Peter Rivera (born November 12, 1946) is an American politician who represented District 76 in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, which comprises West Farms,

Van Nest Van Nest is a working-class neighborhood geographically located in the East Bronx section of the Bronx, New York City. Going clockwise, its boundaries are Bronxdale Avenue to the northeast, the Amtrak tracks to the southeast, and Bronx Park to ...

, Castle Hill and Parkchester. He later served as the New York State Commissioner of Labor.

Early life and education

Born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, Rivera earned a degree in business administration from Pace University in 1968, and a J.D. from

St. John's University School of Law St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school in Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States, affiliated with St. John's University. The School of Law was founded in 1925, and confers Juris Doctor degrees and degrees for Maste ...

in 1974. The following year, he was admitted to the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

Career

Rivera began his career as a patrolman and detective with the

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

. Rivera then became an agent with the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

. After graduating from law school, he began to work as an assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

in the Homicide Bureau of the

Bronx County District Attorney The Bronx County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for Bronx County, which is coterminous with the Borough of the Bronx, in New York City. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. (Fed ...

's Office. He has been in private law practice since 1978. First elected to the Assembly in 1992, Rivera was the Chairman of the New York Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task force and Assembly Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Developmental Disabilities. He was the highest-ranking self-described Latino officeholder within the State Assembly. In the summer of 2010, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that Rivera would face a Democratic primary election challenge from Bronx lawyer

Luis R. Sepúlveda Luis R. Sepúlveda (born February 11, 1964) is an American attorney and politician who currently serves as the New York State Senator from the 32nd Senate District, which includes parts of the Bronx. Prior to being in the state senate Sepúlved ...

. Rivera went on to defeat Sepulveda in the 2010 primary. Rivera resigned from his assembly seat in 2012 to take the position of New York State Commissioner of Labor.

References

External links

Biography: New York State Democratic CommitteeNew York State Assembly Member Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Peter 1946 births Living people Attorneys from Ponce American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Drug Enforcement Administration agents Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York City Police Department officers New York (state) lawyers Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Politicians from the Bronx Politicians from Ponce Puerto Rican law enforcement personnel Pace University alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians