POLITICS
Tensions Flare as Stonewall Endorses Ritchie Torres
Real estate money to Bronx councilmember, Melissa Mark-Viverito dominates discussion
BY MATT TRACY
Sparks fl ew during a Stonewall Democratic
Club of New York City endorsement
meeting on October 23, but the
night culminated with members expectedly
backing out gay City Councilmember
Ritchie Torres in next year’s congressional race
to replace José Serrano in the Bronx.
The meeting at the LGBT Community Center
in Manhattan — which also featured an
endorsement of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
in his re-election bid — kicked off with
little fanfare when candidate and former City
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito laid out
the progress she made on LGBTQ issues when
she led the city’s lawmaking body. Torres, too,
touted his record on queer rights , citing the legislation
he has pushed through and the funding
he has secured to bolster the lives of youth,
seniors, and people of color in the LGBTQ community.
Torres also pointed to the way in which of
one of his opponents in the House race, Councilmember
Ruben Diaz, Sr., unsuccessfully rallied
homophobes to oppose him when Torres
mounted his historic fi rst Council run in 2013.
Having weathered that storm, he argued he is
uniquely positioned to take on the bigots all
over again.
“Despite all of those obstacles, I won my race
and I became the fi rst openly LGBT elected offi
cial from the borough of the Bronx,” said Torres,
who is vying to become the fi rst out gay
MATT TRACY
Out gay Councilmember Ritchie Torres of the Bronx addresses the
Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City on October 23.
black member of Congress and the fi rst out gay
Latinx member of Congress. “I know how to defeat
the homophobic forces in the Bronx”
But Stonewall members would later confront
Torres about his willingness to take real estate
cash in a race where Mark-Viverito has made a
pledge not to take money from developers. He
defended his fundraising approach, saying that
he wouldn’t be infl uenced by those donations
because the City Council, not Congress, regulates
land use in the city. Moments later, the
gloves came off.
“As speaker, Mark-Viverito presided over
four years worth of rezoning that arguably led
to more gentrifi cation, not less,” Torres said defi
antly. “And when she was speaker, she did not
take a ‘no real estate’ pledge. Corey Johnson
has taken a ‘no real estate’ pledge as speaker
when it has mattered the most.”
He continued hitting Mark-Viverito, saying,
“But if you were speaker for four years and you
approved four years of rezoning that ultimately
led to more gentrifi cation, it is disingenuous to
suddenly claim you’re a democratic socialist.
I’m just tired of the bullshit.”
The bitter feud between the two pols continued
to spill out into the open when Torres subsequently
mentioned that he “rebelled against
the Bronx machine” to support Mark-Viverito’s
candidacy for speaker, which he said drew the
ire of the Bronx Democratic party.
“She thought I was wonderful enough then to
nominate her on the fl oor of the City Council,”
he said. “And now suddenly I’m a corrupt puppet
of real estate industry? Give me a break.”
The allies-turned-rivals were two of three
candidates in the race to speak in front of
Stonewall members in an effort to seek the
club’s endorsement. Assemblymember Michael
Blake, who is a vice chair of the Democratic National
Committee, recalled working on former
President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign and
leading a national call with clergy in an effort
to rally support for marriage equality. He also
framed his candidacy as one that best represents
the people of the district because his current
Assembly district fi ts entirely within the
➤ TORRES ENDORSEMENT, continued on p.11
Council Votes to Suspend, Fine, Monitor Andy King
Disgraced Bronx pol compared LGBTQ Pride to child porn, retaliated against aides
BY MATT TRACY
Although a vote to expel Bronx City
Councilmember Andy King failed,
the Council overwhelmingly opted to
suspend, fi ne, and further penalize
him following an explosive investigative report
concluded that he retaliated against his staff,
harassed them with homophobic remarks, and
blew city cash on personal trips to the US Virgin
Islands, among other egregious actions.
City lawmakers voted 44-1, with two abstentions,
on a resolution put forth in a report from
the City Council’s Committee on Standards and
Ethics calling for a slew of penalties, including a
30-day suspension without pay, a $15,000 fi ne,
and the appointment of a monitor to oversee the
Bronx lawmaker for the rest of his term.
But King, who the committee’s report says
once described an LGBTQ Pride as “the same
as child pornography” and told his aide he did
not “approve of this behavior,” had faced the
possibility of getting booted from the lawmaking
body altogether. Out gay Queens Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer continued to be
the most forceful voice against King when he
initiated a motion to expel him from the Council,
saying, “For me, there is no doubt in my
mind that given that this is not a fi rst offense
and given the severity of everything included in
JOHN MCCARTEN/ NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
DIsgraced Bronx City Councilmember Andy King.
➤ ANDY KING, continued on p.11
November 7 - November 20, 10 2019 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
