Maria del Carmen Arroyo is the former Council member for the 17th district of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district includes Belmont, Claremont Village,

Clason Point Clason Point is a peninsula in the East Bronx, New York City. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including Harding Park, and Soundview. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: Lafayette Avenue to the north, ...

Concourse A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space. The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or t ...

Concourse Village Concourse is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx which includes the Bronx County Courthouse, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Yankee Stadium. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving cl ...

, Crotona Park East, Hunts Point, Longwood, Melrose,

Morrisania Morrisania ( ) is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue ...

Mott Haven Mott Haven is an American primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner ...

, North Brother Island,

Parkchester Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the central Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundari ...

, Port Morris,

Soundview Soundview is a neighborhood on the Clason Point peninsula, on the southern section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plai ...

, South Brother Island, Tremont and West Farms in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Life and career

Arroyo was born

Corozal, Puerto Rico Corozal () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central-eastern region, north of Orocovis and Barranquitas; south of Vega Alta; southwest of Toa Alta; east of Morovis and Orocovis; and west of Naranjito. Corozal is sprea ...

, and moved to

with her family when she was seven years old. She is the daughter of Assemblywoman

Carmen E. Arroyo Carmen E. Arroyo (born June 2, 1933) is an American politician and a native of Puerto Rico who is the first Hispanic woman elected to the New York State Assembly. She served the 84th Assembly District, which covers the Mott Haven, Port Morris, Me ...

. In her childhood, Arroyo attended P.S. 154 in the South Bronx, Junior High School in Harlem and two years of high school at Washington Irving High School in Manhattan before dropping out to assist her family financially by working full-time. She wouldn't earn her

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

until she was twenty years old. Following working as a receptionist, she enrolled at

Hostos Community College Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York is a public community college in the South Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and was created by an act of the Board o ...

, Obtain an Bachelor of Arts degree from the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline ...

in 1980 at the age of 44. his last sentence does not make sense. Arroyo's mother, Carmen E. Arroyo, was born in 1936, making the latter 44 years old in 1980, not her daughter, the subject of this entry.She then served as Executive Director at Segundo Ruiz Belvis D & TC before working as Senior Director of Operations for the Narco Freedom, Inc, and then as volunteer Executive Director of the South Bronx Community Corporation. Over the years, Arroyo has come under fire for issues surrounding gambling. NY State Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo has been sued by the state Board of Elections 21 times since 2006 for failing to file her campaign finances. The nondisclosure is a violation of state election laws that often results in heavy fines, but little else. Arroyo has an established record of ignoring the deadlines. o reference for this last sentence, making it seem like opinion than researched and referenced fact.

New York City Council

Arroyo won the special election for her council seat in 2005 after her predecessor, Jose M. Serrano, jumped to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

. She easily won election to a full term in 2005, and reelection in 2009 and 2013. In 2013, it was found that individuals who worked on Arroyo's campaign in 2013 had forged petition signatures for ballot access in her reelection to council.

References

External links

Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo (official Council site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arroyo, Maria del Carmen College of New Rochelle alumni Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Living people Lehman College alumni New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Politicians from the Bronx People from Corozal, Puerto Rico Women New York City Council members 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Hispanic and Latino American New York City Council members