NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Ex-teacher Dinowitz keeps
an eye on NYC education
cal N
ERIC DINOWITZ
NEIGHBORHOOD: RIVERDALE
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY:
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT
Fun Fact: “I have one of my bachelor’s
degrees in music, and the other,
predictably, is in political science.”
Oswald Feliz looks foward
to serving the district
AGE: 35
OSWALD FELIZ
AGE: 31
NEIGHBORHOOD: FORDHAM
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY: PRAGMATIC DEMOCRAT
Fun Fact: “I’m in love with the underwater world.” Before the
pandemic Feliz became a certifi ed SCUBA diver and went scuba diving
in the Bahamas.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N BTR OV. 19-25, 2021 15
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
Rolling out our new series of political
“Snapshots,” the Bronx Times sat
down with each of the Bronx’s recently
elected offi cials for a discussion on their
2022 legislative agendas and issues of
importance to their districts.
City Councilman Eric Dinowitz,
the son of New York State Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz, won a March
23 special election replacing Andrew
Cohen, who is now a Bronx Supreme
Court judge. Dinowitz will continue
representing the 11th Council District
— which includes Bedford Park,
Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Norwood,
Van Cortlandt Village, Woodlawn and
Wakefi eld — after winning re-election
on Nov. 2 against Republican Kevin
Pazmino with 79% of votes, with 99%
of scanners recorded.
The former public school special
education teacher emphasized education
as a key priority in his new term
an interview with the Bronx Times.
He wants the city to invest in socialemotional
learning and mental health
education in schools, as well as tutors
and social workers in family shelters,
to address students’ needs early on and
prevent mental health or homelessness
crises.
“It is less likely that we will be addressing
it as a crisis and more likely
we will be addressing it as a continuum
of support starting from school
age and extending into adulthood,” he
said.
He also thinks schools should shift
away from a focus on standardized
tests and use more qualitative measures
to diversify how success is defi
ned. He suggested “apprenticeship
programs and working with unions
and industries to provide job training
or real-world experience” for high
school students to prepare them for
college and careers.
The councilman said he wants to
ensure the city Department of Education
is providing appropriate services
for special needs students, and doing
so meaningfully.
Quality of life is another key issue
for Dinowitz, who said he secured
funding for better garbage clean-up
services and new trash cans in his district,
as well as traffi c calming mechanisms
like speed bumps.
“We chose to live with our families,
to work, to retire in the Bronx,” he
said. “And there is a certain promise
of quality of life. A lot of people have
seen that slipping away.”
Dinowitz also helped save Meg’s
Garden, an educational garden home
to a farmers market on the DeWitt
Clinton public high school campus,
that was facing eviction earlier this
year.
“I plan to deepen my ties with
schools and community groups and
reach out to other groups who may not
have had interactions with city government
in the past because we all
have a stake in our community,” he
said.
While Dinowitz identifi es as progressive,
he said he differs from some
of the positions associated with the label,
saying he does not support defunding
the police or the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions Palestinian-led
movement against Israel.
BY JASON COHEN
Rolling out its new series
of political “Snapshots,” the
Bronx Times sat down with
each of the Bronx’s recently
elected offi cials for a discussion
on their 2022 legislative
agendas and issues of importance
to their districts.
City Councilman Oswald
Feliz was elected in a March
special election — replacing
Congressman Ritchie Torres
— and then re-elected to his
own full term on Nov. 2. Feliz
represents the city’s 15th
Council District in the Bronx,
which encompasses Bedford
Park, Fordham, Mount Hope,
Bathgate, Belmont, East
Tremont, West Farms, Van
Nest, Allerton and Olinville.
Feliz, a lifelong resident of
the Bronx and former housing
lawyer, spoke with the Bronx
Times about issues affecting
his district: gun violence,
housing and education.
The lawmaker said there
has always been violence in
the borough, but today, there
are shootings in broad daylight,
and it seems that everyone
has a gun.
“What is happening in our
neighborhoods is completely
and utterly unacceptable,”
Feliz said. “We’ve seen gun
violence skyrocket, especially
in low-income minority neighborhoods.”
He said too many repeat
offenders are being allowed
back on the street and this
must end.
According to Feliz, not
only does the state need to enact
stricter gun laws, but the
lack of resources in schools
and communities plays a major
role in the violence. If children
don’t have a YMCA, job
training programs or wellfunded
after-school clubs,
many often get into trouble,
he said.
“We’re losing our kids
to the streets when we don’t
give them other options,” he
added.
The councilman said the
pandemic not only exposed
the digital divide in the city
schools system, but showed
how schools are not equitable.
While Brown v. Board of
Education happened several
decades ago, Feliz said schools
in NYC are still segregated.
Schools in low-income minority
communities should have
the same resources as those in
the wealthy Upper West Side,
he said. Feliz added that highperforming
schools should allocate
20% of its seats for kids
from disadvantaged communities.
Looking ahead, the councilman
hopes the city realizes
that this is a digital age and
students need laptops to learn,
not just during a pandemic.
“COVID affected our city
in every single way, including
our education system,” he
said. “The digital divide in the
Bronx is well documented.
The other issue plaguing
many Bronxites is the lack of
affordable housing. What is
affordable for a family in Manhattan
is not the same as the
Bronx, Feliz said.
“We need affordable housing
for all, including the lowincome
families,” the councilman
said.
PoliticsNY.com PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews PoliticsNYnews
/PoliticsNY.com