Category Archives: Ritchie Torres

Photo Gallery: Bronx Dems For Williams



Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ apparent glide path to his June primary and November general election was smoothed with an endorsement from the Bronx Democratic Party and several prominent elected Bronx Democrats.  With the petitioning period ended, Williams will not face any well-known primary opponents.

Electeds joining Williams included Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Assembly Member and Bronx Democratic Chairman Marcos Crespo, Assembly Members Latoya Joyner, Jeff Dinowitz, Victor Pichardo and Nathalia Fernandez and Council Members Andrew Cohen and Ritchie Torres.  Assembly Member Michael Blake, who ran against Williams in the February special election, did not attend the rally but appeared immediately afterward and expressed his support for Williams.  That special election put Williams into office through the end of 2019 and the November general election will fill the remaining three years of former public advocate and current NYS Attorney General Tish James’ unexpired term.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Speaker Selection: The Bronx Edition (Updated)



Last night, city council speaker contenders met in the Mt. Eden section of the Bronx for the second in a series of five public forums.  Council members Jimmy Vacca, Annabel Palma, Mark Weprin, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Dan Garodnick and Inez Dickens appeared before an energized crowd, in a discussion moderated by BronxTalk radio host Gary Axelbank.

The series of public forums is unprecedented for selection of the city council speaker.  The city council speaker is not elected by voters, but is selected by the 51 members of the city council without any direct role for the public.  Several newly elected council members, including Ritchie Torres and Helen Rosenthal, conceived and organized the series in an effort to change, or at least expand, the way the speaker is selected.  We spoke with Torres and Rosenthal about their purpose in doing so and whether the forums have, so far, met their goals. Continue reading Speaker Selection: The Bronx Edition (Updated)