomberg administration  read more »