political profi les district 11
BY MINO LORA
Why are you running?
I understand many of the
challenges district residents
face because I’ve lived them.
I’m an immigrant from the Dominican
Republic who built a
new life here. I’ve worked minimum
wage jobs, spent a decade
without health insurance and
recently survived COVID. I’m
running to represent a district
that is majority working-class
and people of color, half of us
are Latino and third of us are
immigrants. As an artist and
organizer, teacher and nonprofi t
executive – running for offi ce
was never part of my plan. But I
kept seeing the same injustices
over and over again. So here I
am! If I’m elected, I’ll be the fi rst
Latina and immigrant to represent
the District.
Tell us about yourself,
what you do for a living, your
relationship to the district,
and which neighborhood you
live in?
I’m an educator and the executive
director of People’s Theatre
Project – a social justice
arts nonprofi t delivering free
programs to 1,000 Bronx and
Upper Manhattan students a
year. I founded PTP during the
2008 recession, using the $400 I
saved from waiting tables, and
built it into the million-dollar
organization it is today. I have
kept programs running and my
staff employed during the pandemic.
What are the biggest challenges
facing the district and
how will you solve them?
New York City in general
and the Bronx in particular
were the national epicenters for
the pandemic and that hit poor,
working and minority communities,
like most of District 11,
the hardest. As we prepare to
build a more resilient and humane
city, we’ll need the people
most affected to be empowered
in decision-making processes
that work toward justice. Failing
to engage tenants, immigrants,
small businesses owners,
Start Here. Go Anywhere.
BRONX TIMES R 20 EPORTER, MARCH 5-11, 2021 BTR
students, frontline and
essential workers, at minimum,
would be a dereliction of duty
by every elected offi cial in NYC.
As Councilwoman, I will listen
carefully to the people of the
district as I fi ght for:
Small business relief and recovery.
I will urgently work to
pass the City Council’s various
small business recovery programs.
Housing that is affordable.
NYC needs to determine affordability
levels by using local or
neighborhood-based median income
rather than Area Median
Income because the AMI fails
to adequately house residents at
prices they can afford.
Fully-funded and equitable
public schools. Cutting $707
million from the DOE budget in
FY21 is a moral failure.
Prioritize the availability
of green public transportation
in all areas. Public transportation,
especially bus service,
should be expanded to eliminate
transportation deserts,
and bike lanes should be expanded
to connect more Bronx
neighborhoods.
What will you do differently
than Councilman Cohen?
The fi rst job of whoever
wins the special election will
be working on the City budget. I
will not accept an austerity budget,
a budget full of cuts for essential
services for the people of
New York City. I will work with
State legislators to fi ght for fair
taxes for the super wealthy, who
gained billions of dollars during
the pandemic, while millions of
New Yorkers lost their jobs.
What’s your political experience?
In my role on the Leadership
Council of the New York Immigration
Coalition, I brought my
students to Albany to fi ght for
school and adult literacy funding,
met with Senator Schumer
to successfully advocate for
the inclusion of immigrants in
COVID relief, and partnered
with the Governor’s Offi ce to
ensure vaccinations didn’t
wouldn’t include invasions of
privacy by ICE.. When the City’s
summer youth employment program
(SYEP) was cut from the
city’s budget, I brought together
14 arts and culture nonprofi ts to
create a free virtual arts camp
for over 200 children and secured
the funding to operate it.
What endorsements do you
have?
Working Families Party,
CWA District 1, New York Immigration
Coalition Action,
The Jewish Vote, Citizen Action
of NY, No IDC NY, Run for
Something, Downtown Women
for Change, and Deputy Leader
& Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer.
To RSVP to our exclusive
debates go to:
https://www.schnepsmedia.
com/webinars/
Mino Lora Emmanuel Abreu
Mino Lora
Virtual Open House
SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021
TEXT OR CALL: (347) 305-4497
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