Carlina Rivera

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Carlina Rivera
Carlina Rivera photo.jpg
Member of the New York City Council
from the 2nd district
Assumed office
January 1, 2018
Preceded byRosie Mendez
Personal details
Born (1984-01-03) January 3, 1984 (age 38)
New York, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceNew York, New York, U.S.
Alma materMarist College
WebsiteCity Council website
Campaign website

Carlina Rivera is an American politician who represents the 2nd district of the New York City Council. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes portions of the East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Lower East Side, Murray Hill and Rose Hill in Manhattan.

Early life and education[]

Rivera grew up on the Lower East Side, where she was raised in Section 8 housing by a single mother who emigrated from Puerto Rico.[1][2] She graduated from Notre Dame School in Manhattan and Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she majored in journalism.

Career[]

Rivera worked as director of programs and services at Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), a local nonprofit organization focused on neighborhood housing and preservation, economic development, and community revitalization.[3] Rivera was also a member of Manhattan Community Board 3[4] and later served as the legislative director for Rosie Mendez.[5]

City Council campaigns[]

2016-17[]

Rivera launched her campaign for City Council in 2016, running for the 2nd District, which encompasses the East Village, Flatiron, Gramercy Park, Rose Hill, Kips Bay, Murray Hill and the Lower East Side. A first-time candidate who participated in public financing, she raised $176,000 through the City’s matching funds program.[6] Rivera was endorsed by the Working Families Party,[7] former Councilwoman Rosie Mendez,[8] the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, and “21 in ‘21”, an initiative to elect 21 women to the 51-member body by 2021. There were five other candidates in the race.[9][10]

Rivera won the Democratic primary for the 2nd City Council district of New York in 2017 with 60.54% of the vote (8,354 votes). She went on to win the general election with 82.86% of the vote against Republican and perennial candidate Jimmy McMillan and several third-party candidates.[11] While campaigning, Rivera was named one of City & State’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars.”[12]

During the campaign it was reported that Rivera and her husband, Jamie Rogers, lived in a Section 8 apartment. The annual income limit for a family of two is $61,050. After deducting Rivera’s salary, in order to be under that cut off, Rogers would have had to earn less than $20,000 a year, which many thought unlikely considering his real estate holdings and father’s net worth.[13] The New York Post reported that Rivera deleted online photos of Rogers on his father’s yacht.[14] In an interview with The Villager Rivera and Rogers outlined their financial situation and contested that they did qualify for the apartment.[15]

Election history
Location Year Election Results
NYC Council
District 2 		2017 Democratic Primary √ Carlina Rivera 60.54%
Mary Silver 16.54%
Ronnie Cho 8.56%
Jorge Vasquez 7.54%
Jasmin Sanchez 4.62%
Erin Hussein 1.93%
NYC Council
District 2 		2017 General √ Carlina Rivera (D) 82.69%
Jimmy McMillan (R) 11.70%
Jasmin Sanchez (Liberal) 2.01%
Don Garrity (Libertarian) 1.79%
Manny Cavaco (Green) 1.55%
NYC Council
District 2 		2021 Democratic Primary √ Carlina Rivera 72.5%
Erin Hussein 26.8%
NYC Council
District 2 		2021 General √ Carlina Rivera (D) 79.32%
Allie Ryan (Neighborhood) 11.77%
Juan Pagan (Independent) 8.43%

Tenure[]

In 2019, as a co-chair of the Women’s Caucus, Rivera was involved in securing $250,000 for the New York Abortion Access Fund to provide abortions for women not covered by insurance or Medicaid, including for those who travel from out-of-state.[16] This funding made New York City the first city to allocate money directly to abortion procedures.[17]

Additionally in 2019, Rivera introduced legislation to create a patient advocate’s office within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to help New Yorkers navigate the healthcare system and legislation to create an Office of Active Transportation, and an Office of Pedestrians.[18][19]

Rivera in 2019 also introduced and passed legislation to protect cyclists from eliminating bicycle lane obstructions during construction and street work, and has passed legislation to protect tenants during periods of maintenance, renovation, and construction and immigrant families.[20] She has introduced legislation to reform the child welfare system, and passed bills to outlaw the sale of foie gras and outlaw pigeon trafficking.[21][22] She has mandated that the City report on the state of small businesses, and strengthened sexual harassment policies for public and private employers.

Rivera has called for more aid to reach the city’s public hospital system, including funding and programs around reproductive healthcare, and has called for support for expecting New Yorkers through an expansion of midwifery programs.[23][24]

In an effort to crack down on illegal hotel operators, she introduced a bill in June 2018 to require short-term rental companies such as Airbnb to report host data to the city.[25] The bill passed the Council 45–0 and was signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio on August 6, 2018.[26] Airbnb was suing to block the legislation from being implemented.[27]

She was listed on City & State’s 2019 Manhattan Power 100 list, 2020 New York City Power 100 list and 2020’s Above and Beyond.[28][29][30]

Rivera is Chair of the Council’s Committee on Hospitals and member of the Council's Women's Caucus, Progressive Caucus, and Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus.[1]

Personal life[]

She and her husband, Jamie Rogers, a Connecticut College and Cornell Law School graduate,[31] lived on the Lower East Side[32] until June 2021 when they moved to Kips Bay for reasons they would not disclose publicly.[33] On WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, on January 11, 2022, she claimed that "the Lower East Side is my home."[34]

Rivera was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America as of 2017.[35][36]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Biography". Carlina Rivera. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  2. ^ "Carlina Rivera for Council in District 2 | The Villager Newspaper". thevillager.com. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  3. ^ "(Voter Guide) Carlina Rivera – City Council District 2". The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side. 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  4. ^ "New Council Member Carlina Rivera On Downtown Housing, Nightlife, L Train, and More". Bedford + Bowery. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  5. ^ "Former Mendez aide running to replace her in City Council | Town & Village". town-village.com. 24 February 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  6. ^ "City Council Candidate Carlina Rivera Reports $176,000 Campaign Fund". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  7. ^ https://workingfamilies.org/2017/04/wfp-leaders-announce-four-endorsements-city-council-races/
  8. ^ "district 2 council campaign | The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side".
  9. ^ "NYWFP Leaders Announce Four Endorsements in NYC City Council Races". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  10. ^ "Campaign Finance Filings Show District 2 Council Race is Heating Up (Updated)". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  11. ^ "Carlina Rivera - Ballotpedia". Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  12. ^ d_evers (2018-01-24). "The New York City 40 Under 40 of 2017". CSNY. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  13. ^ "'We qualify': Carlina Rivera, husband defend living in Section 8 apartment | The Villager Newspaper". thevillager.com. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  14. ^ "Section 8 candidate who deleted pics of hubby riding yacht wins Council primary". New York Post. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  15. ^ "'We qualify': Carlina Rivera, husband defend living in Section 8 apartment". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  16. ^ Stewart, Nikita (14 June 2019). "New York City Allocates $250,000 for Abortions, Challenging Conservative States". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  17. ^ "New York City set to become 1st city to fund abortion services". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  18. ^ "Proposed patients' advocate office aims to help NYers navigate health care system". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  19. ^ "New Council Bills Will Create a Bike and a Pedestrian Mayor". 25 November 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  20. ^ "'We have to keep people in their homes': City Council votes to strengthen tenant protections". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  21. ^ "Progressive Caucus Introduces Child Welfare Reform Package, Aiming to Increase Rights, Accountability & Transparency". 25 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  22. ^ "Big day for birds as City Council outlaws foie gras and ends pigeon trafficking". 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  23. ^ "NAPAWF New York City Applauds Council Member Carlina Rivera's Introduction of Bill Increasing Contraceptive Access and Choice". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  24. ^ "Council Seeks to Redress Child-Mortality Crisis Among Women, Babies of Color". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  25. ^ Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (2018-06-26). "To Curb Illegal Airbnbs, New York City Wants to Collect Data on Hosts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  26. ^ Lampen, Claire. "De Blasio Signs Bill Intended To Crack Down On Illegal Airbnb Rentals". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  27. ^ Ghaffary, Shirin (2018-08-24). "Airbnb is suing New York City so it won't have to share user data about its hosts". Recode. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  28. ^ "The 2019 Manhattan Power 100". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  29. ^ "The 2020 New York City Power 100". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  30. ^ "The 2020 Above & Beyond". Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  31. ^ "Jamie Rogers". Twitter. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  32. ^ "Carlina Rivera (Official Site)". Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  33. ^ "Carlina Rivera moves out of Loisaida". 20 June 2021.
  34. ^ Rivera, Carlina on "51 Councilmembers in 51 Weeks," The Brian Lehrer Show, January 11, 2022.
  35. ^ "Bernie Sanders's Socialist Revolution Is Happening, Very Slowly". www.vice.com.
  36. ^ "15 DSA Members Elected!". Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

External links[]

  • Biography Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (official site)
Political offices
Preceded by
Rosie Mendez
 New York City Council, 2nd district
2018–present 		Incumbent
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