Protecting the 80th Assembly District 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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 BRONX TIMES REPORTER,12      OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 BTR 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 BY ANTHONY RIVIECCIO, FOUNDER,  
 NORTHWEST BRONX DEMOCRATS 
 I have lived in the 80th Assembly  
 District  for over  four decades.  I am a  
 college graduate, local businessman,  
 college professor and community activist  
 in our lovely district. 
 After being in charge of The 204th  
 St./Bainbridge Avenue Merchant Association  
 from 2003-2009, where I fi rst  
 met Gene DeFrancis (as the Allerton  
 Ave Merchant Association President),  
 I became more involved in my community, 
  from being appointed to our local  
 community board to founding our local  
 political organization, Northwest  
 Bronx Democrats. 
 Gene and I had a local interest in  
 2005  to  try  to  stop Business  Improvement  
 Districts (BID) from being developed  
 in our mutual areas. 15 years  
 later, we now sadly and even better,  
 know why we do not support BIDs. 
 Since then, Gene and I have fought  
 very  hard  in  trying  to  improve  the  
 quality of life in our affected areas.  
 From Sanitation to temporary housing  
 to Parks. This is why we supported  
 Mark Gjonaj  in 2012 as assemblyman  
 (being  the fi rst  organization  to do  so)  
 to supporting his replacement Nathalia  
 Fernandez, afterwards. 
 Nathalia is sadly leaving us, going  
 for higher offi ce, announcing her run  
 for Bronx Borough President in 2021.  
 Our immediate concern: That leaves  
 an empty assembly seat. So, in theory,  
 even if she won this November against  
 anyone, she would leave this seat  
 in 2021. 
 We  wish  her  the  very  best  in  her  
 Borough President race. She says she’s  
 “in it to win it” and we believe her.  
 We wish her nothing but the best in  
 this venture. 
 But if this scenario takes place,  
 then there would be an assembly special  
 election for this seat in 2021, something  
 that gets us so concerned that our  
 organization decided to put together a  
 2022 80th AD exploratory committee  
 to put together an assembly slate from  
 top to bottom. 
 So my decision was not to let Bronx  
 County and those who do NOT live  
 here, make this decision for our community, 
  but the community and businesspeople  
 who DO live here. 
 Gene  fi rmly  believes,  especially  
 now  during  COVID,  that  small  businesses, 
  residents and yes, landlords,  
 all need assistance. He also believes  
 the assembly district, from Pelham  
 Parkway to Mosholu Parkway and Norwood  
 is oversaturated with temporary  
 housing and drug methadone clinics.  
 He also believes in the support of religious  
 freedom, to the point where he is  
 advocating to remove Yemen from the  
 current government travel ban. 
 We need an assemblyperson. We  
 are Democrats. We support Democratic  
 ideals. We have lived here, many  
 of us for a long time and some in the organization  
 do not agree with this decision. 
  But one thing we all agree on: we  
 will control our own destiny; not the  
 County, not some outside political apparatus  
 — we will! 
 So just like Republican Cindy Mc- 
 Cain  is  crossing  over  party  lines  to  
 support Democrat Joe Biden for president, 
  because as she says,” he will  
 represent all Americans,” today I support  
 Gene, because I refuse to have  
 our district not represented in 2020  
 and beyond. 
 Gene  will  represent  all  residents  
 and businesses in the 80th AD. Why  
 do we know this? Because he’s been doing  
 it all of his life in the district, because  
 Sanitation, Parks and quality of  
 life does not have a party label. It has  
 a detrimental effect on our community  
 and district, something Gene has been  
 fi ghting for his whole life in the district. 
  Local issues fi rst! 
 Anthony Rivieccio has been founder  
 of The Northwest Bronx Democrats,  
 a community & political organization  
 since 2003. Their target areas are:  
 Fordham, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge  
 Heights, Bedford Park, Norwood,  
 Allerton. The current president is  
 Sheila Sanchez.  
 
				
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